January 9

It was beautiful today, so despite the fact that I could barely walk, I took the kids outside to play. I love this age, but at times like this I really look forward to the day when they can play outside independently, without my supervision!

Regardless, we had fun.

I couldn't help Daisy with her bike, so she tried to ride Caleb's scooter. It didn't go very well.

I know you may be wondering why Superman is riding Caleb's bike. Don't worry; this is actually Caleb, wearing a Superman shirt. He's just pretending. Sorry for the confusion.

Daisy got out the lawn mower, and Caleb immediately began instructing about how to mow the lawn.

That look sums it all up.

"Really, Mom? Does this kid ever stop talking? I've got this!"

Then Superman flew off, and Daisy went on her merry way.

January 8

We are currently in the process of gutting and renovating our master bathroom. We've lived in this house a year now, and have yet to use that bathroom, so Chris and I are pretty excited. This weekend, our friend Matt came and began demo. Never before have I been so excited to hear the sound of destruction in my home!

We chose to use a Bagster to remove all of the bathroom debris. It is very easy and pretty cost-effective, but  the best part was watching the truck come today to pick up the Bagster. We were just about to leave for my fateful chiroprator trip when the truck showed up with its big crane arm. The kids stood, transfixed, at the window as the man hooked the bag up and lifted the whole thing into his truck.

Who am I kidding? I was transfixed! I immediately snapped a picture with my phone and texted it to Chris, who was so sad to miss the pickup. Even our neighbor across the street stood at his window to watch!

Also, I took a moment before we left to snap my first belly photo of this pregnancy.

Here's my 14-week pregnant belly in all of its glory. 

At first I was pretty embarrassed by how early it started showing, but now I'm just embracing it. The belly is one of my favorite parts of being pregnant (well, that and the whole carrying a new life miracle thing), so I've just decided to enjoy it, even if it has come a bit earlier than before ! (No, we aren't having twins. Our early ultrasound absolutely confirmed that!)

In less-exciting news, we have been on the GAPS diet for three months today, so I weighed Daisy. You'll remember that when we began in October, she weighed 18.6 pounds. In November, she was up to 19.4, and by December she was at 19.8. I was hoping for some big progress this month but... today she weighed 19.8 pounds. Exactly the same as she did a month ago. Zero weight gain.

I was seriously disappointed. But then I remembered that I had cheated and weighed her two weeks ago (I try to only do it once a month), toward the tail end of her two-week cold. That day, the scale said 19.0. A loss of 0.8 pounds. I was shocked, but then came to the conclusion that she must have lost weight because her cold killed her appetite. So really, in the past two weeks Daisy has gained 0.8 pounds, because she was back up to her starting point! It doesn't really count, but I'm not discouraged yet. We're going to keep on trucking for a few more months and see if we can make some more progress. You can do it, Daisy!

January 7

Today we celebrated Ryan's 15th birthday.

15.

I was 16 when he was  born, and now he's 15. It's crazy to think about! He chose to have a bowling party, and Caleb was quite excited to try bowling.

He insisted on wearing the straw hat, even though it wasn't seasonally appropriate. He called it his "Sir Topham Hatt", after the character on Thomas the Train.

Caleb's enthusiasm for bowling lasted until he stepped over the foul line and made the buzzer go off. After that, he was terrified. He only bowled three frames, and each time barely pushed the ball. It took over a minute for the ball to reach the pins!

Max did much better.

Caleb's second go-round. It wasn't much better than the first.

But Max really got the hang of it!

Daisy spent most of her time trying to snuggle with Ryan.

When Ryan was busy bowling, or just not interested in playing with a baby, Daisy realized that Grandpa would suffice. Also, in the name of celebration, I committed a major GAPS-diet faux pas and allowed Daisy some pizza. She LOVED it. The next day, out of the blue, she said, "I like pizza!" Poor girl; if only she could eat pizza all the time!

See? Gnawing down on pizza crust,

It seems like I have a picture of these two looking just like this from every family celebration!

Daisy and Chris, playing peek-a-boo with my scarf.

Ryan with his siblings. Aren't they funny? Brandyn, Tyler, and Kaley are his Dad's kids, and Max is peeking out from over his shoulder.

Max was delighted by the candle-lighting.

What Ryan didn't know was that there was one trick candle hidden in the middle.

We were all pretty entertained as he tried repeatedly to blow that one out!

