November 30

Chris went back to work today.

Caleb went back to school.

Life resumed as normal.

At least it was a Do-Nothing Monday, and a gray, drizzly one at that. I was supposed to do the grocery shopping today, but naptimes didn't overlap and that didn't happen. Instead, dinner was a last-ditch effort to scrounge a meal out of what I could find in the freezer and pantry. It worked out pretty well: I found some grain-free fish sticks in the back of my deep freeze, and used a bag of lentils (ugh) to make this delicious side dish (yum!). Add some frozen broccoli and applesauce, and we had a great meal!

After we got Caleb on the bus and Eli down for his morning nap, the girls and I enjoyed a lazy Monday morning. I got out some Christmas gel window clings that I picked up on clearance after last Christmas, and you would have thought I gave those girls a pony. They were so excited, and worked diligently to arrange their artwork.

I feel super-smart when I remember to buy one set for each child, because then there is no squabbling.

I like when there is no squabbling.

The girls were careful to put their clings up really high, so Eli wouldn't get them. They are very well trained.

Later, I saw a post on Facebook with the idea to turn a big box into a fort with Christmas lights. 

We had boxes, we had lights, and ten minutes later, we had two of the world's coolest forts. My pictures of the girls in the forts are just grainy cell phone pictures, but while they were down for their naps I got a few real photos of Eli in the boxes.

He was impressed.

Don't worry, Mom: I poked the lights all the way through, so the bulbs weren't in contact with the cardboard. My children aren't likely to burst into flames anytime soon.

Eli enjoyed himself right up until his sisters woke up from their naps. Then his playtime was over. I guess that's how it goes when you're the baby brother.

November 29

Eli slept in this morning - he didn't get up until 6:30. I know. It's ridiculous. But this is our new norm, and 6:30 now qualifies as "sleeping in".  That meant he was ready for his morning nap at 8:00, so church was totally out of the question for us. I sent Chris and the big kids off, and I stayed home, showered, and tried to edit pictures. Unfortunately, Eli woke up sooner than I hoped. Fortunately, I seized the moment and took his 10-month pictures (a day late).

It was still gray and gloomy, so I got out my new studio lights. I'm slowly figuring them out, and I was thankful to have them today! 

I'm such a sucker for "baby in front of the Christmas tree" photos, and since his next month-birthday shots will be after Christmas, I decided to go with it. Even though it's November.

Also, the sweater vest he's wearing? It kills me. Do you remember Caleb in this same sweater vest? No? Refresh your memory here.

How about Caleb in this same hat?

And Daisy in the hat?

Or Lily in the hat?

Who do you think wore it best? I vote Lily.

Still, Eli is pretty cute. And he's leaning against a cube, practicing his standing here. Way to go, Eli!

In the past week, he has started:

taking a bottle regularly

sleeping in his crib for about 3 hours in the evenings

pulling up to standing

shaking his head no

It's a serious burst of development for him, coupled with a yucky cold. Poor baby is working so hard right now!

Christmas tree.

Baby.

(Drool!)

Antlers!

Happy baby! (Reflection of studio lights in the ball! Note to self: shiny ornaments make bad photo props.)

Things Eli is doing at ten months old: 

sleeps from 7:00-10:30 in his crib

wakes to eat, and he joins me in bed for the rest of the night

wakes at 5:30 or 6 am

takes two naps a day, 90 minutes to two hours each

loves pears, veggie straws, frozen broccoli

loves to hold spoons

nurses four or five times a day, and as often as he wants at night

still has no teeth

sits, army crawls, and is getting up on hands and knees

pulls to standing

says dada and baba

tries to say bird, ball, and cat, but isn't quite there yet

loves to snuggle and be worn

loves his siblings

wants desperately to get that cat

loves exploring and is very independent

Then the family was home, then I edited all afternoon, and then I rushed off to a photo shoot (in the rain).

Chris took these awesome videos of Eli while I was gone:

I love how he uses his whole body to work that hand clapper!

Lily wanted Chris to read her a book, then decided to "read" it to Eli instead. Except that the book is new to Lily, so she doesn't know the story to tell him, and he doesn't care anyway. Still, it's sweet!

After dinner, we decorated the Christmas tree. It was absolute chaos, but I suppose that's what life is like with four small children, no matter what.

Yes, Chris is wearing antlers.

I love the fact that Daisy is still wearing a summer nightgown at Christmastime.

The kids were lined up, waiting their turn to stand on the cube and hang an ornament. Usually the bottom three feet of our tree is densely packed with ornaments while the top stands bare. This year, the bottom three feet are bare because the kids really liked standing on that cube.

