May 21

My kids are getting bigger. 

Several things reminded me of this today; one example was lunch time. Lily was tired, so she needed tending while I prepared lunch. My big boy Caleb was such a helpful big brother! I put Lily in the swing, and he kept her happy until lunch was ready.

This is why people have big families. I'm pretty sure that once you hit three kids, it only gets easier. Unless you had all three at once, in which case life would be insane. But three kids who are all spaced two years apart? Perfect.

Another example of how big the kids are getting? Today I came to the shocking realization that, while Caleb is almost five and still needs daily naps, three-year-old Daisy may be ready to start giving them up. It's funny how every child is different, isn't it? I suppose I may need to become a bit more flexible about my hard-and-fast naptime rule.

For this reason, and many others, naptimes did not overlap today. That meant that Lily and I had some quality time together on the front porch while the big kids slept (or didn't; I can't really be sure what she did in her room while she was supposed to be sleeping).

Lily is really blossoming into a silly, sweet, happy girl. When the big kids aren't around to steal the show, she delights me with all of her milestones. She loves to hold my fingers and pull her up to standing, and she loves to mimic drawing with chalk and wielding a light saber. She also "sings" and bounces her little body anytime she hears music.

Then Lily went down, I made some almond flour chocolate chip cookies, and Caleb and Daisy woke up in time to eat cookies and milk watch a storm roll in from the front porch. After the storm passed, we splashed in the puddles and I made them clover crowns and jewelry.

King Caleb and Queen Daisy, with chocolate on their faces.

Flower crowns make me giddy; flower crowns on my curly-haired daughter make my heart fairly leap with joy. I think I may have to fashion a real crown someday and do an all-out photo shoot with her.

And my sweet, sweet boy. Chris and I agree that we've seen improvements in his behavior in the past few weeks, and I am confident it's because of all of the praying we've been doing. I know lots of you are joining us in praying for this boy, and we appreciate it more than we can ever express. Thank you.