Disclaimer: We weren’t actually in Asheville yesterday– I wrote this a few weeks ago.
Yesterday we were in Asheville all day and Ellie had a donut instead of a nap. She was sound asleep when Hj carried her in from the car last night, and he commented on how exhausted she was. “At least she won’t wake up at six tomorrow morning.”
He was right. At five this morning she was padding around our room whispering that she needed help to go potty. I rolled over and went back to sleep because Ellie’s papa takes care of her at night. All kinds of kudos to world’s best dad.
An hour later I heard Hj quietly tiptoeing into the room carrying a sleeping Ellie, round 2. He was just opening the closet door where she sleeps when I heard her sweet little voice demanding, “Stop, Papa.”
I’m pretty sure I heard Hj’s heart drop in the moment of silence that followed. Before she could start howling her protest, he lovingly tossed her into our bed.
I was instantly kicked in the face. And then, the little foot started exploring just how strange and wonderful mom’s face felt to the touch- the sole touch. I had toes in my mouth and up my nose and a little heel kept stroking my cheek. I would gladly have placed those little toes on the bearded parent’s face for some hairy exploration, but my hands were busy trying to protect the baby boy, who was also in our bed.
Maybe this isn’t where you were going with this, but let me tell you: if you’re in the market for a life partner (spouse), consider the one you can laugh with when the kids wake you at 5am.
Speaking of kids:
Here we are at Hilda’s house, catching up with our homies, you could say.
Adam and Kelli were sort of like womb-mates and now they are friends.
Ellie Harper and Adam Fernando Courage, just chilling.
Best buds: Bubbers and Ellie. They have so much fun together!
Poor baby is sick, but still so sweet and happy.
Adam loves his baby cousin Abigail. We get their names mixed up, like “Adagail and Addy.”
Ellie is living the dream! Here Mandie is giving her an Amish buggy ride in the rain.
Adam is very fond of Derek. We all are, actually.
“If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart.”
Also: behind the scenes. You can imagine the racket that eventually produced those cute baby smiles.
We close with an image of Ellie playing with a mouse. Tootles.
