June 30

We are back on our normal summer schedule, so today was Botanical Garden day. The kids and I picked up some sage from the Herb Society, zipped over to the Japanese Garden to feed the fish. 

And geese. 

And ducks. 

And darling baby ducks, which Lily could just not get enough of. She kept forgetting to feed them and tried to touch them instead. It was hilarious.

Then off to the Children's Garden for some splash pad fun. Sometime before we fed the fish, Caleb declared that he needed a break from all of the walking we were doing, so I wrapped Eli up on my back, but Daisy in Eli's spot in the BOB, and let Caleb ride in the footwell. It worked out pretty well, despite the fact that I was pushing over 100 pounds of children, while carrying a baby on my back. Eli didn't mind, though, and quickly fell asleep. 

I love that despite all of our activity, he still didn't miss his morning nap! I also love his sweet little hand, and his sweet little ears, and his sweet little eyelashes. (Don't worry, Mom. I know it looks like the wrap is over his face, but there's a little gap there and he could totally breathe. He definitely didn't suffocate.)

I don't love that he isn't wearing a sunhat, but placing a sunhat on a baby who isn't capable of helping while wearing said baby on one's back is basically impossible without help. I suppose I could have asked a random stranger for help, but I didn't. We just stayed in the shade instead.

The kids ate lunch in the van on the way home, and just as I was putting the girls down for naps, Jenny came over! She took Caleb to a program at the library, in which some guy did tricks and cracked jokes with a whip. Jenny thought it was entertaining, and Caleb liked it too, except that the whip was really loud. They left early for that reason.

Or maybe they left early because Caleb really wanted Jenny to play Lego Star Wars with him. Either way, they left early.

Eventually, this was the scene in our back yard: 

Lily was suspicious of Jenny at first, but after a few pushes in the swing, Jenny was her new favorite person ever. Funny how that goes. After Jenny left, Lily wandered around the house. In the kitchen, she said, "Jeh-hee water?"

Yes, Lily, that's Jenny's water glass.

And in my bedroom, she asked, "Jeh-hee 'gain?"

Yes, Lily. Jenny will come over again.

It was pretty cute.

June 29

Yesterday was Eli's five-month birthday, but since today was Do-Nothing Monday, we took his birthday pictures today. He was quite cooperative for the whole thing!

At five months old, Eli weighs about 14.5 pounds. 

He coos, goos, and has just started squealing. 

He loves playing with his hands and fingers, and bats at or grabs anything he can reach.

Eli usually wakes up around 9 am, takes a 45-minute nap in the mornings, and a 3-hour nap in the afternoons. He spends his evenings nursing, snuggling, and on Daddy's chest in the Ergo, but won't sleep independently then. At night he's in bed with us, and he nurses through the night.

He just showed me that he can roll from his back to his belly last week, and during our photo shoot today I learned that he can also roll from his  belly to his back. Way to go, Eli!

Goodness, he is a sweet baby.

Hi there, handsome!

He really is a very happy baby, and he is so tolerant of all the "love" he gets from his siblings. I would definitely call him a good baby, but I also know that my standard of "good" is very different from other people's standards. I wear him a lot and feed him when he's hungry, and he is very, very happy. I call that good.

Seriously. Chunky naked baby! I see all those rolls and wonder how on earth he is considered 10th-15th percentile. I suppose we could fit more fat on him... I'll have to get on that.

(The quilt he's on was handmade by Chris' grandma for our wedding. This is the underside, but I think it's just as lovely as the top!)

Since Eli surprised me with his rolling skills, I tried putting him in a seated position to see what he can do. He can almost do a three-point seat, but he tips over pretty quickly. He'll get there, though!

By then it was nearly nap time, so I started packing up my things. I'm very lazy, so I asked the kids to help me carry things into the house. Caleb cheerfully agreed, and Lily seemed to agree to carry the ring sling in for me.

It turned out that she really just wanted to snuggle up in it. I love this picture of Lily - it is so very much her!

