December 31

How about we end the year with a bang: I'll post approximately a jillion photos.

Caleb woke up feeling relatively fine this morning (he didn't eat much, but I don't blame him), so Chris and I decided that the boys should go ahead with their special adventure to the Magic House, just as we had planned. Chris took Caleb off for some special father/son time, while the girls and I stayed home. Daisy was devastated when they left; when Chris was helping Caleb with his shoes, Daisy brought her shoes to me and sobbed uncontrollably when I told her that she didn't need her shoes because she was staying home with me. 

Lily didn't mind at all, though!

Isn't she cute playing on the couch with all of her toys?

She actually plays with things now, which is really fun.

Once Lily went down for a nap, Daisy and I were able to have some special time together, too. I even painted her toenails for the first time!

At first she wanted pink, but when she saw her options, she eagerly chose blue. That's my girl! (I Instagrammed this photo; my friend Jessica has convinced me to give it a try. We'll see if there's really a place in my life for it...)

Chris sent me a ton of cute pictures of his time with Caleb at the Magic House, but if I posted all of them it would mean I'd be posting a gajillion photos, instead of just a jillion. So how about just one?

Caleb said this was his favorite part of the Magic House.

Much later, after lunch and naps and waking up, I was pumping and ended up with a bit of extra breast milk. I decided to put some in one of the sippy cups Daisy gave Lily for Christmas, just to see what Lily would do. Surprisingly, it went like this: 

She put it to her mouth right away, realized there was milk in it, and began drinking! I even heard a swallow, so I know she got some.

Perhaps my baby who won't take a bottle will take a sippy cup?

Daisy was thrilled to see Lily using her Christmas gift, and delighted to help feed her sister. Of course, Caleb saw Daisy holding the sippy cup, and he had to get in on that action too. So there are two hands holding that cup in Lily's mouth. Gotta love that sibling love!

Since we're having a low-key, stay-at-home kind of New Year's Eve, I picked up some party hats and noisemakers today. We looked so cute that I just had to set up the tripod and take a family photo.

Happy New Year!

And then we began the festivities: 

Chris popped the champagne, trying (quite successfully) to send the cork flying.

Caleb and Daisy were both terrified and thrilled. Caleb thought the cork was pretty cool!

And I think he is pretty cool, with his festive hat, sparkly tiara, and sunglasses.

Our special New Year's meal was almost identical to our meal last year. Funny how that goes! Funny, also, that we've been in this house exactly two years now. It's far from perfect, but it sure feels like home now!

Caleb didn't eat any of his dinner. I guess his stomach is feeling tender. We didn't fight it, though; it meant more steak and crab legs for us!

I had to fight Daisy for the crab legs, though. She loved them! (However, she was very confused by the fact that we couldn't eat the crab's shell.)

Once again, Lily settled for eating the napkin. Soon, dear girl. Be patient!

After baths, I took a few more New Year's photos. 

Oh my goodness. Don't you just want to eat her up?

No? How about this one? 

Still no? How about a video of her laughing?

She was laughing like this because I was blowing the hair out of my face.

Happy New Year's, Caleb!

Daisy channeled Michael Jackson with her hat and wet, curly hair.

And Caleb tried out a new look.

It may not be fancy, but I call this a perfect evening! We have much to be thankful for this year, and we thank God for our many blessings.  Happy New Year!

December 30

And now Caleb is puking.

*sigh*

Just when I thought maybe the rest of us would escape with nothing more than stomach cramps. Poor kid. This afternoon, before the puking began, Caleb's tummy was hurting. He chose to go down for an early nap, and we prayed that God would heal his tummy. I came in to check on him a few minutes later, and he solemnly asked me, "Mommy? Why does God sometimes heal slow?"

I don't know, my boy. I just don't know. 

Chris went in to work this morning, but took the afternoon off. We're lucky that not much really happens for him this time of year, and he has the vacation days to spend with us.

Lily was so happy when Daddy came home from work!

