Update Request Granted

I have had a request to update my readers on the doings of the Spiff Family.  We are so very interesting, after all, I'm sure that all three of you who occasionally read this have missed us greatly.  So, update you, I will!  You're welcome.

Little Lady is five months old already.  I cannot believe how fast she is growing.  I remember when Gunner was a baby, it seemed like he was a baby forever.  His infancy was eternal.  But I swear I have just blinked, and the first half of Lady's first year is almost over.  Time flies when you're having fun.  Or more accurately, when you're insane crazy busy.

Sooooo, the last five months:
Lady was a collicky baby.  That was a first for us, thank goodness.  I have never experienced the pain that is a constantly crying infant, and I hope to never experience it again.  It started by me noticing that she was fussy.  I couldn't put her down and have her stay happy.  And then a couple weeks after she was born, the crying started.  Every night at 8 o'clock sharp.  She cried for no apparent reason.  She was completely inconsolable, which was the hardest part.  I wanted so badly to help her, but nothing we did would help.  Spiff and I spent those first three+ months just making it to the next day because "the next day" would be one day closer to when she would grow out of the crying.

And she did grow out of it.  Now, she is a perfectly pleasant, sweet, smiley, chubbly little five-month-old baby girl, and I am so in love!  The boys are so in love!  They dote on her, talk to her, do anything they can to help her to be happy, and fight over who gets to hold her.  I hope they continue to love her this much because it would make me so happy if she has a great relationship with her older brothers.

We went to Camp in the summer time with Mhana and Chris.  It was a lovely vacation!  It was just wonderful to be with our family, and it made me miss them all the more.  I wish we didn't have to live so far away.

Gunner started school.  He is a kindergartener, and he loves it so very much!  I'm thrilled with him and his progress, and just so proud of him.  He is absolutely thriving!  His teacher is wonderful, he is learning by leaps and bounds, he is motivated to behave himself and always points out the "bad kids" who aren't so motivated to make good choices.  He is showing everyone how much like Spiff he is by being absolutely brilliant.  He is the first "2-Green Reader" in the class, which means that he knows 100 sight words (or something like that).  He is such a great kid, and such a joy to have around these days.

Hobbes is lonely at home without his big brother, and we are still trying to figure out life without Gunner.  I think Hobbes is getting the short end of the stick these days.  I'm super busy helping Gunner with his school stuff and piano lessons, and super busy with the baby and the house, which all doesn't leave that much time for my super independent Hobbes who doesn't like me to suggest activities for him.  Sounds like a typical middle-child situation going on.  We're slowly figuring it out, I guess.

Spiff has been busy busy busy at work.  He was in the cancer ICU during August, which was a horribly emotional and sad month.  He worked with patient going through tragedies every day, and every day  I would hug my family tighter and tighter.  September was OB and Call every three days, which got rather old rather quickly.  October was spent doing an Echocardiogram away rotation.  We just survived five weeks away from our spiff.  We could have gone with him, but I chose to stay here with the kids for various reasons.  (I didn't want to pull Gunner out of school, the baby is a whole lot of work and is easier to take care of at home, Spiff was working a ton, so we would have been lonely, etc.)  As hard as it was to be a single mom for five weeks, it was less work than it would have been to pack up the whole family and spend the month in Florida.  We survived, and now we're so glad Spiff is home.

A few other things:
Gunner also turned six.  What a big kid he is!
The boys are in swim lessons and loving it. 
Hobbes (3 1/2) figured out how to ride a pedal bike!  He has been obsessed with it.  Riding his pedal bike around and around our neighborhood is all he wanted to do during the whole month of October.  
We had the world's most beautiful Fall this year.  The colors on the trees were so vibrant!  It was wonderful, and now that they're all gone and Winter is upon us, I find myself pining away for those warm Fall days of leaf raking and kids playing outside.  I still don't think I am over Last Winter.  Not sure I ever will be...

That about wraps it up.  Happy Update to You!