I love this sweet little stinker!

June 28

Oops. Today was Eli's 5-month birthday, and I totally forgot to take pictures.

But honestly, even if I had remembered, I wouldn't have had time. I woke him up at 8 am to go to church, and we went from church to Costco to a picnic at the park with my parents. It rained on us there, so pictures wouldn't have been an option. The poor kid went all morning without a nap, so as soon as we got home it was naptime for him. He woke up three hours later, just in time for an early dinner before we went over to our friends Jessica and Travis' house for small group, and we got home in time for tornado warnings and basement time and bedtime.

It was a hectic day, and I'm exhausted.

In the middle of the day, while Eli was napping, Chris and Caleb went for a bike ride. Travis and Jessica live about ten miles from us, but there are bike trails that lead almost directly from our house to theirs. Chris has long wanted to take Caleb on a ride from our house to theirs, and today was a perfect day for it. A quick check of the weather showed us that riding home from their house would be questionable, due to the threat of severe weather. We decided that they would ride there, and load the bikes into the van for the drive home.

This was Caleb's longest bike ride to date, so it was kind of a big deal.

I offered Caleb his sunglasses, and initially he declined, saying, "No, thank you. But I would look really cool if I wore them."

Eventually he changed his mind, and guess what? He did look really cool.

Off they go! Caleb's Tag Along is a really cool little thing; when he pedals, it actually helps lighten the load for Chris. The boys really like riding together!

Thirty minutes later, Chris sent me this picture:

The bike trail crosses a river, and they were at a lookout at the midpoint of the river.

They had so much fun, and covered 9.5 miles in 51 minutes. Not too shabby, I say! They saw a skunk, and rewarded themselves with ice cream. And Caleb was devastated when he learned that they weren't going to bike home, too.

Meanwhile, at home: 

The children took much-too-short naps. I placed Eli in his swing so that I could throw together a quick, early dinner, and Lily came up and offered him a highly-coveted gift: Pinky, the blanket.

Pinky is Daisy's blanket, and she used to sleep with it. Then she got tired of it, and Lily took a liking to it. But now that Lily likes Pinky, Daisy likes Pinky again, too.

The girls are practicing sharing and taking turns.

But Lily offered Pinky to Eli, and even spread it nicely over him. I love the look on his face. He either loves Lily or the blanket or possibly both.

Sweet siblings!

Check back tomorrow for five-month pictures. In the meantime, here are the older three at five months old:

Caleb

Daisy (I can't believe how skinny she was, even then!)

Lily

I think Eli looks the most like Lily. Put some more hair and an extra pound on him, and they could be twinsies!

June 27

The night before last, my Fitbit told me that I slept for 6 hours straight. Thanks, Eli.

Last night? Not so much. For the first time ever, Eli woke up at 5 am and decided he was ready to play! He cooed, giggled, and refused to go back to sleep no matter how much I nursed him or how well I explained the situation to him. Finally, at 7:30 am, he went back to sleep. Meanwhile, I was exhausted.

At 10 am, Emily and Billy and their boys came over so that Billy could install a ceiling fan in Caleb and Daisy's room. This one is smaller and significantly less likely to decapitate the occupant of the top bunk. It also has two switches on the wall instead of a remote. Therefore, it is awesome in my book. 

While the menfolk worked (or, while Billy worked and Chris assisted), we played outside.

Jace is a big fan of Eli. As soon as I laid Eli down on the blanket, Jace was rightthere nextto him, giving him kisses and snuggling him. It was adorable.

1. How cute is Jace?

2. Look at little Eli in the background, holding Emily's hand!

Those boys are totally bonding.

Meanwhile, Lily ate a bagel that was as big as her head.

In my sleep-deprived state this morning, I told Chris that what I really wanted for breakfast was a bagel (because they're usually dairy-free, you know!) sandwich with eggs and bacon. That wonderful man took the big kids out to fetch bagels and coffee, and we were all very happy. He almost forgot a bagel for Lily, but I happened to text and remind him just in time. It's a good thing that girl got a bagel, or all hell would have broken loose.