Except for Eli. He just likes to chew on things.

And crawl.

Also, I take no responsibility for the onesie snapped over his pants. That was entirely Chris' doing. When I asked him about it, he looked sheepish and said that Eli was going to be a trendsetter.

All of my loveys, decorating the tree!

Hi, Eli!

And then Eli was done. He was exhausted. Caleb was, too.

Life goes back to normal tomorrow. I think that's a good thing, but it sure was nice having everyone home for five days!

November 28

Today is Eli's 10-month birthday, and I fully intended to do pictures of him. But it was gray and gloomy and cold, and he has a yucky cough that has made it hard for him to sleep. I'm not really concerned about the cough, but it is a weird enough cough that I think I'm going to keep him home from church tomorrow.

So no pictures today. Instead, I had a photo shoot this morning and spent all day editing photos while Chris tended to the kids. I have another photo shoot tomorrow, too, and then it slows down. It's a good thing, because I'm having a hard time keeping up with all of the editing! I'm hopeful that Chris will take the kids to church tomorrow morning, I'll put Eli down for a nap, and he will have some deep, restful sleep while I edit pictures.

Eli did celebrate his 10-month birthday by doing a few exciting things, though.

First, Chris went in to get Eli when he woke up from his morning nap. What did he find? Eli, sitting up in his crib. He got from his belly to seated, all by himself! (Don't worry, Mom. We lowered his crib this afternoon.)

Then at bathtime, Eli decided he wanted to watch while Lily got her bath. SO HE PULLED UP TO STANDING ALL BY HIMSELF!!!

I was shocked! That's a milestone that Caleb and Daisy definitely hit later than normal, so I was thrilled that Eli did it today!

That's my baby, smiling up at Daddy, proud as can be.

What? You want video?

You know I have it!

He did it over and over and over until he fell and bonked his head on the toilet. I know every baby does this, some much earlier than others, but still. I am ridiculously proud of my little man!

November 27

OH!  This is my 2,000th blog post! I meant to make a bigger deal of it, but it caught me by surprise and now I'm too exhausted to do a sentimental retrospective or anything fun.

So. Happy 2,000th post to me. 6+ years of blogging almost daily. Thanks for sticking it out with me, dear readers. I appreciate you.

A few things I forgot yesterday: 

Eli is officially Chris' morning helper.

Well, "helper" may be a bit of a stretch, but he has officially taken up our family tradition of kids on the counter with Daddy in the morning. I love it!

Also, since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I can officially document all of our kids' thank-yous. They are:

Caleb: Daisy, Veterans Day, my new flashlight, Daddy, video games, our country, bibs and Lily, remote control, recycle, Mommy, Lily, Happy, cee, Caleb, pilgrims, Thanksgiving, cat, the Bible, my friends, Daisy, my bottom, TV, R2-D2, school, C-3P0, Christmas.

Daisy: Veterans Day, Mommy, gymnastics, church, swings, Max, leaves, Bible, Daisy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Jesus God and the Holy Spirit, muffins, Anna and Elsa, bananas, Caleb, hair, Eli, cat, Halloween, Lily, school, family, rainbow.

Lily: me thank you mine teeth, tissues, door, birdies, toast, mine umbrella, the Count, deer, children's garden, Daddy, veggie straws, bib, muffins, church, Caleb,  eggy, Eli, plate, booster seat, shoes and Jesus, yogurt, me thank you mine kitty pursie, mine Pinky, Daisy, R2-D2, Mommy, rain coat, mine coat, cheese.

I think Lily's are the funniest, because she clearly has no concept of what thankfulness means. She's just looking around, naming whatever she sees. But I think she also is genuinely appreciative of everything she names. It's hilarious.

When I got up this morning, Chris showed me this video of Eli and the cat:

We had a slow morning today, then over to Chris' parents' house to celebrate a belated Thanksgiving. We were supposed to be there at 10:30, but Eli, who went down for his morning nap at 7:30 or 8:00, was still asleep then. He ended up sleeping until after 11:00! Chris and the older two kids went first, and the little two joined us when Eli woke up.

Eli had fun exploring their house!

Lily had fun playing with the mountain of stuffed animals Grandmother set out for her.

I had to leave early for a photo shoot, and when I returned home Caleb rushed out to greet me. "Mommy, do you want to see something amazing???"

Yes, dear, but I need to unload my stuff first.

"Ok, but get ready to be impressed!"

Grandmother sent him home with all of these awesome cardboard bricks, and he (and Chris) worked really hard to build a skyscraper as tall as the ceiling.

