It’s been 6 months since Oli joined our little family. He’s 6 months old! Wow! Time both feels fast and slow at the same time. Not sure that was possible but somedays feel longer than others. The days are longer when there are sick kids in the house. Everyone is cranky, sad or just plain not feeling good so those days are all about survival. Time is fast when Oli is wearing some of Robin’s clothes when Robin was Oli age 🥲.

I first want to talk about some not so fun things to talk about. The reason I do this is because I don’t want people to think I live a fake perfect life. I want to show people they are not alone when it comes to certain trials in their life. If someone needs me, I’ll be there the best I can. Seriously though, if you need someone to talk to or someone to listen or anything really I’m here! Don’t be afraid to ask.

First is it just me or are adult relationships hard to maintain? Maybe it’s just me but sometimes it’s hard. I understand we have busy lives but it would be nice to have someone or multiple people to just go “hey you want to hang out (insert place here) tonight (or sometime in short notice)”. Like I see these TV shows or even people on Facebook who have super close friendships since like elementary, middle or high school or even college. I do appreciate having some kind of friendship with some people but I feel like I can’t just randomly text someone to hang out without feeling like I might be bothering them. Or maybe friends think I can’t hang because I have little babies. Thank you for being considerate but I can try and make arrangements. Thank goodness I live close to family. It makes it a little easier dropping off the boys if I need to or want to go somewhere. (Of course if they are able to). Second parenthood is hard. Some days are so draining that all I want to do is just survive the next day. Every parent I talk to always says, “enjoy it when they are little because you are going to miss it.” To that I kind of agree, kind of don’t. So I know every stage of life as a parent, whether it be when they are babies or teenagers, it’s going to be hard. Each stage has their own challenges. They also have their perks. Like there are times I wish Robin was a baby but other times I don’t. And there are times I wish Oli was a little older and sometimes I just wish he stayed a baby. I think that’s part of parenthood. It comes with challenges no matter what stage in life you are in. I understand why we had an early bedtime when I was a child. It’s so we can give our parents a break! But I do love it at the same time. (See reasons below). My third and last topic, parenting books. (This is going to more like venting). I really do not like most parenting books. I understand it’s there to help parents but gosh dang most claim that their book works for every single baby. News flash, it doesn’t. Although it might, MIGHT work for most babies it does 👏🏼 not 👏🏼 work 👏🏼 for 👏🏼 ALL. They sure do like making you feel bad if their method doesn’t work for your baby. I know when it doesn’t work for me, I feel like the worst parent in the world. My thoughts go spiraling wondering what in the world I’m doing wrong. It’s taken me a long time to figure this out but not all size fits all when it comes to parenting. You are the parent, you know what’s best for your child. Not someone you barely know, not someone who claims they know all the parenting hacks. YOU! The parent. Anyways in the end, yes read the parenting book, learn what works for your family, and grow as a parent. Most of time (at least for me) it’s trial and error. But you decide what works and what doesn’t. You have that power to choose what is best for that sweet child. Parenting is all about learning and growing. That’s life. So you do you.

Speaking of parents, I do want to say how grateful I am to have parents that love their grandkids and spoil them so much. I really appreciate them taking the time for grandkids trips and loving them so much. The same goes to Alex parents. They freakin love the boys and they spoil them too. I love that they have such loving grandparents. I couldn’t as for better grandparents for my children.

Now time for some good things in life. Let’s start with Robin. He’s 2 1/2 years old and is growing too fast 🥲. So proud of this kid! His vocab has come a long way! He copies a lot of words we say and knows so many words I lost count! He loves to ride his balance bike and tricycle. His favorite animal is a monkey. Gets so excited when he sees one. Although he does love animals in general. He loves like really loves chocolate. All kinds of chocolate, white, milk, dark and even chocolate covered raisins or nuts. He also really loves all moving vehicles like cars, trucks, tractors, airplanes, excavators, and buses. I love seeing his character and personality grow. It’s so fun getting to know my little (maybe not so little) boy. His favorite shows are blippi, cars 1 and 3, cocomelon and some Disney movies (like moana and encanto). He does not like cars 2 (will not sit through it). It’s like he knows it’s the worst one. He is still very much a mama’s boy. Although Robin gets jealous of Oli being with me sometimes, he loves him too. He’s a great helper when it comes to helping with taking care of Oli. I love him seeing him take the role of big brother.

Oli’s turn! He’s 6 months old, 27 inches and 19 lbs! He’s in 12 month clothes already because his thighs are so chunky! I love his chunkiness! Such a big boy! He loves to sit up by himself and does it really well. No teeth yet that doesn’t stop him from eating real food. His favorite food right now are peanut puffs. He sure has some strong gums. He also loves his reflection. Every time he sees himself in the mirror, he has the biggest smile. Reminds me of Robin. Robin still likes looking at himself in the mirror. (I wish I had their confidence). Oli can stand on his legs with support pretty good too. Both Robin and daddy play rough with Oli but he seems to like them playing with him. He likes being talked to as well and he babbles a lot. He loves Robin! He is always watching him and seeing what he does. When Robin laughs, he laughs. He adores his big brother.

Not much new going on with Alex and I. We try and do a date night every week just so we can have some time for ourselves. Alex and I are deep thinkers. There are some interesting podcast that we both enjoy listening to. We also like trying out some good food. Any recommendations are welcome or if you would like to join us on a food adventure, let us know! We try to go out and try something new but we then end up back to what we know. Besides that, parenthood does take a lot of time. We try to do trips as a family. We also try to do a trip with just the two of us every year as well. Not sure where we are going this year. Robin’s already been on a cruise with his grandparents and cousins. Oli had his first plane ride to see his uncles in Chicago and saw snow for the first time! We also took a trip with Alex’s family to a really fun airbnb that had a tree house! Although Robin was a little sick, we still had fun making memories.

Until next time,

Stephanie