May 31

Ahhh... back to our routine. Sort of.

Caleb was exceptionally kind today, and slept until 7:00 this morning, then took a three and a half hour nap this afternoon. I think he's finally caught up on all of his sleep!

Daisy did some serious napping, too.

We didn't do much today, just went on a walk and went to Target to buy sheets for Caleb's new big boy bed. When we got to Target, though, I found some really good clearance deals on clothes for both of my kiddos, so I might have spent a bit more than I intended...

More importantly, though, Daisy tried out cloth diapers for the first time today!

They're HUGE on her, but she doesn't seem to mind.

(Do you SEE that smile? And the dimple? I'm not making this up, people.)

The diapers are BumGenius 4.0s, which are made to be used from 8 pounds through potty training. The early bulkiness is a compromise for not having to ever buy diapers again. I think I'll let Daisy have a bubble butt for a while if it means saving that much money!

While I was adjusting my camera settings, Caleb snuck up and gave his sister a kiss. 

I love the little face Daisy made after he kissed her!

Caleb is such a ham. This is the face he made when I asked him to smile for the camera.

This is a genuine smile, because he figured out that he can climb up on his new bed and turn his noise machine on and off.

May 30

We had a busy, busy Memorial Day!

Thankfully, Caleb slept in this morning - a good thing, because Caleb didn't get to bed until 9:00 last night. After some blueberry oatmeal pancakes, we all got in the car and went shopping for...

a big boy bed!

I'm not sure how it's going to work out, but we got a twin-size mattress and box spring for Caleb. Right now, he's really excited about it. 

I'm not sure he fully understands that soon he'll be sleeping on the bed, instead of his crib. We're not going to rush things, though. My plan is for him to get used to it being in his room, and get comfortable playing and sitting on it, and then start using it for naptime, then bedtime. Hopefully by July, he'll be sleeping in his big boy bed full time, and we can start thinking about moving Daisy into the room with him.  I know lots of you have been there, done that, so I'd love any mom-advice about making the transition!

Meanwhile, Miss Daisy has been pooping up a storm. I think I mentioned in a post the other day that she was pooping every other day. I suppose this is a prime example of saying something out loud, only to be proven wrong. 

"Who, me?"

Poor Daisy's face is also peeling. Sweet baby!

And really, I swear the kid is intentionally smiling at me. Tonight I was taking these photos, and she followed the camera lens around with her eyes. Then when I got my face close to hers, she gave me a big smile! 

My shutter-finger was only quick enough to capture the remnants of the smile, but I swear she did it! It can't be just gas - she likes the camera, but she likes me better!

Tomorrow it's back to life as usual. At least it's only a four-day week!

May 29

Another late post. Sorry.

So I told you in yesterday's post about how Caleb wouldn't sleep in the hotel room. It was a rough night. Luckily, he slept in this morning, allowing all of us to get a good night's sleep. We enjoyed our hotel's yummy breakfast, and then (in the midst of a ferocious thunderstorm), my boys went swimming in the hotel's indoor pool. They swam for about an hour, then Grandpa and Ryan joined them, and they swam for another hour.

We had lunch at Village Inn with Grandma Euny (Chris and I love, love, LOVE Village Inn - a throwback to our first year of marriage, when we were in college in Tulsa and waiting tables. If we made good money at work, we'd treat ourselves to Village Inn at 1 am. Those were the days...) and the family, then hit the road. Caleb and Daisy promptly fell asleep for two and a half hours, but Daisy woke Caleb up when she needed to eat. We stopped in Hannibal for gas, some Blizzards at DQ, and a visit to a rest area where Caleb could run and I could feed Daisy in peace.

Clearly, Daisy ate well and took the concept of "rest stop" literally.

Sadly, that's the only picture I took today. But now we're home safe and sound, and we're quite happy to be back in our own beds!



May 28

Sorry these posts are late - now that I'm the momma of two little ones, I realize that there are some things I just can't do. One of those things? Uploading, editing, and posting photos while on a roadtrip with a toddler and a newborn. Call me lazy, but I just wasn't willing to attempt it. :)

But we had a great time in Iowa. Caleb and Daisy were champion travellers, thanks mostly to the fact that Daisy is a newborn, and the fact that my sister Jenny came along and served as backseat entertainment for Caleb. What a blessing!

We got to see all kinds of aunts and uncles and cousins and people who are probably related to us in some way that's really complicated. Most importantly, though, we got to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday and spend some quality time with her. Here are just a few of the gajillion photos I took.

Grandma Euny with her 12th (!) great-grandchild.

As soon as we walked in the door of the party, Euny gave me a brief hug, then took Daisy out of my arms and immediately began making the rounds, introducing all of her friends to Daisy. It was so funny and sweet - Daisy was pretty popular, and I was tickled by how excited Euny was to show her off.