Then the boys played chess.

(Eli was there, too. Not napping. You know, because he napped for three hours this morning, so why on earth should he ever nap again, ever?)

And then I ran out again to try to find a formal dress for a fancy, black-tie optional ball we've been invited to attend. It's a week from tomorrow, and none of my nice clothes fit yet, so I had to scramble to find something. Luckily, I found a passable dress for $15. I call that a win.

Then home again for some quality time with my sweet little man. 

It has been four nights in a row that he has taken a bottle and gone to sleep in his crib, and four days in a row that he has woken at 5:30. I will take it, gladly.

And of course Lily wanted her picture taken. Silly girl.

November 26

Happy Thanksgiving!

We always have so much to be thankful for, but I feel like this year has been rockier than most, and therefore I feel more thankful than normal. This year, we have experienced a premature baby, mastitis that lasted much too long, a broken leg, tubes in Lily's ears, postpartum depression, and more. People, it has been tough. But God has seen us through every storm. He is faithful, and He is good, even when our circumstances are crummy.

For that I am ever thankful.

I am also thankful that this year we didn't have to host Thanksgiving. We were expecting to, but then my parents decided that they really wanted to do it. That meant that instead of cooking and cleaning all day today, we hung out. Chris put up the Christmas lights. Re-keyed our new front door locks to match our other keys. Started to decorate the Christmas tree, but then got distracted. It was low-key and lovely.

Eli was really interested in the Christmas tree, but only when I didn't have the camera. As soon as I put my eye to the viewfinder, he became interested in the doll house. Stinker.

He's also interested in climbing. The boy has made some big jumps in gross motor skills in the past week, and now he is consistently pulling up to his knees. Yay, Eli!

Meanwhile, in the background...

Apparently Daisy thinks she is a cat. I have no idea.

While the little ones napped, Chris and Caleb played chess. Chris decided to teach Caleb how to play a week or two ago, and Caleb is really into it. This scene makes my heart so happy.

Funny story: All morning, the kids were asking when we could go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Finally, at 11:30 I grew frustrated and told them, "WE ARE GOING TO GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S HOUSE AFTER YOU NAP. THE SOONER YOU NAP, THE SOONER WE GO. THE LONGER YOU NAP, THE LONGER WE CAN STAY."

At 11:51, Caleb and Daisy went into their room, climbed into their beds, and tried to nap. 

It was the funniest thing ever. I guess they were really excited about going to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

We got there right on time, and things were not quite ready. The kids were thrilled - it meant they could play! I started mixing up the icing for the gingerbread turkey kit I picked up at Trader Joes, and then the kids helped me decorate it.

They had so much fun, and I think our first-ever gingerbread turkey was a success! It was also quite tasty.

Eli had so much fun crawling around the house. He discovered the stairs, and it was like a whole  new world was opened to him.

"I can go up?"

He didn't successfully climb any stairs, but he had lots of fun trying.

And unfortunately, those are the only pictures I took today. I don't have pictures of all the fun the kids had with Max and Jace. I don't have pictures of Lily and Jace - a perfectly matched set - chasing each other around the house. I don't have pictures of Jace talking to and loving on Eli, or of Max and Caleb wrestling. But it was lovely, and it made my heart happy to have some low-key time to hang out with my family.

November 25

Caleb had the day off school today, so I got to have all four kiddos home. Hooray! Unfortunately, Eli decided he likes waking up at 5:30 am, and did it again today. Fortunately, it seems to work pretty well to put him down for his morning nap at 7 am. (I know. It's ridiculous. As soon as I typed that, I though, "This is crazy." But it works.) He napped from 7:20-9:20, and by then all the big kids were up, dressed, and had eaten breakfast, which meant we had the whole morning to do whatever we wanted. In this case, it was a trip to Target. Once I was ready to leave, I looked around for Eli. 

He was nowhere to be found.

It had been maybe a minute and a half, and he was gone.

Finally I found him, and I quickly realized that Daisy had found him first.

That kid either didn't notice there was a sparkly red crown on his head, or he didn't care, or he liked it. He played happily in his crown for several minutes, and the kids thought it was hilarious. The christened him "King Eli".

 After all of the fun was over, we went to Target. All four kids, and me. And right as we got there, it began raining - hard. I parked next to a cart corral that happened to have a three-seater kid cart, and began drying the cart off with a blanket, in the rain. Once it was mostly dry, I loaded one kid at a time into the cart, handing each an umbrella. We were a funny sight, and it took me a solid ten minutes to get the three big kids in the cart and Eli in the ring sling. In the rain. The kids put their umbrellas together and created a shelter from the rain, and it was surprisingly effective. Finally we got out of the rain and into the safety of the store. Daisy had a few issues, but overall they were great shoppers. I love that my kids do such a good job in stores. 

