Almost 6 months

Nicholas poked out two little bottom teeth about 10 days ago.  He sits up like a big boy.  And he gets excited to me.  He loves Evan and smiles easily around him.  Evan is a good big brother and sings and talks to him in the car a lot.  He is going to start some baby food this week.  And he wakes up about 4 times a night, which I am going to work on. But he is so snuggly!

Awesome

Colin  just started a session of swim lessons.  He looked so excited and proud while swimming.  Then when he got out, he came right over to me and said "did I do awesome?".  With a big smile.

Making friends

Colin has been a little bit eager to make some friends.  I can't tell if we put the idea in his mind or not.    Either way, Tony and I have talked to him more recently about us helping him to make some friends his age.  He loves Evan!  And loves to play with him!  And likes to play with Evans friends too.

By this Evan had made friends.  Mostly with Ava.  But they were truly friends at this age, well at 2, really.  He would constantly talk about her and want to see her or send notes to her.  Colin hasn't actually made a friend that he gets excited to see.  So, we are helping him by having some boys his age over.

But, 2 funny stories about this...

At the library train this week he poked his head to look inside the engine.  He said "mom, there is a boy in there, maybe he will be my friend."

As he was biking down the street we went past Oliver's house (the new boy in the neighborhood he hope will soon be a friend).  He said "I have a dream to have silly putty and one of those rocket cars."  I said "Oliver might let you borrow it sometime." Colin said "yea, when I make him be my friend."

Summer time

Oh sweet family.  Busy summer on the road so far.  Since school got out on June 9th, we have only been home for 4 days.  That means 13 days not at home.  I am feeling a little homesick.  Just a busy stretch of work in Muskegon and our trip to Chicago and Neenah.  It's been fun.  The Chicago day was a favorite!  Work has been good, a little slow on the call shifts.  Which has been good for hanging with the boys.  I am thankful the they have mostly been with me during my work shifts.  But looking forward to some days at home this week!  Just to do our usual stuff!  To feel like a mom at home with kids on those carefree summer days!

3 things to be thankful for

1.  Laying in bed, looking over at the sweet sleeping baby
2.  Knowing Evan and Colin are cuddley and sleeping together in the tent in the basement
3.  Tony finishing up his online class tonight and thinking about how hard he worked and squeezed this endeavor into our busy life.

Exploring the world with hands and mouth

About 10 days ago, Nicholas started grabbing toys.  A couple days later, he was putting things in his mouth.  Just like that he is exploring the world.  Yesterday he learned to roll from back to belly and now practices it like he is proud of his new trick.  And he found his feet!  So much, so quick.

Mothers day

Tony worked 10:30-9:00 this weekend, which might have meant an exhausting weekend for me.  Well, it was exhausting, but in a good way.  I do feel tired most of the time.  I do feel that I can't keep up with everything.  I do get bothered by the constant needs of these boys.  But, I don't want those tired moments to stand out!  I don't want to look back at these sweet days and say "uh, that was exhausting".  I want to remember the sweet moments when I completely love these mom days.  Nicholas is the sweetest cuddliest baby.  He smiles, he laughs, he lets me smush his cheeks (my favorite thing).  He looks up at me like he is a real person now.  And melts my heart.  Colin is sure full of energy.  Sometimes I just want him to slow down and be less crazy.  But that is what I love about him.  His goofy loving personality.  He squeezes me so tight sometimes that he chokes me.  He tells me 'I love you' many times a day, including when he is sad (like when he bonked his head to tonight) or when he is a little in trouble (like when missed the toilet tonight and I was bothered that there was pee all over the floor).  Sure, just what I wanted to do was scrub the bathroom floor as I am trying to wind down 3 kids for the night.  But Colin's joy for life and his closeness to us are the best!  And Evan, well I just love having a smart, caring, creative 7 year old.  One who made me many Mother's Day crafts, including a 5 step geocache.  I love that we read hours of Harry Potter this weekend and that he helps his little brothers so much.  I want to capture these stages and memories and not the daily drag for being busy.  And I know that I have been busy commuting to work,  but I want the time at home to be my best days.  Being a mom is the best!