April 30

Last night was rough. ROUGH. Lily woke up to eat at 1:20 in the morning, and I nursed her for twenty minutes. When she was finished, I tried putting her back in her crib like I do every night, and she would have none of it. I ended up holding her for over an hour before I grew frustrated and gave up. Then Chris took his turn - he went in a to her a little before 3 am, and ended up just sleeping in Lily's recliner, holding her in his arms. I woke him when his alarm went off at 5:30.

I'm going to chalk it up to some sort of developmental chaos; Lily has made some great gross motor progress in the past week, and I'm hoping that maybe her sleep has been disrupted because her little brain is so excited about the new skills.

In other words, I'm praying desperately that this will pass, because I don't think Chris or I can handle another night like last night. Even though I left Lily at 2:30, I stayed awake for at least two more hours, thinking and stewing and planning and fretting about all of the house projects we have going on. This season of life is stressful!

So all of that is my explanation for why I only have this picture to share today:

Lily had grabbed Daisy's foot and was tickling it. All three people involved thought it was hilarious. Also, I love that Lily is basically sitting on top of Daisy while she's tickling her. Funny stuff here, people.

Now I need to sleep.

April 29

As I brushed the tangles out of Daisy's hair this morning, she asked me to put a ponytail in her hair. I was feeling silly, so I asked if she wanted it right on top of her head, or maybe two ponytails... Amazingly, she loved the idea of two ponytails, and was pleasant and cooperative while I brushed her hair into her very first pigtails.

I have to tell you: it was the cutest. thing. EVER. These pictures in no way capture the pure adorableness of Daisy in pigtails, but I had to take them quickly because we were rushing to get Caleb to school on time because it was his turn to fill the Mystery Box! (He chose the cape that my friend Amber made for him nearly three years ago. That cape was one of the best gifts ever.)

So. Rushed pictures of Daisy in pigtails:

Can you tell that she was totally delighted with them?

She was so delighted with them that she cooperated for pictures.

Oh. My. Goodness.

She kills me.

And somehow, with all of the Daisy-adorableness, I only got crummy pictures of Lily today. 

She found a ball. She was pretty excited.

This girl totally needs pigtails, too. I would have done it, but all the pigtail-making supplies were in Daisy's room, and Daisy was napping.

Maybe tomorrow will be Lily's turn for pigtails. I might be addicted to pigtails now.

April 28

I always think maybe I should do something on Do-Nothing Mondays, but then I don't, and I'm glad.

So we did nothing today.

I mean, yeah, there was a yogurt party.

Lily was the only person celebrating the yogurt, but she didn't mind.

This girl went through five different outfits today because of her eating habits. It's not even anything a bib could fix; she drops everything into her lap, where it gets mushed into her pants. It's really a disaster, but I remind myself that it's just a part of having a baby this age. Making messes is learning, and I'm glad that my babies get to be at home with me, making messes.

My big kids and their messes, though... Apparently one of my failings as a parent is in teaching my kids to pick up after themselves and be responsible. I slack on making them pick up regularly, and then lose my cool when I can't take a step because the floor is covered in their cast-off toys. That totally happened today, and at nap time, Caleb told me, "Mommy, you are being too unkind to me. You need to pray. You need to take a nap and pray so that you will be kind."

That kid knows more than I give him credit for. 

Later, Lily and I welcomed a thunderstorm on the front porch while the big kids napped.

("Do nothing" apparently included naps today; this girl only took 45-minute naps today. Boo.)

Then there was roll-around-naked-on-the-floor time, during which Lily demonstrated that she has mastered the art of rolling as locomotion. She rolled all over her room, and it was really pretty funny.  Though she's not moving around too much, I do have a video of her being silly and rolling, with some commentary from Caleb.

And then Caleb "helped" me make dinner.

At one point he wasn't paying attention and knocked over an empty wine glass that was on the counter. It broke. I kept my cool, but expressed my disappointment that he wasn't more careful. He said, "Well, Mommy, you can just go buy a new one!" (I know he's trying to look on the bright side, but I hate his attitude that everything is replaceable. I'm not sure how to fix that.)

