January 24

I am so thankful that parenting is a team sport, because my husband is way more fun than I am. He and I got up with the kids this morning, but after I made them breakfast and we had all eaten, I climbed back into bed for more sleep. 

Chris, meanwhile, decided to load all three kids up in the BOB and go for a walk around the neighborhood. I groggily checked my phone, which informed me that at 9:30 it was only 36 degrees out, but Chris was unfazed. I told him I thought it was a bad idea, but he was undaunted.

Two hours later, my family returned, all giggling and happy. Actually, I looked out the window and saw Caleb and Daisy playing with neighbors in the driveway, Chris pushing an empty stroller piled with books, and Lily toddling along behind him. I threw on a sweatshirt and joined Chris, the kids, and our neighbors in the back yard to watch everyone play on the swing set, and I was surprised to find that it was actually very pleasant outside!

Chris told me that they had walked up to the high school nearby and played on the track. He had brought a frisbee, a soccer ball, and a football, and the kids had a great time running around on the turf. Then they walked to the library, where Caleb immediately found himself a pile of books and sat down in a chair to read. Then they headed home to play with the neighbors in the sunshine. 

All in all, a great morning.

Chris shared these photos from his phone:

The kids enjoyed climbing up the school's giant N. I'm not sure it was intended for that, but whatever. Look at Lily, climbing up the hill! You go, girl!

I'm pretty sure Caleb and Daisy are preparing to slide down the N, as if it were a giant slide.

I love Caleb and Daisy, sharing the lead, and Lily running after them.

Lily found a frisbee!

Our yard was pretty muddy today, but the artificial turf was perfect for playing!

I'm pretty sure Chris had them doing sprints.

This one of all three kids in the BOB, all reading library books is my favorite of the day. These kids are blessed to have such an awesome Daddy! (This mommy might be blessed to have him for a husband, too.)

January 23

I took pictures off my camera tonight and found these two that Chris took this morning, long before I was awake:

It's clearly long before I woke up because our east-facing window is pitch black; no sunrise to be found.

And the children are eating their first breakfast of homemade gelatin gummies. 

Maybe an hour after this, they came stampeding into my room to climb into bed and snuggle with me. After 10 minutes, they scampered off to play, and I climbed into the shower. When I was dressed, I emerged to find Caleb wearing a Superman shirt, complete with cape, and Daisy dressed in her Wonder Woman costume, including her indestructible bracelets and tiara. And this was all before 7:30. Sheesh.

Lily was uncooperative about naptime - AGAIN. After an hour and a half, this happened, AGAIN:

Apparently all she wanted was to be snuggled up with me in bed. Or, if not, at least by then she was too tired to fight it. This picture was after I removed her from my shoulder/neck/armpit area, which was soggy with her drool and sweat. 

Part of me hates this, and wishes she would sleep in her crib for naps, by golly!

Part of me loves this, and savors the fact that I get these last few months to devote to letting her be my only baby.

Part of me regrets this, knowing that it's only a short-term fix and that when Yoey arrives, we may have some issues.

And part of me is just too tired to care, and is thankful to get a nap any way I can.

Also, Lily is super cute when she wakes up in bed with me. There's no slow, groggy waking for her. She goes from sound asleep to wide awake and exceptionally cheerful, and she is so happy to be snuggled up with me. Really, who can turn that down?

Chris thinks maybe Lily just likes our flannel sheets. Perhaps I should buy her a flannel crib sheet? Look at those freshly-woken rosy cheeks. So sweet!

She woke up just in time for us to go get Caleb off the bus, and once we got home all three kids went to play in the back yard. I ran in to work on dinner, but ran back out when I heard Lily shrieking.

Don't worry, Mom. She wasn't hurt. She was shrieking because of this: 

Caleb had pushed his little picnic table up to the swings and used it as a step to climb into the baby swing. Lily was furious. 

Daisy is too big for the baby swing, but even she was peeved. Caleb, meanwhile, was pretty pleased with himself.

