The Daily Hailey

😅

After some texting back and forth with Brady just now, we think his MRI count is at eighteen. My how life has changed from the fight to get an MRI to now, having this many over the course of just a few years. Say what you will about the safety of scans, but they feel safer than not knowing about tumours and whatnot. I am incredibly grateful for the technology that exists in this department.

I used to post about every MRI and their results as soon as they were available. That is, until the scan in summer of 2023 showed a brain mass. We weren’t ready to talk about that yet, so we didn’t. We kept it under our hats (HA! Head joke) until Brady has his seizure in January. And for the most part, you guys all know the rest from there.

Between Bradys scan that showed a change in his brain and his seizure, he had scans regularly, watching and waiting to see if it was growing or changing or developing in any way. And thats where we lost count.

So, after counting up what we have on the calendar, plus at least one that happened while Brady was already admitted to hospital, we believe, as of yesterday, that number is a whopping EIGHTEEN.

That 🙌 is a LOT of MRIs.

Yesterdays MRI wasn’t one that felt scary or intimidating. The goal was to find a new baseline. Quick rundown!

Brady had brain surgery. Thats not news anymore. So naturally, his brain looks a lot different than it did before. Black hole. Screws. Plates. All the things. Then, after surgery, he got into radiation, and did that for six weeks. Radiation serves an important purpose, but it also causes damage. A wound. Swelling. All of which is normal and expected. So, we waited three months after radiation was over with, giving Bradys brain time to heal up all the way, and now we are getting our new baseline picture of whats going on in there. Rowan calls it the “new original.” I thought that was super smart.

While I was finishing up cooking supper yesterday, Brady called to me “You ready?” and started excitedly read to me the findings of his MRI report. No signs of any tumour left. We whooped and celebrated and the kids looked at us like we’re crazy. And I get it, because he read out a couple of long sentences of medical jargon that would’ve gone over most peoples heads! However, we’ve read our fair share of reports and can follow pretty easily. What a crazy life we’ve led, haha!

Our doctor always texts us as soon as she sees the results, but this time, we had a little fun with her.

So. We have our baseline. All looks well. No sign of any leftover tumour. A fresh start, so to speak, albeit unconventional. But since when does that matter? 🤣 We try not to run/roll with the pack.

I’ve discovered a couple of fun new things recently that have made my life exponentially easier.

Grocery delivery.

I know. This isn’t an especially new idea, except that back when it was new and trendy, it didn’t extend to me out here in the (not at all) boonies. But being that I wasn’t within city limits, it wasn’t available. That was long ago already, and I forgot about it.

Then, I came across an ad for Walmart Delivery Pass, which has changed drastically since they first started delivering groceries. We signed up for their free trial and started toying with it. It was immediately obvious that it was really, really useful, and we paid for a years subscription, which was $90. A person could also pay $9/month, but we just went for it.

Guys. The minimum order is only $35. With the cost of groceries these days, it is EASY to hit that price mark. That could be a box of diapers. Or baking ingredients. Or my favorite – milk and fresh veggies for the week. Plunk. Dropped on your doorstep, almost always that same day.

Ok lets be honest. My actual favorite is that it also doubles as a yarn delivery service.

There’s no limit. I made orders two days in a row and no one said a thing.

This has positively saved my butt. It has made my life SO much easier!!!

Cons. There aren’t many. They use way too many bags, and they’re included in your cost, so you don’t really get a say. And they apparently couldn’t find my address today and got a little snarky via text. But all of this is so worth saving me the drive in with everyone, trying to think and wrangle and organize and be on top of everything, all the while leaving the store with all of my hair still in my head.

As I’m writing this, I realize I sound super affiliate linky, and I’m not. Like at all. But after a quick google, I found I do have a referral link, apparently. So, have at ‘er, if you want ‘er. It doesn’t hurt my feelings if you don’t. I’d get a little free Walmart money from it, but even if I don’t, this has more than paid for itself already.

Guys, at least try the free trial. Its really easy and kind of fun, to be honest. And saves time and money, two things we could all use a little flexibility on.

Happy shopping, guys! I’ll let you all know when I inevitably try out Costco’s instacart service next!

Its been a weird stretch in our foster care scene. I’ve definitely been struggling with some of the principles and ethics, as well as just bumbling through change and struggle within our family.

Today was another weird one. For the bulk of the day, I was down to ONE kid. Just the one. Which is crazy, and in some ways, super quiet and lovely and relaxing.

And if everything about that scene was simple and smooth, maybe it would’ve been.

Rather, I bought myself a Starbucks coffee on my drive home, and drank it while the baby lunched. Then, baby napped, and I wrapped some Christmas presents. And then I sat, and crocheted a few rows on a project. It felt awkward and disjointed as opposed to peaceful and restful. Just 🤷🏼‍♀️ strange.

