August 31

Most mornings, Chris gets up at 5:30, Lily wakes up around 6, the big kids come out of their rooms at 6:30, and I sleep in until 7. Chris always tends to the kids until I get up, for which I am eternally grateful. This morning, Chris took some pictures of the kiddos while I slept. It's so fun to have a glimpse into their mornings together! Apparently the children are cuter, funnier, and more cheerful for him than they ever are for me. Go figure.

Oh my goodness. Doesn't the cuteness just kill you? Also, those bangs are why Lily's hair is always up in a ponytail.

Truck Man!

Isn't he sweet?

Seriously. She's always cheerful for me, but never this happy.

So much hair!

I'm only posting this picture because I know Caleb will think it's really cool.

I have no words. She is just too sweet.

I love that Daisy is eagerly cooperating for this picture, while Caleb is clearly being whiny and uncooperative. I also love that Daisy has already gotten herself out of her pjs and dressed for the day, while Caleb is still in his jammies. I can't wait until Lily is big enough to be a fully-functioning part of their little gang!

August 30

We had an impromptu family adventure after dinner tonight, but because it was so impromptu, I didn't have my camera. Boo.

Chris took a few pictures with his phone, though, so I have those.

Correction: I have one picture.
Updated! I have two! I found the missing picture!

We explored a new trail that starts in the woods adjacent to an industrial area, then suddenly makes a right angle and runs alongside the river. It was so much fun to surprise the kids with the river view, especially because we often visit the other side of the river, but we had never been to this side.

We visited right after a rain storm, so it was cool and lovely, no one was out, and we were rewarded with a glorious sunset. We saw some turtles and a few rabbits, and threw some sticks into the river. That's our version of a good time!

Chris wore Lily on his back, and I *swear* I took a great picture of the two of them with Chris' phone, but somehow it  no longer exists. Boo. and I have a picture of it!

I know Lily looks phenomenally uncomfortable, but she really wasn't. I promise. Also, don't you love the action shot of Caleb as he threw something into the river?

 Two things I don't want to forget about Lily tonight as she rode in the Ergo on Chris' back:

When we spotted the bunnies, I focused all of my energy on helping Caleb and Daisy see them. I didn't try to point them out to Lily at all. But suddenly she noticed them, all on her own, and began pointing, leaning, and kicking both feet. She saw those bunnies, and she wanted them!

As we walked back to the car after our adventure, Caleb and Daisy ran ahead and Chris and I walked hand-in-hand and talked. Suddenly we heard Lily make a humming noise. She was resting her face against Chris' back and sighing contentedly. When she noticed that I noticed, though, she picked her head back up and gave me the biggest grin. I love knowing that, even though she's so little, she's enjoying herself on our adventures, too!

August 29

After dinner tonight, we were playing in the front porch when I heard a noise that gave me a great idea. Chris and I decided to take the kids on an adventure.

A football game!

We are about a mile from the local high school, which is close enough for us to hear the marching band during home games. The last time I remember us going to a game as a family was back in September 2012, before Lily was even a twinkle in my eye!

The kids were in their jammies, and I brought some (all-natural, GMO-free) kettle corn for a special treat. Chris lugged along the big chairs so that the little ones could watch the game in comfort. We had the perfect set-up!

At first, Caleb was devastated that we had to watch from behind the fence. He cried and shrieked like he was in physical pain. Once I handed him a snack and he was able to run around a little bit, though, he began to see the merits of our spot. 

I also promised him that he and Daddy could go to another game without the girls, and then they could actually go in the stadium.

Wow. Can you believe how clearly I captured those snot bubbles? The rest of us are mostly over the cold that Caleb brought home from kindergarten last week, but Lulu still suffers. Poor baby!

Daisy really enjoyed watching the football game!

Caleb wanted desperately to take pictures with my camera. When I gave it to him, he got really upset after his first shot. "The lights are all fuzzy!"

When I explained to him that photographers call it "bokeh", and it's actually pretty cool, he got really interested.

My sweet little photographer, in his jammies and no shoes!

This is the picture he was taking while I took the picture of him above. See me holding up my phone in the bottom right corner?

