August 20

Today was my first MOPS meeting of the year! We follow a school calendar, so we start over with new leadership and new people and a new agenda every August/September. I've been part of my MOPS group for six years now (!), but a lot of my favorite people have either graduated from the group (they no longer have preschoolers) or were part of a group we sent off to form a new group nearby. Also, I've been on my group's leadership team for the past four years. This year, I decided to step down because it was just too much for me. And then, today was Eli's first time in the MOPS nursery. So in a way, today was like starting MOPS all over again.

Luckily, it was great. I think the ladies at my table will be awesome, and Eli did great in the nursery. Lots of other moms were called to come get their screaming babies, but Eli didn't need me at all. In fact, when I picked him up they told me that he was the best baby in his group, and that he only lost points for pooping. I laughed at that; pooping is always a plus in my book!

Eli's awesomeness meant that he went over five hours without a nap, which is a bit much for him. I paid for it when I tried to put him down for an afternoon nap. In order to keep him asleep, I had to hold him for two straight hours. As much as I love snuggling my little man, this mama has things to do! In the end, I wasn't able to make the dinner I had planned, or my back up dinner, because Eli needed me. I threw something together, though, and all was well.

Chris had a work event tonight, but was able to come home and have dinner with us before the event started. I suppose that's one of the benefits of eating dinner at 5:00!

Eli was happy to see his daddy, and  I was happy to have a brief break. We ate dinner outside, and Eli happily rolled around on a blanket while we ate. Then Chris left, and I was on my own to get 4 children bathed and in bed. Baths were no big deal, except for the part where Lily pooped in the bath tub. But that's not really blog-worthy. After baths, I spent a while trying to get a very-tired Eli down for another nap, but he refused, so he joined us for reading time. Caleb and Daisy were just about to go to bed when Caleb said, "Wait, Mommy! I need new sheets!"

And he did. He got a bloody nose early this morning, and Chris handled it. Unfortunately, that didn't include changing the bloody sheets. I don't know if you've ever had to change the sheets on a top bunk bed before, but it's not easy. 

Finally, I had the  sheets changed and Caleb and Daisy were able to go to bed.

Then Eli and I put Lily down.

Then I put Eli down.

All told, I managed to get all four kids in bed between 7:30 and 8:30. Not bad, I say!