Look at those cuties!

Then a long day happened, with lunch and naps and grocery shopping and baths... There may also have been repeat views of this music video, largely because Daisy was wearing bumblebee pajamas and Chris is just that kind of dad.

Daisy asked to hold Eli, and was very sweet.

Meanwhile, Lily flipped out because SHE wanted to hold Eli, TOO!

Then it was Lily's turn and she didn't actually want to hold him. She let the poor kid flop all over the place. Eli is a very longsuffering little brother. So of course I scooped him up and gave him snuggles, and Lily lost it.

"EE-YI WAP! HOL' EE-YI WAP!!!!!!!"

(Can you translate Lilyese? Eli lap! Hold Eli lap!)

The girl screams a lot these days. I suppose I would (did?) scream a lot if I were two, too.

After dinner and baths, I popped some popcorn and Chris and the kids watched baseball on TV. 

Then I loaded Eli into the BOB so that I could hit my 10,000 steps for the day. Chris reported that the kids weren't interested in the game; shortly after I left, they were asking him to switch the channel to PBS kids. So it goes.

June 26

It rained for much of the night last night, and for a few hours this morning. 

My children, however, are undeterred. Late bedtime? No big deal. Pouring rain? They aren't bothered. At 7:30 this morning, Caleb had already eaten his breakfast and was doing this:

Pajamas, rain coat, rain boots, on his belly, in the rain.

AT 7:30 IN THE MORNING.

Daisy quickly joined him. My children are nuts. 

As nuts as they may be, though, they entertained themselves all morning, which was lovely. We had early lunch, naps all around, and a quiet afternoon at home. I mended some diapers, did a lot of laundry, cleaned up, and generally enjoyed my children. It was rare and wonderful.

This evening, Chris took the kids to the pool while I went off on a walk. My leg is feeling totally normal, so I have begun attempting to run again. For 30 minutes, I alternated running a minute, then walking a minute. It felt really good! I don't want to push things too quickly, though, because I well remember the Achilles tendinitis episode after Lily was born. I definitely don't want to go there again, so I'll take my time easing back into running.

After pool time and Mommy time, it was bedtime.

The kids were starving after swimming, so Chris cleverly combined reading and bedtime snacking.

Eli doesn't participate in either activity really well, so he chilled in his chair. I can't believe this little man will be 5 months old on Sunday!

June 25

Our normal summer routine has us at the library on Wednesdays, and watching a movie at home on Thursdays. This week, we shook things up. No library yesterday, and no movie today. Instead, we had a playdate at a new park with a splash pad. I was too busy talking and tending to Eli to take any pictures except this one:

Yes, Lily looks suspicious of something. But she had pigtails!

I also took this one of Eli:

I know. Not particularly flattering or special, but Chris and I have had that blanket since our college/dating days. It was a cheapo Walmart blanket for picnics and whatnot (I'm not gonna lie; we call it "the Makeout Blanket") and it is scratchy and uncomfortable, but it's huge and it somehow has stayed with us.

This evening we went to the circus! Chris' employer is a sponsor of a local circus, and each year they offer employees two tickets to the show. Chris was planning to take Caleb, but then a few kind co-workers offered their extra tickets, and our whole family was able to attend. I was so excited!

Here's a flashback to my very first circus experience, circa 1998:

That is a scan of a photocopy of a Polaroid picture of Flora the Elephant, 17-year-old me, Amber, and Michael. On our way home that night, we stopped by Michael's friend Chris's house. I had met him once or twice and thought he was nice. I'm not sure any of us realized that 17 years later, Amber and Michael would be married with five kids and Chris and I would be married with four kids. It's funny how that works out!

I've been to the circus a few times since then, but this circus is always my favorite. I can't even begin to express how happy I was to be able to be there and watch Caleb and Daisy experience it for the first time!