Then Jenny lured Caleb into her favorite place - the arcade.

I love this age - you don't have to actually pay to play the games; they're content just to pretend!

And this girl. She's still singing "Happy Birthday to Ryan" a week later.

January 6

I know - I'm a week behind on my blog posting.

See, the problem is that I was having this pregnancy-related back pain. It finally got bad enough that I went to see a (really great) chiropractor, and unfortunately it turned out that my back pain is of the "must get worse before it gets better" variety.

In other words, I haven't been able to sit down long enough to edit pictures or blog for nearly a week. 

I haven't been able to tend to the kids the way I'd like.

I haven't been able to tie my shoes or load the dishwasher.

I haven't been able to get Daisy in and out of her crib.

I haven't been able to pick things up off the floor, or even comfortably put pants on. (Don't worry; I've still managed to get them on)

BUT. Thanks the the chiropractor and her *amazing* massage therapist, we're making progress. I'm still in a lot of pain, but it's getting better by the day. I'm also learning some coping techniques to help me manage.

In the meantime, my children look like this:

That would be Caleb, in Daisy's hair bow, practicing his scissor skills.

That would be Daisy, wearing my high-school lunchbox as a hat, an outgrown dress as an apron (?), her still-too-big rainboots, and a bath mitt hand puppet. The mess behind her is the remains of Caleb's cutting practice; he "helped" by sweeping it up for me.

And this is what my children do when my back is functional. Can you imagine the chaos that has occurred in this house over the past six days?

January 4

Daisy is 20 months old today! That means she's closer to two years old than anything, and I find myself shocked that she's actually that old. At the same time, she's had a recent explosion of language that is so much fun! She's speaking in more sentences. Today's examples:

Mommy do it.

I like that shirt. (Yes! She uses first-person already, which is awesome!)

Mommy crazy! (In response to my comment: "Your hair is crazy!" Though her statement is generally true...)

Daisy turn.

Daddy at work.

Daddy home!

Where Caleb go?

Scarf back on.

Hair down! Hair down!

She's still nursing twice a day, though I'm really, *really* hoping that she decides to quit sometime soon. Her doctor told me that 55% of babies will self-wean around their mother's 13th or 14th week of pregnancy due to changes in the milk. We're nearing 14 weeks, so I'm hoping that one of these days she'll just decide she's done. That's how it went with Caleb, but he wasn't as old as Daisy, or as *ahem* determined as she is. I certainly don't mind nursing her; we had our struggles a few months ago, but we've reconciled our differences and she's no longer challenging. But I also don't intend to nurse both Daisy and the new baby at the same time, so we've got about six months to end our situation as peacefully as possible.

Here's the birthday girl, rocking my scarf. 

I know it's out of focus, but her little smile is so sweet...

And then there's this boy, walking his little toy horse along the road. We all went to see my midwife today; I was nervous about taking the kids, but they were fine. I told Caleb that our friend was going to check on the baby growing in my belly, and he got worried. "Is the baby going to fall out?" No, Caleb. The baby will not fall out. As we got out of the car for our visit, Caleb asked, "Is your belly big now?" No, Caleb. It's not very big yet, but it's getting bigger every day! 

We got to hear Baby's heartbeat for the first time, which was really exciting. It was strong and fast - 148 beats per minute. Caleb acted uninterested at the time, but at dinner when I asked him to tell Chris about our visit, he was pretty excited. Caleb told Daddy that we heard the Baby's heartbeat, and Chris asked what it sounded like. Caleb thought for a minute, then shouted, "It was really fast!" 

I'm still having a hard time imagining what life will be like with three...

January 2

It's a new year! 

After taking a week off, Chris is back to work, and life is slooowwly returning to normal. Except that we have much more stuff now, and much less space... I need to address that. Someday. When I have the energy. In the meantime, I'm feeling guilty about the thank you notes that have yet to be sent.

The highlight of our day was a trip to Target, where we purchased a much-needed set of underpants for Caleb. 

Really, that was the highlight.

He was thrilled to choose superhero undies, and he waited patiently all day until they were laundered and ready to wear.  Finally, at bedtime, I gave him the ok to put a pair on. Then began the debate: Green Lantern? Batman? Superman? Eventually he chose Superman.

