April 30

Shew! I feel like I ran a marathon today! Today was the first day that I could honestly say my broken leg didn't hurt all that much. Usually I feel a distinct pain right where the break is, but today I barely felt it. Instead, the muscles in my legs ache and I have some really intense lower back pain. It's like my whole body had adjusted to compensate for the broken bone, and now that the bone pain is less, the rest of my body feels free to complain! I also did way too much today, so I am literally hobbling like a poorly trained marathoner crossing the finish line.

It was so lovely out this morning that I tried to spend some time outside with Lily and Eli while Daisy was at preschool. First, I wrapped Eli on me and dug up dandelions while Lily played around me. (Don't worry, mom; I only did what I could do while sitting on my bottom.) Eventually Eli got tired of that, so we moved to the porch. I pulled out his play gym to see if maybe he would bat at toys (a three-month developmental milestone). He didn't, but he was still pretty happy.

Someone else thought the play gym was pretty fun, too.

There! I finally caught a full-on baby smile! 

This kid is seriously handsome, if I do say so myself.

Eventually Lily grew tired of trying to use Eli's toys, and she began trying to use my toys. First, my phone: 

She is so funny - she tries to take a selfie, but holds the phone smashed to her face, saying "Cheeeeeeee" the whole time. (Also, I'm pretty sure she has the most gorgeous eyes of any child ever. But I may be a bit biased.)

"Cheeeeeeeee!"

"CHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Isn't her outfit fantastic, too? While I was getting the bigger kids ready for school and preschool, Lily found the white shirt (a 3T, so a little small on Daisy and a little big on Lily) and somehow managed to put it on properly, even though it was on top of her pajama shirt. When it was time for me to get Lily dressed for the day, I couldn't bring myself to make her take the shirt off when she had worked so hard to get it on. So I pulled out some red pants and called it an outfit.

Except that Lily wanted none of it. She screamed, "No-eee! No-eee! Dessh!"

The girl wanted to wear a dress. So I found one that kind of went with the white shirt and red pants, and Lily was very happy with that outfit. She was especially pleased to wear this dress, because she had never worn it before.

After the cell phone, Lily got out her bike. I let her ride for a while, but then I forgot that she's not even two and doesn't follow directions for anything. She rode that bike almost down to the corner and wouldn't ride it back. I had to hobble down to where she was, scoop her up with one arm and pick the bike up with another, and hobble back to the house. Twice. After the second time, I put the bike away.

Then the same thing happened with a big ball. After I had to chase it down, I decided we were done with toys that moved. Luckily, Lily found a net.

What is it with kids and nets? It seems universal that every child that has ever encountered this net immediately puts the net on his or her head and feels quite pleased about the whole thing.

There - you can see most of Lily's funny outfit.

Eventually we went inside, Daisy came home, and the kids all napped. I foolishly didn't rest; I spent nap time prepping dinner and baking the cake for Daisy's birthday celebration tomorrow night. Her birthday isn't until Monday, but Friday night worked best for all of the family to come over for cake. Daisy requested lemon cake, so I doctored up a gluten-free cake mix. She will probably hate it (girl has never had a lemon cake before) but I bet it will be delicious.

And I just found this picture from yesterday:

Daisy had filled the other side of that notebook with letters and scribbles, and proudly held it up to me and read, "On my birf-day when I am four, I am going to the bowling alley with my Daddy."

Funny girl. She is so excited about her birthday!

April 29

Yep. Kids are definitely going stir-crazy. The girls and I had a chiropractor appointment this morning, and I'm still not quite up to loading three children into and out of their car seats in the van by myself. Thankfully, Chris has a late night of work events planned, so he was willing to go into work a little bit late this morning so that he could be my personal assistant.

The whole way home from the chiropractor, Daisy kept asking,

"There's a park near here. Can we go to the park?"

"How about a different park?"

"Can someone take us to the Butterfly House?"

"Please? Can we call someone and ask them to take us to the Butterfly House?"

I repeatedly told her that my leg is broken and I have to rest it so I can't even take her to a park, but Daisy just didn't want to hear that. Poor girl. I don't blame her. (Side note: if anyone wants to come take Daisy and Lily on an adventure, or even just Daisy, I have extra car seats. Heck, I'd even loan you my van!)

Chris went off to work, and I spent a good chunk of the morning calling medical supply companies, trying to find one that is in-network with my insurance and sells breast pumps. After two children and countless hours of pumping and thousands of ounces of milk, most of which I donated, my trusty pump is about done. Luckily, Obamacare mandates that insurance companies provide breast pumps at no cost. So I spent my morning trying to hunt down one of those free breast pumps.

