February 14

Happy Valentine's Day!

Because we're still feeling the sting of paying for our bathroom remodel, I had pretty low expectations for today: a home-made holiday with my darlings. We sent out some handmade valentines earlier in the week, and Chris and I had the "let's not waste money on overpriced nonsense" talk. But thanks to some friends and family who love us very much, it ended up being a pretty exciting day.

First, I have to share this:

Caleb came up with this list of reasons why he loves Daddy all by himself. All I did was ask, "Why do you love Daddy? What makes him special?" Caleb got really excited when I started writing down his answers, and they just kept coming. By the end, I was pretty proud of my boy. He summed up his Daddy's wonderful characteristics quite well, though he did forget to mention his charming curls and big brown eyes. Perhaps that's best for a wife to notice.

This morning, we made some more valentines for our friends Catherine, Mary, Michael, and Gussie. 

I cut out the hearts, and Caleb and Daisy decorated with stickers and markers. Sadly, Caleb's valentines looked no different from Daisy's. I thought that his would be more sophisticated and intentional, but apparently he gets a bit carried away when confronted with stickers.

Then we got dressed and headed over to Catherine, Mary, Michael, and Gussie's grandparents house. Grandma Kim put together a Valentine's Day party for the kids, and kindly invited us to join them. We were pretty lucky, because it turned out to be the party to end all parties.

I love these kids.

Add these kids into the mix, and I'm absolutely in love. It's not often we can get all six of them in one place at one time!

Daisy loved the wooden rocking horse that Grandpa Steve made for his own boys, many years ago. She also loved the Valentine's Day outfit that my mom got for her. The leggings have hearts all over them, and the shirt features a self-satisfied cat who proudly declares, "I'm the princess queen". Daisy loves it, and loves the shoes and socks she chose to go with it. 

Caleb was delighted with the goodies he got at "Mr. Valentine's Store". This giant pencil was a particular favorite. 

The kids played a bean-bag toss game, complete with heart-shaped bean bags, handmade by Grandma Kim. I'm not sure why, but I love this one of Daisy with her arm cocked back, ready to throw. 

She's actually got a pretty good arm, though it appears that this one may have been aimed at poor Michael, who is cowering just out of the frame.

I love that look. It's almost a defiant, "Don't mess with me!" Or maybe it's just a sweet, peaceful look.

Oh. Caleb's other favorite goody from Mr. Valentine's store was this set of finger lights. They really are pretty cool.

My goodness. How sweet is he? He was excited to dress up in his Christmas outfit, which has now been renamed his Valentine's Day outfit.

After naps, more fun. A surprise package from Auntie Grace arrived, bearing wooden glider planes for Caleb and a little doggy with its own carrying bag for Daisy. The kids were overwhelmed with joy.  (Side note: watch this sweet video of Caleb singing his version of "Deep in the Heart of Texas" for Grace. It's darling.)

And then, while they were still overwhelmed with their fun new gifts and the goodies from the morning's party, I told them that Grandmother and Grandad were coming over.

Then, they were glued to the front door, waiting for their grandparents' arrival.

Hooray! They're here!

See? A fantastic day, after all. We're blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!

February 9

What a fun evening we had! Our friends Dan and Jen wanted to have some family photos taken, so they came over for pictures and dinner. Unfortunately, their kiddos Caleb and Hannah had a rough time with their afternoon naps, so by the time they arrived we were grasping at the last remnants of afternoon sunlight.

Luckily, before they arrived I had some handy little helpers who were willing to be my test subjects so that I could find the best light and furniture placement for the photo shoot.

Goodness. How sweet is this boy? I worked the ACT this morning and came home while he was napping, so I didn't get to see him for eight hours. I was delighted that he seemed to have missed me!

In the course of our furniture-moving, we found this bracelet that I made for Caleb at MOPS. Of course, once Caleb had his, Daisy needed hers, which had broken months ago. Luckily, I had kept the pieces and was able to quickly put it back together.Why didn't I do that in the first place?

What? I don't let my kids jump on the couch. 

*sigh* 

OK, maybe I do let the kids jump on the couch. But look at how happy they are!

His cheesy smile.

I gave Caleb a hair cut yesterday, and Daisy insisted on having one, too. I intended to just trim the scraggly wisps of her bangs, but somehow she ended up with this Lloyd Christmas look. Maybe I should leave her haircuts to the pros...

I love that, even after spending all morning as their sole caretaker, Chris was still this happy to snuggle with his kiddos.

One of the reasons I fell in love with Chris was that I knew he would be a good daddy, but I'm still constantly surprised by much he truly delights in his children.

I definitely caught myself a good one.

Plus, he makes some pretty good-looking children!

I love them all.

February 8

Well, it hit me. Nearly three days after everyone else in the house was sick and recovered, I got the stomach bug. Thankfully (I think?), I didn't actually vomit; I just felt miserable for 36 hours. I stayed in bed for 18 of those hours, thanks to Chris and my mom, and I think I'm finally better. Hopefully we're done with sickness for a while!