We don't have many pictures of the whole family together, so I'm happy about this blurry, blown-out cell phone photo of all of us before the show started.

Eli was happy wrapped up on me, and didn't fuss once, despite how loud it was. He slept for the first half of the show, and I nursed him during the second half. What a champ!

Post-show family portrait. You can tell from Lily's eyes that it was well past bedtime. Still, the kiddos rocked it! They especially loved the acrobats and the trained cats. I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to go!

June 24

Today I was finally able to attend my first meeting for our local babywearing group. I just had to bring all four children along with me. Thankfully, there was a play area for bigger kids, so Caleb and Daisy were fine. Lily, however, was very uncertain. Right away, I had to change Eli's diaper. I laid him on my ring sling on the ground, and just as I finished changing his diaper, he rolled over for the first time!

This is right after the roll.  Way to go, Eli!

I also weighed him while we were there, and he clocked in at 14 pounds, 5.5 ounces! Check out his growth chart: 

That yellow line he's approaching is the 15th percentile. The red line where he was is the 3rd percentile. See the big dip in the middle? That is almost the exact day I stopped eating dairy. Look at how his weight has skyrocketed since then! This is definitely the reassurance I needed that we need to keep avoiding dairy for a while longer.

We came home, ate lunch, and the little ones were all ready for their naps. After they went down, Chris' mom came to take Caleb to play for a while. Caleb was so, so excited. I was also excited, because it meant some down time for me. I ended up spending most of it snuggling and nursing this cutie pie:

Hi there, handsome!

Then he practiced some rolling. 

I know. Cutest baby ever. Want to see some video? It's just cooing and squawking, but it's cute nonetheless.

And then when Lily woke up, she wanted to listen to "Oh Happy Day". Again and again and again. When she started doing this, I was absolutely willing to hit repeat as many times as she wanted.

The video we watch has a guy doing motions to the song, and Lily was trying her best to mimic them. She actually did a pretty good job! Also, isn't that pony tail adorable? (the weird noise in the video is the chair just barely wobbling because our floor is slightly uneven)

In case you want to rock out to the song yourself, you can find it here.

That's probably enough cuteness for one day, don't you think?

June 23

First, I would like to share a photo from the archives. Exactly one year ago, I learned that we were pregnant with Eli. I took this photo, but never shared it:

It' so funny to me that we really, really expected Eli to arrive in mid-March, and God decided he should arrive in January instead. It's been a wild ride, but I'm thankful for God's timing.

(I suspect some people may "read" my blog  by looking at pictures and not actually reading my words. I always shake my head at people like that, so right now I'm laughing at the thought of those people thinking I'm pregnant again. To be clear: we are definitely, decidedly not pregnant. This was last year. Not today.)

It was a doozy of a day. The kids were up suuuper late last night because of our visiting family, and Lily had a follow-up appointment with the ENT scheduled for this morning. The children were definitely crabby and touchy this morning, but we were going to be fine.

Then Chris texted me that there was a raccoon in the outdoor trash can this morning. I laughed - how funny! We had suspected that there might be something prowling our trash, and I thought it was cool that Chris actually saw it before he left for work this morning.

Right as we were ready to leave for the ENT, Chris called. That was when I learned that the raccoon was still in the trash can. Apparently Chris saw it, freaked out, and slammed the lid down, trapping the raccoon. Then he left for work. Which left me with the moral dilemma: do I free the raccoon and risk it coming back, or do I let the poor thing die? Eventually I decided that it must be freed. I strapped the kids in their car seats, tipped over the trash can, and opened the lid. The sweet little raccoon (it was a young one) scampered off, no worse for the wear.

And then we were late for our appointment. In the hubbub, I left the house without any wraps or ring slings, and I didn't have any spares in the car. So I had to take all four children into the doctor while holding Eli. With my hands. It was quite foreign. Of course, since my hands were full, I left the diaper bag in the car and only brought in my wallet.