After he took this one, he came running to me, "Look, Mommy! I got lots of bokeh!" 

He may only be five, but he's already got this photography thing down!

We stayed long enough to watch the half time show. That was definitely long enough!

One last group shot, compliments of my photographer boy. Daisy is in my lap, and Chris is reclined with Lily in his lap. What a fun evening!

August 26

I didn't take any pictures with my big camera today, but I just discovered a few gems on my phone that I figured I should share.

This was on August 20. Lily has started climbing, and loves to be in chairs. This chair rocks, so she can't climb up on her own. I helped her up, and she was so pleased! Then she attempted to climb down on her own. This child may be the one to turn my hair completely gray!

For the life of me, I cannot remember the context of this picture. All I remember is that Daisy thought it was pretty fantastic.

Every day when we head to the bus stop to drop off or pick up Caleb, Lily and I try out a new carry with my wrap. This is Giselle's Back Carry, tied with a knotless finish. Lily loves, loves, LOVES going up on my back. As soon as I get out the wrap, she starts kicking and wiggling and grunting, and if I don't put her up immediately, she cries. I can't even begin to describe how rewarding it is that we both love wrapping; that something that is so fun and convenient for me also makes her happy. 

The only problem now is that I want more wraps, and wraps aren't cheap! Right now, I'm itching for a size 3 or 4 wrap, since the two I have are longer. I have my eye on this one and this one, but I have a feeling it's mostly wishful thinking. Maybe someday!

This was in the big bed, before church on Sunday. We took a series of funny-face pictures on my phone, and Caleb liked this one the best.

Finally, one from today. The girls and I stopped by the library, and Lily was desperate to sit in a chair at a table! Once she was up there, the started reaching and grunting toward the pile of books just outside her reach. When I handed her a book of her own, she was one happy girl!

August 25

When Lily was born, Caleb assured me, "I know lots about babies, Mommy! I'm a really good babysitter!"

At the time, I thought it was really sweet. But now I realize: the boy was right! He does know lots about babies, and he's remarkably good with them.

Caleb's first kindergarten cold has taken our whole family by storm, so both girls were in the middle of long, late naps when it was time to pick Caleb up from the bus stop. Since it's just at the corner, I took the baby monitor with me and went to go get Caleb.  Just as we were heading home, Lily woke up. Caleb was so excited to run into her room and say hi, and Lily was equally excited to see her brother!

I got Lily out of her crib and settled her in the chair next to Caleb, where he wrapped his arm around her and snuggled up close. Then the boy looked at me and said, "Mommy, you should take a picture of us!"

I love that kid.

School has been so good for Caleb. He comes home full of love, creativity, enthusiasm. Snuggles for everyone!

We went through a rough phase with Caleb over the past year, but now I realize that maybe he just needed to go to school!

After he and Lily were done snuggling, I got some snuggles. Caleb's favorite thing to tell me is, "Mommy, you're my favorite Mommy." He knows it's a joke, which makes it even cuter. 

Speaking of cuter, this girl: 

She has four teeth now, and a wicked cold. Poor baby is miserable, but my blessed husband has been handling the late nights so that this mama can get some sleep. He understands that if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

August 23

For some reason, I haven't managed to take any pictures the last few days. Hence, no blog posts.

I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm struggling to find a rhythm to my days now that Caleb is in school. We get Caleb on the bus just in time to get Daisy to preschool on preschool days. On other days, we have just enough time to get home, read a few books, and then it's time for Lily's morning nap. I have such grand ideas about the adventures the girls and I will have while Caleb is at school, but that morning nap just ruins everything. 

Plus, it's been hot.

Plus, first trimester exhaustion.

I'm hopeful for the fall and winter, when it won't be so hot and when Lily will (hopefully) drop her morning nap. I'm hopeful we'll find some sort of routine that works for us. 

In the meantime, I've been sitting and reading and playing and not taking pictures.

But Chris took some cell phone pictures today!
And now I can't find them on my computer.

Technology has not been my friend this evening! Our internet has been down all evening, which meant I couldn't find the new recipe I was going to try for dinner, which meant I had to wing it, which meant that the meal was not so delicious.

