July 31

Chris and I are about to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, and one of my favorite family traditions is re-visiting the park where we were married for family pictures. It's always hectic finding time to do it, though, so we decided that today before church was our best option. My friend Sara photographed us the last two years, but she wasn't able to join us today. Instead, I used my tripod and my iPhone as a remote for my shiny new camera. I'm still hoping maybe we'll find time to meet up with Sara this week to do some real pictures, but in case that doesn't happen, at least I have some.

But I'm not going to share them today.

Ha! Did you think I would?

I'm waiting until Tuesday to share the actual family photo, because my type-A brain likes to know that in future years I'll be able to find it easily in my blog archives that way. We had about 30 minutes at the park before church, so there was just a little bit of time for the kids to run and explore. I'll share those pictures today.

It's funny; most of the time, the kids are uncooperative about pictures. But today, they were totally into them. I think maybe it's because there were some new clothes involved? Or maybe because I have canvasses printed of each year's family photo made and hung around our house. They see the pictures every day, so maybe they understood that today was important? Whatever. They cooperated. Look at Daisy - she was all about the picture! (I think it's partially because she feels fabulous in her new dress.)

1. When we got married, this bridge wasn't here. 

2. I should have edited out that dentist's phone number.

3. I love pictures of the kids walking with Chris.

4. I love that Daisy is barefoot.

5. We have a picture from our wedding day of Chris holding my hand, escorting me across the rocks under this bridge.

6. Seriously, why didn't I remove that phone number?

I know. Cutest. Thing. Ever. 

Eli on his little tippy toes, peering into the pond? I love it.

Chris showed Eli the tree I had planted in honor of our 10th wedding anniversary. Maybe for our 20th or 25th, we'll donate a bench. Wouldn't that be fun?

Aren't these kids funny? I love that Daisy just wanted to hold Caleb's hand, and I think Lily looks adorable, even if she does slightly remind me of the creepy twin girls in the horror movie The Shining.

My boy. This picture is him, through and through.

Cheese!

(And apparently that's some sort of freckle/birth mark on his neck, not dirt. It must have just popped up this summer.)

Sweet Daisy.

She was really interested in the tall grasses.

Lily!

If you zoom in really closely on this picture, you can see my reflection in her eyes. It's hilarious.

Daisy in a tree.

These bushes were blooming when we were married, too. Only back then, there were white ones, too. Now there are only pink.

I love this picture of the kids running down the sidewalk that Chris and I walked down as husband and wife. I think it's pretty special, and I love that this park is a touchstone for our family as it has expanded, and now as those little expansions grow bigger and bigger. I hope our kiddos remember this tradition with as much fondness as I feel for it.

And then we went to church, and we were actually *almost* on time, which is a rarity for us. After church we made our weekly Costco visit, and I happened to snap this picture of the kids doing their favorite thing: watching a worker make pizza.

Don't you love it?

July 29

Eli had his 18-month well check today.

Yes, that's right. My baby is 18 months old. Let's not talk about it.

he weighed in at 21 pounds, 6 oz (20th percentile)

he was 31.5 inches tall (25th percentile)

and I have no idea what his head circumference was, but it was 75th percentile

After all of the developmental screenings, our doc told me that she has no concerns whatsoever. Yay, Eli! I am so thankful for a healthy little boy!

Meanwhile, the older three kids were at Grandma's house. Eli and I returned to pick them up, and they all ran away screaming. They were having so much fun that they didn't want me to be back!

Daisy found a chunky lipstick pencil that Grandma said was okay to play with. She applied it herself, and this was the result:

#nailedit

I told her to go look in the mirror and tell me what she thought. She scampered off, and returned a moment later, grinning. "I look great!"

Okay, then.

Eventually I was able to corral the children into the van and we went home. Daisy asked to listen to VBS songs, so I pulled them up on the computer. That's when this happened:

A few things here:

Lily keeps shouting that she "KNOWS THE MOTIONS!"

Eli is shouting "HEY! HEY! HEY!" because one of the songs actually does that. It's just not this song.

