April 16

Today was a beautiful day. It was also a cooking kind of day. Over the course of the day, I made pancakes, guacamole, beet chips, pork burritos,  and cheeseburger pie. The kids took ridiculously long naps, and then we played outside while we waited for Daddy to come home.

Caleb is getting pretty good at blowing bubbles, and is quite delighted by his newfound skill.

(Yes, he is wearing a flower barrette in his hair. Why not?)

This girl looks sweet, but she is a stinker. I fought with her from 1:45 to 3:15 this morning, trying to get her to sleep. When my patience was depleted, Chris went in and spent another thirty minutes with her. After two hours, she finally went to sleep. This is why people stop having babies.

And this is why people keep having babies. That smile kills me.

She's smiling because Caleb was being silly.

While Chris and our neighbor explored options for hanging our porch swing (it took cutting a hole in a wall to see that it may actually be feasible!), Caleb played some baseball. He's developing a pretty good swing!

A bad picture, but I love Daisy's little hand reaching up in the bottom of the frame. She can't wait to play ball with her brother!

Caleb and I were playing catch (or some toddler-ified version of it) when he crouched down like this. He looked up at me and said, "I'm bein' Yadier Molina!" 

That's when I knew we were raising him right. Who needs Pujols when we have Yadi?

That little green stick is an inchworm that drifted down into our game of catch. Caleb was thrilled with it, and called it a "pinch worm" before we clarified that it's actually "INCH" worm.

April 15

Oh my. What a long day. Chris and I didn't get to bed until 11 last night, and then Daisy woke up every two hours or so - even though she's no longer sick. Then the alarm went off at 5 am because today was Chris' race day!

Despite the fact that he hadn't trained at all, despite the fact that he was running low on sleep, and despite the fact that he had both a cold and an eye infection (!), Chris still chose to run today. That's my man! And he actually did pretty well - his time was just a few minutes slower than his other half marathons. How about that?

The kids and I had so much fun cheering him on. We managed to see him at miles 3, 6, and 10.5. 

Mile three was right outside the brewery. The kids had a little picnic breakfast while we waited for the runners to appear.

Our race tradition of always cheering with a pinwheel continued. Today was perfect pinwheel weather, too. Sunny, but super windy!

Mmm. Breakfast. 

Also, every time I offer this kid an apple, he refuses it. But the moment I bite into my own apple, he wants it. What gives?

Those blurs were the very first runners. They were that fast. Kidding - I had my settings wrong. But I still really like this picture.

Caleb's cheering was hit or miss. At times he was really excited to clap for the runners; other times, not so much.

A silly cheering face.

Mile three. Caleb was excited to see Daddy.

Hey, you fast runner, you!

And there he is in action at mile 10.5. I'm so proud of him for pushing himself to complete the race!

Post-race, showing Daisy his medal. Can you tell that it's 9:30 and the girl is an hour past naptime?

The kids were exhausted, Chris was exhausted, and I was exhausted. (I'm a hard-core cheerer. It's tough work!) Let's hope we all sleep well tonight!

April 14

OK. It's official; the kids are better. Praise the Lord! Plus, Chris is running a half marathon tomorrow. That means we're skipping church. Normally I'd feel bad about this, but today I am downright gleeful because it means Daisy won't have an opportunity to get sick again. (Can't you just see that happening? She's sick for over a week and a half, finally gets better, and then gets sick from those germy kids at church?)

So. Healthy kids, half marathon in the morning. And today I worked the ACT, so Chris got to spend some quality time with them. He also wielded the camera for me, which was nice. Here are Chris' shots of breakfast:

Daisy ate a banana and Cheerios. Chris said that he had to put her in the bath later because she smeared the banana everywhere. The girl really likes bananas.

Caleb ate his typical whole wheat bagel with cream cheese. Most mornings, he wakes up around 5:30 as Chris is getting ready for work. Caleb's first request is always for his "good morning coffee", which is warm milk with honey. It kills me that he calls it "good morning coffee" - it's the sweetest thing ever. Around 7:00 most mornings, Chris plops Caleb and Daisy in bed with me, and Caleb immediately requests his bagel with cream cheese. He's a fan.

He's nearly as messy with that bagel as Daisy is with her banana!

Our good boy. Lately, he's been waking up when we're still in bed. Chris and I were sound asleep this morning when Caleb came in and proudly announced, "Oh! I kept my underwear dry!"

Yep. Our big boy has been consistently dry for the past week or so.

Back to Miss Daisy. More banana.

She's clearly delighted; breakfast bananas are pretty spectacular.

That's the excited hand wave. Does every child do this, or is it just mine that flap their arms and make a funny noise every time they get excited?