I didn't feel quite up for it, but we ventured out today to register Caleb for preschool. It feels so strange to be  making plans for September, when it's only February now, but I guess that's the way the preschool world works. As we drove to the registration site, I explained to Caleb that he wasn't actually going to preschool now; we were just going to sign him up. He responded, "I get to go to preschool after the baby comes out of your belly, right?" Apparently, we had already discussed the situation and he didn't need a reminder. Funny boy.

Later, I found some free Valentine's Day printables on this site. Caleb was eager to color his, and ended up making his Valentine for Daddy.

This was his creation:

He directed me to put people's names in specific hearts. You can see Daddy in the biggest one, Daisy in the next biggest, Mommy in faint yellow at the bottom, Grandmother off to the left, Grandma in rainbow up on the right, and Grandad next to her.

Then, Caleb decided the Valentine needed to go in an envelope. And the envelope needed to be addressed and stamped. Finally, I showed Caleb how to lick and seal the envelope. We finished just as Chris returned home from work, and Caleb was so proud to give his letter to Daddy!

Oh, yes. He wore that hat all day. It may be a straw hat, but he calls it his "Sir Topham Hatt", after the character on Thomas & Friends.

I love this sweet boy!

February 6

This is what 18 weeks pregnant looks like around here:

Out of focus, yes, but that's just how things are these days. 

I just started feeling Baby move a few days ago, and I've gained a grand total of 8 pounds so far. Once my back pain is under control (we're almost there, I think!), I'll be ready to really enjoy this pregnancy!

But if we're being honest, this is what things really look like around here: 

My best shot is out of focus because two little somebodies kept interrupting my portrait attempts. Here, Caleb is hugging/listening to the baby.

And there are my two little interrupters. Clearly I don't mind the interruption - they're so darn sweet!

Here's my darling, almost back-to-normal little girl. She's dolled up for a trip to Whole Foods; she chose the bow without any help from me.

This sweet boy can't get a break. Just as he got over the stomach virus, he got a cold. He's mostly in good spirits, though. He saw Daisy's hair bow and insisted on wearing a sparkly "princess" clip in his hair.

Ah, the life of a younger sister: constantly being poked and pestered by your big brother.

After naps, major excitement occurred: tree trimmers came to cut down the big tree in our neighbor's back yard.

First, Caleb and Daisy watched the big grinder eat up all of the branches. Can you see that sweet Daisy is covering her ears? It was pretty loud.

Then, we realized we had a front-row seat to all of the action. We spent a good thirty minutes watching the tree trimmers in action. See that one all the way up in the tree?

Daisy still thought the grinder was too loud - I love that she's covering her ears with her little mittened hands!

She pulled up this chair all by herself. Caleb thought it was a good idea, but one-upped her and brought over the picnic table for himself.

Happy girl.

Happy kids!

And so far, I still haven't gotten sick. If I wake up tomorrow morning without having succumbed, I will consider our family officially done with it.

February 5

Does this look like a girl who is recovering from the same nasty stomach bug Caleb had?

Yep.

Our Monday looked like this:

1:48 am - Chris wakes up puking. He pukes for the next eight hours.

8:30 am - I load the kids in the car and drop them at my mom's house. I head to my prenatal appointment. 

(18 weeks along! Everything looks great!)

11:30 am - head home to a recovering Chris, put the kids down for naps.

2:30 pm - getting ready to visit the chiropractor, hear a still-napping Daisy cough and say "Wet!" on the monitor, but nothing else.

3:45 pm - return home to find Chris tending to a very solemn Daisy, who apparently said "Wet" because she had vomited all over herself.

9:00 pm - Daisy vomits for the last time, right before Chris and I settle down to watch the latest episode of Downton Abbey.

So to recap: Caleb was sick for six hours, Chris for eight, and Daisy for six hours. That, my friends, is my kind of stomach virus! I just read an article that links the consumption of full-fat dairy (hello, raw, whole milk and butter!) with protection against pathogens in the gut. While I'm sad that this virus made its way through our family, I'm happy that it was so short-lived. I'm definitely giving our crazy diet all of the credit for that!

See? Not sick anymore!

(They're standing on my bed, in the midst of a jumping session, watching something out my bedroom window. In just a few minutes, Caleb will break the lamp behind him. But at this moment, it was nothing but fun.)

Now it's my turn to get sick - I'm the only one not to succumb yet. Let's pray it passes me by?

February 3

Every year when Superbowl time rolls around, Chris ends up disappointed because I just. don't. care. about it. I suppose I'm lucky that he's not a passionate football fan who wants to watch every game; he only wants to watch the big game. But none of the Superbowl hubbub impresses me. It's just one more, overlong game. Chris would like to spend the day at a big party, but all I see is a long, boring evening.

However, I must say that this year was my favorite Superbowl yet. This is how we do it:

Snuggles.

Snacks.

Sippy cup.

No shoes (or socks) required.