Then - as I was typing this post - our power went out and returned a few seconds later. But somehow that brief outage managed to turn on Lily's overhead light and turn off her noise machine, waking her up.

And now I can't find the pictures I know I uploaded.

I think I need to go to bed.

First, here are pictures of Caleb playing MarioKart on our Wii. They're too funny not to share.

I love how little kids play video games with their whole bodies. He was sitting at first, but eventually ended up on his knees, bending and twisting with the steering wheel.

What a sweet boy.

August 19

Today is Lily's 13-month birthday! 

Like the stellar mom that I am, I completely forgot to even attempt to take a good picture of her or weigh her. But since it's not the first year anymore, it doesn't matter as much. Right? Right???

What does matter is that today was also my 12-week prenatal appointment. Caleb and Daisy were at school, and Chris was at work, so it was just Lily and me. We got to hear Baby's heartbeat, which was steady and strong. There is something about hearing each baby's heartbeat for the first time that moves me to my very core. "The miracle of life" is such a cliche, but I can't think of any other way to describe the fact that the God of the universe has chosen to grow a life - His child! - in my womb. So far, this pregnancy has been so easy that the baby feels like more of a concept than a reality. I don't "feel" pregnant, so it's often easy to forget that I am carrying a new life around inside of me. But today, when I heard our sweet Baby's heartbeat?

Bam. It was real. 

What a miracle.

After the appointment, Lily and I picked Daisy up from school, and the girls both napped for two or three hours. It was beautiful, but I wasn't expecting Lily to sleep that long, so I wasn't able to fully enjoy it. So it goes.

We picked Caleb up at the bus stop, and he emerged from the bus wearing a crown on his head.

He was Star Student today, which meant that the class learned about him, said a rhyme with his name, and then all drew pictures of him. His teacher bound all of the pictures into a book for him to keep, which he was really excited about.

Lily, meanwhile, was just excited that her brother was home.

(I think she is just cutting tooth #4 today... let's hope it happens quickly!)

And right after I took the picture above, Daisy swooped in, wrapped her arm around her sister, and cheesed for a picture. Yes, Daisy's hair is an unruly, bedraggled mop. It gets that way after her epic, three-hour, sweaty naps, but she hates brushing it. My rule is that we have to brush it in the morning and at bedtime, and I don't fight it any other time. Hence the hobo-chic look the girl is rocking. But hey - she loves her sister!

August 18

Don't tell Caleb, but while he was at kindergarten today, we had a playdate without him.

He loves going to school, but I don't think he's ready to be told that we have fun, even when he's not here. 

Amber and her four darlings came over, and Jill and Naomi joined us, too. What fun! At one point, we were all playing in the back yard. I went inside for something, and looked out the kitchen window to see LILY SITTING ON TOP OF HER PICNIC TABLE!

By the time I rushed out with my camera, she was on her way down. Look at that guilty look on her face. Girl knows she was up to no good! Apparently she's a climber? She's been practicing for weeks on the child-sized  wooden bench on our front porch, but it appears that she's now ready for new challenges.

Like the picnic table.

We happened to have just enough rainbow popsicles (the ones I forgot to serve at Lily's birthday party?) for everyone, so it was a rainbow popsicle playdate. Daisy was appropriately excited.

(See her curls? It was that humid out today.)

 And then Lily got  back up on the picnic table.

Apparently she was eager to show Naomi her skillz? Luckily, Naomi is a good girl who didn't follow Lily's bad example. She remained firmly planted on the ground, despite the peer pressure Lily was clearly applying.

Oh! And we finally got some Ecococcoon stainless steel cups! Hooray! Daisy was really excited about these. I told her we couldn't use them yet because they needed to be washed, so she ran into the bathroom and "washed" all of them. Funny girl!

August 16

The "Daddy is Home!" celebrations continued today, despite the rain all morning. When Lily went down for her morning nap, Chris took the big kids on a scavenger hunt adventure on the trails at a nearby park.

Yes, in the rain.

They wore their little rain coats, brought magnifying glasses and binoculars, and carried a list of items to find.

