February 28

Caleb and Daisy are obsessed with Play-Doh right now. They can happily play, unsupervised, for a full 30 minutes with the stuff. No bickering. No need for me, except to say, "Wonderful!" or pretend to eat a plate of "cookies".

It is a true miracle.

And as I type this, Caleb has dissolved in to gut-wrenching sobs because I told him he was being a bully.

Oh, my.

February 27

Today was a lazy, stay-at-home kind of day. It snowed all day, but the snow never amounted to anything. THAT kind of day.

After breakfast, I sent Caleb in to get dressed. He returned to the kitchen wearing shorts and a t-shirt, announcing, "I'm wearing these because we're not going anywhere today!" Alright, kid.

This is where he spends most of his time these days: lining up his cars to race on his road rug. Behind him is a  multi-level service station where the cars go to "take their naps". They used to get stored in a neat little bin, but now the kid has his own ideas about where things should go, and only the naughty, less-favored cars go in the car box. The good ones go to the service station.

(Side note: I insisted he wear his slippers with the shorts and t-shirt. The boy at least needs something on his feet!)

We decided to fill our long-neglected bird feeder with some bird seed today. (The mean old squirrels always eat all of the seed and it makes me so mad that I refuse to refill it, but eventually I miss the birds so we fill it again.)  

Caleb was so excited to help, and spent a long while looking out the window at it until I convinced him that it might take a while to realize that the normally-empty feeder was now full.

Daisy was just delighted to play with her Magna Doodle, though she kept holding the pen up to me, saying, "Not working, Mama! It not working!"

And then a man walking a dog came down the sidewalk, and the kids were glued to the window. Exciting stuff here!

Eventually I decided it was time to do something, so I asked Caleb if he would like to go to Target. He replied, "No. I would rather go to the gym." I tried my hardest to make Target sound appealing and convince him that it would be way more fun than the gym (Caleb usually loves a trip to Target!), he was steadfast. He wanted to go to the gym, and that was that. So we went.

Much later, after Daisy went down for our nap, Caleb and I returned to this room to see if the birds had found the feeder yet. They had, so we curled up together on the couch, quietly and patiently waiting for birds to arrive. Meanwhile, the snow kept falling. Perfect.

February 24

While I went grocery shopping this afternoon, Chris took Caleb and Daisy out to play in the quickly-melting snow.

It actually worked well for Daisy, who is basically immobile in the snow. She could walk around on the snow-free driveway and sidewalk while the boys played in the snow.

 After three days of snow on the ground, they finally succeeded in making a snowman!

(Do you notice that both Caleb and Frosty have snowballs in their hands?)

All parties were quite pleased. 

(Yes, Caleb is eating snow. Clearly the kid is desperate for food.)

February 23

My birthday is tomorrow, but that day is filling up quickly. To keep things more low-key, we had a sweet little birthday celebration for me today.

Almost 21 weeks pregnant. How about that?

There's something special about being pregnant on my birthday. I particularly love this picture from 2011, when I was 31 weeks pregnant with Daisy:

Or how about this never-before-blogged picture of me in 2009 when I was 20 weeks pregnant with Caleb? 

Yep. The beauty of being pregnant on your birthday is that you can request three birthday desserts and no one questions you.

This year, I had two birthday desserts: a GAPS-legal German Chocolate cake, and GAPS-legal chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow icing. 

(Since the desserts were GAPS-legal, we splurged on real ice cream. And we didn't even eat that Cool Whip - too many chemicals!)

This is Daisy giving me a birthday kiss. Her version of "giving a kiss" is leaning in and allowing you to kiss her. Whatever. I'll take it.

My darlings, enjoying their cupcakes. Daisy's method of cupcake-eating was pretty funny. Though she has a spoon in her hand, you'll notice that those fingers are also all covered in marshmallow icing. That's because she was scooping up fistfuls of icing and shoveling them into her mouth, until I suggested she use a spoon. Funny girl. 

Behind them, you'll see the "birthday card" Caleb made for me. It was a picture from one of his coloring books, topped with roughly twenty Cars 2 stickers. On top of all of the stickers is one of the character Finn McMissile. Caleb handed me the card and said, "I put Finn McMissile on it. I know you like him!"

Hmm. Sweet thought, child. Too bad I don't *really* like Finn, but it's sweet that Caleb was trying to think about what I like. So happy birthday to me!

February 21

I am writing this post at 1 am.

I have no idea why I am still up at 1 am, but I am. I will most definitely regret this in the morning, but at least I won't have pictures to worry about organizing and editing and blogging!