The kids were so delighted at the prospect of 

1. watching TV

2. eating dinner in the living room

3. eating snacks for dinner

that they were remarkably cooperative until we shuffled them off to the bath after halftime. Caleb loved Beyonce's halftime show (do you remember how much he loved Madonna's performance last year?), and has since asked to hear "Single Ladies" several times. His only question "Is she wearing underwear? Where are her pants? Why is she not wearing pants?"

Good question, son. Good question

February 2

Our former neighbor, Drew, is a Harley guy who recently finished a complete overhaul of his new bike. When he called me the other day and an asked if I'd be interested in coming out to take pictures of his bike at a bike show, I jumped at the chance. I don't know much about motorcycles, but I knew Caleb would love the experience. Plus, Drew's enthusiasm tends to pull in everyone around him. He's the kind of guy you can't say no to.

And then Caleb woke up at 1am, puking. 

And then he puked again at 2 am.

And 3:30.

And 5.

And 6:30.

The poor kid puked until he had nothing left to puke, and by the third go-round, Chris realized his best option was to snuggle in bed with Caleb so that he could catch the puke before we ran out of clean sheets.

*sigh*

The boys slept in while Daisy and I had breakfast and played. Daisy was working at her play kitchen when I brought up a load of laundry to fold. As soon as she saw my arms full of diapers and towels, Daisy jumped up and shouted, "I help!"

And my sweet girl climbed up on the banquette and began sorting the diapers into piles. She's very meticulous about her work, and always ensures that the diapers are in neat, straight stacks. I love this girl.

Thankfully, Caleb's illness seemed to have run its course, but Chris and I were still unsure whether the bike show was a good idea or not. After his nap, Caleb seemed much better, but when we asked him if he wanted to go see motorcycles, he said, "I choose to stay home and play."

Hmm. Not really an option, kid. But then I had a brilliant idea. Since the whole purpose of the trip was to take pictures, maybe Caleb would like to take pictures, too?

As soon as I suggested that Caleb bring his own camera, the boy was sold.

He's still working on framing shots appropriately, but he ended up with over 100 pictures on his camera! Here are a few Caleb originals:

Not bad, huh?

But we came to see Drew's bike, which was one of the featured bikes of the event. It started out as a 2008 105th Anniversary edition Harley - one of 5,000 made. But then Drew realized that meant there were 4,999 other bikes exactly like his, and the customization began.

Now, it looks like this: 

It's been completely overhauled to resemble a 1947 Harley Knucklehead. Drew is pretty pleased, and even for a non-bike-person, it's pretty impressive.

Drew's girlfriend, Melanie, even dressed up as a '40s pinup girl for the occasion.

So while I snapped photos of the bike and Melanie, Chris and the kids wandered around. 

They both found some checkered flags, which were big hits.

Apparently Daisy wasn't waving her flag vigorously enough for this photo, so Caleb stepped in to show us how it's done.

(Side note: he's wearing his rain boots in these photos because he currently only has one pair of normal shoes that fit, and he somehow lost one of those shoes. So until we find the missing shoe somewhere in our house, Caleb will be wearing rain boots.)

Drew and his bike, which he hasn't even yet taken out for a ride.

Apparently Daisy was watching Melanie's modeling, because she decided to strike a pose next to this shiny bike. Chris and I died laughing! She even had the bike-model posture down: shoulders back, hips thrown forward, one leg angled, hand on the bike... girl is a natural! Should I be worried?

Caleb liked this bike the best, but I think he only favored it over Drew's because it was at his level.

And Daisy was not a fan of Drew's beard. In fact, she was quite suspicious.

So. Bike show was a success, Caleb is done puking (hopefully), and we're praying the stomach bug passes over the rest of the family. (Though my stomach is feeling a little bit iffy right now...)

February 1

I had a "World's Best Mom" moment this morning. 

All I wanted to do was lie on the couch, but Caleb desperately wanted to go outside in the bitter cold and play in the dusting of snow on our deck, leftover from yesterday's snow showers. I kept telling him it wasn't a good idea, but the kid kept pestering me. Finally, I sighed from the couch, "If you can get yourself outside, then you can play."

I thought it was foolproof; there was no way he'd be able to unlock any of the doors and let himself outside.

Then I heard the sound of a lock flipping, and the sliding door begin to whoosh open.

Quickly, I called out, "You also need to get your coat and boots on!"

I knew I had him with that one - his coat hangs in the closet, much too high for him to reach.

Wrong again. He managed to pull a zippered hoodie down, and pull on his rain boots.

The kid had bested me, so I grudgingly allowed him to go outside, all the while assuring him that I was NOT going out with him.

He was pretty happy out there!

Then, suddenly, Daisy came up to me, carrying her boots and a little sweater she had found on the floor of her closet. If Brother can do it, so can she!

*sigh*

But it was COLD out there!

Daisy got snow on her hands and kept coming back to me (crouched just inside the door with my camera) to wipe the cold off of her hands.

And then Caleb started crying because his hands were cold, and I worried that my laziness might actually cause my children to get hypothermia, so I got real coats and gloves for them. 

Thankfully, by that time the outdoor play had lost much of its appeal, and I was finally able to retire to the couch.