A Hero

This picture makes me want to tell you about one of my FAVORITE PEOPLE in the whole world: My babysitter, Rina. 

I went back to work when Faye was 5 weeks old. I was tired, stressed, depressed and it was HARD. The one solace, consolation, and peace to my mind was that Faye was being taken care of by THE BEST person EVER. I would drop Faye off every morning and not even worry for a SINGLE SECOND about her. I truly believe that was a tender mercy and finding Rina was a HUGE ANSWER to a prayer. I don't know what we would have done without her!!

Rina is my hero. She is productive, kind, generous, thrifty and loving. Faye is her third little blonde baby. She LOVES HER. She has been her "other mother" her WHOLE LIFE. She sneaks her treats, puts her in time out when she is naughty, and hugs and kisses til Faye just giggles out of control. She is from the Philippines and has taught my baby to eat rice with reckless abandon (even for breakfast!) and I'm 100% positive if Faye talked there would be English mixed with Visayan! She has fed me (and Brad) numerous meals, taken time to teach me to cook meals, and babysat Faye for us even on weekends & overnights.

Rina's two girls are Faye's two older Filipina "sisters" and they play and fight and love like sisters. They hug and kiss and hit each other like they are all related. I love it. We all think it's hilarious.

Right now Rina has a friend living at her house who has a daughter, plus 2 other girls whose parents are on vacation, plus my baby, plus being 7 months pregnant and her own 2 kids! This picture is them all heading out the door to the park or storytime. She piles them all in her Suburban (which she just got THIS YEAR- she'd never had a car or had to drive before!!) and just gets all over town. 

(We always tease Faye bc "one of these things is not like the other"- she is the little white blonde kid in a sea of dark Filipinas!)

She is INCREDIBLE and I love her. It's impossible to NOT love someone as amazing and wonderful as she. So thankful for wonderful people in my life!!