I found a list of in-network durable medical goods providers, and started calling. In one hour, I called at least 10 companies, and only found one company that did pumps. After the girls went down for naps, I resumed my search. All told, I:

called 31 companies

called my insurance company

called my insurance benefits management company

called two online providers, who turned out to be out of network

found 6 local companies who provide breast pumps

found 1 local company that provides a breast pump I might be interested in

learned I need a prescription from my doctor to get a breast pump

still don't have a pump

whomp, whomp. 

But I think I know how to get one now. It's just a matter of when. I hate that health insurance is so complicated and frustrating, but I'm so thankful to have it.

Chris was gone for dinner, but my sweet friend Liz brought us a delicious meal, so at least I didn't have to cook. I did, however, have to hold Eli for the entire meal.

Dinnertime selfie. Babywearing FTW.

We had just managed to finish dinner and get jammies on when my mom arrived after her shift at work. She helped me get all the kids to bed, even this one: 

He totally didn't stay asleep, though. As I type, he is sleeping peacefully in the ring sling. I'm hoping I can set him down long enough to tidy a few things up, but... I have a broken leg. I really should rest it, don't you think?

April 28

Broken leg or not, today was Eli's 3-month birthday so I had to take some pictures of him. I started early, right after Chris' mom took Daisy to preschool, in case things didn't go well. 

It was good that I started early, because a certain little "helper" of mine tried to help by putting her hand in every single frame. It was frustrating and cute at the same time.

Eventually, I managed to find a time when Lily was too distracted to bother us.

Hey there, handsome! This is his trademark half smile, which I kind of love.

At three months old, Eli:

weighs between 10.5 and 11 pounds

laughs, coos, and gurgles

wiggles and kicks, but doesn't roll

still has gray eyes, but they're slowly turning brown

has lost his thick newborn hair and his real hair is coming in

doesn't hit many of the three-month milestones

is still sleepier than most three-month-olds

nurses through the night, but has mastered sidelying nursing so I'm getting plenty of sleep

doesn't really have a regular nap schedule, except that he usually naps when the girls nap in the afternoon

is happiest when he's wrapped or being worn

The kids haven't really come up with any nicknames for Eli yet. the closest thing he has to a nickname is the way Lily says his name right now: Ee-yah. Chris and I always laugh when she says it, because it makes us think of the rapper Nelly, who sang, "Eya, eya, oh oh..."

Eli is still doing the gushing torrents of spit up on me at least once a day. I'm hopeful that his tummy just gets overfull with milk because I produce so much, and that he'll outgrow it soon. Otherwise, he's a pretty happy baby. He will nap on his own about 50% of the time, and at bedtime I can get him to sleep on his own maybe 10% of the time. The rest of the time, he sleeps in my arms or while Chris wears him in the stretchy wrap.

Eli has been a challenging baby so far, but he has also been such a blessing to our family. We are all totally in love with him, and I am definitely enjoying watching as his personality develops.

I finished our photo shoot and began folding some laundry, when Eli started fussing. Since no photo shoot is complete without a picture of a crying baby, I snapped this: 

I was nearly done folding laundry, though, so I let him fuss for a few more minutes so that I could finish folding.

A minute and a half later, Eli looked like this: 

Sound asleep. Love it.

He slept like that for a good 45 minutes, which was a total victory for me.

Later, Lily and I played on the front porch while we waited for Caleb to get home. She has discovered fluffy dandelions, and she wandered off to pick one for me. I snapped a few pictures, which I think are pretty magical.

Yes, we have a lot of dandelions. No, I don't really care. (Well, actually, I do care, but I'm not willing to put chemicals on my grass to kill the dandelions. My children play barefoot in the lawn, so we're chem-free. Dandelions are the unfortunate consequence.)

Love this girl!

April 27

Do-Nothing Monday with a broken leg is really a do-nothing Monday. The girls are getting cabin fever, though, and it's hard. I can't go outside and play with them because it involves too much standing and walking. I can't take them anywhere for the same reason. We can only read so many books and watch so much TV before they just start bickering. 

Today, the bickering kicked in around 9:45 am. Unfortunately, an intense pain in my leg kicked in around 9:15. All it took was the activity involved in making breakfast and packing Caleb's lunch to make it hurt, which is discouraging. So with a hurting leg and screaming, hair-pulling girls, I was about to lose it. I begged Chris to come home, but he had meetings all day. Finally, in a moment of divine clarity, I remembered a sign a friend had posted on Instagram a few weeks ago. It was rules for raising happy children, and one that stood out to me was, "If they're crabby, put them in water."

Done.