At first, he insisted that he wanted to wear his "Superman outfit" with the new undies. That would be his Superman shirt with the detachable cape. But since this favorite shirt is the one he wants to wear every.single.day, I told him no. No wearing it to bed, too.

Then he asked for his cape with the star on it. At first I told him no, but then I realized that he was just a three-year-old who was really excited about his new underwear, and so I told him yes.

That boy was beyond pleased. Also, his sister can't let him have the spotlight, ever. Don't you love how she bombed this photo? She looks almost evil here, as if  Caleb is the hero and Daisy is the flower-power villain.

I realize that we're nearing the point where I should no longer post photos of my child in his underwear. Perhaps we're long past that point, but it just crossed my mind tonight. This will probably be the last public photo of its kind.

But he was so excited that I just had to share!

Oh, also, remember this? It was taken June 2011, before he was given his "real" cape. (Thanks, Amber!) It's probably one of my favorite Caleb pictures, ever. Love this kid.

December 31

One year ago today, we moved in to our new house. Who on earth moves on New Year's Eve? Us, apparently. Not one of our smartest choices ever, but I'm forever grateful to the friends who helped us make it work.

Today, nothing so exciting. But we did have snow, which is pretty exciting in its own right! After naps, we headed out to play.

Daisy was suspicious of the snow. I'm sure the fact that she could barely move in her much-too-big snowsuit and completely-inflexible snowboots didn't help the matter. She was content to sit on the ground and eat snowballs.

Once she overcame her suspicion, she was pretty funny. 

She didn't move, but she was funny. Here's a variety of her best funny faces: 

I love this girl.

Eventually, I moved her to an open area. Then, she stood and ate snow. 

See the much-too-big snowsuit? Size 24 months, so it really should be close to fitting. She is nearly 20 months old, after all!

Meanwhile, Caleb (in his size 18 months snowpants, which miraculously still fit this 3T boy!) ran and jumped and played and caught snowflakes on his tongue.

Daisy gave the snowflake-tongue bit her best effort, but only succeeded in being adorable.

She cracks herself up, too.

Then we headed to the front yard, where Caleb impressed me with his shoveling skills. Give the boy a few more years and Chris won't have to do any more shoveling!

Sadly, I have no pictures of our New Year's celebration. We didn't have fancy hats this year, but we did have a delicious feast: grass-fed filet mignon, grilled snow crab legs, twice-baked potatoes (we cheated on the diet to allow those, and they were worth every bite), roasted asparagus, steamed artichoke, and something bubbly, pink, and non-alcoholic. For dessert, I made some pretty fantastic double-chocolate cookies that happened to be grain-free and sugar free. Our little family of four all sat on the couch, watched the New Year's shows on TV, and dunked our cookies in raw milk. Not your average celebration, but I'll take it!

Overall, it's been a good year. God has provided for us mightily, and blessed us in so many ways. We have healthy children, a comfortable home, great neighbors, and a good job. I'm not sure I could ask for more! Hopefully 2013 brings us more adventures, and a healthy, happy baby in July. (Caleb insists that the baby is a girl, and her name is Baby Rainbow.)

Happy New Year!

December 30

Lord help me.

Daddy's shoes were his "ice skates".

He is going to be a hockey player, isn't he?

Again. Lord, help me. 

(But look at how happy he is!)

December 29

Daisy is really engaged in story time.

 

Love that girl.

December 28

Now that Christmas is officially over and Christmas music is no longer playing in the house all day, Caleb has taken it upon himself to handle the Christmas tunes.

For a while, his favorite was "Gloria", by Michael W. Smith. But tonight at dinner, he regaled us with "Last Christmas", by Wham! Apparently he knows the entire chorus. Perhaps next year we'll be more selective about the music he hears...

Regardless, the house is now officially de-Christmassed, except for the outdoor lights. We'll keep those up through the first, just because they make me so happy. There's something about coming home to a house lit up with twinkling lights that makes the long December nights a little bit better. But just as we were putting all of the Christmas stuff away, it began snowing! Caleb asked why we were putting everything up, and I said, "Well, Christmas is over."

His response? "Christmas isn't over yet, silly! It's snowing! It can't be over!"

So even though it was just a light dusting, we have a little bit of Christmas left to tide us over.

I sent him out on the deck to enjoy his first snowfall of the season, and he was delighted!

He even caught a few snow flakes on his tongue.

Hopefully we get a few real snowfalls this season, so we can go out and play!