January 31

Eli has not slept well for the past week or so. He will sleep about 3 hours in his crib at the beginning of the evening, but when he wakes to nurse, he has not been going back to sleep. Instead, he fusses and cries off and on for the rest of the night. It's awful and exhausting, and probably due to a slight ear infection or his teeth. The night before last, I got about five hours of sleep because of the Pinewood Derby and then party prep. 

But last night? God and my baby had mercy on me. I don't know if Eli finally felt better, or if I was just so exhausted that I slept through his fussing, but he slept and I slept and it was good. In fact, Eli slept until 7 am, instead of the 5:15 wakeup call he has been giving me lately. Chris took him when he woke, and I got to sleep until 8:30. It was delicious. We needed some down time after all of the busyness lately, so we stayed home from church and had a nice family breakfast. 

The kids had already eaten most of their breakfast when I got up, so they spent their time squabbling over who got to sit next to me. Finally, I gave up and invited all of them to join me on the couch for a snuggle.

My little duckies are so funny! I love how even Eli tried to get in on the snuggling action. And I have no explanation for Caleb.

When it was time for me to put Eli down for his morning nap, Chris took the older three kids for a hike at a nearby park. They had so much fun! As they embarked on their hike, they encountered a woman who looked at Chris skeptically. She warned him that there was no way the kids would be able to tackle the big hill, and that he would have to carry them. He was by himself, and she was confident he was making a bad choice.

Instead of heeding her advice, Chris and the kids took it as a challenge.

Guess what? They made it! They were so proud of themselves.

And Lily enjoyed her ride in her favorite spot: the Ergo on Daddy's back. He told me she wore her sunglasses upside-down the whole time. Funny girl.

Eli took an awesome nap, and woke up just as they got home. We ate lunch, I hung a few pictures and the flag banner in Eli's room, and after the girls went down for naps, Chris took the boys swimming. I reveled in my alone time!

Aside from the curtains, Eli's room is mostly finished for now. Eventually I will take the navy curtains out of Caleb and Daisy's room and hang them in Eli's room, but a few more things have to happen before I do that. Still, I haven't shared any pictures of Eli's room since we painted over the turquoise. Here it is:

His room is now the same color as Lily's room. I found the picture over his crib at Hobby Lobby; it is gold-flecked birch trees, and just what I was looking for! Caleb and I made the jute-wrapped letters on top of the picture. And I wrote a few days ago about the bunting I made from sentimental fabri.s.

The framed watercolor is Caleb's birthday gift to Eli; it is a bird, flying to its nest. Can't you tell? I also put one of Eli's birth announcements in a frame. Eventually I will probably find a different frame and hang it on the wall (possibly next to a shadow box containing one of his preemie outfits?) but for now, this will do.

I made the mobile over his changing table as a birthday gift for him - it is yarn-wrapped Christmas ornaments: a bird, lion, zebra, giraffe, and elephant. The feather picture is another birthday gift. We love to give our kids pieces of art for their birthdays, and I chose this one for Eli because it was masculine, but reminded me of his current love for birds. It also reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures, so I wrote it on the back:

"He will cover you with his feathers,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

- Psalm 91:4

Below that is his certificate from the child dedication at church. I like it because the colors work with the room, but also because it has his life verse printed on it:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

And that is why it says "Be strong and courageous" over his closet doors. That was initially a decal I purchased, but after I went to great lengths to apply the decal, I realized that our walls are too textured for decals to stick. BOO. So I traced the decals, and painted in the letters. I'm happy with how it turned out!

And on the door is an ornament that the kids insisted we hang on Eli's door. I think it's funny that they are getting to the "hang things on our bedroom doors" stage, and I'm willing to roll with it.

So. Eli's room is mostly done. Now maybe I'll get around to hanging things on the walls in the rest of the house!!