We got around five inches of snow today, and though banks don't have "snow days" like schools do, they do sometimes close early. Hooray! Chris braved a 90-minute drive home (three times as long as usual!), only to change into snow clothes, shovel our driveway and two neighbors' driveways, and then play with the kids in the snow.

I'm pretty sure I got the best husband ever.

Daisy is still a little uncertain about the snow. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that her snow clothes make her twice as big as usual, and she can hardly move? Or that the snow came up almost to her knees? Regardless, she chose to move very little during her snow play time.

Caleb was Daddy's little helper. He was so eager to shovel the driveway!

When Caleb asked Chris to make a snow angel, he gladly complied.

But our little stinker saw his opportunity and took it without a second thought; he scooped up some snow and dumped it on Chris' face! Luckily, we all thought it was hilarious.

After the work was done, Chris got out the sled. Daisy went first, and Caleb was eager to join her.

Daisy did not enjoy her sledding experience. 

Chris scooped her up and tried to help her laugh it off,

but our sweet girl was still upset.

After a few snuggles and kisses, though, our girl was just fine. 

*sigh*

Eskimo kisses between my handsome husbando and my sweet girl? I am such a lucky mama. 

Finally, Caleb's turn to sled. Can you tell he was excited?

Daisy had another go, and this time she was much happier about sledding. Sweet Caleb was like a little puppy, running alongside them as they slid down the tiny hill.

Love them!

Caleb's turn again! 

And Daisy and Chris watched and laughed as Caleb slid into a tree. Whoops!

They didn't get around to building the snowman that Caleb requested. Maybe tomorrow.

Oh! Our other snow day activity? Caleb taught himself to wink!

How about that?

February 20

I have been a lazy, lazy picture-taker and blogger lately! Our days have been filled with busy-ness, and lazy playing, and the boring minutiae of daily life. Nothing camera-worthy.

But today when I was making dinner, Daisy asked to draw. I followed her to the living room, where I got out her crayons, markers, and some white paper. She was so excited! Then I went back to my work and left her to her coloring. (Terrible idea, I know: leave a toddler unattended with markers? Yet somehow, my kiddos handle this responsibility quite well. Also, they're washable.)

A few minutes later, Daisy came running into the kitchen, "Lookit Daisy do! Lookit, Mama! Daisy do it!"

Can you see how proud she was? It was possibly one of the sweetest moments I've ever experienced.

Making sure I can see her drawing for my picture.

Completely unrelated, but her "innie" belly button has recently turned into an "outie". Is that strange? I'm much too lazy to google it.

Then we hung her drawing up on the wall, and when Daddy got home she was so excited to show him. What a sweet girl!

Also, Caleb dictated this letter to me:

Apparently, Beyonce's half time performance at the Super Bowl (and Beyonce's lack of pants therein) has been on Caleb's mind. 

We're out of stamps right now, but as soon as we get some, you'd better believe this is going in the mail!

February 18

Today was a great day.

Bank holidays are always great days (thank you, Presidents Washington and Lincoln!), but today was especially great because it began my birthday week festivities. Thanks to Chris, his mom, and my mom, I got to go grocery shopping without the kids, had a massage, and went on a child-free dinner date with my handsome husbando. 

But the best part? We also had our 20-week ultrasound today! Now, before you get too excited, we did NOT find out Baby's gender. But there's a magic about ultrasounds that transcends even exciting news like that. Just getting to see the little person growing inside of me, to see its little, perfectly formed body, is such a miracle.

 So... Here's our baby!

This image is probably the least exciting, but we loved seeing Baby's sweet little arm and hand, with one finger pointing right at us. 

This is Baby's profile; we think it (we're both guessing that "it" is really a "she", but we have no basis for that) looks a lot like Daisy! Chris is also a bit concerned that Baby has a small chin, but I think it's darling.

And there's Baby giving the placenta a kiss! My mom thought that perhaps Baby was actually licking the placenta, but I think that's gross. Instead, I think we're just breeding a very appreciative, affectionate baby.

Baby measured right on target, and everything looked perfect. The only cause for concern was that they detected a PAC, which is an irregular heartbeat. Baby's heart would occasionally skip a beat. Normally, they attribute this to an immature electrical system, and most babies outgrow it before they're even born. We met with a staff doctor who was confident that our baby's situation was benign, and while something to monitor, not anything to be concerned about. Our midwife later told me that she doesn't have any concerns about it, though she'll happily monitor Baby's heartbeat any time I like.

So. In the midst of this dreary February weather, July seems pretty far off. But really, we're almost halfway there! (I say "almost" because I am expecting that this one, like our other two, will come a week late. No point in expecting a 40-week pregnancy when the odds say it will be 41 weeks!)

February 16

It only got up to 37 degrees today, but when Caleb asked Daddy to take him and Daisy to the neighborhood playground, Chris quickly said yes.

