Nanny Diaries

Hello, friends!

I figured it was time for some summer updates, considering the fact that in less than a month I'll be back at Provo getting ready to start my sophomore year at BYU! (I can't wait, in case you were wondering.) Anyways, one of the things I've been able to do this summer is be a nanny for a few families and I absolutely LOVE it. Let me introduce you to a few of the kiddos that I've hung out with this summer.

Kaitlynn, Ethan, and Sidney: I watch these kids twice a week, all day, while their parents are at work. And I have grown to love them so much! 3 kids under the age of 6 definitely keep me on my toes, but we always have a great time! They love to go to the library, read books with, listen to the Frozen soundtrack (A LOT), get out all the toys in the house, and swim. I love all of those things, and I also really love nap time when I can clean up all the said toys+do the dishes+breathe for a few minutes. 

 My sweet girl Sidney...She loves "doing the dishes" and washing her hands. She also loves cuddling, her blanket and screams any time her brother touches her.

Kaitlynn and Ethan keep me on my toes in the best way! We spend hours on this couch reading books together.

Seiter Cousins: I am the oldest cousin on both my mom and dad's side of the family and have become the unofficial family babysitter (I'm wondering if its going to become official anytime soon...can I get a badge or something?) My aunt and uncle went on a little weekend trip and I had a blast with their 5 cute kids. They live about 10 minutes away from my family, so the kids are already fully accustomed to my craziness, making it a lot easier for mom and dad to be gone. To be honest, we spent about 75% of the time at my house, letting my brothers play with their cousins while my mom and I hung out. (This is when my mom and I decided we have to live in the same area when I'm raising a family...so I can mooch off her and we can hang out. Good plan, am I right??)

 I think there might be some rule against makeup on a 7 year old, but what kind of cousin would I be if I didn't do makeovers with the girls while their brothers were gone for the morning?

When you're 3 years old and picking out your own clothes, I guess wearing the same color from head to toe guarantees your clothes will match. 

Maxfield Cousins: As my role of the unofficial babysitter on my mom's side of the family, I flew up to Sacramento and helped my uncle take care of my 4 cousins while my aunt was out of town for 10 days. These kids aren't quite as used to my craziness because we don't see them as often, so it took them a few days to get used to my dishes dance parties, attempts at getting them to tell me about their days at school, and my non-ability to have all the parts of a meal ready at the same time. But we had a great time! I loved getting to know these cousins better and I learned a few things while I was helping out up there:

1. I forgot how early early-morning seminary is. I had to wake my cousin up at 5:30 every morning and I felt so bad for him (but not bad enough that I couldn't crawl back into bed and go back to sleep once I made sure he was up!) Luckily, he had a good attitude because seminary is great and so worth it.

2. Don't judge the moms who are still in their pajamas when drop their kids off at school. I'll be honest, I used to kind of judge them. Like, come on, its already 8 am. You can put some clothes on before you take your kids to school. But this week changed that. When you're trying to get 3 kids out the door, shoes on, lunches made, breakfast eaten, hair brushed, school play costumes intact...what I looked like was last on my priority list. So, moms who are still wearing their PJs at 9 am, I respect you.

3. Its all about the right clothes. My cousin Hailey is an amazing ice skater and I took her to her skate lessons, which was to be followed by a little shopping trip...as I got dressed, I pretty much only had the shopping trip in my mind so I threw on a thin blouse and some sandals. Well we walk into the ice rink and all the other parents are seriously wearing sweatshirts, coats, knit hats, earmuffs, snow boots...(Okay I might be getting a little carried away here, but you get the point.) I thought, "Oh, I'll be fine! It's only a 30 minute lesson...how bad could it be?" Well after about 10 minutes of sitting in the ice rink, my toes were freezing and I was the shivering girl surrounded by all these warm parents. Oh, and when I took my sweet little cousin to swim lessons, I forgot a towel for him. So he dried off using the cardigan I was wearing...#nannyoftheyear I still have a lot to learn before I can be a mom apparently...

 Isn't the cousin love present in this photo just overwhelming? Hahahaha I laughed for a solid few minutes after I saw this picture....I promise we had a good time even though he is visibly cringing in this picture.

 Little better.

Selfies with my girl Hailey. We had so much fun together! She starts junior high in a few weeks and she is going to rock it. Her  social media skills are probably better than mine, she loves her bunny, and wants to be a clothing designer for animals or a pie shop owner when she's grown up.

 Two of my favorite things: froyo and silly faces.

How's your office?

 Parker and I had lot of time while his siblings were at school, and we shared lots and lots of laughs! This is the wine closet that they have, but don't use. So it makes a perfect hideout spot.

"In jail"... This would be a good picture to put on my online nanny profile, yes? Hahahah

Maxfield Cousins (Round 2): Guys I'm really not kidding about the family babysitter thing... My grandparents celebrated their 50th Anniversary and took all their kids+in laws on a cruise to Alaska. I tried to push for the "18 and up should be invited" thing, but they didn't go for it. I guess it wouldn't have been that fun to third-wheel with 8 couples anyway...But anyways, I went up to Idaho to watch my 5 cousins while their parents were gone while Riley stayed here with Jack. I brought Nick with me and we had a great time! I also cared for 6 boys for 8 days and survived, so that's an accomplishment. Even though it was honestly so easy because they just played together the whole time! Like, hours and hours of Legos and soccer on end. My main responsibilities were getting 3 meals a day ready (easier said than done when you're feeding 7 people), getting kids to swim and piano lessons, and trying to convince 4 boys who are sharing a room for the week to go to sleep at a reasonable hour (As hard as you might imagine...) I watched these boys while their parents went to Spain and it was so great to come hang out with them again! I especially had a good time teasing the 15 and 14 olds about girls and staying up late talking to them. Cousins are really the best. Nick loved having 24/7 playmates for a week and wasn't ready to leave when it was time go!

 I got to sit next to the cutest boy on the plane.

Silly faces for texts to mom to let her know we're alive.

 Just playing soccer with all the boys in the neighborhood who are all better than me.

"Cady take a picture of us!"

I made friends with the neighborhood girls who would just stop in for snacks, drinks, some coloring time, or to get their nails painted by me. It was fun to have some girls time after hanging out with all these boys!

As you can see, I've spent lots of time with kids this summer and I'm not complaining. My twitter followers probably are though, because when I'm not tweeting about how much I miss BYU, I'm tweeting about little children. Here are some of my favs. (These all prove that even though I love my job, I'm not above a little Twitter complaining every once in a while.)

Two in a row...this is a real problem, people.

Well, there you go. Way more than you probably wanted to know about my nanny life...but if I don't write it here, I'm not going to write it anywhere so #sorrynotsorry

I'll have some more summer updates coming soon, but until then, just listen to this song that's been on repeat in my little corner of the world because it's just too cute.

XOXO
Cady