July 26

Goodness. It seems like things have been ridiculously busy around here - I'm waiting anxiously for it to slow down!

Lily woke up at 4:45 this morning. Chris tried his best to get her back to sleep, to no avail. So he entertained her until 7:00, which we have deemed an appropriate time for her to be awake. At 7, he brought her into me so that I could nurse her in bed, and despite the fact that the big kids were up and playing in the front rooms, he crawled back into bed and went to sleep. He had clearly earned his second sleep, so I finished feeding Lily and went out to see what the big kids were doing.

Daisy had just spilled our Costco-sized bag of raisins on the floor, but managed to pick most of them up. She was about to pour herself a big bowl of Chex when Lily and I came out. Caleb and Daisy love, love, love Chex and raisins in the morning. I hate it. That cereal only has two things going for it: it's gluten-free, and it's easy. Other than that, it's a waste. I wish I could get my kids to eat more nourishing foods for breakfast, but they really love Chex and raisins. Since I really need easy right now, and since the Chex isn't actively bad for them, I'm letting it slide. But it really bugs me.

So anyway, Daisy was pouring herself a bowl of Chex and raisins, and she asked me to help her with the milk. After I poured the milk into her bowl, she grabbed her spoon and began stirring and singing:

Stir it up

little darling, stir it uuuuup!

I was such a proud mama when I realized that my little girl was singing a Bob Marley tune while she stirred her cereal.

Daisy has also been practicing her "texting" on that old Blackberry phone next to her. She picks out the letter for different words, which I love. That's totally a pre-reading skill, right? Not some sign that she sees me texting way too much? Or that she'll be obsessed with technology? 

Nope. Pre-reading skill.

After breakfast, I put Lily down for a nap, woke Chris up, and Daisy and I left to pick up half a cow from my dear friend Sara's freezer (she was afraid of a meat-a-lanche when she opened the freezer door, but thankfully it was minor. No casualties.). Then on to the grocery store, back home to unload everything, wrap  gifts for the two parties we were invited to today, feed the kids, switch around car seats, bake Chris' birthday cake, put Lily down for another nap... Whew!

At 4:00, Chris took Caleb to one birthday party for his friend Landon, while I took the girls to my nephew Jace's first birthday party. Chris and Caleb joined us after their party was over.

Lily wore a darling new dress, and loved all of the balloons!

And Jace was a remarkably cooperative birthday boy. Now it's 11pm, and Chris and I serve in the church nursery tomorrow morning. Plus it's his birthday, so we have lots of birthday activities planned. And it looks like we have something scheduled for every day next week! Sheesh!