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!