Caleb woke up from his early nap, and Chris suggested they watch Star Wars. It's so funny that as obsessed as Caleb is with the film, he's never actually seen it. Chris and I debated a bit about whether to show Caleb the films based on when they were made (so episodes IV, V, and VI, then episodes I, II, and III), or in the order the plot progresses (I, II, III, IV, V, and VI). We ended up deciding to start with episode I, just so that the story would make more sense and so that he could see his favorite character: Anakin as a little boy. We did worry that he might not be old enough, but we decided to just go for it.

Caleb was entranced.

Because he's already read so many books that cover the plot of the films on a much simpler level, he was able to follow most of the action. He knew which character was which, who was good, who was bad, and what was going on. It was so much fun!

But one can only watch Star Wars for so long. 

Then it was family reading time while I made dinner. I can't believe all of them fit in Lily's big chair! I'm sure that won't last for long, and one day I'll look at Caleb's long legs and big feet and wonder how they all fit there. So I'm choosing to savor this moment, because they'll never be this small again!

Also, I must record this conversation for posterity:

Chris and the kids were playing in the basement while I made dinner. Caleb and Daisy were riding bikes, but Daisy kept riding the opposite direction of Caleb. Chris told her to go the same direction, and she whispered something under her breath. Caleb immediately started crying, and screamed, "She called me stupid!"

Chris put on his Stern Daddy face and asked, "Daisy, did you call Caleb stupid?"

Daisy looked up at him and replied, "No."

Chris said, "OK. I thought I heard you say something."

Then Daisy said, "I called YOU stupid."

Ha!!! Or, more appropriately, that would be hilarious if it wasn't so disrespectful. That girl is totally my daughter, and I have a feeling she's going to make things pretty challenging for us. It's a good thing she's so cute!

December 29

Day 2 of puke-free house. Is it possible that this virus will pass over the rest of us? I certainly don't want to jinx it, so let's pretend I never wrote that.

Poor Lily caught Daisy's cold, though, and is pretty miserable. I think there were maybe 45 minutes during the night that Lily wasn't fussing or nursing. It was exhausting. That, plus two sick children, plus the risk of spreading this stomach virus kept us home from church this morning. It was probably a good choice. But by the time afternoon came and naps were over, we were all a little bit stir-crazy.

I suggested that Chris take Caleb on a special outing to the Butterfly House, because Caleb seems to thrive when he gets some special time each day. But surprisingly, Caleb wasn't interested. Fifteen minutes later, Caleb announced, "I changed my mind. I'd like to go on an adventure, after all. I want to go to the Botani-full Garden!"

So I said yes. Why not? So what if it was 3:00, we were all still in our jammies, and the Garden (which I remembered closing at 5:00) was 30 minutes away? Yes.

So we all threw on clothes, brushed our teeth, and hopped in the car. Ten minutes into the drive, I thought to double-check the Garden's hours on my phone. Oops. They close at 4, and it was... 3:46. Surprisingly, Caleb took the bad news pretty well. But Chris and I were left to come up with an equally entertaining, equally free option, someplace close. 

We settled on Turtle Park.

We should have checked the weather first; it was 26 degrees, with a wind chill of 10 degrees. Oops. Luckily, the kids didn't seem to mind.

They took off running for the turtles! Caleb remembered having been to this park once before, even though it was well over a year ago. I love his little memory!

However, he was very nervous when Chris started climbing the turtles!

Sweet Lu! She's chewing on everything these days, including my zipper. I thought for sure she'd be warm enough in the Ergo, inside my coat, wearing a hat.

It was right about here when I realized that it was so cold that my face hurt. That can't be good for babies. So I snapped a few more photos, then called our adventure off.

A family climb! Don't they look like mountain climbers, successfully summiting a peak?  Looking at this picture, Caleb thought they must be climbing a pig. No, no, dear boy. I believe that is a soft shell turtle. 

Goodness, it was cold out!

And then I swiftly ushered everyone into the car, and we stopped at a nearby gas station for hot cocoas all around. (Except for poor Lily. But I doubt she was as cold as the rest of us!)