When we finished shopping, the kids realized that our diaper store is really close to Target, so they asked to go. Eli has his 10-month birthday on Saturday and I wanted to weigh him, so I agreed. As we parked, I remembered that there was a babywearing meeting at our diaper store today, at the exact time we arrived. What a happy coincidence! The kids played with toys while I played with wraps, and everyone was happy. (Amber, at least three people came up to specifically ask me about your ring sling. It is a crowd favorite.) (Lily was not happy. She came back to find me and told me there were too many kids in the play area. I ignored her. She can deal.)

We came home in time for lunch, and Eli was ready for his second nap of the day. I put him down, baked breakfast cookies for the kids to eat for lunch (does that make them lunch cookies?), and then put the girls down for their naps. As soon as they were down, Eli woke up. Of course. But he was happy and well rested and played independently for quite a while.

Which allowed me to take this picture of my big boy. He is such a sweet little bear, and I sure do love him.

Eventually I told Caleb to go outside and play, but he didn't want to play alone. I told him to go check on Daisy, and he did - several times. But she kept on sleeping. Finally, I peeked in at her. This is what I saw:

Out cold, in her s'mores hoodie and flowered leggings, no covers, belly and ankles exposed, snuggling her Elsa doll. That doll isn't even remotely cuddly, but I love how Daisy has Elsa resting in the crook of her arm. That girl.

And then Eli was due for a nap around 3:30, but he decided that was a lame idea and stayed awake. Which meant that I was able to capture this little video of him on his hands and knees, practicing his rocking back and forth. He is so close to crawling and getting to seated on his own and pulling up! Also, he weighed 18 pounds, 3.5 ounces today, which puts him in the 17th percentile. Way to go, Eli!

I wore him on my back while I finished making dinner, we ate dinner, and Chris gave Eli a bottle and put him to bed in his crib while I read to the big kids. There was no fussing - just a very tired, very hungry baby who went to sleep like he's supposed to. Hooray! I will take 5:30 wakeups any day for a baby who sleeps in his crib in the evenings! Let's hope it sticks.

November 24

So, remember how Eli slept for a little while in is crib last night? It was awesome. Except that he apparently has decided he wants to try all kinds of new sleep things, including waking up for the day at 5:30am.

Yep.

Luckily, Chris gets up that early anyway. So he took Eli and brought him back to me when he left for work at 7. I was able to put him down for a little mini-nap, which worked out perfectly. Caleb and Daisy both had school today, so they needed to be fed and clothed and whatnot. Eli napped for about an hour and woke up when it was time to think about taking Caleb to the bus stop. After we got everyone to school, I got to spend a few happy hours playing with Lily and Eli, with nothing else on our agenda. 

I took Lily to her room to get her dressed (yes, both Lily and Eli were still in their jammies when we took Daisy in to preschool. My standards are pretty low, people.), and realized that he light was so lovely that I needed to get my camera.

Lily is totally into choosing her clothes now. She chose two long-sleeved shirts to layer, but eventually I persuaded her to just wear one.

This girl. Such a goofball. 

I should probably trim those scraggly baby hairs in her eyes and make them official bangs, but I had a few traumatic experiences cutting Daisy's bangs and now I'm scared. Plus, I'm not sure I want to commit to bangs with Lily. I may just let them be scraggly until they're long enough to tuck behind her ears. Or maybe I should take her someplace for a legit hair cut. Thoughts?

Eli was playing happily with his favorite ball, and then Lily ran past. I love the look on his face when he looked up and saw her. These two have such a sweet relationship!

That green ball Eli is clutching has a light inside. If you bang or bounce it on the floor, it lights up. Eli has just figured out how to do this, and he was crawling around, banging the ball everywhere.

Lily's final ensemble. She has such distinct ideas about what she wants to wear, and I love it!

Oh. My. Goodness. 

This picture kills me. It is so perfectly Eli right now, open mouth, drool, and all. I love that kid.

And then, because I couldn't resist, I took a video of him. It is literally nearly three minutes of nothing, but I love it. Every time I watch it, I get this big, stupid grin on my face the whole time. Eli is trying so hard to say ball, demonstrating how he can bang that little ball to make it light up, and showing off his army crawling.  This three-minutes-of-nothing video completely captures what this little man is up to right now, and I love it.

Oh! And Daisy's preschool pictures arrived today!

Love this girl.