It was sheer brilliance. Absolutely divinely inspired. Just the act of putting on their swimsuits and being allowed to dump every single bath toy into the water changed their attitudes completely. The bathtub bit bought me 45 glorious minutes of peace. With Eli wrapped to my chest, I sat on the (closed) toilet and relaxed while the girls played. Soon enough it was (early) lunch time and (early) nap time, and sanity was once again within my grasp.

Especially when nap time looked like this:

I'm starting to pull out the 3-6 month clothes, and I have such fond memories of some of them! I clearly remember Caleb wearing this "Skater Pup" onesie, and I even have a favorite picture  of him in it. If it weren't so late, I'd dig it up. Instead, I'm going to bed.

April 26

Last night, Chris and I were discussing our plans for today. We were debating whether or not it was wise for me, the one with the broken leg and instructions to "take it easy" to go to church today. Eventually, we decided that it wasn't a good idea: too much walking, standing, moving around... so I decided to stay home.

Then, at 11 pm, I remembered that this was our week to play with babies in the church nursery. Much too late to call in a replacement. So I took my broken leg to the church nursery, where I mostly sat while Chris entertained the babies. 

After lunch, Daisy wanted to watch her "Daisy's first year" video. She recently re-discovered it, and she is obsessed. Of course, the moment anything comes on a screen, Caleb is glued to it, so he joined Daisy too. That's when I snapped this picture:

Almost-six-year-old Caleb, with his arm around nearly four-year-old Daisy, looking at a picture of just-barely-two-year-old Caleb snuggling brand-new Daisy. Is that sweet, or what?

I just looked in my archives, and it turns out that the picture they're looking at was taken on July 19, 2011, which is two years exactly before Lily was born. Weird, huh?

After the girls went down for naps, Chris took Caleb swimming and Eli and I were left to our own devices. Amazingly, he napped. 

Lovely.

April 25

Though it was Saturday today, it didn't really feel like a Saturday.

Chris and Caleb got up early and headed to Caleb's school, where they participated in a one-mile Fun Run. The little ones and I totally would have gone and cheered, if not for my lame-o leg. But Chris texted me this picture, so it was just like I was there. Right?

Do you see how excited he is? They staggered the kids by grade, so he is lined up with other kindergartners. He was so happy at the beginning of the race, but Caleb came home devastated that he didn't win it. I tried to talk to him about racing against himself and trying to beat his time, but it didn't take away the sting. Still, we wrote the date and his time (11:15) on the back of his race number, and we decided that we'd find a way to keep track of his time so that he can see how he improves as he gets older.

Then Chris informed me that, as far as he knows, Caleb was the first kindergartner to cross the finish line. So, he won his age group? Still, we need to work on helping Caleb to try his hardest at everything and be proud of his effort, even if it's not the best. This is just incentive to work harder, not reason to be discouraged!

The boys were home by 8:30, and then Chris took all three big kids grocery shopping. What a brave man! He did a great job, too. Meanwhile, I sat in bed with a snoozing Eli on my chest. Maybe I should break my leg more often! 

After the groceries were put away, Chris headed off to work. On a Saturday. I know. It's unheard of for a banker, but some things are changing at Chris' bank and he needed to be there today to help with the switchover. 

While he was gone, we all napped. (Or not. But Lily and Eli napped, and the big two stayed in their bedrooms and mostly left Mommy alone, so I call that a win.) Then my friend Mary brought dinner over: sausage and ribs that her husband had smoked this morning. Yum. Really, this broken-leg thing has its perks. (I'm totally kidding. Having friends bring dinner is great and all, but this is the pits. I'm bored with my broken leg and ready to move on. I'm starting a protocol of bone broth, fermented cod liver oil, raw milk, and multivitamin/minerals, and I've ordered an herbal supplement and an essential oil that are supposed to help with bone growth. Let's hope my nutritional efforts compensate for my inability to take it as easy as I should.)

Eli joined us at the table for dinner. At one point he fell asleep, at another point he spit up all over himself, and at a third point, he gave me the sweetest grin ever. 

Seriously, baby smiles are so hard to capture! He smiles, I pop the camera up, and by the time the shutter clicks, the smile has faded. Still, he's pretty handsome.

Look at those jowls. I weighed him on our bathroom scale today, which is highly inaccurate (I hope, for my own sake at least!!), and he was 10 and a half pounds. That seems about right, though. It's hard to believe he'll be three months old this week!

Oh, and here's a panned-out shot so you can see what poor Eli has to endure constantly. Lily loves him so much that she is always touching him, kissing him, squeezing him, shrieking at him, rightinhisface... That girl loves him fiercely!