I replied that I wouldn't replace the glass, and that I wasn't particularly concerned about it; I was more concerned that he might have been hurt by the glass shards. I told him, "Caleb, you might have been hurt, and I only have one you!"

He replied, "Mommy. You can just give birth to Yoey (his name for our future, hypothetical, definitely-not-in-my-uterus baby #4).)

I was baffled because 1. My four-year-old just used the phrase "give birth".

2. He thinks I can just have another baby to make up for him? 

That child. I have no idea about him.

April 27

Caleb and Daisy were so cute before church today, but we were rushing rushing rushing to leave the house on time and I just didn't take a picture. I'm still disappointed about that. 

After church, we stopped by a tile store to check out tiles for our fireplace surround (I think we found the right one!), and arrived home to find my mom lounging on our deck. What a happy surprise! She lunched with us while Chris mowed the lawn.

Daisy also "mowed" the lawn in her church dress. If you think she's darling in this picture, you should have seen her before church with her little pink headband on, too. Her cuteness just blows me away.

I put Lily down for a nap, then put Caleb and Daisy down for naps.

Unfortunately, Caleb's nap didn't stick. I hate that he's outgrowing nap time, but we've had a great run of naps, so I suppose I can't really complain. Daisy napped long enough for herself and Caleb, though, not waking up until 5 pm. Really. Girl must have been tired.

While our Sleeping Beauty rested, we did all kinds of things:

Watched the Blues game

(I love how engaged Lily is!)

Played outside before the storms rolled in

Snuggled

Worked on the sand box that will be Daisy's birthday gift

Practiced our "No Pictures!" face

"NO PICTURES!"

Smiled

And just hung out.

Goodness, I love her chubby baby thighs! (Although, as I look at this picture I realize that her baby chunk flapping in the wind makes her legs look warped. I promise my baby doesn't have scurvy.)

Hi, cutie pie!

April 26

It was another busy and fun day.

At 8:40 this morning, I leapt out of bed with a gasp - Chris had let me sleep in, which would have been great, except that the kids had tumbling class at 9:30. Whoops! They made it to class on time, and they did great. I don't think I blogged about their first class last week, during which they acted like complete weirdos. Caleb refused to participate, despite the fact that he desperately wanted to, and Daisy clung to me almost the whole time. It was embarrassing, and it was sad for them because they missed out on a lot of fun.

This time, however, they were ready. They were a bit shy at first, but they quickly warmed up and began participating. Caleb had been practicing his balance beam skills all week, and when he got the chance to use them, he rocked it! Yay, Caleb! Daisy was great, too. I had Lily with me, so I didn't take any pictures, but it was great. 

When we left class, we discovered that the Y had been transformed into a Healthy Kids Expo. Caleb and Daisy got their faces painted, made a healthy snack, got balloon animals, and Caleb even got to participate in a magic trick.Outside, the electric company had a cool demonstration truck set up, and there was an ambulance for the kids to explore. Since we were one of the first families there, Caleb was allowed to climb up in the driver's seat of the ambulance, honk the horn, and turn on the sirens!

It's a crummy photo, but I was holding Lily, my purse, a balloon animal, and two cups of yogurt. So really, it's a pretty impressive photo.

After the big kids went down for naps, Lily and I went shopping. We had lots of stores to visit, so the first place we stopped was Cotton Babies, where I bought something I've been wanting for a while: chew beads. They're necklaces made of baby-safe silicone, and they're intended to be cute for Mom and fun for baby. Since I knew Lily would be spending a lot of time in the sling today, I thought she'd enjoy having something to play with.

I was right! As soon as I put the necklace on, she grabbed it and started chewing. She liked it so much that every time I put her in the car seat, she cried until I took the necklace off and gave it to her. It was a bit pricey, but overall a great purchase. I just wish they'd been around four years ago!

Even several hours later, after dinner, Lily was still interested in the necklace.

It matches her outfit pretty nicely, doesn't it?

Chris put air in Caleb's bike tires today, and Caleb was convinced that he could ride faster because of it.

Did you notice that they both got new helmets for Easter? Their little heads are growing! Daisy chose her helmet, and Caleb was delighted that his matched his bike.

While the big kids rode, Lily found random things to eat. 