We made one more stop on the way home, to see one of Caleb's favorite things: 

Tow Mater!

A local auto body shop has turned an old truck into a real-life Tow Mater. Someone told me about it at least a year ago, but it took us until today to make it there. Caleb was delighted! He informed me that he wants to print out this picture and take it to preschool after winter break to show all of his friends. What a sweetheart!

December 28

I'm really not sure what we did all day today; all I know is that no one puked, and I didn't leave the house (or my jammies). I call that a win.

It was lovely outside, so Caleb was thrilled to be able to fly the kite Grandmother gave him for Christmas. At first, he and Chris tried flying it in our yard. After it got caught in a tree and some power lines, the boys decided to head to our neighborhood common ground.

Caleb wanted to ride his bike there, and he insisted that Daddy ride his bike, too. Chris took this cell phone video for me:

He did pretty well! Watching him run through the grass reminds me of puppies romping. I love it!

While the boys were gone, Daisy took a four-hour nap. I think she's officially recovered from the stomach bug; now we just have a cold to worry about. While she slept, Lily (who also has a cold now) and I had some quality time.

First, we practiced her sitting.

She doesn't quite have the hang of it yet, but she's getting there! (Also, isn't her new outfit darling? Grandmother gave her lots of cute clothes for Christmas!)

Then, we practiced wrapping.

There's a whole subculture out there of mamas (and dads!) who wear their babies not with carriers like the Ergo, but with simple, woven cloths. I think the concept is awesome - I love being able to turn any strip of fabric into a baby carrier, and use it lots of different ways! The problem is that the wraps made specifically for baby wearing are absurdly expensive. Most of them are hand-woven and hand-dyed, and considered wearable art. This mama is in no position to be shelling out over $100 for a piece of wearable art.

Luckily, I stumbled upon a company that manufactures woven tablecloths that are perfect for baby wearing! For much less, you can buy one tablecloth that can be cut down the middle and turned into two wraps. Grace gave me one for Christmas, and yesterday I worked up the courage to cut it in half. Today I hemmed the cut side, and voila - a wrap!

With the help of some YouTube videos, I was soon wearing Lily in several different carries.  

This was my first attempt at Reinforced Ruck tied at Shoulder. You can't tell from the side view, but I'm basically wearing Lily as if she were a backpack. The fabric creates the straps and the support for her body. She was a little bit loose, so I tried again.

This is take two. Pretty cool, huh? I still need to work to break the fabric in, because it's pretty stiff and tough to knot. I also think that, because of all the effort that goes into putting her in a carry like this, I'll still turn to my Ergo first. But I'm excited to have another option. 

Right as I got Lily wrapped up like this, Daisy woke up. We went into Daisy's room, and I asked her what was on my back. With a smile, she pointed and whispered, "Lily!"

I asked what she thought about the way I was wearing her sister, she scowled and replied, "It's wrong!"

What's wrong?
"Lily is on backwards! She goes on the front! Fix it, Mommy!"

That girl. So opinionated!

December 27

For the past two or three weeks, I have watched as - one by one - nearly all of  my friends were laid low by a nasty stomach virus. I suppose I was naively optimistic that it would somehow miss us.

I was wrong.

It hit Daisy at about 9 this morning, and she vomited every two hours until 2:30. Thankfully, she was in great spirits the whole time. And at least 50% of the time she made it to the bathroom before puking, so there's that. I'm praying it's over, and that she'll make it through the night without any more yuckiness. Mama doesn't want to do laundry at 2 am. I'm not naive enough to think that it will hit her and skip everyone else, so now it's time for me to batten down the hatches as if preparing for a storm. I didn't even bother quarantining her; the faster everyone gets it, the sooner we can move on with life.

Because Daisy was sick, we did lots of TV watching today. I turned Sesame Street on this morning before I went to put Lily down for a nap (that girl had the worst. night. ever. last night. Ugh.), and came back to find this:

Clutching his Super Grover as he watches Super Grover on TV. Do you see how he's holding Super Grover's hand? Cutest thing ever. 