While neither of my children look spectacular in this photo, I love it all the same. Can you tell that there's a balloon attached to that string? And that Caleb was terrified someone would take it away from him?

1. My husband is hot.

2. He is the best Daddy ever. He drove us to Iowa and back. He chased our toddler all afternoon. And then, at midnight, when Caleb wouldn't sleep for two hours, he snuggled and rocked and cajoled and soothed him so that I could focus on sleeping and Daisy. What a good man. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I chose well. :)

My cousin (I think?) Linda, who planned the whole party, even thought to have crayons and coloring sheets so Caleb would be entertained. Even better, the coloring sheets were of hummingbirds, Grandma's favorite. How thoughtful!

 

Caleb invented a game to entertain himself, featuring the water fountain and a dandelion. He would reach up on his tippy-toes, press the button, and dip the dandelion into the water.

Then he sniffed the wet dandelion and giggled.

Over. And over. And over.

Any person who came near to investigate his game would get roped into it - he would hand them the dandelion, then guesture for them to press the fountain button. I'm pretty sure half the people left at the party ended up playing the game at some point.

 

Our little family with Grandma Euny.

Happy 90th, Grandma!

May 27

This is going to be a lame blog post. I apologize in advance. But I'm tired (see yesterday's post for further discussion of my tiredness), I have a headache, and I need to pack for tomorrow's trip.

So.

Here are my cute kids.

Caleb made his first attempt at eating corn on the cob today.

He was mildly successful, and highly entertained.

Daisy is cute, and nursed for an hour straight this afternoon. I'm pretty sure I'm just one nursing session away from turning into a dairy cow.

Also, she's kind of weird. She only poops every other day, but when she does poop, she does it two times in a row. Is that too much information? I just think it's bizarre.

Now I'm going to go debate whether to pack or go to sleep.



May 26

Oh, me? I'm exhausted. Thanks for asking.

I should probably focus on going to bed earlier, since it's become apparent that Caleb thinks 6 am is a great time to wake up. Sleeping in is for sissies. (I'll admit it; I'm a big sissy.)

Today, luckily, Chris was still home when Caleb woke up. And then our friend Emily came over and entertained Caleb and snuggled Daisy for most of the morning. And then Daisy and I were able to sneak in an hour and a half nap while Caleb napped. But all of those great things did little to ease the exhaustion that's swiftly becoming my new normal.

All of that was to prepare you for some half-hearted photos. Sorry.

Caleb won't let me wear Daisy in the sling - he's surprisingly possessive of it, and starts clamoring to ride in "his" sling whenever I get it out. So until I have time to make a new one for Daisy, I've been wearing her in the water wrap. (That's right: it's made of swimsuit fabric, with built-in SPF, to be worn in water. We'll be rocking the pool this summer!) Daisy loves the wrap, but maybe a little too much - she always falls asleep as soon as I put her in it! 

Caleb, meanwhile, was in a bit of a funk today. I'm pretty sure the kid's not getting enough sleep, but he's decided, despite our best efforts to convince him otherwise, that 8:00 is bedtime and 6:00 is wake-up time. Thank goodness Emily came over today to distract him from the funk!

Other things that distracted him today? That American flag tucked behind his ear, and his new-to-him basketball shirt, courtesy of our friend Kris and her growing son Max.

No rest for the weary; tomorrow we shop and pack in preparation for Daisy's first roadtrip. Saturday morning we're headed to Iowa to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday!

May 25

Today Daisy got to meet her Great-Grandmother, and (middle) namesake, Chris' Grandmother Kathleen.

She and Chris' Aunt Josie and her husband Brad stopped by on their way into town from Kansas City. They outran fierce storms the whole drive, but right as they showed up at our front door, the tornado sirens went off, so into the basement we went.

Daisy charmed her Great-Grandmother and Great Aunt pretty quickly.

And once Caleb warmed up, he was on his A-game, too.

By the end of the afternoon, Josie was referring to Caleb as her "new boyfriend". I'm pretty sure he felt the same way about her (he definitely prefers blondes!).

Great-Grandmother had lots of fun playing with Caleb!

Caleb even climbed up to her at one point and gave her a kiss.

Kathleen and Daisy Kathleen.

heart.

May 24

Can I just say that I'm really tickled with the pictures I took today? Today's pictures make it worth wading through the crummy ones I take most days.

This is a freshly-bathed, sweet-smelling Daisy. Love her!

(Confession: This is only her second bath. Third, if you count her post-birth clean-up. But really, her second. Does that make me a bad mom, or just a busy one?)

I know, right?

I'm sure the smile's just a fluke, but we've been seeing more and more of these faux smiles lately. She definitely has a dimple, which is really sweet. Doesn't she look like such a big girl? Also, her hair had a totally different color and texture after I washed it. Crazy!