After I took pictures, I helped Caleb out of the swing, put Lily in, and spent some time pushing the kids on the swing set. They were so, so happy.

January 21

Chris took my car (and all of its car seats) in for an oil change today - hopefully the last oil change we will ever give it, since we will need to replace it with a minivan in the next month or so - so the girls and I were stuck at home today.

After we returned from getting Caleb on the bus, I decided to get out my camera and document our current bus stop look. It's not a good picture, but I thought I should document it for posterity, especially because Lily and I often get double-takes from passing cars. I like to think it's because of my stunning good looks at 8:30 in the morning, but something tells me there might be other factors at play.

I've been rocking this look since it got cold out. I put Lily in my ring sling, directly on top of my growing baby bump. My belly acts as sort of a ledge for her. Then I put on my big old puffy coat (a remnant from college days) and zip Lily inside. As you can tell from the picture, the zipper is getting quite strained lately. I like to think that it's because Lily has grown so much, rather than my belly. You'll note, after all, that most of the straining seems to occur over Lily's back, rather than over my belly. Lily always insists on wearing her Olaf hat, and then I use the velcro on my coat to close up the neck gap between us. We both stay pretty warm, and I really like that Lily's legs and feet are covered up by my coat, too. Even on the days a few weeks ago when it was near zero degrees in the morning, Lily never complained. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to keep this up until Yoey arrives in March, and after Yoey's arrival that it will be warm enough that I won't need to worry so much about Lily's warmth. Of course, then I'll have to worry about how to get Lily safely to the bus stop and back; it will either be by training her to walk with us, or by wearing her on my back and Yoey on my front. I'm not sure which will be faster.

I love that Lily and I look like a two-headed monster, and I love how thrilled Daisy is to be in this picture, wearing her coat, dress, sweatpants, Princess Anna socks, and beaded satin shoes. Daisy and I are quite a pair in the morning!

Things were fine for a few hours, but soon I reached a point in my day where everything I touched failed. A recipe didn't work, and then - just like yesterday - Lily refused to nap. For two hours I tried to get her down, and finally I gave up and  brought her into bed with me.

Amazingly, for the second day in a row, it worked like a charm. This time, Lily was barely even touching me. She just wanted to be next to me. There was very little fussing before she fell asleep, and we managed an hour and a half nap together before Caleb came home.

The kids played happily in the back yard while I continued to fail at everything I touched. I  burned the kale chips for dinner, forgot to brine the pork chops, seared the chops a bit too much, remembered much too late that Caleb had homework due tomorrow, and was late to Book Club because I was trying to help him. Not my best day.

Luckily, I got a snuggle with my sweet girl, quality time with my friends, and now the day is over. Thank goodness.

January 20

Now that my prenatal appointments are every two weeks (and soon every week!), Tuesday mornings are pretty busy for us. Today we got Caleb on the bus, got all of our stuff together, dropped Daisy off at preschool, and Lily and I headed out to see the midwife.

Today was my 34-week checkup. I'm still baffled that we are within 8 weeks of this child's arrival! Luckily, the receptionist at the Birth Center came up with a list of name possibilities for me during my appointment. So at least we don't have to worry about that. Chris has been lobbying to just not name this baby (or even reveal its gender!) until its first birthday. Pretty sure that idea is not going to fly.

Everything looked great at our checkup, though. My blood pressure was great, Baby's heart rate was great, and - as has been the trend with all of my pregnancies - my belly is consistently measuring 1-2 weeks smaller than normal. It's funny how the fourth time around, the pattern is pretty clear. My belly measures small, the children come 1-2 weeks later than average, and they are born a very average size. Apparently I just grow my babies a little slower during the third trimester!

After our appointment (which was especially exciting because a mama was giving birth while we were there!), we visited my mom for a bit. Usually I have an awful time getting Lily to leave the Birth Center because she loves the receptionist and the toys. But today, all I had to do was say, "Lily, do you want to go see Grandma?"

She stopped what she was doing, looked up at me solemnly, and said, "Esh." (That's "yes" in Lily-speak.)

