July 24

Today was a beautiful, glorious, busy day. Sweet Lily blessed me with nearly a full night's sleep last night - she slept for a five-hour stretch, then a three-hour stretch. It's amazing what uninterrupted sleep can do for you! I'm feeling almost entirely normal again, which is pretty good for five days postpartum!

Chris took the bigger kids on another adventure today, and Lily napped the whole time they were gone. When Daddy, Caleb, and Daisy returned a few hours later, they were happy and sweaty and had these photos of their adventures:

Chris wanted to take Caleb someplace flat so that he could practice riding his new bike. Though we have no shortage of parks in the area, we both agreed that this empty parking lot was a good choice. Apparently the kids agreed!

Look at that big boy go!

But Daisy only had the attention span to ride her tricycle for about thirty minutes, so they moved on to the Butterfly House. 

Darling children.

After that, they played at the playground, and then headed home.

 

I know some of you are chomping at the bit to see better Lily photos, but since she slept the whole time we were alone, this was all I got.

Oh, and some baby toes. 

I think we can all agree that wrinkly, peeling, brand-new baby feet are pretty fantastic.

See, she's still so new that you can see where they pricked her for her state-required blood tests.

After naps, Chris, Caleb and Lily folded laundry together.

Or rather, Chris folded laundry while Caleb loved on his baby sister.

(It's a cell phone photo - sorry for the poor quality!)

And then, since it was a beautiful afternoon, we headed outside to play. As luck would have it, our friends Caleb and Hannah and Andrew were at their aunt and uncle's house, so we got to play with them, too!

How about that? Six people on a porch swing!

Terry and I worked baby duty, with occasional help from the babies' doting big sisters, while Chris corralled the bigger kids.

Then my friend Jen and her daughter Allie came by with dinner for us. While Jen and I chatted, the children spontaneously formed a little umbrella parade, marching up and down the sidewalk. 

How cute are they? It's Daisy (under the polka-dots), Caleb (sharing the pink umbrella), Allie (holding the pink umbrella), Hannah (on the scooter), and the other Caleb (fireman's umbrella). And of course Chris and Jimi Hendrix acted as parade marshalls.

Off they go!

And then tonight at bedtime, this happened: 

He loves to snuggle Lily and read to her. I suppose that tells me we're doing something right!