Their list included:

a nut

a cool rock

a leaf

something Mommy will like

a wild animal 

a paw print

trash (to pick up and throw away)

They had so much fun, but returned cold, wet, and tired. Here are Chris' cell phone pictures of the event:

 

Chris had the foresight to bring the stroller. The trail was a long loop, and the BOB's deep canopies provided occasional shelter for the kiddos. Clearly, Daisy was  having second thoughts about this adventure!

There was so much rain that the waterfall - usually just a trickle, if anything - was gushing mud. Caleb told me later that it was gushing chocolate milk!

They found this path off the main trail, and followed it to find...

The shell of an old truck! Caleb was fascinated.

Caleb told me that he tried with all of his super strength to pull a piece of the truck off, but it didn't work.

Chocolate milk creeks.

Caleb also excitedly told me about this log bridge - a broken down tree that made a bridge.

As they finished their loop, the rain finally stopped.

And the waterfall was now gushing clear water!

I love that Chris took them on such a fun adventure. Sometimes I feel sad that I always take one for the team and stay home with the baby while they go out on these excursions. But then I remember that I get all day, every day with them, and there are many times when I have awesome adventures with the kids that Chris misses out on. And some day, our children will be done napping and we can go on family adventures together!

August 15

He's home!

I feel like I can finally breathe again!

(I just realized I said the exact same thing when he returned last year, too. Funny!)

And it looks like a certain someone missed him just as much as I did!

August 14

Lily woke up at 1 am.

Caleb woke up at 3 am.

Lily woke up again at 5 am.

Then they were all up for the day at 6:30 am.

I'm the kind of person who functions best on 9 hours sleep each night, especially when I'm pregnant. You think I'm joking, but I'm not. There is a noticeable difference in me when I get 9 hours of sleep - I am much more cheerful and energetic and patient. But lately, I've been going on 6 hours of sleep each night. And you know how it goes - if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

We will all be happy tomorrow, though, when Chris comes home! Hooray!

Caleb's third day of school went well, I think. He said he had PE today and practiced his scissoring.

Daisy was much more talkative about her second day of preschool. They read Harold and the Purple Crayon, and she told me all about what Harold drew. She played in the sandbox at recess, but they aren't allowed to take their shoes off. Miss Amy liked her owl socks. Some kids cried when their parents left, but Daisy was brave. The toilets on the girls' side have loud flushes, and Daisy is brave but covers her ears. The boys' toiled have quiet flushes. She ate the healthy snack we brought, but her other friends had crunchy grahams that were unhealthy for her.

I'm not sure if the difference is girl vs. boy, or just because Daisy and Caleb are very different little people, but it's funny to hear how much more Daisy says about her day. Caleb seems to need time to process his day, and he shares information in a piecemeal manner. A bit here, a bit there.

After dinner, we had time to head over to the lake for a little bit so the kids could dig in the beach. I think we all needed some sunshine and fresh air! I didn't want to lug my big camera along, so I just have some cell phone photos today.

Caleb and Daisy both chose to wear their sun hats. I thought it was pretty funny! Caleb dug a river that led to the lake, then filled his bucket with water and watched the water rush into the lake. It was really pretty cool!

Normally I try to keep Lily on the blanket and out of the sand, but today I just let her go for it. The girl ended up filthy and wet, and I'm pretty sure she attempted to eat at least five handfuls of (nasty, bacteria-infested) sand. But boy, was she happy!

August 13

Day 2 of kindergarten went even better than Day 1, with more lunch consumed and no chocolate milk purchased. I'm so proud of my big boy!

I was worried about how I'd fill the day without Caleb there to entertain Daisy, but Chris' mom came over and made my afternoon so much easier! Sadly, I have no pictures of that. Actually, I have no pictures of today, period.

But I do have this terrible video of Lily standing unassisted for the first time. It's only for a few seconds at a time, but it's a big milestone. Hopefully that means she'll be walking soon!

I particularly like the way Daisy and Caleb (both ready for bath time!) rush over to congratulate her, with Caleb shouting, "You're a genius, Lily!"

My kids are each others' biggest fans. I'm glad I'm raising such encouragers!

August 12

Today was the big day:

Caleb's first day of kindergarten, and Daisy's first day of preschool!