Then she turned, marched toward the exit, and began trying to push the door open. That sweet little thing walked all the way to the parking lot by herself! When we got to the car, she fussed until I explained to her that we had to get into the car to go see Grandma. Then she cooperated.

We played with Grandma for a hour, then picked Daisy up from preschool and headed home for lunch and naps.

Daisy took a three-hour nap.

Lily, not so much. After two hours of trying to get her down, I finally gave in to my exhaustion and took her into my room. If she wasn't going to nap, I would.

Amazingly, the girl cried in my bed for five minutes and then fell asleep with her face buried in my neck. 

Unfortunately, it was 45 minutes until I needed to go get Caleb off the bus.

So for 40 sweet minutes, Lily and I slept like this:

I could feel her little forehead getting sweaty, but she didn't seem to mind. I felt terrible waking her, and tried to transfer her back to her crib, but no luck. So I popped her in the ring sling and she continued to snuggle into my neck while we walked to the bus stop and back.

When I realize that in two short months there will be a new child occupying this spot, it makes me willing to snuggle Lily as long as she wants. It won't last much longer!

January 19

Goodness. Yesterday and today have been go, go, go, go!

Things we did yesterday: 

Loaded the kids in the car and drove to a parking lot to jump-start Chris' car because the battery randomly died.

Went to church.

Stopped by my sister's house.

Stopped by my mom's house.

Lunch.

Naps.

Grocery shopping.

Bought and installed new battery for Chris' car.

Made food for small group.

Went to small group.

Bed (much too late!).

Things we did today:

Breakfast out to celebrate MLK day.

Cleaned up Lily's vomit after she threw up at the restaurant. (really)

Immediately to Lily's 18-month checkup. (convenient, no?)

Chris took the kids to Costco, then home for lunch and naps.

I went to photograph a new baby and his delighted big sisters.

Car wash.

Target.

Rest. 

Dinner.

Chris to a hockey game with a customer.

And the week officially begins tomorrow!

Lily's Well-Child check went... well? Aside from the whole throwing up thing, that is. At 18 months, she's clocking in at exactly 21 pounds, which puts her in about the 30th percentile. Way to go, Lily! She's right around 50th percentile for height, and is rocking all of her milestones, particularly the social/emotional ones. (Our doc wasn't too surprised by that; apparently third children tend to be that way?)

This visit was also a re-check of Lily's ears - she had an ear infection back in December that still wasn't cleared up right after Christmas, and today was three weeks after our failed follow-up visit re: ears. The verdict? Her right ear, while no longer infected, has somehow failed to heal.

What? 

Really?

Yep.

Three weeks ago, her right eardrum was perforated at the top and infected. Today it was no longer infected, but still perforated and showing no signs of healing.  Our doctor has no explanation, and referred us to an ENT, who will probably also have no explanation except that it needs more time to heal. She also mentioned that young children will often vomit in reaction to ear infections or ruptured eardrums. Apparently vomiting and sleep issues are Lily's only symptoms when she has ear issues. Poor baby.

So, pictures. Since I am currently wading through about 175 pictures from my two-hour photo shoot today, I only have two crummy pictures of my children to share. But they're funny.

I was getting dinner ready when I thought to check on the children. Caleb and Daisy were playing in one room, but Lily was not there. Finally, I found her here:

Yes, that is a doll stroller.

No, I have no idea how she got in there without tipping it over.

Yes, she found someone willing to take her for a stroll.

January 17

Sunshiny and 60 degrees, on a Saturday when we didn't have anything on the calendar?

I don't think it gets much better than that. 

Caleb felt sad that he missed out on the Garden fun yesterday, so we decided to go again as a family today. Why not?

Since Chris was there, too, Lily got to do a whole lot more walking today than she did yesterday. She was so happy, and so curious! I know it looks like she's quite interested in the various types of grass for lawns, but she was really captivated by the chirping birds in the bushes just beyond.

