Goodbyes

I've come to really hate goodbyes!  Today was one that was particularly difficult too!  I said goodbye to the kids I've taken care of for over 5 years!  When I started Ella was about 15 months old and shortly after Cammy arrived.  A few years later Edward came along and then this past September Fiona was born.  Because I was with this family for so long I got to know the kids really well and I got to be part of the family.  It was a really fun job at times, but it could also be difficult and frustrating.  I learned a lot being with the same kids 5 days a week for years!  I have been through so many stages with the kids and I am sad to be missing some of those stages with Edward and Fiona and I'm sad that I won't get to see Cammy and Ella grow up.  In so many ways the girls are exactly the same as when they were little, but at the same time they have definitely matured and grown out of some of their babyish ways.  I love all the funny things they say.  Just today they told me some really hilarious things!  We were talking about how we could get into their cousin's house when we couldn't figure out how to get the key out of the garage.  They were saying we could get in the kitchen window but I'm too short to do that.  Even if I could have gotten the window open wide enough for someone to get in, I probably would have gotten kicked in the face boosting them through the window.  When I said that, Cammy responded with "we would have said 'sorry'."  LOL!  Thanks Cammy!  Edward doesn't say too much yet, but it's been fun to see his speech improving!  God bless Evette for giving him that start with speech therapy.  He has been talking a lot more lately and trying to mimic speech even if it comes out all wrong.  It's been fun to see him with Fiona too.  He absolutely adores her!  He's always going up to her and saying "hi" in a sweet way.  I have a feeling they are going to be good buddies and he is going to be her protector.  Fiona is just starting to smile and coo and show a little personality.  I'm so curious what she's going to be like when she gets older.  Those are the kinds of things that I'm sad about missing.
Today when I was leaving Cammy and Ella kept wrapping themselves around my legs to keep me from going.  Ella kept holding onto me and saying how she didn't want me to go because she loved me.  Ella isn't big on saying stuff like that to people.  We even talked about that once and she said that she gives me kisses as if to say that is how she says "I love you" to people.  Cammy on the other hand is very loving to people!  She's the best snuggler in the world!  So many times I would go to wake her up from her nap and would lay down in bed with her to snuggle her to wake her up, but she was so warm and snuggly that I would end up falling asleep with her only to wake up 45 minutes later!  I'm gonna miss her hugs, kisses, snuggles and the sweet things she says to me.  Today she told me that she didn't want to go away from me.  Yeah, I don't want her to either. 
Being busy these next few days will be good to keep my mind off all of this for a while.  I'm looking forward to getting out of town.  It will be good to see people we haven't seen in a while and have a little fun!