The kids were not-so-patiently waiting in the exam room when I smelled something. 

Eli chose that moment to have a giant poop.

Luckily, the appointment was easy and Lily's ears and new tubes are looking great. We went out to the van, where I discovered that Eli's poop was a blowout. I changed his diaper and his clothes, strapped the bigger kids into their seats, and climbed into the front seat to feed my very hungry baby.

Then he volcano puked all over me.

Last night I indulged in some green beans that I knew contained butter. I reasoned that a little butter couldn't be that big of a deal. Apparently Eli's belly disagrees.

So. My shirt and pants were soaked in spit up, and as much as I joked about keeping spare clothes for myself in the van, I never did it. Eli's spare outfit was also soaked, so I had to put him back in the poopy outfit. And worst of all, I had made plans to visit with my aunt and grandparents immediately after the appointment. Luckily, Jenny was home and able to loan me some of her hippie garb, and no one minded Eli's slightly poopy onesie.

We had a great visit.

Deb read her book, A Box of Rocks, to the kids, which was really special.

Grandpa also read to them. I love that the best way to win my children's hearts is by reading to them.

And then Deb rocked a very sleepy Eli.

We left about twenty seconds before Daisy imploded in an overtired, exhausted fit, and both girls were asleep in their car seats within ten minutes. It was worth it, but what a day!

June 22

My grandparents arrived in town this morning, so we had the whole family over for dinner tonight.

While the little ones napped, Caleb cheerfully helped me get ready. He made lemonade, iced tea, and whipped cream.

I was honestly shocked at how eager he was to help, but I think it was because he was so excited to have family over, and also because he wanted to sample all of the stuff we made.

Mom sent Billy to the meat market to pick out steaks, Mom made an angel food cake, Billy's mom brought green beans, and I handled the rest. It was perfect.

We invited everyone to come over at 5 and eat at 6, but it turned out that Caleb had another kick board race at 5:20. Luckily, my mom (and therefore my aunt and grandparents) were running late. Also luckily, Billy arrived right on time with the steaks. He agreed to be our grill master, which was wonderful.

Caleb did great at his race, and Chris brought home this video:

I love how Caleb is watching the boy next to him and trying so hard to beat him, even though it's obvious that all of the kids are at the mercy of their helpers. How funny. Still, he did a great job.

Meanwhile, we got everything together and enjoyed time with my family. Dinner was delicious, and my kiddos even got to indulge in some garlic toast.

That's my girl, double-fisting the carbs.

Lily was totally overwhelmed by all of the chaos and noise and unfamiliar people, and she basically shut down. It wasn't until dinner time that she finally warmed up, and she and Jenny played a funny little fencing game with their cutlery. It was sweet how happy  she was!

Eli woke up from a nap and Emily went and got him for me. He was content to snuggle with her, which was adorable.

After dinner, Eli practiced his rolling on the table. He's not quite there yet, but almost!

Then I shooed everyone outside for some pictures before the sun set. Did anyone expect anything else?

Grandma and Grandpa have been married 62 years. They are pretty fabulous.

They have four children, six grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren.

And Grandpa is a sucker for babies.

I wanted a picture of just Grandma and Grandpa with the kiddos, but Lily refused to leave her Grandma's arms. So it goes. At least the other three cooperated! (I may have threatened Daisy to get her to cooperate. Specifically, after she refused all of the options I gave her, I told her that she had eaten a lot of yummy gluten tonight, and it might have caused her to misbehave. If she couldn't behave, I would be forced to think that the gluten did it, and she wouldn't be able to have any more. Suddenly she was quite cooperative! Yes, it's dirty parenting, but sometimes you've gotta do what you've gotta do.)

And this was when Mom told Lily, "This is my daddy! I'm his little girl!" and Lily was totally confused but I thought it was sweet.

Now the children are in bed and things are almost cleaned up. Tomorrow is going to be another really busy day, and then things will start to slow down. Hopefully.