The kids and I spent another wonderful Thanksgiving break with my family in Illinois this year, and every day I remembered exactly how thankful I am for what we have.
The week started out less than stellar with 2 heads full of lice (uggghhh!!!!) on Monday, $500 unexpectedly spent in treatment for that, then getting rear ended on the highway Tuesday night on the way down to my mom’s house to begin our trip (thankfully no damage or injury!), but fortunately that was the worst of it. Each day after that was great.
I have always known how important family is. You only get one, whether you like it or not. And I am very thankful for the one I have. It was so much fun watching my kids play and have fun with my family just as I did when I was their age. The circle of life!
Last month we took our second annual trip up to Eagle River with friends, just like last November. In fact, I just reread that post (click right here!), and this trip was much the same. I’ll highlight 2 main differences: This year we saw hardly any deer – quite the switch from last year, where we had to drive well under highway speeds for about the last hour of the 4-hour drive up so we didn’t slam into one, and where they came up to the patio door of our condo daily. Secondly, the pool at our place was closed for repairs during our stay this time, so thankfully they paid the fee for us to use the pool at another hotel about 10 miles away. That saved the vacation for the kids, ha!
Once again, it was a fun 4 days with good friends, good food, good wine, a fireplace, and some good family relaxing time. I might even check into the availability up there for next summer. The rates are much higher, but we’re familiar with the place now, we know that it’ll hold all of us (for now!), and their summer activities sound great. We shall see. Either way, a happy Fall tradition has begun. Hopefully it continues for many years!
Morrison has been my little buddy since the day he was born, but it’s shown itself even more this year since he started school. I like to think it’s because he misses me during the mornings while he’s at school, or maybe it’s because I miss him during the mornings while he’s at school.
He absolutely adores playing with the twins, which is the most heartwarming thing I could have hoped to happen when we added 2 more kids to our family at once. There has never been an ounce of jealousy from him or any feeling of isolation when attention focuses on the twins. He jumps in and tries to help in the ways he knows how. Which can sometimes be a little much when I’m just trying to get them to stop screaming, but which are usually spot on. And it’s obvious that the twins love him to the moon and back. The 3 of them chase each other around laughing uncontrollably, and no matter how crabby I may be in those moments, I can’t help but just laugh right along with them. The cuteness is overwhelming. And of course his heart swells when he plays with his big sisters, whom he adores equally as much. He’s the middle.
He has a heart of pure gold. His teachers have told me numerous times how wonderful he is at school, how sweet he is to everyone, and how good of a friend he is. He is particularly helpful with one of the special needs friends in his class, and his main teacher told me how amazing he is with this student in particular – always making sure he’s included and can get to or do whatever everyone else is doing; always helping him in their little groups; always sharing. She thanked me for raising such a great kid and said to keep doing whatever I’m doing, but that’s just it with Morrison. I’m really not doing anything – this is all him and his beautiful little spirit.
He’s one of the happiest, most cheerful kids I’ve ever known. Sure he has his meltdowns and still cries sometimes when he doesn’t get his way or his sisters aren’t letting him do whatever, but in general, he is incredibly joyful. He comes out of their room every morning with a sleepy, “Good morning, Mama,” and a hug for me. Except that one morning after a night Packers game where my daily greeting was replaced with, “Go Pack Go.” I’ll let that one slide. 😉 But he is constantly giggling, laughing, bouncing and skipping around, and his little smile is ridiculously infectious.
He loves school with his entire being. He had no hiccups starting this year whatsoever, and I think it’s because he was already so familiar with the place, having been going there literally his whole life. Now it was finally his turn to get to go in with his sisters, and he couldn’t wait. He comes bounding out the doors every day with an excitement that hasn’t wavered since the very first day in September. I get the best running hug you can even imagine.
He has an amazing knack for numbers that has developed these past couple months. Just tonight he counted to 115 for me and didn’t get one number wrong! He rattles off address numbers as we drive down the street; he loves sports (he just started tennis lessons, too), always asks if there are any games on to watch that day, then constantly updates you on the score of the games; he keeps track of the time on any clock with precision. It’s really impressive, and I’ve taken to calling him “Stats” because of it. But man, for a 4 year old, he is so good. He knows double- and triple-digit numbers, knows some addition and subtraction already, and is always surprising me with how much he knows.
This boy. Morrison John. My boy. For as much as I fully expected a third girl to come out on his birthday, I cannot imagine life without him as him. It definitely wouldn’t be as special as it is now. I love him with every single fiber of my being and feel so lucky to be his Mama.
Lana turned 7 last month, and I don’t think anyone in the world could fill my heart and soul quite like this one does. I love all of our children beyond words, but Lana has a sparkle that is rare. She twinkles through life like no one I have ever known.
