My heart feels like it might explode

Doesn't yours too?


"We find a delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body." -Ralph Waldo Emerson



Nolan is nearing his second birthday and Gerret is a bit over 5 months now. Nolan is a fairly shy little boy and still (generally) mellow and quiet. Gerret is louder. He can roll over now and he learned to squeal, which is a nice word for high pitched scream. I think we'll try to unlearn that. They are both charming in their own unique ways. They are so sweet and so lovable. I just can't believe, sometimes, that they are mine.

Our lives are filled with aunts. Aunt Olivia and Aunt Elise finished school Thursday. Aunt Diana visited from Detroit this past week. Aunt Becky will be here in two weeks*. We love all of the aunts. I'm so grateful to have my little sisters around because they are big helps with the boys -especially during all the construction. Nolan said, "I love you" to Elise pretty clearly the other day. I hope that made her feel appreciated enough to keep on playing with him! I know it can be hard sometimes for them to deal with Nolan, but miraculously, they keep coming back for more and I am so thankful (and relieved). For my sweet little sisters, I sing, "The Aunts Go Marching Two by Two" whenever I think about how fantabuloso they are.


*A big congratulations and hooray to Aunt Becky, who just landed her first big person job as a 2nd grade teacher!!! --We are so happy for you and know that you'll be a fabulous teacher

Before Work

Aging

I guess we all do it, but it becomes more obvious to everyone, including yourself, when you start racking up the bigger numbers. Such as 24. I turned 24 last week and I'm feeling it. Maybe I'm feeling the being a mom of two little boys/living out of a suitcase/amidst construction/not having a home more than the consequences of aging, but whatever it is, I'm plagued by sleepy symptoms.

My birthday was nice. We spent most of it constructing, but I still thought it was nice because my boy stayed home from work especially for me. We did take a break to hike up Taughannock Gorge. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the waterfall before we had to make an emergency turn around for Gerret who was looking a little more than sleepy (he fell asleep on the five minute car ride back home). Despite the brevity of our hike, I thoroughly enjoyed being outside in beautiful weather, at a beautiful place, with my three favorite boys.

Later that evening, we took another break for a special birthday dinner followed by some Red Neck Golf and a ride in the paddle boat. And so ended my birthday. The end.

Grandpa Toys

Nolan owns more toys than I own shoes, but lately they don't hold his interest for more than a few minutes at a time. When you spend the majority of your time around grandpas, you get the extra treat of being around their toys as well and everyone knows that a grandpa's toys are far superior to little man toys. After all, little man toys are made to resemble grandpa toys, only they don't perform as smoothly (or at all). My little man has had enough experience with grandpa toys to realize that his toys are cheap imitations. They just don't cut it. He got his first ride on the tractor with Grandpa Murray last week and now he feels it necessary to drag me over to the tractor and point to it expectantly every time we go outside. When we're inside, he's always trying to sneak away with power tools. He knows how they work and he also knows that they work much better than the power tools they make for little men. He is in love with tractors, trucks, diggers, hammers, power drills, and well anything that makes loud noises and is capable of destruction. I can't blame him for his interest, but that doesn't excuse me from trying to curb it. And now there is a motorcycle that I have to compete with. What's a mom to do?