April 24

Today is the last Friday of the month, which means it's gymnastics day for Daisy. She has had to miss the once-a-month class for the past two months, due to sickness and Eli's unexpected arrival, and I was feeling awful that my sweet girl (who wants to be a gymnast when she grows up!) would have to miss it again this month because I'm not up to taking the kids places by myself with this broken leg.

Then my dear friend Amber offered to give Daisy a ride to gymnastics. Even though she has five children of her own to take to gymnastics. Even though it would mean a car seat shuffle. Even though it meant she would have to leave significantly earlier to get there on time. Even though she was already bringing us dinner tonight.

It was one of those small things that is actually quite huge. My little gymnast spent all morning asking me when Mrs. R would arrive, and when gymnastics would start. When she returned home after gymnastics, she was too tired and happy to say much. But after her nap, Daisy chattered away about all of the awesome things she got to do at gymnastics, and my heart was full. Thank you, Amber.

While Daisy was gone, Lily, Eli, and I had some quality time. Amber returned my lace wrap, which she had been borrowing, and Lily recognized it right away. She knows it's her wrap. Now that I have my lovely new wrap, I'm considering selling the lace one, so I began looking it over for flaws to see what kind of a value I could expect. As I examined the wrap, Lily grew impatient.

"Up? Uppy? Bap? Up bap?"

Finally, I couldn't put her off anymore, so I tossed Lily up on my back. She was so cooperative and so happy to be wrapped up on my back! (Side note: as I was tossing her up, I realized that it might not be the best thing to toss a 22-pound toddler onto my back when I have a broken leg. But whatev.) I can't even begin to express how lovely it is that Lily loves being worn as much as I love wearing her, and my heart hurts a little bit that I'm not able to wear her as much now that Eli has come along.

For memory's sake, we snapped an awful picture:

This picture is so truly terrible that I don't even know why I'm sharing it, except for sweet Lily's smiling eyes shining over my shoulder, and her darling little foot. Yes, wearing my babies is convenient. But even more, it is lovely in a way that can only be explained by the sparkle in her eyes. I love it.

But of course, on my first full day without the brace, I overdid it by lunchtime. So naptime looked like this: 

I am thankful that I have the luxury of snuggling my little ones in bed. What a delightful thing it is to have his cheek to my chest. I listen to him breathe as he listens to my heart beat, and all is right with the world.

April 23

It has been nearly a week since my fall, so I had a follow-up appointment with an orthopedist today. Once Mary had taken Caleb to the bus, and Chris' mom came and took Daisy to preschool, my mom came over  to watch the two little ones while I went to see the doctor.

They X-rayed me again, and it looked like this:

(I know. It looks significantly worse than the first X-ray, but it's not. I think it's just a better image due to a better angle and a better machine.)

So, my fibula is definitely still broken. But after talking with the doctor, he determined that the brace I've been wearing wasn't worth the discomfort it caused me. He also determined that a boot, which is his typical course of action, wouldn't serve any purpose in my situation. So he told me just to walk on it, be careful, and take it easy. I don't even have to go back for a follow-up appointment; unless I feel like something is wrong, in 6 weeks (May 29, in case you were wondering) I can just resume all activity as normal.

It will be hard to "take it easy" for that long, especially when the last day of school for Caleb and Daisy is May 21. But at least I only have one week of summer break before I can get back to not taking it easy. It would be a really boring summer break otherwise!

I returned home to find this:

Eli loves his Grandma snuggles!

He was having the kind of day where he would only sleep if someone held him. Days like that are rough, so I was thankful for an extra set of arms! Gayle and Daisy returned shortly thereafter, and Daisy and Lily were ecstatic to have both of their grandmas in the house at the same time.

Then the usual: lunch, naps, Caleb off the bus, dinner... After dinner, I gave Caleb a much-needed haircut, all of the kids got in their jammies, and Chris took all four of them on a jammie walk around the neighborhood. My broken leg kept me from joining them (look at me, taking it easy!), but I waited on the porch swing for their return.

Caleb and Daisy came with a burst of speed, racing down the sidewalk, shrieking and laughing, until they eventually collapsed at my feet on the porch, gasping for breath. It was wonderful

Eventually Chris, Lily, and Eli (wrapped on Chris' chest) made it back, too. Chris told me that Lily ran for a good portion of their walk!

Caleb's haircut looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself! I'm not sure what that face was for, though.

This little peanut makes me laugh.

And then there's this sweet thing. She has both arms out because she has a much-too-big bracelet on each wrist, and she's trying to keep them from falling off. Also, I still can't believe her hair. It's so long and thick! She hasn't yet had a real haircut. That's on my list of summer activities.