True to her character, Lily would only walk along with us if it was her idea. If we said, "Come on, Lily! Let's go!", we could almost see her digging in her heels and staying put. It's going to take some psychological game-playing to get this girl to walk anywhere with us in a reasonable amount of time!

Okay, the little hoodie she's wearing?

It's ridiculous and much too small for her, but it is her favorite. As soon as we put it on her, she grabs the hood and says, "Hat? Hat?" Since the hoodie is too small, she can't get the hood on herself - she needs help to even get it to the ridiculous point it's at in the picture.

(Funny thing: do you remember how Lily adores our colorful, sparkly, perfume-scented neighbor across the street? Mary just happens to be the one who gave us this hoodie, for Daisy's first birthday nearly three years ago. I find it interesting that Lily loves both the neighbor and the hoodie she gave us. Perhaps Lily craves color and bright, sparkly things in her life? Maybe I'm not flashy enough for this girl? I can't wait to see what she's like in a few years!)

Daisy and Caleb ran ahead to the Carver Garden, and like she always does, Daisy ran up and gave Dr. George Washington Carver a big hug. I have no idea why she likes him so much, but she really does. Also, don't you love Daisy's outfit? I love that she lives in a world where a black and white striped dress clearly goes with navy and white striped leggings, because - DUH - they're striped. Luckily, the hot pink cardigan tempers the ensemble a little bit.

Is it safe to wear a baby on your back while riding a sheep? I'm not entirely sure, but Chris risked it. Lily didn't seem to mind too much. She was much happier up on Chris' back than she was in the stroller!

We happened to stop in the Climatron, where there was an exhibit set up with all kinds of craft stations. Caleb made this mask, and while he seems unimpressed, he was actually totally pumped about it.

They had an area set up where kids could be on TV with a green screen behind them, making it seem like they were in an assortment of exotic locales. Caleb and Daisy didn't quite get the concept, and kept turning around to see themselves on the big TV.

After the girls went down for naps, Chris and Caleb took advantage of the growing winds and headed out to fly a kite.  Happily, our friend up the street, Landon, was doing the same thing! The boys joined forces and flew their kites together.

This makes my heart happy. I am so thankful for our neighborhood!

Caleb has attempted to fly kites before, but never had this much success. Today was really a perfect kite-flying day!

The boys grew tired of their limited kite-flying space, and they all headed to our neighborhood baseball field to spread out a bit.

Caleb seemed to like his vantage point from this surprisingly low bench.

What? You want to see a video? Of course you do. It's only 14 seconds.

And then there's this:

I know. It's obnoxious how good Chris is with the camera. Maybe someday I'll be as good as him at this photography thing.

Chris and Caleb came home to find the girls and me playing outside with our friends Caleb, Hannah, and Andrew, who had stopped by to visit. I'm pretty sure we eked every last moment out of this beautiful day, and it was wonderful.

January 16

It was sunshiny and nearly fifty degrees out today. 

Even better, we had planned a playdate with Amber and her kiddos, and they happen to live just a few blocks from the garden. You know, the garden that Daisy has been begging to visit for the past few weeks. Amber is always up for outdoor activity with the little ones, so she and her five children (!) walked (!) to meet us at the garden. 

When we arrived it was still a bit chilly - not quite forty degrees yet - but we quickly found some sunshiny spots to warm us up. Then we found some wooded spots with secret paths that are only obvious in the winter, when there are no tree leaves to obscure them. The kids were captivated and took off running along the stone paths, across a creek, through the woods, laughing and shouting with delight. I'm not sure what made me happier: the sunshine, or seeing how happy the children were. 

Daisy isn't quite big enough to really keep up with the big kids (Amber's kids are older, and her whole family is known for their athletic dominance), but she tried her best. Lily surprised me, though, by insisting that she wanted to get down and explore, too!

The girl grabbed her snack cup, took off walking, and didn't look back! She is definitely a child who knows what she wants.

I mean, seriously. Look at this girl. She is just ridiculous. That hair, those glasses, that gap-toothed smile, the snack in each hand... I just want to gobble her up!