And this is a long video, so you don't have to watch all of it. I just thought it was so funny that it needed to be shared.

And then I decided to turn on the "HEY!" song, just to see what Eli would do. He did this:

Eli's dancing just cracks me up. These kids are too funny!

July 28

We spent the morning with my other friend Amber and her two boys at their new house. Anytime we have to be someplace in the morning, things can be pretty hectic at our house. Today, though, I finished getting myself dressed and wandered into Eli's room to find this:

Caleb was reading "baby books" to Eli, and Eli was ridiculously pleased with the situation. Eli is totally into books right now, and it is the sweetest thing ever.

Aren't they the cutest? Caleb is such a devoted big brother, and I'm so thankful to have him.

Eli wasn't satisfied with one book, though. He wanted to read all of them!

Soon enough, it was time to leave for our playdate.

The kids had so much fun, and I enjoyed a chance to chat with a friend while the little ones played happily! One day, the kids will all be big enough that we can send them down to the basement and ignore them while we drink coffee upstairs. I can't wait!

When we got home, there were many naps to be had. Afterward, I wrapped Eli up in my Girasol Glace to snap some pictures. It is the last on my list of Wraps That Must Be Sold. (Unless I purchase a new ring sling, in which case I will sell my old ring sling. But for now, it's the last one to go.)

I love this wrap. It was my Mother's Day gift after Eli was born, and I have broken it in so well that it is almost as soft as a t-shirt.  I am sad to be letting it go, but it's a size 4 and I just don't reach for it anymore!

Camera + timer = this picture. I need to work on that with this new camera!

And then I have no pictures until the very end of the day, after the kids were all in bed. Caleb came back out to get a snuggle, or some water, or something. He and I had some snuggles, and Chris snapped these pictures of us on my phone. 

They aren't great pictures and I don't know why I'm sharing them, except that I love my boy so much.

Look at his sweet little face. (And look away from my puffy, exhausted face.)

Goodness, I love him.

July 27

Today was Chris' 35th birthday! 

He is a hardworking provider for our family, a devoted daddy, and an incredibly supportive husband, and I am so thankful for him.

However, his birthday comes right in the middle of Caleb's birthday, Lily's birthday, and our anniversary, and because he is so humble it generally gets overlooked. I feel awful about that, but it is what it is. Today was no exception: he went off to work like normal, and in the evening we celebrated with a dinner he chose, brownies and ice cream, and a trip to the pool. No gifts and no big to-do, though he certainly deserves it.

While we were playing this morning, Lily bonked her head. She immediately ran to me and whimpered, "Mommy, I want to be in yours wring sing."

I popped her up, she snuggled in, and everything was alright again.

THIS is why I wear my babies. Yes, it's a convenient way to transport them and keep my hands free. But it's also a safe place for them. Lily is three now, and I rarely wear her anymore. But anytime she is scared, uncertain, hurt, or upset, the first thing she does is ask to be up in "Yours wring sing."

Sweet girl. I will wear you until you are as big as I am.

A few hours later, the FedEx man delivered a present for me: my new camera arrived! 

I'm still figuring it out, but I can already tell that upgrading to a full frame camera is going to rock my world!

Caleb was so excited about the new camera that he willingly posed for me. I think he likes it when I get new camera gear!

Meanwhile, Lily twirled in her new Elsa dress.

Hi, Eli!

Our chalkboard wall was still decorated for Lily's birthday, so last night I hastily switched out her name, and added a 5. 

I think it works!

See the picture he's holding?

It's one-year-old Chris in the bathtub. Doesn't he look just like Eli?

Birthday brownies, with candles left over from the kids' birthdays. Chris is such a good sport.

Then we headed to the pool! 

Hi, Daisy! (Doesn't her hair look fabulous?)

Caleb showed me his tube hula-hooping moves.

Hi, Eli!

And then, when we had been in the pool for less than ten minutes, the worst thing ever happened.

Thunder.