Sometimes I try to make him be a big boy, but he's 4. He's a four year old. Just a darling little boy who loves Grover and wants to hold his toy's hand. 

Caleb has been going through a rough spell for the past few months, and frankly his whining, fussing, and selfishness have rendered him pretty unlikable a lot of the time. Chris and I have been vacillating between being really annoyed with him and fretting about how to best handle the situation as parents, but moments like this remind us that in truth, he's a great kid. He's in an unpleasant phase, probably in response to less Mommy and Daddy time now that Lily's here, but it will pass. Dear Lord, let it pass.

Meanwhile, Daisy had two baths today, due to the puke situation. This was after her second bath, caused by puking in her bed during naptime. Thankfully, each time I had to clean up vomit, dear Lily was napping in her room. But she woke up just as I finished bathing Daisy, and the girls had snuggles on Daisy's bed.

There's nothing like a sweet little baby to lift your spirits when you feel yucky!

Any bets who the bug will hit next? My guess is Caleb, during the night.

December 26

Ah. The craziness and business is finally over, and we can rest.

Or, more appropriately, we can play with all of our new toys.

After watching Caleb skate across the room on two toy monster trucks, I decided it would be safer to buy him some beginner roller skates for Christmas. He loved them, and picked it up really quickly! He must get the skating thing from Daddy.

Daddy and the girls supervised the rollerskating.

Auntie Grace gave Caleb a jingly Santa pen for Christmas, and he wanted to use it to write "Merry Christmas". Daddy helped.

Sweet Lily at dinner time.

"If you won't give me food, I'll just chew on this!"

December 25

Another late post - these festivity-filled (and photo-opp filled) days and late nights are more than I can handle! The kids didn't get to bed until 10:00 on Christmas Eve, and Caleb was out of bed as soon as his clock turned green at 6:30. Daisy had the sense to sleep in until 7:10, and Lily slept until 8:30. So we puttered around, ate breakfast, and had a leisurely morning until Lily woke up. Surprisingly, the big kids didn't pester us about opening gifts.

When Lily finally woke up, she found her first gift as I changed her diaper. She looked down, and there they were: feet!

She was appropriately pleased.


She was so cute in this picture that I had to share, even if it required a bit of editing first!

And then, time for the festivities! Prepare for an onslaught of photos. (Now you'll understand why it took me so long to write this post: so many pictures!)

First, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blew out the candle.

Then, one of my favorite Christmas traditions: Pictures in front of the tree!

Caleb and sweet Lily posed happily. I wish she was sitting for Christmas, but barely five-months-old is a bit too early. Maybe in a few weeks.

She's definitely getting into everything, though! Here she was trying to grab a present.

The best picture I could get of just my darlings.

But the whole family photo turned out well! The kids were all interested in the orange light from the camera remote. Chris saw this picture and commented that we should put our family Christmas tree photo on our Christmas cards each year. So 2014's card would have 2013's picture, and you could see how much everyone has changed. That got me thinking, so I dug out all of the old Christmas tree photos I could find. But since this post already has approximately 5,903 pictures in it, I made a collage instead. (Which is not easy in Photoshop Elements, or I'm just a dunce. It took forever - another reason this post is late. AND it's still not a very well made collage. Boo.)

I love that Chris and I are firmly  holding onto the family jammies, even in years when none of the children are the right size to wear them, and even though they're ridiculous.

 I love that in 2010 I'm pregnant with Daisy, but you can barely tell, and in 2012 I'm pregnant with Lily. 

I love that in 2013, Lily is wearing the same jammies that Daisy wore in 2011.

And 2007... well, that pretty much sums up Tigerlily, now doesn't it?

