the exterior of our house is being painted. and our very nice painters informed me that there was a bird's nest with eggs on one of the window sills on the second floor. he powerwashed our house in preparation for the painting and noticed it. he said he doesn't want to move it and would be able to work around it. at first, i was sort of whatever about it. up until now, birds kind of grossed me out. we always seems to have a ton of them around our house. and once i found a flock of them dead on our deck! so gross!! so really, they've just been kind of a nuisance to me. but he showed me the nest and i realized it was in front of addison's closet window. the next day, he said, "break out the champagne, there are two babies in there!" so, later that day and right before our bedtime routine, i peeked out the window and sure enough i saw the nest! my goodness! the babies were tiny... almost a little gross-looking. they were pink with no hair and buggy eyes. and i noticed one egg had not hatched yet. my motherly instincts kicked into overdrive! these ugly little babies were tugging on my heartstrings big time! one of the two was pretty active. it kept opening up it's mouth for food. the other little guy was more subdued. and then there was also the egg. i immediately got my camera and took some pics. the girls and i were so excited! so then i gave the kids a bath and tucked ellie in. and then after, addison and i checked on the nest again and noticed that one of the babies was gone!!! i wasn't quite sure what had happened. i was worried, but didn't want to let on to addison that i was worried. so i downplayed it. i thought maybe it was weak and didn't survive so the mom took it away somewhere. i didn't know. anyway, we checked the next day and noticed that he/she was still gone. :( i was sad. but also, on that next day, the third egg had hatched. we were then very careful to not bother the nest or the mother. we knew how important it was for her to protect and keep her babies safe and warm. so i stressed to addison to be extra quiet when she checked on them. addison was super excited about our new little family. but honestly, i was too! i looked online and read up that they were robins and these little nestlings will stay around for around 2 weeks and then they will fly away. i was so excited to watch their growth for the next two weeks!






it's been amazing. i actually saw the mother feeding the babies. we watched the mom diligently stay on the nest keeping them snuggled and warm. and if she happen to hear us, she would fly away, but only fly to the tree next to the nest and wait until she felt safe again and then go back onto her babies. it was so interesting. just from the few moments of observation, i could clearly see a mother's devotion to her offspring.

but then today something tragic happened. we checked on them in the morning. we noticed the usual happenings... mother sitting on them, protecting them. but then later in the day, i noticed while i was in the kitchen, something black flying by the window below the nest. i thought for a second, i hope the babies are okay. but then i got distracted with the kids. then later when we went up for bedtime, we looked and the nest was GONE!!! oh my gosh, my heart sank! i knew they were gone or hurt. i really tried to downplay it towards addison. i just told her that maybe something happened and they didn't survive. but i tried not to make it a huge issue. it was hard. after i tucked them in, i went outside and saw the nest on the bushes below. it was empty and i saw one baby dead on the ground!! i was devastated!! then i saw a robin, i think it was the mom in the tree making noise.. maybe crying. i seriously cried for a good 5 mintues. i'm guessing that it was a crow that i saw and he perhaps ate the babies? so terrible! i can't believe i got so attached to them so quickly. i guess since i'm a mom, i can relate. i felt so bad for that mama bird.

well, life and nature can be so cruel. but hopefully, that mama bird can lay eggs again and be safe. life goes on.... :(