March 31

Today the sun shined and I got Caleb to the bus stop on time without any yelling.

That was when I knew it was going to be a good day.

After we dropped Daisy off at preschool, Lily and I sat on the couch and watched Sesame Street while I fed Eli. Our sweet neighbor, Mary, dropped by with some treats for the kids, and we chatted a bit about how rough things have been for me lately. Mary never had children of her own, but she's been down the road and back with everything related to mental health, so it was a good conversation to have. After Mary left, the kids and I moved to my big bed, where we folded laundry and played.

Seriously. This girl is just way too cute. She is a sweet, spunky little bug.

See that nice goose egg under the curly wisp of bangs on her forehead? The child walked right into a wall. She barely cried, but it must have really  hurt!

I was about to begin folding laundry, but Eli needed to be dressed for the day. While I chose his clothes, Lily held his hand.

Then Eli vomited everywhere.

"Vomit" is a tricky word to use with babies as little as Eli; is it really vomit, or just a lot of spit up? Is there a difference? Who knows. But I can tell you for a fact that I watched what had to be the entire contents of his stomach shoot out of his mouth, all over himself, the fresh outfit I just put on him, the bed, and Lily. Yep. For once, Eli spit up all over someone other than me. I hate to say it, but I was relieved. 

But then I had to change the sheets, and the baby, and the toddler. Karma, I suppose, for being glad that Lily got puked upon and not me.

But after everything was fresh and clean, we opened the windows and enjoyed the sunshine and breeze.

I propped Eli up against the pillows, and he seemed to like it. He looks like such a big boy!

And I even caught one of his smiles! Except baby smiles never look as cute in pictures as they are in real life. In real life, a smile from this kid turns anyone into a puddle of goo.

But really, these wonky half-smiles are what I get most of the time.

Then we finally began folding laundry. (This is why nothing ever gets done around here. The baby needs to be fed. The baby spits up. Clothes need to be changed. Sheets need to be changed. The baby smiles. Way too many distractions.) I introduced Lily to the concept of putting the mesh laundry bag on her head, and she thought it was awesome.

She also thinks the sparkly leotard is awesome. And she's right. It's pretty stellar.

Then she kissed Eli through the bag on her head. It was adorable. But she wasn't satisfied, so she removed the bag,

And kissed him again. Sweet girl.

Soon it was time to pick Daisy up (the three hours of preschool go by so quickly!), and we ate lunch outside in the sunshine. Just like yesterday, I got the girls down for naps, nursed and napped with Eli for an hour, and then snuck away to get some dinner prep done. Chris had a late work event, and even though my mom was coming over to help out after she got off work, I knew I needed to get things ready early.

Mom arrived right after we got Caleb off the bus, and she noticed that Eli had his little hand under his chin as he snuggled in the ring sling. So cute!

(The rings on my sling are way too low; please don't judge my baby wearing abilities based on this poorly positioned sling!) Isn't he cute?

Sweet baby!

With Mom's help, the evening went really well. She was just what I needed: a loving set of arms to hold Eli and entertain the big kids so I could function. She fed Eli a bottle while I put the big kids to bed (I am so thankful that he takes a bottle!), and while she was feeding him our neighbor Mary came over again, this time bearing a freshly baked brownie/cookie concoction. Bless that woman; she knows that baked goods are my primary love language. 

So. Loving neighbors, supportive family, and sunshine. I call that a good day.