Every Day with Eli: January 26

Last night, I blogged about wishing I could trade Lily in for a baby that sleeps.

And then, after a rocky start to the night, she went on to sleep for five straight hours, wake to nurse for ten minutes, then go back to sleep in her crib until 8:00 this morning.

I guess she didn't want to be traded in!

I'm not sure if it's a fluke, or the nasty cold she still has, or if it's something that is actually happening, but she has slept a five-hour stretch the past two nights. It doesn't sound like much, and it certainly isn't "sleeping through the night", but for this tired mama, it's HUGE! I'm hoping and praying that it's a real thing. We'll see. Tonight has already been better than last night: she's been asleep for two hours now, allowing us to watch Downton Abbey in peace.

But the poor girl is still seriously miserable with her cold. Chris and I were scheduled to play with babies in the nursery at church today, so we had to go despite Lily's illness. Luckily, my amazing mother must have been up early and read yesterday's blog post. When she learned how sick Lily still was, she texted me, offering to come watch the baby while we went to church.

Really.

It was fantastic.

So Lily got to stay home and snuggle with Grandma and sleep when she needed to sleep, while we all enjoyed church. It was wonderful. We returned home and Mom read to the kids while Chris and I prepared lunch.

This makes my heart happy:

I know Mom will hate this picture of her, but it is so sweet and precious to me. She came over early this morning, without taking time to get herself ready, just to help us out. I fully realize how blessed we are. And seeing Daisy snuggled up with her and Caleb leaning to be part of the moment makes me feel even more blessed.

Later, while the kids napped, I took advantage of the momentary break from winter to go for a run. When Caleb and Daisy woke up, I sent them with Chris to the lake, so Caleb could play on the beach. (Despite the freezing temperatures of late, Caleb has been begging to go to the beach for the past week.)

Here are some of his iPhone pictures:

Happy Daisy at the beach. Even though it was nearly 60 degrees today, the lake was still frozen.

This picture is gorgeous, but it doesn't even begin to do justice to the beautiful sunset tonight. The sky was on fire with oranges!

Caleb found this big stick and christened it "Bessie", after the giant road-paving machine in Cars. Apparently he was pretending to pave the beach?

Doesn't this photo make your heart stop? My husband is a pretty talented photographer, even with his cell phone!

While they were gone, Lily and I tried a new carry with the wrap.

Baby? Where's the baby? Oh, wait. See those little feet peeking out on either side of my hips?

This is double rebozo with a shoulder flip. I love that wrapping allows me to wear Lily like a backpack, with nothing going across my chest or front. I also love the MacGyver-factor of wrapping; there's something inherently satisfying in being able to use a strip of fabric to hold my baby close to me and keep her happy. So often I feel unprepared as a parent, and this feels like one little way that I can always be prepared. Weird, I know.

But more importantly, Lily loves being wrapped. She seems to feel snug and secure, and I think she likes being able to watch everything I'm doing. Wrapping makes dinner time so much easier, because Lily is happy, and with her on my back I feel like it's safe to cook and chop and do what I need to do.

In other words, wrapping is my new favorite thing. And now I'm itching to get more wraps so that I can try new things!

Someone else loves wearing babies, too!