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.