The last, 6-8ish months in a nut-shell.

It's been 3/4 of a year since my last real blog post. I guess you could say I've been busy with my 2 kiddos, but the real excuse is that I (we) am cheep and we just barely got internet after being in our new place for months.

Life around here has been mostly good, with the usual few bumps in the road. I've been told with each child, you tend to document less, take less pictures and just fall into life. It's true. I usually remember Oakley is a month older, the day after, then think 'well it's not actually his birthday, so I don't want to take a monthly picture on the wrong day'. Silly, I know.

Well, I remembered yesterday. My baby boy is EIGHT months old. In the last couple of weeks he started scooting, then crawling, he got his first 2, bottom teeth on the same day and he's pulling up to everything. He pushes around any toy he can use as a walker, claps his hands when he's excited, follows me around the house, crawls into the kitchen, opens cupboards, tips the trash can over...drives me crazy and makes me soooo happy within the same minute.

Thus far, Oakley has made Tyler and I wonder if we'll be daughter-less forever. But seriously, he's either the happiest baby on earth or an absolutely screaming/crying, back-arching, refusing to eat, hot mess. I recently had a pediatrician tell me that his problem was "likely behavioral" at a sick visit, that ended up not being an ear infection, or any sickness at all that was causing the blood curdling screams. I was advised to let him CIO- not something I'm willing to do. SO, we're living with it.

There are some times where he's happier than any kid I know, and those are the times in my day that I look forward to the most. He loves bath time, or any water interaction he can get. He loves playing with dad's keys and watching Baby Einstein. But, I'd say his favorite part(s) of the day is what the Willards, inappropriately refer to as 'titty time'.

I'm so proud that we've made it 8 months breast feeding. If you know me well, you know that it is my least favorite thing about having a new baby. Some people love it, I'm not one of them. We do it because it's what's best and I'm not ok with shoving (whatever crap) is in formula down my kid's throat for my own selfishness. We're finally at the stage that it's more convenient than not, and there's no real reason to stop.. and now I can say I don't hate it, I just don't like it. Progress.

Since having 2, I'd say my most favorite part is seeing the two of them interact. Ryder and Oakley love each other more than any siblings I've ever seen. Ryder will hug him, and roll back and forth around the living room, or on our bed and Oak thinks it's the most fun he's ever had. Ryder calls him some adorable pet-names like, sugar pie, baby blue eyes, baby boy, chunky monkey-- just to name a few. He's always asking "where's Oakley?" if he's napping or gone somewhere with dad. I love how close they are, I love that I had 2 boys in a row to be buddies to each other forever.

Ryder is my 2 1/2 going on 16, nearly vegetarian, smarty-pants. He wants to drive (and we let him), fix things with tools, do everything his dad is doing and talks about wanting to be a Fire Fighter "like daddy" when he grows up (no, Tyler isn't a FF. but we roll with it). He corrects me everyday on the differences between tractors i.e.: "that's not a back-hoe, that's a LOADER, mom!" and lets me know which kind of truck is next to us driving, including the make, and type of diesel that it has. He's too smart for his own good and certainly makes his daddy proud with his knowledge of all that boy stuff that I don't understand.

He has a humor, that I know will get him in some trouble when he's older. It's a mixture of dry and straight forward/I can't believe he just said that/but it was hilarious. He references body parts far too often, but he's so accurate that you're more proud than angry ;). Aside from the occasional "no, I don't really love you, too", the fact that he needs a serious hair(tail) cut and the normal terrible-two tantrums, I love the little guy.

This summer we've been swimming a lot. My in-laws have a pool so we've been over there quite a bit, along with a couple other friend's pools and even the public pool and splash pads. Summer has just started and I've realized that it's not worth going anywhere outside with 2 kids on your hip unless there will be water involved.

As for Tyler and I, aside from the norm, work, parent things, we've been doing awesome. Tyler is still working as a plumber and I'm still home wrangling the kids and my sister moved in with us in recent weeks. We also celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary in May. I don't know if it's like this for everyone, but it sneaks up on me every year. I can't believe it's been another year already. I guess that's how things go when you marry your best friend and high school sweetie-pie.

Since I should have more inside/air conditioned free time than I have had, I am hoping to update my blog more than once every 6months. I'm hoping to get my home unpacked just in the nick of time so that I can re-pack it when our lease is up, maybe buy a boat, possibly move somewhere cool for a year, maybe end up loving it and staying. We don't know, and I think we're beginning to like it that way.