Certified!

Abby is a certified Babysitter! I am sure you are wondering "how you get to become a certified babysitter?" Well... Abby attended a Babysitting class last weekend sponsored by the American Red Cross. It was an all-day comprehensive class and she even got the official card to prove it.
Once Abby was certified, we made plans to put her to the test. Abby's first official babysitting job was our Godchild, Brac Mathern. He is an absolutely adorable 2 1/2 year old. Check out his somersaulting skills!
Steve & I went out for supper with Brac's parents, Lance & Denise. Abby was not only supervising Brac, but she had her little sister, Kippy as well. Abby has spent a lot of time with Brac, but this was still the first time she was going to be on her own. Denise carefully documented the bedtime routine and reviewed it with Abby. We also chose a restaurant (Isabella's, a wonderful Italian eatery) very close to their house, so we could easily get back within 5 minutes if necessary.

Turned out, Abby kept everything under control and even had Brac sleeping by 7:45 PM! All the kids were happy and well rested in the morning. It was a successful first-time experience for her and I am sure it will boost her confidence as she continues babysitting.

In addition, it was also a treat for Steve & I to get a chance to spend an evening with our wonderful friends. We ended up being the last people to leave Isabella's! And boy did we laugh! I'm surprised we weren't asked to hush-up. We decimated the tiramisu dessert we had. Abby asked, "Did you guys lick the plate?" It was gone so fast that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of how beautiful it looked, but trust me... it was DELICIOUS!
I have to end with another pic of our godchild... he is so darn cute! We are looking forward to leveraging Abby's newly acquired babysitting certification for more evenings out with friends. ;-)