Chris and I are quite entertained by Daisy's monkey toes. They're really long and skinny. I'm not sure where they came from!

And then there's our big boy. 

Are you dying from the cuteness? I totally am. And the muscle shirt. I bought a four-pack of them at a garage sale for one dollar, and I'm pretty sure that's the best dollar I ever spent. Caleb is so cute in them!

My serious man on the phone. Right after I shot this photo, he turned his back to me and said, "Hi. How are you?" into the phone. Too funny.

May 23

So it was kind of a busy day.

So busy that when it was bedtime for Caleb, Daisy and I went up and kissed him goodnight, then climbed into bed.

Despite the dirty dishes.

Despite the messy house.

Despite the 8.3 million other things I needed to do.

And my sweet, sweet husband didn't mind - he went down and did the dishes and cleaned up and was a good man. While I slept. Which meant no blog was done. Sorry.

But. Here are some pictures from the day. They might have been taken by my husband, because I was too busy to pick up the camera all day. (Did I mention he's a good man?)

I never tire of the "Caleb kissing Daisy" photos. Do you?

He loves her so much!

Can you tell that he's touching her lips and she doesn't like it?

So, what were we doing all day?

A very kind, very generous friend offered us her daughter's old clothes, so we drove out to her house to dig through the boxes and boxes of clothes. Daisy is now well supplied for her first year - I'm so thankful!

Then we rushed home for an early nap, so that we could leave on time for our next errand.

During the nap, major thunderstorm came through that split the big tree in our front yard right down the middle. Now we have half a tree.

Then I woke Caleb up early so that we could drive out to St. John's for Daisy's newborn hearing screening. (One of the major downsides of a homebirth - you have to go to a big hospital's audiology department to get the hearing screening done. None of the hospitals in our county would do it, so we had to drive 35 minutes to find one that would. That's right - 35 minute drive, $150 fee, for a test that took literally 45 seconds. A minute tops.)

But Caleb couldn't come into the audiology department with us, so first we dropped him off to have some fun with Grandad. Daisy passed the test with flying colors, and within 30 minutes we were back at Chris' parents' house.

Then we visited Grandmother at work.

Then I sat in the back seat of the car for 30 minutes and nursed Daisy while strangers walked by and stared and Caleb grew bored. (Any of you moms remember being in that boat? Gotta love it.)

Then we drove toward home, but had to stop at Babymoon to weigh Daisy. Because, you know, it's out of the question to be able to weigh her at her pediatrician's office. Her pediatrician is totally getting dumped. But the good news? Our little girl weighs 8 pounds, which means she gained 6 ounces in 4 days, with means our pediatrician can stuff it, because there is no problem. (Are you sensing some frustration?)

Then I came home and tried to clean up and make dinner and Chris came home and Jenny came over and Daisy wanted to eat for 8. HOURS. so I couldn't do anything but sit.

Then dinner and more nursing and then I collapsed in bed. The end.

It was a long day, but today I'm doing nothing all day to make up for it. Hooray!

May 22

Chris forced me to take a nap this afternoon.

Not that I was grouchy or anything; he just knew that it would do my heart good to get a few hours of sleep, and boy was he right. So Daisy and I snuggled up in bed (we're starting to figure out the side-lying nursing thing, which is GLORIOUS!) and fell asleep for an hour or two while Chris swept and mopped. (I know - do I have a good man, or what?) I awoke to the sound of Caleb's bare feet thumping on the floor outside our bedroom as he ran in to find Daisy and me.

Chris helped him climb into bed with us, and a moment began to unfold that was so sweet, so precious that I thought I might melt. Caleb looked at me snuggled up with Daisy, and said, "Sungle Sisser!" We scooted so he could snuggle, but then he said, "Holdu, Baby Sisser!" So Chris carefully arranged Caleb and lifted Daisy into his arms.

For a not-quite-two-year-old, Caleb is so cautious, so gentle, and so careful. He is so curious about Daisy, and fascinated by her. It's the sweetest thing I've ever witnessed. Chris and I just sat, watching Caleb love on his little sister for several minutes, until my camera-craziness kicked in and I had to go get the camera. Luckily, they were still snuggling when I got back!

Caleb's little bare feet get me every time! Only now that Daisy is here, his feet don't look quite so little!

I'm pretty sure he gave her this kiss all by himself, without any prompting from us.

"Meep!"

Yep. Again. He loves to beep her nose!

He's giving her a gentle pat, but giving Daddy a worried look. He must have been afraid that Daddy would think he wasn't being gentle.

He's touching her hand, and saying, "High five! High five!"

Another good day to be a mommy.

May 21

Can we just talk for a moment about how much I love being a mommy?