The stepping stones were uneven, which is challenging for a little one, and she was wearing those darling hand-me-down Pumas for the first time, but Lily did her best to follow after the big kids on the stone path. She tripped and fell pretty often, but she never complained!

Eventually we had to leave the secret woodland paths, but we passed the trusty old sheep on our way out. 

After I took this picture, Amber and I realized that we now have more children than there are sheep. If Caleb had been here, we would have had one rider without a sheep. And once Amber's little Edie is big enough to ride, and once Yoey comes... Well, the sheep-riding pictures may be a thing of the past, because I can imagine some epic battles over who gets to ride the sheep. I suppose the big kids can double up with the little ones, though. Maybe this fall the babies will be big enough to be in the sheep-riding pictures. Definitely by next spring.

January 15

Today was another busy, sunshiny day.

Sweet Lily finally took a good nap, and I enjoyed every minute of the three hours she slept in her crib. After we picked Caleb up from the bus, all three kids played happily in the back yard, soaking up every last drop of sunshine until it was too dark and cold to keep playing.

Caleb and Daisy Queen Elsa practiced their ice skating again, this time together! Thank goodness Lily didn't attempt to do it, too!

I am not sure why, but there is something about this picture that I find simultaneously darling and hilarious. Lily was so happy to be outside, but she just has this dumb look on her face. Then she saw our across-the-street neighbor, Mary, come home. Her face immediately lit up, and she started toddling toward Mary's house, calling out the whole way. It was adorable. Now that it's cold out, we don't see much of Mary, but she is still one of Lily's favorite people.

After Caleb and Daisy finished "ice skating", they created a new game: Ice Harvesting. 

You know, like this scene at the beginning of Frozen?

In fact, they sang that song as they played, and I stopped Caleb just before he ran into the garage to find one of Daddy's saws to help him cut the ice. They used sticks, rocks, and plastic shovels to help them "harvest" the ice. While Caleb was taking a bathroom break, Daisy was the first to break the ice.

She was so happy, and Lily was so impressed! Remarkably, Caleb wasn't at all upset that Daisy beat him to it. Then I had to stop all three children from eating the ice. Yuck!

January 14

After a couple of boring very quiet days around here, we finally had a day full of activity. Once Caleb was safely on the bus, the girls and I headed over to my friend Jill's house to visit with her and her sweet little ones. Naomi is a month younger than Lily, and Lydia is a month old today. Daisy was pumped to play with all of the toys, and I'm not sure whether Lily was more excited to play with her friend "Mimi" (what she calls Naomi), or to look at the sweet baby.

We left in time for lunch at home, after which Lily went down easily for a nap. Praise the Lord! Jill's girls must have worn her out! Daisy acted like she was going down for a nap, but I suspect she didn't sleep at all. It didn't matter, though, because she got some rest in her room. Once the girls were all down, my friend Jessica brought her daughter, Stella, over to play while Jessica had an appointment nearby.

Stella and I had a lot of fun, but I confess that I was quite relieved when, after an hour of playing with Stella by myself, I heard stirrings in Daisy's room. I hadn't told Daisy that Stella was coming over, so she was over-the-moon excited to see her friend playing in our living room!

See what I mean? Daisy was so tickled that Stella was at our house!

Eventually Lily woke up; her nap was only two hours, but I'll take it! Like I always do when her naps are short, I let her fuss a little bit before I went in to get her. I suppose I always hope that maybe she'll settle down and sleep a little more. Stella, however, was not impressed with my parenting skills. She kept pointing out that Lily was crying, and was pretty peeved that I wasn't tending to her right away. Funny girl! 

After a few minutes, though, we all went in to get Lily, and she was so excited about the party that entered her room when Daisy and Stella came in! 

Eventually we made our way to the front of the house, where a jam session broke out. 

Seriously, how cute are these girls? (Also, I love that Daisy is referencing the book Group Piano while all three of them sit at the piano. How appropriate!) 