As school was letting out, I got to venture out and get things back to a little bit closer to normal. There were a few obstacles stacked on top of each other, but it all got done. Even the drives included important phone calls. Though my poor fingernails never stood a chance. What a weird day. An anxious day.

Ok. Onto the next. I believe writing this blog out is the last commitment of the day. I’m really looking forward to eating dessert in my bed and watching some Netflix with Brady.

Chemo starts again tomorrow 💪 Protect us, Lord.

I stayed home from church this morning with the babies because of colds. I knew with confidence that they would not have managed church well, and I would’ve spent all morning in the back of the church with them anyway, so rather, Brady took the five and I stayed home with the two. Not three. Ugh. Anyway.

I used a bit of that time to put together our November calendar. It felt both reassuring and daunting, haha! I am now organized and tired just looking at it. I wish I could post pictures of it on here but I don’t want the world wide web knowing ALL of my comings and goings. So you’ll just have to take my word for it – it is FULL. Our usual activities that the kids are in. Youth stuff. Church commitments. School activities. A couple of weekend events. Birthdays. Cleaning. Garbage. Recycling. Etc etc etc. And it’s only the 3rd, so you know more will be added.

The remainder of the day has been fairly calm. I got to have a bath in the afternoon, which is always a treat, and Brady and I are going to eat after the kids go down, which is really a treat for us. Tomorrow begins another week of school, activities, work, and who knows what other changes will arise. For now, we’ll just keep it simple for the next couple of hours.

What more does a weary mama need beyond a six year old spelling the things she sees around her? Very little, thats what.

I trust you, Lord.

Yesterday was tough. Morale was low and strange. The vibe is so different right now, its hard to ignore.

When the kids came home from school, everyone was pretty peaceful and calm. The house felt extra quiet, because, it was. A really nice morale boost was when a friend of ours from the lake popped in and surprised us all! It was SO nice to see him, out of nowhere, totally unexpected, and so so welcomed 💜 No pictures to prove it, but to repost the most recent one I have of him…

We love Scott. His visit was a great pick-me-up, and hopefully not the last one! 🤞

Morale boost aside, everyone was feeling quite tired after such an emotional day, and we decided to take it super easy in the evening. Brady brought home s’more McFlurries, we made a huge batch of popcorn, and everyone settled into the basement from some Finding Nemo. It was a very relaxed way to wrap up the day. Everyone loved the movie, and it wasn’t a hard sell to get everyone ready to go to bed. Except maybe the little one whose roommate is gone. Ugh. 💔

This is definitely a learning curve for all of us.

What weary parent?? 😪

Time for bed.

Ok. Consider me officially emotionally wiped out. What. A. Week. But! We still had a very cute day yesterday, and here is the photographic evidence to prove it!

First was crafternoon, where Cher made festive Halloween grilled cheese and we watched true crime while I crocheted a Christmas gift.

Then the kids came home and they got all freshened up and ready to trick or treat! We haaaaad…

An Intelcom delivery guy.

A GHOST!

A skeleton.

A vampire.

Aaaaand an unnamed fairy.

As you can see, we use our big bag of dress up clothes and make it work, which doesn’t always result in the most extravagant costumes, but I’m here for it.

On top of these five, we also had a Stitch, a pineapple, and a bottle of ketchup. I can’t show you them, but if you saw, you know how adorable they were 😍

Highlights came in the form of happy children, home baking, and GHOSTS!

First prize for awesome goes to this behemoth tin of tuna and the person who gave it to me, because MAN do I love a good tuna melt, as do many others in my family.

I cannot WAIT to crack into this sucker!

As much fun as we had, and as tired as everyone was, and as late as the evening got, we all enjoyed some extra time together as a family of ten before one of our members moved along. We found out only that day that we would be missing a dearly loved child as of the next morning. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. Nothing about foster care is easy or gentle. Its brutal, and beautiful, and so so important.

So after an emotional morning, and a difficult end to the afternoon, we’ve cried all the tears our eyes have to offer, and its time for bed. And I am ready.

Goodnight, guys. I’m so happy its the weekend.

Yup, I’m an old lady, and it is too late for me to put together the whole Halloween blog about what everyone wore, where we all went, and how the evening played out. My body is tired, the kids are all down, and my heart is a little heavy with other things. I’m ready to doze off while watching Ninja on Netflix. Rather, I’ll show you this.

