5 months

5 month old recap:  

He is sweet and social.  He spits up constantly.  His toots are deadly.  He battles eczema on his cheeks and chest.  He naps 30-45 minutes at a time.  He is in constant motion.  He loves to be held in a standing position.  If I try to recline him against something, he pulls himself up into a sitting position and then falls over.  If I put him on his back, he immediately tries to do a sit up.  He gives great hugs.  He grabs your cheeks and tries to eat your face.  He is ticklish under his arms and his sides.  His hair is getting thick on the top so we might have another baby with a killer mohawk.  He went on his second plane trip two weekends ago.  He talked and sang to the woman sitting next to me for most of the flight down.  If she would go back to reading her book and try to ignore him, he would get louder and more animated until she looked at him and smiled.  His feet and hands are sweaty just like Sam's were.  He is going to be a hot mess when summer temperatures roll around.  He will take a paci but much prefers his hands and thumb.  Sometimes he puts his thumb directly into the hole of the paci and chomps on his thumb that way.  Last Thursday he weighed 18.3 lbs and was 25 1/2 inches tall.  

William, you really wear us out.  But we love you anyways.  

Oh Spring

Dear Indiana Spring, you suck.  We know Winter is going to be bad so we hunker down, have people over for dinner, sit in front of the fire, watch tv, read, lay in the sunshine when it's available and wait.  We wait and wait and wait.  We are waiting for you, Spring.  March rolls around.  There are a few nice days because you like to tease us but then you just go back to being crappy and snowy and cold.  April arrives and with it comes rain and mud and skies so grey I think the sky is closing in on me.  I feel claustrophobic.  Spring, we have been patient.  We have made the most of the long, long months of inside time.  For the love of all Hoosiers, would you mind bringing some warmth and sunshine for more than a day at a time?  Regretfully yours, The Mosers

Stella loves, loves this dear little boy.  She asked if he could sit on her lap while she drew pictures.  I told her she could try it.  Lately, he hasn't been as agreeable to the siblings holding him and would rather be with me.  But he snuggled in and kept leaning further and further into her.  A friend commented on this photo on Instagram that this photo is "just what you remember childhood feels and looks like."  I loved that.  

 My Christmas cactus that is only supposed to bloom at Christmas started blooming again last week.  It's confused by the nasty Spring weather.  Me too, Christmas cactus, me too.

A sunny day!  I love that it was only in the upper 40s but the kids kept stripping off hats and gloves and coats and sweatshirts.  By the end of our walk, they were all in t-shirts and my stroller was overflowing with clothing.

 Looking fit.

We had a nice day last week and got the baby swing out.  Stella was jumping up and down with excitement.  William loved it.  He went from extremely happy to extremely sleepy.  We hope to spend many more hours in the backyard soon.

 It was only 60 degrees but I had to see William in this outfit at least one time before he outgrew it.  Who doesn't love a baby in terrycloth?

Grandma's 90th

To the woman that taught me life's always more fun when you're a little bit ornery, happy 90th birthday.

This lady.  She has been such a treasure in my life.  She is spunky and kind.  We laugh so much.  Sometimes I laugh at her and sometimes I laugh with her.  We have cried together over loss and the shared pain of losing a sister.  She likes grey days.  I like sunshine.  We both love indoor plants and donuts and chocolate.  She loves brown.  I love black.  She teases my kids and they tease her back.  At two years old, Benjamin grabbed her shoes off of her feet when we were sitting on the porch and threw them into the yard.  She chased after him and my grandpa just howled.  None of us were ever ornery with Grandpa.  Grandma just begs to be picked on and so we did.  Back and forth.  Laughing and teasing and hugging.  Oh, how I love her.  When I'm with her, I feel like I'm with a kindred spirit.  I won the grandma lottery with dear Ruth.

She had told my mom "NO party" but my mom didn't listen.  She gathered all of Grandma's local relation together at Sara's Garden.  Drew and I picked Grandma up and told her we were going to Matt's for lunch but had to stop by Sara's Garden first so Matt could give us a tour of the new school.  Matt came out to help her out of the van and told all of us that we needed to be quiet for the tour because there was a party going on inside.  Isa said, "Grandma's party?!"  Thankfully, Grandma is hard of hearing and completely missed Isa's remark.  He led her inside and she just stood in front of the 30 people facing her and stared.  She recognized all of the faces but could not make the connection that it was HER party until my sister in law said, "Surprise!"  She backed up against the wall in tears.  After the party and a very, very long nap to recover, she told my mom, "I should be mad at you because you did not obey my wishes....but I had so much fun."

William is a back breaker.  He is fully filling out 12 month clothing.  His extroverted little self loved the party and all the attention.

 The kids had so much fun.  All the school equipment kept them entertained and active for 3 hours.

Easter Sunday.  Sadly, I left the girls' darling vintage Easter dresses hanging in the laundry room at home.  Oh well.  At least I remembered underwear.

 The birthday girl and her party planner.