April 13

OK, I think the kiddos are almost better. But poor Daisy has developed some really bad nighttime sleep habits over the past week and a half, and it will take some serious Mommy Boot Camp to fix those. She was up every two hours again last night, which made for a very exhausted (and crabby) Mommy this morning.

The kids and I wore our Cardinals best in honor of today's home opener, but the Cards just couldn't pull it off. Maybe if Caleb had worn his Cardinals cap in addition to his t-shirt, it would have been enough?

A runny-nosed Daisy, modeling her new Cards shirt.

And delightedly reading a Christmas book.

There's my happy girl! (Sorry for the crummy pictures - it was a gray, rainy day with no natural light to be found. I had to force myself to get my camera out.)

Daisy is totally into giving kisses and tickling her brother lately. Funny girl. Caleb loves the attention, too!

This is her version of a snuggle - she scoots up to you, and leans her head down on you. It's a kind of hug/snuggle.

Oh! And gouging his eyes out. That's fun, too. Today Daisy grabbed my eyelashes and shouted, "Ayh!" She was definitely saying "eye".

Later, my mom came over to watch the kids so that Chris and I could go to a special church event. We got all gussied up; I even wore heels! But as soon as I put my heels on, Caleb started fussing about wearing slippers. Then I realized - he thought my heels were glass slippers, a la Cinderella. Really. So I got down another pair for him to wear.

The kid is a natural. He was a much better walker than many adult women I've seen.

Oh, my darling boy. Some day this photo will haunt you.

April 12

Will the sickness ever end? Daisy was up every two hours last night, needing to be held or nursed or tended to; it took all of my willpower to keep from bringing her into bed with me so that I could just get some sleep. Poor kid. But I think she's on the upswing.

This afternoon, we played with bubbles in the front yard. Every kid loves this bubble machine; it was one of the best gifts we've ever gotten!

She looks a little bit concerned/surprised about those bubbles...

What you don't see is all of the nasty yellow gunk I just got out of her eyes.

Caleb tried blowing bubbles, with mixed results.

(Note the bubble juice spilled on his thigh)

Still, he was pretty pleased with himself.

I think she's listening to a rock or a piece of mulch. Who knows.

Later, Chris came home and got out the kite that was in Caleb's Easter basket.  

This was Caleb's first kite-flying experience. The picture is poorly exposed, but can you make out the delight on his face? Gotta love the joy that a dollar store kite can bring.

Chris flew the kite, and Caleb ran after it squealing and laughing. He LOVED it.

Running, laughing, squealing - and the kite isn't even in the air yet. He's thrilled just at the prospect of the kite being up in the air.

So much fun!

Ugh. And Daisy's crying. Pray she's better soon?

April 11

My poor babies are still sick, but I think they're on the upswing. Maybe Daisy will have a nearly normal night of sleep tonight?

Meanwhile, Caleb had another lunchtime tantrum. After yesterday's insanity, I vowed to be diligent today about getting him fed and to his nap by 12:45. We were right on track, until he started freaking out at 12:25. By 12:45, this was my boy:

Sound asleep after a self-imposed extended time out. Poor kid.

While Caleb and Daisy were napping, this arrived: 

Daisy's new car seat! We chose a Diono Radian RXT, which was pretty pricey, but hopefully totally worth it.  It should be the only car seat/booster Daisy ever needs, it's top-rated for safety, and it's the only one on the market that will fit three across in a sedan. (Not that we have any need for three car seats right now, thank you very much. But hopefully we will in the future!)

Once the kids woke up, we headed outside to attempt to install this beast. 

Daisy said goodbye to her old pumpkin seat. We'll be packing that away until hypothetical future baby #3 arrives.

I'm pretty sure she's doing an "I'm a big girl with a big girl car seat" dance.

It really looks like she's doing some sort of crazy interpretive dance, doesn't it? Don't worry; that's not how we roll around her. She has a rock in her hands and she's holding it up to show us.

Playing catch with Daddy, who arrived home sometime during the (arduous) installation process. These children were seriously grouchy until Daddy got home; then they were all smiles and sunshine. What gives?

Throwing the ball.

And, at last, Daisy got to try out her new big girl car seat! 

She likes it! Good thing, too, considering how much it cost. And look at all of that room for another car seat some day!

I'm curious to see how Daisy and Caleb interact in the car now that she's on the same level as him. He's still rear-facing, so I wonder if they'll be able to see each other and talk? He'll be rear-facing for a while, since I'm absolutely adamant about keeping my kiddos rear facing as long as humanly possible. Don't be surprised if Caleb is fifteen years old and still riding rear-facing in his car seat. (Kidding. Kind of.) So far he has yet to complain, so we'll keep it up!