November 14

Today was a good day.

My hope of sleeping in this morning didn't happen, though not for lack of trying. Chris gladly took Eli so I could try to sleep, but by then it was too late. No sleep for the weary. When I finally gave up and climbed out of bed, I noticed that Lily was still sleeping. But as I stepped out into the hallway, I thought I heard something in her room. Curious, I quietly eased open her door...

and found her holding an old Blackberry phone and two of her baby dolls.

When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "Taking pictures mine babies!"

That girl. She learns from the best. 

So I offered to take a picture of her with her babies, and she cheerfully agreed.

That is one very happy girl, with two very dirty baby dolls, and one very large tangled mass of hair on the back of her head. She is so funny.

Caleb had a Boy Scout thing this morning, so he and Chris were gone for a good chunk of it. During that time, I handled all of the items that had built up in my mending basket, and I did it like a boss. I'm still feeling impressed with myself. Of course, I owe my spurt of productivity to my children; Eli napped like a champ, and the girls played happily together without bothering me. It's a rare occasion, and it was fabulous. When Eli woke up, though, my time to work was over. Luckily, it was gorgeous outside, so we headed out to play before lunch.

I was feeling so frisky that I opened up the sandbox.

A certain someone noticed that his sisters were very excited about this situation, and he got right to work checking things out.

I think he liked it!

(I also think he may have tried to eat a handful or two of sand, based on all of the sand stuck to the skin around his mouth.)

After the Boy Scout event, Chris and Caleb stopped to visit my sister Jenny, who just got promoted to General Manager and is now in charge of a restaurant really close to our house.

That is one happy kid. And don't worry; he shared that milk shake with Daddy.

The boys came home just as it was time for me to put Eli down for his nap, and then I spent some time doing laundry and more mending. The little ones were all still napping when I headed out to take pictures for a family from our church. We had beautiful weather and a lot of fun. I was so thankful to have my good lens back, but with my rediscovered love of my 50mm lens, I brought that one too. I switched it out for some portraits, and I'm really happy with the results!

I got home in time for dinner with the family; at dinner, Caleb began asking a series of very pointed questions about where babies come from. I thought I was prepared for this day, and we've had lots of smaller conversations about the topic over the years. I'm a firm believer in giving an age-appropriate, but accurate, answer to the specific question being asked, but tonight Caleb's questions were much more specific than they ever have been before. We talked about sperm and eggs, then he asked about where sperm comes from, and then he asked how the sperm gets to the egg, and then he was about to ask another question when - thankfully - he got distracted. We were at the dinner table, so of course Daisy was hanging on every word... I'm not gonna lie, it was awkward. I certainly hope he doesn't start sharing his newfound knowledge with all of his friends at school on Monday!!

One last photo from yesterday. Chris and I came to bed to find sweet Eli sound asleep, looking like this:

This season will not last forever. 

In just a year, he may not sleep on his belly, with his knees tucked in and bottom in the air. 

He won't always wear fire engine footed jammies.

He won't always be in our bed.

He won't always want to be snuggled to sleep.

Someday, he will ask me pointed questions at dinner about sperm and eggs.

It's not always easy, but I am so, so thankful. I'm going to snuggle this little one close for as long as I can.