National Bubba Day!

As I sat at work on June 2 listening to the morning announcements, I was tuning them out as usual and impatient for the racket to stop! Then, I heard the principal announce that it was National Bubba Day. Now, all of you may be wondering why in the world I would care about that tidbit of information! So...here's the rest of the story.

From the time Bryce was 6 weeks old, he has stayed with the most incredible babysitter in the world. Kim has been such a huge blessing in our lives. When I was pregnant, I was completely stressed out wondering where in the world my baby would stay while I was at work. Since I was stressed out, my mom was also stressed out and worrying with me (a mommy's job!). Then, during the middle of a sleepless night, my mom happened to remember this mother whose daughter she had taught in first grade years ago. Mom remembered what a wonderful mother she was and knew she was exactly what we had been looking for. She ran the idea by me and I remembered Kim from all those years ago. I was so excited by the possibility, but knew it was such a long shot that she would ever be interested. I held my breath while Mom made the phone call to Kim - and thankfully, she was interested! It was definitely one of those perfect opportunities that God places on your path sometimes!

The past 3 years have been amazing. Kim has not only taken wonderful care of Bryce, she has been a great friend. She also welcomed us in to her church family with open arms. All you mommies out there know how hard it is to leave your baby every day when you go to work. But, knowing your baby is in good hands and being taken care makes all the difference in the world. I never had to worry and always knew he was happy, loved, and well taken care of while I was gone.

In typical Bryce style, he named everyone is Kim's family. He named Jeff, "Geck" and Allie, "Yaya." And back to the title of my blog, he named Kim, "Bubba." In fact, when I talked about Kim and tried calling her "Ms. Kim," he would correct me and say her name was Bubba.

I bet you're all wondering why I'm rambling on. Well, Bryce's last day at Bubba's house was May 29. Unfortunately, she is getting another job to help cover Allie's college expenses (which are totally outrageous these days!). If I was a millionaire, I'm pretty sure I would have paid her an unholy amount to keep her - but we all know the school system doesn't quite get me up to millionaire status! hehe! I'm definitely not a girl who cries often (people like that tend to annoy me!), but I'll admit I have done my fair share of crying over the past 2 months. One of my favorite quotes comes to mind: "Whenever God closes a door, He always opens another...even though sometimes it's hell in the hallway." Luckily, I have found that other door and **knock on wood** have made it through the hallway. Bryce's new babysitter is Edith (aka Edie) and he really likes it there. We both miss Kim so much - but I'm proud of him (and me too actually!) for making the transition so well. Thankfully, we'll still get to hang out with Kim at church and hopefully she'll still watch Bryce-bug every now and then.

So, after a long story, you all now know why I smiled when my principal announced that it was National Bubba Day. Next year, I'll bet you a certain special lady will be getting a card on that day. Kim - we love you and are so thankful for everything you've done for us!!!