She still loves art, space, and Nigh-Night with all her heart, and even though she needs to stop sucking her thumb, I told her Nigh-Night can and should be a lifelong friend. She enjoys life with everything she is, and watching her eyes light up when she’s having fun is one of the most joyous things I’ve ever witnessed. She adores Della and would follow her to the ends of the earth. She loves her little brothers, too, and I can tell how proud she is when she helps calm the babies and makes them happy. It sometimes takes a little prodding to get her to help, but she’s very good at it once she does.
This lucky little girl got a couple birthday celebrations this year. We started off by doubling our block party as a mini birthday party for her, and she got to invite 2 friends from school. The girls helped me make mini cupcakes again, and Lana decorated them with jelly belly beans. She wanted to do candy corns on top, but for some reason we couldn’t find any at the grocery store when we were getting the ingredients. So she chose the jelly beans instead because she said they looked like little ghosts. Perfect!
Then on her actual birthday she got to open one present before school. Ryan picked her and Della up from school that day and took them to pick out her requested sushi for dinner, then later that afternoon he took the big 3 down to the lakefront to watch the monstrous waves. They got ice cream at the custard stand down there, then she had a regular-sized cupcake that she decorated with 7 jelly beans for her birthday treat after dinner. A day full of treats, the best kind!
That following weekend, my dad came up and brought her a giant birthday cake from my favorite bakery in Peoria, so the parties continued! That Sunday was our neighborhood trick-or-treating, which is one of her favorite things.
At her parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago, her teacher said how smart she is in math, which honestly took me by complete surprise. She’s never really mentioned math at all, but once I took a closer look at her papers and quizzes, I realized she is really, really good at it. Her teacher also said how sometimes she gets distracted easily and it takes a couple tries to get her back on track, and I said oh yes, that is Lana to a tee. 😀 Her teacher had forgotten that Lana was #2 of 5 kids, and once she remembered that, she not only commented on how amazing I was (well yes of course, thank you very much, ha!) but how great Lana is for being one of 5 children. I said well, that’s just life now, and we’re living it! She said Lana is a great friend in class and that her name came up very often when the teacher asked other students who their good friends were, and that makes me happier and more proud than any math scores ever will.
Lana Marie Rau. Our human fairy. We love you so very, very, very much, my sweet baby girl. You and I are alike in so many ways, it makes my heart shine. Never ever lose your twinkle and goofiness – they make you so wonderfully you. Happy 7th birthday!! May this be your most incredible year yet!
The twins are now 20 months old, but we just had their 18 month checkup a few weeks ago. Here are their official 18 month stats:
Nat
Height: 33.25″ (63%)
Weight: 23 lbs. 12 oz. (36%)
Head: 47.7 cm (53%)
BMI: 15.1 kg/m2 (22%)
Avit
Height: 34.5″ (93%)
Weight: 27 lbs. 5 oz. (82%)
Head: 48.8 cm (82%)
BMI: 16.1 kg/m2 (52%)
The heights are definitely off again because they are not over an inch apart in height, but everything else looked good. Growing right along!
So where to even begin with these two right now… I alternate between marveling (still) at the fact that we have twins and how I could not love 2 little simultaneous boys any more, and the utterly soul-crushing frustration that comes with trying to control, corral, teach, and raise 2 little simultaneous boys. Plus their 3 older siblings. And these swings often happen every 5 minutes, all day long. No wonder I always look like the walking dead!
I’m home with just the twins in the mornings now while Morrison is at school, and they have actually gotten to the point where I can put on PBS kids, let them play, and get a couple things accomplished in those few hours without worrying every second that they’re going to destroy everything or seriously harm each other. Baby steps.
I’m also trying very hard to keep them awake all morning now, but they are so very fond of that morning nap. When we walk to school they usually do fall asleep when I go back to get Morrison around 10:30 and are then asleep for about an hour, which generally screws up the afternoon nap that I need all 3 boys to take. Nat will go back down fine in the afternoon when that happens, but Avit usually won’t. (that picture below of Avit’s bed with a big green lump in it is him – one day during his nap i heard him start crying pretty hard, went in, and found that he had gotten himself all the way under the fitted sheet without getting any of the corners up. how??) If we drive to school, they can usually stay awake the whole time, which means a good chunk of 2-3 hours when they’re both asleep in the afternoon while Morrison naps, too. It is glorious, but I don’t want to give up all the exercise I’m getting walking 6 miles a day with the 3 trips to/from school.
They do still go to bed by about 6:00 in the evening, and the middle-of-the-night wakeups for a pacifier or just to cry out or whatever have dwindled significantly. Avit does talk in his sleep, though, which is hilarious. However, their new morning wakeup time is 4:45, which does not jive with me. On school days my alarm goes off at 5:30, so when they wake up too early I put on Daniel Tiger and they happily sit in their cribs learning life lessons while I sleep. I thought this early wakeup time was due to the summer light, since that’s when it started, but now I don’t know why it’s sticking around. Changing their bedtime doesn’t make them wake up any later, either. Sometimes they’ll sleep until 5-5:30, but I can’t get them to stretch it past that yet. No wonder they’re exhausted by the end of the morning – they wake up too damn early! Coffee, coffee, coffee.