Like leaves.

Twigs.

Acorns.

Mulch.

She's a very curious baby!

Daisy tried out the balance bike, and even managed to glide for a foot or two at a time before she got nervous and put her feet down again. The girl is getting bold! (The green streak on her face is the caterpillar she chose at the face painting booth this morning.)

Hi, cutie pie!

April 25

We had such a fun - and busy - day! This morning, we joined Amber and her kids for a home school event at a gymnastics gym. We aren't home schoolers, but it didn't seem to matter. Even though our first tumbling class at the YMCA last week was a disaster, I was eager to give the kids another chance to experience a real gymnastics class. Caleb rose to the challenge, and was remarkably brave and engaged. I'm pretty sure he realized how much he had missed out on last week because he wouldn't participate, and he didn't want it to happen again.

Both kids were rewarded for their bravery with the opportunity to leap into a foam pit. It's not even possible for me to explain here how much they were looking forward to the foam pit, and they were so. excited.

Yes, it's a blurry cell phone picture through a window, but it's Daisy preparing to leap into the foam pit.

And there's a motion-blurred Caleb leaping into the pit. He loved it!

Chris got to go to the baseball game tonight, so I was home alone with the kiddos. Luckily, the weather was beautiful, so we decided to head to the lake after dinner. My parents were free and met up with us on the beach.

First, we stopped to see a cake.  Daisy's birthday is next week, and we decided that on her birthday we are going to hunt birthday cakes. Since there happened to be one at the lake, we started our cake hunt today.

Daisy was so excited!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Isn't she darling?

At the lake, Lily was very skeptical of Grandpa. She was interested, but skeptical.

Caleb and Daisy, meanwhile, got right to work with their playing.

I never get tired of pictures like this.

Mom didn't like this picture, but I think it's stunning. It's my blog, so I win.

Those eyelashes!

Those sweet cheeks!

Those chubby legs!

Sadly, the sun began setting much too soon.

Also sadly, Caleb decided to wade in the lake up to his mid-thighs. Instantly, a non-bath-night became a bath night. Boo.

And Lily was still skeptical of Grandpa.

At bedtime, I took the big kids to get some water and came back to find Lily literally flipping through a book. It was awesome!

April 24

Apparently four is a really, really tough age.

That's all I have to say about that.

We had a busy morning, and the kids all napped at the same time this afternoon. 

Daisy and Lily woke up first, and got in some play time while I worked on this chocolate cake for book club tonight. It's going to be delicious.

Look at Lily's expression. She's clearly getting into something.

As much as we try to fight it, drywall dust is covering every surface in our house right now. I'm ready for this work to be over with! Sadly, we're the ones doing the work, so it's all up to us...

Daisy was so excited to help me wash dishes. Lately she's really interested in helping in the kitchen.

I should find a way to exploit that.

April 23

The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect, so the kids and I headed to the Botanical Garden today. I wrapped Lily on my back and pushed Caleb and Daisy in the BOB and intentionally left my big camera at home. It was a lovely morning.

You totally can't see the lovely flowers in this picture, but Caleb is so happy and handsome that I have to share it. 

Daisy was pretending she was a statue in the middle of this disc.

Really, her pose makes me think of sea lions basking in the sun.

Normally when we visit the garden, we hit the same spots every time. Today, we visited new spaces and had so much fun! I was really glad I had the BOB, though, because we could cover a lot more distance when Caleb and Daisy could hop in the stroller to rest.

I don't have any pictures of Lily from this morning because she was on my back and I was by myself, but she was really, really, REALLY happy to be outside and on my back. She spent the whole morning cooing and babbling at people. I'm sure it helped that the girl slept from 7:45 last night until 8:30 this morning, waking once at 5 am to nurse. If I were that well-rested, I'd be cooing and babbling at people, too!

We headed home in time for lunch and great naps, and went right back outside after naptime, even though it was significantly cloudier and cooler than it had been in the morning.

Hi drooly baby in the swing!

Daisy insisted on wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and jelly sandals, even though it was chilly, she was shivering, and the sandals cut her feet. She is something else.

Lily, meanwhile, was waiting patiently for someone to push her.