Pumpkin Cookies and Bad Hair Days

Wow! I haven't added a new post in over 3 months! What in the world could I have been doing with my time?! Oh, wait - I remember. I was super pregnant and chasing a 2-yr old, and now I am caring for a newborn and chasing a 2-yr old. Damn - no wonder I'm so freakin' tired!

So, yes, there have been many changes in our home over the past few months. Casey moved into a "big boy bedroom" and there was much discussion over the size of bed we should use, and whether we should put it on a frame, and where in the room to place the bed. All of this was apparently in vain as Casey has chosen to sleep on the floor in front of his door rather than use the perfectly good twin bed and box springs we carefully chose for his room. All night long I can hear him rolling over and thumping against the door. I've tried asking him why he doesn't sleep in his bed, and he just shrugs. I guess even at 2 we all have our quirky preferences.

And why is it that I am awake in the middle of the night to hear my eldest son snoozing on the floor of his room? Because my youngest son wakes up every 2 hours to eat. And I mean every 2 hours from when he started eating. Which means that if it takes him 30 minutes to eat - well, it doesn't take a math genius to figure out that I'm not doing much sleeping. Aside from his endless appetite, Connor is certainly low maintenance in comparison to Casey. Sleep, eat, poop. Sleep, eat, poop. That's his daily agenda, with the occasional period of alertness thrown in just to let us know he's around. All while sporting a head full of dark hair that stands straight up, no matter how I try to brush it. Casey on the other hand continues to be a whirling dervish of energy - constantly in motion and frequently getting into something he shouldn't. I've found the key is to keep him busy, like helping me make pumpkin cookies (which turned out very pretty but not very edible). I can't believe I once thought taking care of one newborn was hard. That wasn't hard. This is hard.

This is hard, but also wonderful. Although we have technically been a family since the day we took our marriage vows, I haven't truly felt like a family until now. We had our first outing as a foursome last weekend to do some pumpkin hunting, and I felt such contentment with us all being together. Of course, I also participated in a wine tasting during the day, so that may have helped emphasize the "warm and fuzzy" way I was feeling. But I'm pretty sure it was mostly due to the happiness of being a mom to two beautiful boys and a wife to a man I love very much.

I have to cut myself off here (probably a good thing, since the post was starting to resemble a Hallmark card commercial) and get back to taking care of these boys. These boys who sleep on the floor or don't sleep at all and make pumpkin cookies and have bad hair days. These boys who have made my life challenging and wonderful, all at the same time, just by being here.