Stella ended up abandoning the piano for the ukulele, and then they all abandoned the instruments to dance with ribbons.  When Jessica returned to pick up Stella, Stella was adamant that she wasn't ready to go home. The girls were pretty sad to see their friend leave, too! Luckily, it was just about time for us to get Caleb off the bus.

When we got back home, Caleb asked if he could play outside. 

It was 30 degrees out.

But since 30 is the warmest it's been in a long time, I said yes, and Lily and I watched the big kids out the kitchen window while I made dinner. Lily was pretty mad that she couldn't go outside and play, too.

Happy children!

That red bucket that Caleb is standing on usually functions as a bird bath/watering hole, but it is frozen solid. Caleb and Daisy took turns practicing their "ice skating" on it. 

Yes, Mom. I realize that they could have gotten hurt. I wrestled with that fact myself, but decided that Caleb was being bold, exploring, and taking initiative, and I didn't want to stifle that by telling him to stop or be careful. So instead I smiled and took a picture, and Caleb and Daisy were so, so happy.

Then I burned the heck out of my thumb while making dinner, and now I'd like to have my whole right hand amputated because it hurts so badly. So it goes.

January 13

This morning we sent Caleb off to school, took Daisy to preschool, and Lily and I were left alone with no agenda. We snacked, snuggled, played, laughed... and took selfies. Because why not?

Selfies with my big camera are not the same as selfies with my iPhone. Still, we had fun.

She may not be looking at the camera, but isn't she sweet?

This was the result of my attempt to take a picture of Lily while she sat in my lap. She was trying to see her picture on the back of the camera.

And again, trying to see the back of the camera. I know none of these pictures are great, but I treasure them because they capture exactly who Lily is right now: curious, cheerful, and absolutely squishable!

And sleepy! After we picked Daisy up from preschool, Lily went down for a two-hour nap. I had to fight a bit harder than I'd like for it, but I'll take it.

I wasn't feeling well when we went to pick Caleb up at the bus stop; the best way I can describe it is that I suddenly felt extremely pregnant, with weird pains and hot flashes and dizziness. It was really distressing, and even though I was wearing Lily zipped under my coat in the ring sling, I was ready to sit down on the sidewalk while we waited for the bus. Luckily, the bus finally arrived and I waddled home as quickly as I could, threw my coat and hat and scarf and Lily on the floor, and flopped onto the couch. The kids were all pretty concerned, because this type of thing is totally out of character for me. Caleb pushed  chair up to the kitchen sink and filled a sippy cup of water for me, with a straw instead of a sippy lid, Daisy put away my coat and hat and scarf, and Lily kept toddling up to me and giving me hugs.

Eventually we all retired to my big bed, where we watched PBS until Chris got home. Chris handled dinner while I rested and drank a lot of water, and now I think everything is fine.

While Chris made dinner, Caleb finished his 100th Day of School shirt. That's right - Friday marks the 100th day of school, and to celebrate, all of the kindergarteners were asked to make a shirt with 100 of something on it. Caleb initially wanted 100 light sabers on his shirt, but after a stroll through the craft store, he happily settled on sparkly foam star stickers. It's taken two evenings to finish, but tonight he finally got the shirt decorated to his satisfaction.

And boy, is he satisfied! I'm really proud of myself, because aside from helping him choose the stars, then count out 100 of them, I've resisted my crazy organizational tendencies and let him do the whole thing himself. 

Though it doesn't look like it, I think there are 55 stars on the front and 45 on the back. As I took these pictures, Daisy stood next to Caleb, leaning in and wanting to be in the pictures, too. The whole time he worked on his shirt, Daisy sat rightnextto Caleb, desperate to help in any way possible. In the end, her role was to collect the paper backing from all of the stickers and throw it away. She was thrilled to have a job!

Goodness, I love these two! 

Caleb finished his shirt right before dinner was ready, and we ended up having a lovely family dinner, complete with cooperative children, pleasant conversation, and lots of laughter. Nights like tonight give me hope for the future!