I think I've probably been complaining a lot lately. And, don't get me wrong, things are rarely roses and sunshine and unicorns, especially when there's poop involved, or a baby who wants to nurse for 7 HOURS STRAIGHT. But I love being a mommy. God has blessed me with the sweetest, funniest, smartest little boy, and though Daisy is only two and a half weeks old, she's turning out to be exceptionally calm and laid-back baby.

Tonight, we finished eating dinner and Chris started to take Caleb up for bathtime and bedtime. Before they could escape, though, I got down on the floor and asked Caleb for a "last-chance kiss". He giggled, ran toward me, and smothered me with kisses. I'm pretty sure there's nothing better in the world.

What a sweet boy I have!

This was pre-lunch, when he asked for (and received) a V-8 popsicle. Poor kid doesn't know it's good for him! 

And then there's sweet little Daisy, who still loves to sleep. I can't complain - she seems to have settled into a routine of nursing at 10 pm, sleeping, waking up at 2 am to nurse, and then going back to sleep until 6:30 am. It may not be sleeping through the night, but I'd say that's pretty good for a newborn!

May 20

Today started out well, but deteriorated pretty quickly.

It started with blue skies, 70 degrees, sunshine, and a lovely walk. Afterwards, we played outside: Caleb played basketball and "helped" me while I dug in my garden, while Daisy napped under the umbrella.

Then came Poopygate 2.0. Did I ever tell you about the first Poopygate? Let's just say it involved poop with no diaper present, carpeting, and someone's bare foot. And my friends, apparently it takes more than that to teach me my lesson, because it happened again. Thankfully Daisy was sleeping, but still...

It was supposed to be a quick diaper change, because I was starving and I wanted to get lunch ready before Daisy woke up. But Poopygate meant that I had to stop to clean everything up, and by the time I was ready to make lunch, Daisy was awake. She was hungry, I was hungry, Caleb was hungry and tired. Picture me running from the kitchen to the baby to the kitchen to the baby, trying to get Caleb in his high chair with a baby at my breast, trying to get her to latch and stay latched (a difficult feat!) while I fed myself... it was not good. In the end, we had a fun day, but I am one exhausted mama.

On the plus side, Daisy's incessant eating seems to finally be doing the trick.

Do you see the pudge wrinkles on her forearms? And the beginnings of a double chin? And those chubby cheeks?

She still has scrawny bird-legs, but she is her father's daughter.

Also, can you tell what a deep thinker she is? I promise I didn't pose her little hand - she did that on her own.

And Caleb? Well, he just wants to ride his tricycle. In the grass. Without pedaling.

I'm so thankful tomorrow is Saturday!

May 19

Disclaimer: This post will be Caleb-heavy because he was SO stinking cute today.

We had a busy day today. Well, I guess we did two things today, but it felt busy. This morning we had our last MOPS meeting of the season, then my mom came over to supervise Caleb's  nap so that Daisy and I could go to our Breastfeeding Support Group. And it rained all day, so we couldn't play outside or go for a walk.

Caleb soaked up Grandma time, though, and was so sweet and affectionate all day. Maybe he was making up for yesterday.

First, he found my sunglasses.

He looks serious, but he was having a lot of fun.

He's just really serious about his fashion!

I couldn't decide which of the sunglasses photos I liked better, so you get both.

Then, Grandma let him play with her reading glasses. This is one of the myriad reasons why Grandma is way more fun than Mommy or Daddy - she lets him handle her glasses AND her cell phone. 

He put them on and said, "Too big!"

Later, he also put them up on his head and said, "Wear in hair!"

What a funny kid!

I'm wondering if he's giving that impish grin because:

A. he has Grandma's glasses

B. he's getting snuggles from Mommy

C. Grandma is making silly faces behind the camera

D. All of the above

(Just realized that's the first multiple-choice question I've written in nearly two years. How liberating to no longer be a teacher!)

Then there's Miss Daisy.

Tonight I realized that I could never be a newborn photographer. They're way too hard to photograph! 

Caleb has apparently been teaching her karate.

(His "karate" consists of kicking his leg out in a lovely arabesque, accompanied by a "Hi-yah!")

(The rain finally stopped as Caleb was going to bed, so Daisy and I went on our walk. Along the way, I found that perfect little daisy, and couldn't resist plucking it for photos.)

(Don't you love these parentheses? I suppose they're an indication of the million different directions my mind is going in right now.)

Ugh. I couldn't get the coloring right on this one, but I love that she's "smiling". I know it's way too early for real smiles, but she was totally smiling at Grandma today.

Also, today she weighed in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces before nursing and 7 pounds, 12.6 ounces after a lazy nursing session. That means she's gained at least 5 ounces (on the same scale) in the past week. That means I don't need to be crazy-worried-mom about her weight gain. She's fine. Now I just need to convince the pediatrician of that.