They love to run back and forth across the house, which is hysterical to watch because they often get going too fast for their own feet and crash into each other. If you give them a box, they could play forever, and they are really good about getting their little toys and books out and occupying themselves. When it gets too quiet in the living room when I’m here with just them, I always walk out expecting to see a disaster, but usually it’s just a lull in their action to watch whatever is on PBS. It’s always PBS kids these days, no more Little Baby Bum. And Daniel Tiger is definitely their favorite. Sometimes I do catch them up on the couch messing with Ryan’s stuff, but thankfully nothing major has been demolished yet. (knock on wood!) They have so much fun playing with each other now, but oh, do they adore their big brother and sisters!
Avit chatters and babbles all day long, saying “Hi truck!” and blowing kisses to everything he sees pass by the window, but most of it is completely unintelligible. All of it, however, is completely adorable. He does have a very distinct version of “thank you” and knows quack-quack for ducks and night-night. He is also an incredible cleaner-upper and will put on any pair of shoes he can find and clomp around the house in them. Nat doesn’t make quite so much “talking” noise, but good lord can his screams pierce an ear drum. It is literally an enraging sound, and it takes every ounce of motherly calm I possess not to strangle him when he goes into one of his screaming fits. Which is often. Very often. More coffee. And wine.
Nat is really good at mimicking words you say – bath-bath, night-night for bed, eat-eat while signing “eat.” please while signing “please,” puffs, something that sounds like Mommy even though they all call me Mama so he never hears the word Mommy, quack-quack, and poop. Of course poop.
They have gotten a little less picky at eating, but Avit still prefers meat/protein far more than Nat. I have switched Avit to 2% milk with the rest of the kids since our pediatrician said they could both go to it now, but I still give Nat whole. Little Natty-Nat needs to bulk up compared to Avit. Avit’s feet, I swear, are already almost twice the size of Nat’s! These two really could not be more different.
Avit is so funny. For as bulldog-ish as he appears, he is the sweetest, most snuggly guy, and he gives the most wonderful hugs, back pats, and arm rubs. He was rubbing my arm today with his head on my shoulder before nap, and I could have held him there forever. Nat is a featherweight in comparison, and he is definitely the mama’s boy of the two. Whenever anything is wrong, I’m the one who has to pick Nat up to calm the screaming. Always me. Sometimes Della, never Ryan, but usually me. More wine.
To make up for Nat’s hogging of my attention, I always try to give Avit some extra hugs and snuggles whenever I can. I never thought twin boys could be so lovable, but when these two come running up to me, arms outstretched in love (not meltdowns), pacifiers going, snuggle blanket corners gripped tightly, they’re pretty irresistible.
It’s hard to believe we’re approaching 2 years with these little guys. They sure can make some days challenging, but then others I feel like the luckiest mama on earth.
The big 3 all started school after Labor Day, and I can’t even believe Morrison is there with the girls now!
Della and Lana were both excited to get to know their teachers after finding out who they had at registration and meeting them at Meet and Greet, and I am just elated that Morrison got Mrs. Koch, who both the girls had for K4 and who is now paired with Mrs. French as the paraprofessional in her room. Mrs. Koch is so wonderful, and Mrs. French is the absolute nicest person I’ve ever met. The two of them combined is going to be amazing.
The morning of the very first day ended up being stormy and rainy, so all grades except K4 were able to line up inside. Fortunately they were split up between areas so the entire school didn’t try to jam into one place, and double fortunately the girls lined up in the same area. So their lines ended up being closer together than they usually are, and I was able to wave them both off through their lines the entire way. I even got to watch Lana go all the way into her classroom before heading back out to get Morrison for his start.
Morrison has been beyond excited to start this school year, and I love seeing him come out so happy every day. It warms my heart to no end when I hear that they’ve all already seen each other in the hallways, and I know how ready he is to be part of the school community, just like his big sisters. The 3 of them will be at this school together for 2 years now, which will be great.
Have a fantastic year, my loves! I know you’ll all finish taller and wiser than you started – I’m right there with you every second, even when you can’t see me. I love you all so much and am so very, very proud!
We finally got our car back mid-August, and then I packed what we would have been doing all summer into about a week. It was jam-packed, but it was so much fun!
We explored the Urban Ecology Center, went out for donuts then to the zoo, picnicked at a park we’d never been to before, saw a field of 500,000+ sunflowers, spent a day in Madison with one of my dearest friends and her children, went up to Bookworm Gardens, and of course, kept walking. (watch out, LOTS of pictures coming here!)
Happy to be back in our car!
Human sun dials
Super cool Lego dinosaur exhibit at the zoo
Even without a car for most of it, this was a great summer home with all the kids again, and I am sad to see it go. But all 3 big kids are excited for school this year, which always makes me so happy. Until next year, summer!