Dekker carved an ornamental gourd this year. Don’t ask me why. He wanted to wear it around his neck, so I bought a small bag of these things at Walmart for a couple bucks. He chose one, and I never saw it again. Until yesterday, when he took it to youth, and came home with it carved into a teeny little jack-o-lantern. It is SUCH a weird move, but he is SUCH a weird guy, lol! So it lines up. He was not ashamed, and it sat out on our step in all of its teeny tiny glory. It even has a little battery operated tea light inside 😅

I love my stone cold weirdo son. I wonder where he got that from….

As I listened to the kids chat this afternoon, I overheard Wavy share a tidbit of information.

“Do you know what I learned at grade one today? Well, technically, girls rule, and boys drool. Sooooo…”

Solly responded with “Huh! Do they?”

Needless to say, Waverly is well into the swing of things at school.

Grade one is my favorite grade for writing. EASILY. They are encouraged to write, and to practice letters and sounds and all that good stuff, but no one worries about the spelling side of things. So everything ids written phonetically, or not at all, and it becomes a game for me to figure out what in the world is trying to be communicated. And truly, I LOVE it. Its so funny and adorable to see how their brains work. Of course, it starts with reading, but the writing portion is where the fun really comes out.

Wavy is LOVING the challenge of writing, and in turn, I am LOVING reading what she writes. Sometimes its tracing words from book titles. Sometimes its copying letters she sees around the house. Sometimes she just wings it. Here’s a few examples.

I showed you this one already the other day. It says “teddy bear.”

This is traced off of a “Dork Diaries” book.

Words and a picture! I wonder what she was hungry for… 🤔

This was a lesson she was teaching me. All the different ways to spell “play” haha!

She was going for “happy birthday” but also had Halloween on the brain, lol! A GHOST!

I like where her mind was at in this one!

And, true to form as the youngest of five, and a total jokester…

Butt fart. 🍑💨

She’s a classy lady.

I say again, I LOVE this stage of learning. Writing is my favorite skill to develop, without question!

Great job, Waverly!! 👏 Keep at it!!

Our family packed up the bare necessities yesterday and headed to the city once Brady was off work. We parked behind the Travelodge and were greeted at door #3 by our Dahlsjos!!!! Woohooooo!!! They had checked into all the rooms, and helped us carry stuff inside! There was MUCH chatting and hugging and rushing to get 👏 in 👏 that 👏 POOL!!! 👏

The kids just went for it! From soaking in the hot tub to racing down the waterslides to the bigger pool for synchronized routines then back down the slides with a baby on a lap, and then back to the hot tub, they did not stop. Their energy level was astounding, I can’t even tell you. Our fearless Morsel could not be stopped, and went back from the hot tub to the slides, back and forth, over and over again. Thank goodness for the warm, willing older kids who were willing to take babies to and from 💜

To maintain the cleanliness, the pool closes on and off for regular maintenance, so during one of those breaks, we convinced the kids into one of our rooms for pizza and chips! It was very well received, and also short lived, because no one was feeling done with swimming just yet. It was a delicious break, however, and enjoyed by all!

That night, the Dahlsjos had their room, and for the first time ever, our family got two rooms. Adjoining, of course, but it was necessary, lol! The five slept in one room, and Brady and I had the three babies in the other.

Even just typing that out fills my heart 💜 I LOVE our big family.

The kids were not excited to share beds, but they lived, and just like we expected, they were SO tuckered out when it was time to sleep that literally no one cared even at all 😅

The next morning, we met in the kids room all together for a breakfast of croissants, muffins, yogurts, and juice. And then, of course, morrrrrrre pool time!!

It breaks my heart to not share pictures, but them babies were in it, and there is at least one in just about every picture 😅 As it should be.

Everyone played and swam and got ALL their kicks and ALL their slides in for the last couple of hours this morning. We had short times where other people came and went a little, but for the most part, we ruled the water, and it was SO awesome.

Around 11, we hauled our things out, said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways 💜 Further into the city for them, and back home for us before sending Brady off to work and the kids to school for the afternoon. 😅 Jokes on those poor suckers!

It was a short time together, but it was still time together, and SO lovely for the heart to be together with our Dahlsjos again! We miss you guys!!! There is NO love lost, however, when time goes by.

See you cuties in a month or so!!! 😘

Baby has a runny nose.

Mom wipes baby’s nose.

Baby doesn’t like their nose being wiped.

Baby cries.

Baby cries a snotty cry.

Mom wipes baby’s nose.

Baby doesn’t like their nose being wiped.

Baby cries.

Baby cries a snotty cry.

Mom wipes baby’s nose.

Baby doesn’t like their nose being wiped.

Baby cries.

Baby cries a snotty cry.

Mom wipes baby’s nose.

Mom wipes baby’s nose.

Mom wipes baby’s nose.

And round and round she goes.

🤧