That's an immediate 30-minute delay, and since it was already past bedtime, it signaled an end to our swim time. Boo.

Lily wasn't too upset.

Neither was Daisy.

But then I told Lily that we had to go home, and I got this face: 

She has a good pout!

I asked the girls and their friend, Stephanie, to show me their best sad faces, and I got this: 

#nailedit

Happy birthday, Chris! I'm sorry it was nowhere near as special as you deserve, and I'm thankful for one more year with you!

July 26

Today was supposed to be less sweltering than normal, so we joined Jill and her girls at the zoo. We got there bright and early, and had such a good time!

Lily's favorite friend, Naomi, had a specific list of animals she wanted to see. Among them was the hippo, and today we lucked out: the kids got uncrowded, super close-up views of hippos!

Sweet Eli didn't know what to think. He loved it all!

Look how close it is! The kids were delighted!

And look at Eli's sweet little face. I love that boy.

The hippo swam laps past us, again and again.

So much fun!

That's Naomi in the pink hat, and Lily in the cute little dress. 

And a hippo in the water.

Jill has a zoo membership, and she graciously shared her train passes with us. Half of my children have never ridden the zoo train because it costs a lot of money to buy train tickets for a family of 6! 

Eli loved  the train, and was devastated when we had to get off.

Caleb and Daisy rode in the seat in front of me. It is life-altering to have children old/responsible enough that I don't have to worry about them sitting in their own seat. We are entering a new stage of parenting, people.

(Also, I have no explanation for Daisy's face.)

I asked Lily and Naomi to scoot together and snuggle for a picture, and they did this. These girls are the cutest together!

This was how I wore Eli on the train. It was my first time using my Shades of Blue wrap in a Traditional Sling Carry, and though it may not be pretty, I rocked that slip knot! I think it's largely due to some coaching I got from Amber...

Also, I love that Eli is playing with my mama metal necklace. I love it so much, and wear it almost every day. I'm so glad I had it made!

Time to see the monkeys! The kids got an up-close view of chimpanzees eating their own poop, which was really exciting.

This sweet baby was unhappy about a lot of things today. Mostly, he wanted to be down and exploring on his own two feet, at his own pace. Anytime I tried to wrap him or put him in the stroller, he flipped out. Toddlerhood is coming! Now that he is mobile and independent, I am starting to experience how hard it is to keep track of four children in one place. The Children's Zoo was pretty stressful. Normally I have Eli on me all the time, so I only have to look out for three. Four is a whole new ballgame.

We ended our visit with a trip to the carousel, courtesy of Jill's zoo membership. The kids were thrilled! 

At naptime, Lily told me that riding on the carousel with Naomi was the best part of her day.

Daisy's hair is wet from a cooling mist fan, not from sweat. Really.

And my only explanation for Eli's rosy cheeks is that it ended being just as hot as any other July day today. Don't worry, Mom, it's not sunburn, and I gave him plenty of water to drink. He's fine now. 

But look! Eli is riding his own carousel animal for the very first time! What a big boy! And you can't see it behind him, but brave Caleb chose to ride an animal that moved up and down, instead of on the bench or a stationary animal, like he used to.

And then it was time to go. I had pushed our BOB full of children up a steep ramp to get to the exit when Caleb reminded me that I told him we would stop and see the elephant statue before we left. I really didn't want to do the ramp again, and Daisy was done, and it was HOT, but I remembered that yesterday I didn't keep my word to Caleb. So instead, I chose to keep my word today. We said goodbye to Jill and her girls, and went back to the  elephant.

There! My four grouchy duckies. 

Do you remember what they looked like here almost exactly a year ago?

And here's today!

(DSLR photo above, iPhone photo below.)

Isn't it amazing how much they've changed in a year? OK, mostly it's Eli that has changed. But whatever.

Completely unrelated: a video of Eli from a few days ago, right after he woke up from his nap. Normally when I ask him how old he is, he holds up a hand and says, "FWEE!" Yes, he thinks he's three. This day I tried to video it, but instead he tricked me and said "One." That child is a stinker!