Nathaniel at SIX Months!

I feel pretty sure that this has been the fastest and yet also the longest six months of my life. I can't believe Nathaniel is halfway to a year old! And yet, I also can't believe we have made it this far. There were days I didn't think we would. There were some seriously hard days and we still have those days more often that I'd like to admit. But I think we are past the hardest of it and I'm sure it will get easier as he becomes mobile. Its just so hard having to hold him every waking moment!

SO here are his stats! He's 19 lbs 4 oz and 29 inches. He's pretty big! I can't remember the percentiles these stats put him in (the big kids were being terrors at this dr. appointment) but I think it was the 90th? Just like the other two, he's on the chunky side. :)

He had 4 bottom teeth as of his half birthday. FOUR! And now, just 2 weeks later, he's got 2 more and another 2 popping through on top. I know the teething is a large part of his fussiness. Most babies don't have 8 teeth until they turn one, Audrey and JJ didn't have any teeth at 6 months. So my hope is that once he has all 8 fully in, he'll be more comfortable and won't need to be held so much.

He loves watching Audrey and JJ. His play area is in the living room (obviously) and so he's right in the middle of the action with the other two running around. He really wants to play with their toys and he's starting to pull his knees up under him to attempt to crawl. Right now he's rolling and army crawling his way around and can get to things within a couple of feet - If he doesn't get frustrated and start crying first! He took his first bath in the big tub last night. I was very brave (out of necessity) - I put him in the tub with Audrey and JJ! All three in the tub with him still being new to sitting up was pretty scary on my part, but I didn't have another option. Josh was working late and they needed a bath. So I either put nathaniel in his jumper and let him cry while I bathed them and then give him a bath later after they went to bed, or do it all together. Well, I've been doing that for the past 6 months and I'm over it! On to the big tub! I definitely had to watch them all closely and I don't think Audrey and JJ liked that they couldn't splash around, but they'll get used to it and he'll be bigger before we know it.

He's started eating pureed food. So far he's had green beans and squash. At first he didn't like it, but I think it was just the new texture thing. Last night he happily ate half a jar of green beans and wanted more! He's also gnawing on bananas and apples when I put them in this little mesh feeder thing. He loooooves apples and tries to steal them from us when we eat them! I'm just afraid he'll bite off a chunk and choke so I am not ready for him to have them yet.

He's like Audrey in the sleep department - he doesn't sleep! Well, he does just not long periods of time like JJ did at this age. Overnight he sleeps about 12 hours but still wakes up every 2 hours. Or more. He sleeps in the crib for naps and the first stretch of sleep, but I bring him to my bed around midnight so I don't have to keep getting up. I don't mind that - I've always liked sleeping with the babies. :)

The usual..

Catching up on things around here while I have a moment...I have been finding it very hard to sit down and write up posts lately even though we have so much going on and I really do have a lot I want to write and share with you. I'll try to do a quick summary while the boys are taking overlapping naps (this never happens!!).

Halloween was fun this year. We did a Frozen theme of course. Audrey wanted to be Elsa and I found patterns for dresses that my mom could make, so she willingly obliged to sew them for us. Audrey's dress was unique and different from the hundreds of other Elsa's out there, and she thought it was really awesome that Josh and I were dressed up too. The first time I tried on my costume she just stared at me in wide-eyed amazement and with such excitement. And when Josh walked in dressed up like Kristoff she was equally thrilled. JJ was cute as a button in his Olaf costume. So little and huggable. Nathaniel was a troll (you have to see the movie) so he just wore a gray outfit and a hat. We went trick or treating with Matthew and Cristina and Dad and Lisa like we usually do. It was cold so we all had on coats, but a few houses in to it, Audrey saw another Elsa. She walked right up to this girl, unzipped her coat and was like "I'm Elsa Too!". It was so funny and cute. I think she really enjoyed seeing all the costumes and of course she LOVED the candy. One house even gave out ice cream bars!

I took Audrey to see Frozen on Ice a few weeks back and it was a HIT! We met dad for lunch on campus since the show was at the Patriot Center and then we walked over and got some overpriced Frozen gear and overpriced snow cones and then found our seats. I was very pleased to see how good our seats were! Audrey could see everything perfectly. She didn't sing or dance but I wasn't really sure if she would...I think she was overwhelmed by all the noise and so much to see so she really just sat there staring and taking it all in. She was sad to leave and said she really really wanted Elsa to come home with us.

Lexi and Tiernan flew here for the week of Thanksgiving. It was very last minute but such a nice surprise to have them here twice this year! The kids had fun playing together (most of the time!) and I loved being able to chat with my sister whenever I wanted for a week. We spent the evening before Thanksgiving over at Lauren's having pizza and letting all the kids play. Then for Thanksgiving Day we all went over to Josh's aunt's house for dinner. SO GOOD. I didn't stuff my face as much as I wanted to because of the kids being crazy, but that's probably better anyways. :)

Now we are all the way in to December and JJ's birthday just passed and Nathaniel just turned 6 months. How!?? I love watching them grow but I do worry that it's happening too fast...so as usual I'll end yet another post by saying I'll try to write more updates when I can...expect photos of JJs birthday and Nate's 6 months soon.

This is 30!

Yesterday was my 30th birthday! Can you believe it? I still feel 17 some days. And other days I feel like I must be 75 years old. haha.

The birthday surprises started a couple of days ago. I really didn't want to do anything much for my birthday. Going out sounds exhausting, so maybe a nice dinner with Josh was really all I wanted. Josh and Maria surprised me big time with a one night stay in a hotel...by myself!! Ahh! This may sound quite boring and even lonely to some, but for me it is literally a dream come true. They told me about it a couple days ahead of time so I would be sure to not make plans. Then they surprised me with a gift certificate to a spa so I can get a massage or a facial or whatever I want! I thought about using it while I was away at the hotel, but decided my stay was too short and I will just use the spa day another time.

On the morning of my birthday, they surprised me with yet another gift - a MacBook Air! I have been wanting one for about 2 years but its something I couldn't justify for myself. I am so excited to finally have a computer I can (hopefully) rely on! I'm making an appointment soon to go in to the Apple store so they can teach me how to use it. Haha.

Later in the day we went to lunch with the Arnold's at Sweetwater. It felt very special to have everyone there celebrating with us. Of course the kids were all over the place, but Josh and the rest of the family handled them all so I could have a bit of a break. :)

After lunch I went home and packed a small overnight bag and said good-bye to my loves for the night! I checked in to the hotel and after sitting in peaceful, blissful silence for a while, I decided to head over to the mall for some shopping (ALONE!) and to get a new book. I bought myself a new pair of pants and Gone Girl, a book everyone has been telling me to read. When I got back to the hotel I grabbed a glass of wine from the bar and went up to my room to enjoy a quiet evening alone. I took a hot bath, listened to some music, sat in bed playing on the iPad, and then read about 2 pages of my book before falling asleep in the giant comfy bed. While I'd like to say I slept all night, that is not the case. I don't think my body knows how to do that anymore!? I woke up a couple times and then got up for the day at 7. I went down and grabbed a cup of coffee and sat in bed catching up on a lot of work and other things I wanted to get done before going back home. Took a long hot shower with the door closed. Ha!

Lauren and I also went out for my birthday drinks and a movie the week after my birthday. We made it through the drinks part, but we fell asleep a few minutes in to the movie. So old! We could have gone back to the bar for another drink, but I felt so tired and just wanted to go home. Such a mom move!

While it may seem silly and boring to some, this was exactly the birthday present I wanted. I feel rejuvenated and ready to take on the world. And the kids. :) I can't wait to see what the next 30 years brings my way.