boy, oh boys....

This week the babies will be 7 1/2 months old, and I can't believe it! They've grown so quickly, and matured so much from the petite little guys they were when they were first born! Well, this past weekend was the "Frick Family & Friends" Camp-out. Todd took the big boys down on late Thursday afternoon and they returned yesterday. They came home smelly, dirty, and hungry. Even though there were a few minor injuries, both boys had a great time. I think the babies and I had a pretty enjoyable weekend as well. We spent most of the time with my mom, just running errands and getting stuff done. We even went up to Chouteau to get more chicken pot pies from Nettie Ann's bakery, and made a quick stop into Amish Furniture, and they were SO GOOD for us! I've been very blessed with these little guys.

So I mentioned that the boys went camping, and they came home a bit smelly- as well as all of their laundry. Even the clothes they didn't wear, so I've been doing load after load of laundry to get things ready for the rest of the week. This morning I put Mason in the Bumbo chair and had Parker in one of the bouncy seats while I went to fold up some laundry and change loads from the washer to the dryer. I was gone maybe 5 minutes tops, and when I came back in the room Mason was on the floor crawling and smiling at me. Gunnar denied helping him get out of the chair, so I can only assume Mason escaped from the Bumbo chair so he could practice his crawling! I asked my mom if we were somehow related to Harry Houdini- I've never had a baby escape like that before! I tell Todd all the time "I don't remember the older boys doing this...." or "do you remember the big boys ever doing that?" He constantly has to remind me that the big boys were in daycare for several years apiece, and may not have had the same full time interaction like these babies do.

I feel like I have forgotten so much about the big boys being babies, hence I am always asking Todd if he remembers things about them. Then it occurred to me one day: I barely spent any time with the big boys during the week, of course I don't remember things about them, I wasn't around them but for maybe 4 hours of the day! I would get them up and ready, drop them off at daycare, work 8 hours, then take them home, feed them, bathe them, and put them to bed. And some days I only saw them when I dropped them off in the morning because I had school until 11 o'clock at night. I missed so many "firsts" with the big boys, and while I don't regret working, I do regret not being around for them in their most formative years. I've been able to see every single thing Parker and Mason do, and I love it! These little angels are so loving and affectionate, we practically give kisses all day long (in fact, my lips have been chapped on several occasions because of those days filled with kisses!) and I wonder if Chase or Gunnar were like that with their daycare workers. The big boys learned to crawl and walk when I wasn't around, and I've been able to work so much with the twins that I feel an enormous sense of well being just knowing that I was their first word-"mama." Well, enough of the guilt of a working mother for now....need to run and pick up Chase. Later.