They came back rosy-cheeked and cheerful, and Caleb clutched a brand-new treasure in his mittened hand:

a hockey ball.

You know, a ball for playing street hockey?

Up until now, he had only played with a puck. But after dinner, Chris introduced him to the joys of a hockey ball.

I'm not even joking or being mommy-proud when I say that the kid is actually pretty good. He and Chris passed the ball back and forth in our hallway, and Caleb hit it - with confidence and authority - every time.

And he really likes it.

I guess I shouldn't get too attached to his precious little teeth or his sparkling little brain; this kid looks like he's going to be a hockey player.

February 15

There were prizes galore at the Valentine's Day party Caleb and Daisy attended yesterday, and one of the prizes Daisy chose was a set of  "Magic Grow Capsules". You know, the little pills that magically grow into sponge shapes when you drop them in warm water?

Chris helped the kids open those up when he got home from work today, and they were enthralled.

I love how Daisy is taking the lead here; Caleb is much too cautious. 

Daisy also initiated this photo. She noticed I had my camera out and held up her sponge, saying, "Cheese!" Of course, Caleb followed suit.

I also like that, hanging on the chalk board, you can see the valentines Chris and I made for the kiddos. I made the "D is for Daisy" one for Daisy, and Chis made the Lightning McQueen one for Caleb. There's also a Berenstain Bears playing baseball card that I colored for Caleb, and Chris chose that little doggy card on the table for Daisy. I'm pretty sure it's going to be Valentine's Day here for the next few weeks, or at least until my birthday.

February 14

Happy Valentine's Day!

Because we're still feeling the sting of paying for our bathroom remodel, I had pretty low expectations for today: a home-made holiday with my darlings. We sent out some handmade valentines earlier in the week, and Chris and I had the "let's not waste money on overpriced nonsense" talk. But thanks to some friends and family who love us very much, it ended up being a pretty exciting day.

First, I have to share this:

Caleb came up with this list of reasons why he loves Daddy all by himself. All I did was ask, "Why do you love Daddy? What makes him special?" Caleb got really excited when I started writing down his answers, and they just kept coming. By the end, I was pretty proud of my boy. He summed up his Daddy's wonderful characteristics quite well, though he did forget to mention his charming curls and big brown eyes. Perhaps that's best for a wife to notice.

This morning, we made some more valentines for our friends Catherine, Mary, Michael, and Gussie. 

I cut out the hearts, and Caleb and Daisy decorated with stickers and markers. Sadly, Caleb's valentines looked no different from Daisy's. I thought that his would be more sophisticated and intentional, but apparently he gets a bit carried away when confronted with stickers.

Then we got dressed and headed over to Catherine, Mary, Michael, and Gussie's grandparents house. Grandma Kim put together a Valentine's Day party for the kids, and kindly invited us to join them. We were pretty lucky, because it turned out to be the party to end all parties.

I love these kids.

Add these kids into the mix, and I'm absolutely in love. It's not often we can get all six of them in one place at one time!

Daisy loved the wooden rocking horse that Grandpa Steve made for his own boys, many years ago. She also loved the Valentine's Day outfit that my mom got for her. The leggings have hearts all over them, and the shirt features a self-satisfied cat who proudly declares, "I'm the princess queen". Daisy loves it, and loves the shoes and socks she chose to go with it. 

Caleb was delighted with the goodies he got at "Mr. Valentine's Store". This giant pencil was a particular favorite. 

The kids played a bean-bag toss game, complete with heart-shaped bean bags, handmade by Grandma Kim. I'm not sure why, but I love this one of Daisy with her arm cocked back, ready to throw. 

She's actually got a pretty good arm, though it appears that this one may have been aimed at poor Michael, who is cowering just out of the frame.

I love that look. It's almost a defiant, "Don't mess with me!" Or maybe it's just a sweet, peaceful look.

Oh. Caleb's other favorite goody from Mr. Valentine's store was this set of finger lights. They really are pretty cool.

My goodness. How sweet is he? He was excited to dress up in his Christmas outfit, which has now been renamed his Valentine's Day outfit.

After naps, more fun. A surprise package from Auntie Grace arrived, bearing wooden glider planes for Caleb and a little doggy with its own carrying bag for Daisy. The kids were overwhelmed with joy.  (Side note: watch this sweet video of Caleb singing his version of "Deep in the Heart of Texas" for Grace. It's darling.)

And then, while they were still overwhelmed with their fun new gifts and the goodies from the morning's party, I told them that Grandmother and Grandad were coming over.

Then, they were glued to the front door, waiting for their grandparents' arrival.

Hooray! They're here!

See? A fantastic day, after all. We're blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!