Lindsey & Rosie

You guys are not going to believe this, but Lindsey has been here almost 8 MONTHS!


She's such a part of our family and we adore having her around. She has a one year commitment with us, which means that she's done being our au pair on July 20th. I guess I didn't really realize how imminent her departure was until the au pair service emailed me a reminder that it was time to start considering whether we were going to get an extension for Lindsey to remain as our au pair for a second year or if we were going to find a new au pair. I was surprised to realize that her time with us was really going to end.

Despite our desperate requests that she consider staying with us for another year, she has decided that she is ready to pursue her education and get started on a career. I completely understand her choice. I remember working my ass off to try and keep up with all my friends who were graduating from college before I was. (getting married at 19, while wonderful, put a couple of semesters of school on hold). She has been such a blessing to our family. She's so full of life and smart-ass comments - a perfect fit for all of us. Plus, and most importantly, the kids adore her. And for me, it is like having a cross between a great girlfriend and a teenage daughter living with us. I know she will always be a part of our family.

With all that said, we've been through some emotional times in recent weeks as our family proceeded to interview a new person to take Lindsey's place. It was hard to accept that she would be leaving us and that a new person would take her spot. The bright spot of light out of this is that we've already found a fantastic English girl named Rosie who will be a perfect fit in our family. You never know how long it will take to find the right person and you need about two months lead time for the au pair to get all the paperwork completed, so I started looking right away. I was amazed that we were able to find someone so quickly - but that's how it worked with Lindsey too. I guess you just know when you've found the right person (it's just like dating, over the phone - weird). She's talked to us on the phone twice and we've been emailing back and forth. In an effort of full disclosure, she and her family have already seen the blog so they are fully informed of the craziness of our family, plus Lindsey sent her an email that revealed the good, the bad, and the ugly. Despite that, she's still willing to come over and join in all the craziness at our house. What fun! And here she is!


So, while we are super sad that we're not going to be able to see Lindsey's bright shiny face everyday after July 20th, we are thrilled that this super-cute, sweet, and energetic girl named Rosie is coming into our lives. She is from a town that is quite close to Stonehenge. She has two older brothers and lives with her mom and dad. She plays tennis, rides horses, and enjoys vacationing with her family in Spain - which is where she'll be just before she heads over to the U.S. (I'm so jealous). We hope we can give her a wonderful home away from home. It's an amazing feeling to come to know these amazing people who join the fabric of our family. We are so blessed.