Then, on to presents! I tried really hard to make it a low-key year for gifts, but I failed. It's those darn little things that get me every time! It's easy to buy one big gift for each kid, but then I find all kinds of cute other gifts that I can't resist... And this year, I took each child shopping to pick a $5 gift for each family member. But I think that activity provided enough lessons in thoughtfulness, generosity, and budgeting that it was worth the extra cost.

Caleb insisted on wrapping his gift for me all by himself. (OK, I cut the tape for him and curled the ribbons. He did the rest.) He also insisted on buying the gift while I was with him, so I knew exactly what it was. (psst... it was a kitchen timer)

Lily was still into everything. This is her trying to eat the trash bag we used to collect ripped wrapping paper.

The surprise hit of the morning? Super Grover 2.0. Caleb saw it when I took him shopping for the rest of the family, and he wanted it desperately. I told him he could use his money to buy it after Christmas. He had been saving that money to buy a 31-inch Darth Vader, but he thought for a bit and told me, "Super Grover is better than Darth Vader, because Super Grover rescues but Darth Vader only attacks." 

What a great point! That sentiment, plus the fact that Toys R Us had some kind of extreme sale going on and I was able to find it for only $10 meant that Chris gave him Super Grover for Christmas. Caleb loves it.

Lily only had a few gifts. She tried to eat all of them.

Luckily, two of her gifts were things that were made to be eaten: an organic wood and cloth teether, and a silicone teething ring. Chris chose both for her, and she was one happy girl!

Daisy opening presents is one thing I hope I always remember from this year. She was so good at it, and she used her whole little body to get into things. It was too cute!

Chris laughing, Lily chewing. That little tooth is ready to come through; I really thought she'd get a tooth for Christmas, but it hasn't come yet.

Another hit: the book The Day the Crayons Quit. We borrowed this from the library several times, and the kids loved it so much that we had to buy it.

Then it was time to open gifts from GREAT Aunt Maggie.

Can you tell that Caleb loves his Star Wars DVDs? He was hugging them tightly to his chest. Now we have to decide in what order to show him the movies...

And a Darth Vader blanket!

She loved it! Happy girl!

The wooden building blocks I gave Caleb (the "big" gift) ended up being a stage for Super Grover. So it goes.

This "Socktopus" from Auntie Grace was too funny, and Lily loved it!

Caleb was really excited about his new shoes from Auntie Grace. They have foot bones on them that glow in the dark!

This was Caleb's gift to Lily. He wrote her name at the top, and his  name at the bottom.

My special gift for Daisy was this Daisy-sized Ergo. She can wear her dolls on her front or her back, just like Mommy and Daddy do with Lily!

The last present Caleb opened was this one from Grandma. Yep - she got him the 31" tall Darth Vader doll he's been wanting for the past few months.  He was so excited!

This is his Darth Vader face.

And then it was over. Chris and I set about cleaning things up while the kids played, and then they went down for (much too short) naps. Lily napped in her crib all day - I think it's becoming normal now!

When everyone was up and dressed, we headed over to Chris' parents' house for Christmas, take 3.

Goodness. Isn't she sweet in her red dress and red Converse?

Lily was dolled up for the occasion. She's clutching the silicone teething ring Chris gave her.

Gayle told me a few weeks ago that we'd be doing a low-key dinner of cold cuts and sandwich things. Imagine our surprise when we arrived and smelled this amazing standing rib roast in the oven!

We miss you, Grace and Adam!

Don't mind Caleb's duck-face or whatever Daisy is holding in front of her face or the fact that Lily is chewing on her shirt. This was the best photo I got of Grandad and Grandmother with their grandbabies.

The previous picture may have been the best, but this goofy one is my favorite.

Caleb and Daisy had so much fun opening gifts!

Meanwhile, Lily had fun playing with Grandad

and eating ribbon.

When all of her gifts had been opened, Daisy helped Grandmother open some of hers.

Grandad bought Gradmother this fascinator. Doesn't she look regal?

And then? 

Baskin Robbins' peanut butter chocolate ice cream for dessert. Gayle bought a tub of it as a Christmas gift for Dan, but we all enjoyed it.

Merry Christmas!