I have been unsettled about sending Caleb to kindergarten for a while now; my heart was torn between wanting to keep him with me and homeschool him, and wanting to send him to public school where he could spread his little wings and learn to function without me. After much thought and prayer and discussion, Chris and I decided that both options had merit, but given Caleb's personality, sending him off might be best. I still reserve the right to change my mind, but for now it seems that we've made the right choice.

Yesterday was Meet the Teacher day, and Caleb was pretty nervous. After a while, though, he seemed to have wrapped his head around the idea and was just fine. Today, he didn't seem nervous at all.

Despite the fact that he got to bed super-late last night, Caleb popped out of bed at 6:30. Daisy woke up soon after, and went in to check on him. From my bed, I could hear Caleb tell Daisy, "Come on, Daisy! We have to get ready for school!"

He chose his favorite muscle shirt, blue sweat shorts, and his super-fast running shoes.

Breakfast was Daddy's special pancakes (made ahead of time and frozen, since Chris is still in Wisconsin) and some gluten-free bread, toasted with butter.

We packed his snack - green apple and raisins - and his lunch - ham slices, cheddar cheese, cucumber slices, strawberries, and allergen-free snickerdoodles from Trader Joe's.

And then he was ready!

Daisy wanted her picture taken first.

I didn't even try to argue with her about her outfit, or convince her to wear something that actually matched. She was really happy with what she chose to wear to school!

Caleb was so eager to have his picture taken that he couldn't even wait for the chalkboard to dry! He was really excited.

(Would you like a reminder of what his first day of preschool looked like, last year? It's here.)

And my two cuties together!

Then Daisy licked Caleb. That girl is such a stinker!

Goodness, I love them. I love that they are best friends!

Can you believe how excited he is?

This boy. 

Ready to go!

Caleb's bus picks him up just down the street at 8:25, and we have to leave the house at 8:45 to get Daisy to preschool on time, so it works out perfectly. Daisy wore her backpack for the walk to the bus  stop, and I wore Lily on my back.

As we waited for the bus, Caleb grew a little bit nervous.

But by the time the bus arrived, he was all smiles again!

See ya later, big guy!

And not a tear was shed - by either of us. 

After Caleb was on the bus, Daisy was ready to go to preschool rightthissecond. It took all of my energy to keep her distracted for twenty minutes until it was time to go!

(I kind of wish that I had made her put that newspaper down, but she absolutely refused. I do like that you can see today's headline, though. Our city is in the midst of a major crisis, and today my prayers alternated between praying for my children at school, and praying for peace in our city.)

She was so excited to wear her backpack, even though it was totally empty.

My big girl!

Daisy rocked preschool. Dropoff went off without a hitch; she wasn't even the slightest bit sad. Lily and I came home, and Lily went down for a nap right away. Yes! She woke up just in time to go pick Daisy up. Daisy's morning was great, and she was excited to tell me about going down the slide on the playground, playing with Play-doh, and the Bear Hunt song.

Then the girls and I met a friend for lunch, and headed home for naps. On the way, Daisy asked if we could go pick up Caleb now. I explained to her that when she woke up from her nap, we could pick up Caleb. That one backfired on me: the girl spent an hour and a half in her room, but never actually napped. After what she determined was a reasonable time, she came into my room and asked, "I am done with my nap. Now can we go get Caleb?" 

She was so excited to get her brother that she couldn't even sleep! Funny girl.

Caleb's bus was well over thirty minutes late dropping him off, due to first-day glitches. Luckily, the weather was lovely and the girls and I enjoyed some outside time. I expected Caleb to be tired or grouchy, but he was neither. His favorite part of his day was that he got to have TWO recesses! TWO!

He only ate half of his apple, didn't drink any of his water, and only ate strawberries and cheese for lunch. He did inform me, however, that he bought chocolate milk at lunch. He had no money, and no money on his lunch account, so I think we now owe the school money. After a long talk about how he is not to buy any food at school without my permission, he told me that they didn't have straws, and he ended up spilling his chocolate milk all over himself, anyway.

Poor kid. 

Otherwise, he had a great first day, and he's excited to go back tomorrow! No preschool for Daisy, though, so it will be just me and the girls all day.