I went downstairs at 6:00 to let Bruce out to pee and decided to stay downstairs on the couch.  Nick and Amy Warkentien were coming by soon to drop off Eli.  Nick works at Port City Community Church so he was going to be busy, well, working at church for half the day and Amy was scheduled to run a camera this week, so she was going to be busy just as long as Nick.  To that end, Amanda and I agreed to watch Eli until they were done.  And thus, Eli continued his role as our practice baby today.

I think we confused some people as we walked into the church.  Amanda is very obviously still pregnant and I was carrying Eli in the car seat.  Amy joined us to check Eli into Grow Zone and explain the situation.  After the 8:30 service Amanda and I actually were scheduled to help with Grow Zone.  When Amanda finished checking kids in she got Eli out of his room so Amy could feed him then they put him back in.  After we finished with all that we took him by the Green Room (where the production people and the band hang out in between services) and hung out there for a little bit.

While we were in there I heard, “Zach Zach Zach!”  It was Kirsten Paschal, who had brought our baby shower gift with her and wanted to go grab it before she forgot.  It turned out to be a blanket that Amanda was really hoping someone would get.

We went back home and cleaned up a bit.  Eli got a little fussy, but he wasn’t too bad when I gave him some attention.  He even napped for a little bit.  I was sitting on the front porch swinging with him when his parents arrived.  The house got a little busy after that.  Michael came over to meet up with me and go surfing then his and Amanda’s mom, Karen, came too.  We visited for a bit then Michael and I took off to Wrightsville Beach for some surfing while the Warkentiens all headed home and Amanda and her momma went shopping for drape material or some such.

Michael decided to go surfing bareback today, and I think he did alright with it.  The water’s definitely warming up.  The waves were pretty good, although still a little mushy.

After surfing, Michael and I were a bit hungry.  I called Amanda to talk food, and since she and Karen were at Target I suggested eating someplace in that general area and decided on Outback, since we had a  gift card for it.  Surprisingly, there was no wait at all and Michael and I beat Amanda and Karen there by a good little bit.  I was going to get my traditional Outback meal of cheese fries, Alice Springs chicken (sans mushrooms) and a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under, but sadly I couldn’t fit in the dessert- I was stuffed.

Karen picked up our tab so Amanda and I could use the gift card (which she’d given us in the first place) on a date at some point.

After we ate Karen took Michael to get an organizer thing (he has no place for most of his clothes) and Amanda and I went for a walk in the neighborhood.  We were just about back to the house when Karen and Michael showed up.  Michael took off after that and the rest of us went up to work on the nursery.  Amanda finished touching some stuff up and put things away while Karen did some detail work on the drawings with a Sharpie.  I put the crib together.  Once we had that Amanda and Karen put the crib bumper in it, along with some pillows and sheets.  The nursery is (I think) officially done.  Milly, feel free to come on out now.

Zach Dotsey
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