2016 = Smiles and tears and smiles!

I apologize in advance if this post ends up long.
I have had the same Mom and Dad blue come to our BB houses on our property for years now. This pair has had it rough to put it mildly. I have dedicated a lot of time to learn about these blue beauty’s from where and how to place the houses to putting up guards from predators.
2014 and 2015 was down right unfair for my pair Id say. Mama laid four to five eggs at least three times just to find they were infertile and they never hatched! Poor Mama spent the entire summer in a hot box but her eggs just were not going to hatch and summer ended.
2016 Mama and Dad returned early in April chose a house close to our own and the worm feeder I put up on our closeline for them. Mama laid five eggs, they hatched fledged and three made it of the five! Soon after the first brood they chose another house right next to the first one, Mama laid four more eggs, they hatched and three of the four made it! They chose yet another house close by and Mama laid another four eggs, they hatched and Mama was always there when I put out worms. One evening when I was putting worms out for them I noticed that Mama was not around? The next day, same thing! I worried about her and her four newly hatched baby’s! By the third day I knew something had happened to her. I cried my eyes out heartbroken, Daddy blue cried and cried, and what about those four newly hatched baby’s? At first dad was not feeding them nor would he keep them warm at night. I did not really know what to do? I read everything I could on this situation hoping to save them but almost everything said to just let things be. But I had to do something to give these little bb’s a chance. I gathered up a bunch of pine needles and put them in the box to keep them warmer. I cut up some meal worms and fed them with tweezers. Dad finally started to feed them but not nearly enough and upon a box check I found one dead baby. More crying and expecting to lose the rest of them.
Finally some luck! The weather here in New England has been very dry and warm with no real cold nights. Dad stepped it up and started to feed the baby’s a lot more, with extra pine needles and warm dry weather the baby’s seemed to be warm enough. The meal worms I put out for Dad to feed them allowed them to grow fast and strong. The second brood showed up to help out it seemed? and low and behold those three little baby’s fledged and are almost feeding on there own at the worm feeder today!
I am SOOO proud of Daddy Blue, he really did a superior job bringing up those three baby’s on his own and in my opinion the very most important thing is feeding of meal worms!!
My yard is full of blue birds and I smile when I see them. I still cry for Mama but I know that my beautiful blue Dad will find another mate and hopefully be back next year.
I know a lot of you understand the pain of the loss of a BB, we cry and cry. But for me this year all the tears turned to smiles because my yard is so blue with wings.