Also, she loves bubbles. And chalk. What a darling.

April 22

Between my friend Jessica and her daughter Stella coming by for lunch today, and my friend Angie bringing dinner from one of our favorite restaurants, and another friend dropping off tomorrow night's dinner, I was too busy to take many pictures today.

I did snap this iPhone photo of how the girls filled most of the morning, though:

I bought a food dehydrator online, and it arrived in a ginormous box. The kids spent all morning playing in it, and just when they were growing tired of it, I mentioned that they could decorate it...

all morning, people.

It was beautiful.

Eli also napped on his own for about an hour and a half in the morning, which was lovely.

However, between spit up and leaky diapers, he went through just about every single long-sleeved onesie he owned today. It's rough being almost three months old.

After dinner, Chris took the kids for a walk. I confess to indulging in a little bit of self-pity about the fact that I can't join my family on walks right now. The weather is lovely, and I can't really do anything beyond sitting outside. I'm feeling kind of sad about that. 

But then Chris texted me this video, and my sadness disappeared:

The way Lily walks is just the funniest thing ever, and her enthusiasm for everything makes things even funnier. Our children can be so much fun!

I have a follow-up appointment with an orthopedist tomorrow, and I'm hopeful to have more specific information about my recovery. Really, I'm hopeful he will tell me that,while I have a fracture, my leg is fine and I can take the brace off and walk around like a normal person, as long as I use caution and don't push it. But that may be overly optimistic.

April 21

Today went so smoothly, aside from the part where Eli would only nap if I held him.

And the part where my throat started hurting really, really badly.

And the part where I was probably on my leg way too much.

And the part where the kids flat-out refused to eat the delicious meal my friend brought over tonight.

But aside from that, it was great!

Our neighbor took Caleb to the bus again, and Chris' mom came over to pick Daisy up and take her to preschool. Daisy thought it was pretty cool that she got to ride in a new car seat in Grandmother's car! It was so strange for me to be home with just the two kiddos, but we adapted. My sister Jenny came over around 11:30, and just after noon Chris' mom returned with Daisy.  After lunch, it was time for naps. I asked Jenny to hold Eli while I put Lily down for her nap, and as an afterthought, I warmed up a bottle of breast milk just in case Eli got hungry.

It wasn't until I was putting Lily down that I began to wonder when the last time was that Jenny had fed a baby a bottle. Apparently feeding a baby a bottle is like riding a bicycle, though, because I emerged from Lily's room to find this:

Eli was happy as a clam, and he downed that bottle. Way to go, Jenny!

I had Eli with me when I woke Daisy up from her nap, and she was so excited when I asked if she wanted to snuggle him. Eli, however, was only mildly entertained.

Caleb came home from school with proofs from his spring pictures. I was under the impression that the spring pictures were just a class photo, and nothing more, so I let  him wear whatever he wanted.

It turns out that spring pictures are kind of a big deal! However, I totally don't regret letting him wear last year's plaid Easter shirt, this year's seersucker Easter vest and floral bowtie, khaki shorts, blue socks, and navy shoes. He thought he looked fantastic, and that makes me so happy. I love that I take enough great pictures of him that things like spring pictures don't matter so much. I'm pretty sure I'm going to order some prints of this, just because it's so funny.

Also, this happened at bedtime. I only had my cell phone handy (darn gimp leg kept me from running for my big camera), but I thought it was cute. It reminded me of this one of Daisy, when she was just over one month old:

And there's also this one of Lily, when she was just shy of one month old:

Babies + baby dolls just make me giggle.

April 20

My first day on my own with three children and a broken leg went surprisingly well! Our neighbor, Mary, picked Caleb up and walked him to the bus stop, and another neighbor met Caleb at the bus and walked him home for me. A MOPS friend brought dinner, and both girls napped for about 3 hours each. Aside from the fact that my throat has suddenly started to hurt, I call it a good day!

I just realized today how absurdly long Eli's eyelashes have gotten. It seems like he will have coloring more like Daisy and Lily, instead of like Chris or me. But he still has those long, long eyelashes! (He also has a little scratch on his nose from one of his fingernails.)

There's one of his half smiles,

And a sweet baby laugh!

More smiles. I realize none of these are great pictures, but I just don't care. He is so sweet. Eli has reached the stage where he will stop nursing just to smile at me, and I love it. That's probably my favorite little-baby milestone.

Then there's sweet Lily, who hit 21 months yesterday. She may not officially be two years old, but she certainly has the temperamental two-year-old attitude! She also loves that sparkly leotard.

More Eli smiles!

And a brother and sister shot. Aren't they darling?