This was the year of the firecat and the strawberry for our family, and it was a very good year for Halloween!

In all honesty, Dekker has rarely been given the opportunity to anticipate anything. He’s always either gotten really excited about it, and then been devastated that its not happening immediately, or he gets scared and dreads it. But for this holiday, we gave him lots of notice, taught him to say “trick or treat,” told him the general routine he’d go through at each house, and that people would give him treats. And my gosh, he has been positively itching for Halloween to come!

We also had a belated birthday supper for Brady this evening with my parents, since they’ve been gone so much since the day, and even sitting at the table eating birthday cake, Dekker was asking if he could “go Halloween now?” He was ready.

So the second the cake was eaten, we got the kids into their costumes and did a dry run with grandma and grandpa. We helped Dekker remember the order of things – knocking on the door, saying “trick or treat,” getting the candy, family picture (not that we had that happen at too many places, but definitely at grandmas, and a few others 😉 ), then a “thank you” and a “happy Halloween” and he could go. So we did the routine and headed out!

And our kids ROCKED! Dekker LOVED trick or treating! He knocked on every door that we went to, and without much hesitation at all, he just walked right into people’s entrances and picked candy from their bowl. It was super adorable, and luckily, we only went to houses of people that we knew so they were patient with him and the rest of us. Not to say that he was rude at all!! He would take one candy unless offered more, and said lots of thank yous. We also made a point of making him talk to everyone, so we asked him to share at each house what he and Laela were dressed as. As his ice cream pail slowly filled with treats, he really got into it! He would go through his little routine quicker and ask to find the next house. He was thrilled! For the cautious boy that we know and love, he floor us and most of the people we saw tonight! I can’t count how many houses we visited, and how many quiet but excited comments I got about how great he was doing and how he seemed so comfortable! Its almost like his costume made him into his own kind of superhero. It was pretty unbelievable, and I couldn’t have been prouder.

Laela was a trooper too. Obviously, it was easier for her, but she smiled and was very patient. When she was obviously and justifiably wiped out, she was just perched in my arms and cuddled. No fussing or squirming. Just calm. The kids were out TWO HOURS past their bedtime!!! They have both been in bed for about fifteen minutes now and are both out cold. What a fantastic evening we had!

Many thanks to those of you who we saw this evening. I know you gave candy to many kids, but we felt so cared for by everyone we saw, and visited, and who took time for us! We were given candy, home baking, and even coffee in to-go cups WITH handmade cup covers!!! We felt encouraged and welcomed and loved all over town! I try not to name the town on here too much, just in case of creepers, haha, but you guys know who you are and where you live. You have such a soft spot in my heart. Please know how hard we are working as a family to find our way there to live. You all live in a very, very special place.

Happy Halloween from our house to yours! Can’t wait to have our arms even fuller next time around!!!

My plan for today was to go to the city, get my hair done, and go home. I ran every errand in the book yesterday and was going to do as few other errands as possible today. But as so often happened, plans change, and they changed for the waaay better!

I had my hair appointment at 9:30 this morning, and its aaaaall different! Its back to blonde, and its a longer style than I’ve purposefully had in a while. Very grown up 😉 I like it a lot. Its a nice change. It doesn’t meet Dekkers ponytail criteria but I’m sure we’ll get there eventually. After my appointment, I decided to go for a “treat” and go to the south Value Village location. I haven’t gone in a while and my last VV shop was a big success.

Today was good too! Not my best, but fun. I found Brady a couple of work shirts, a rocking/ugly/wonderful pair of sandals for next summer, and the BEST find was some dishes to match my moms set!!! Thats always such a big win. I’ve found her big plates once in the past but I found four soup bowls today, which is actually pretty awesome! So I picked up some coffees on the way and went to drop them off to my mom.

After I accidentally kept staying for a couple of hours, we decided to run a few errands together. We called our husbands and confirmed that we were going to the city to look at Fabricland while the 50% off sale was on. My mom sews these big beautiful receiving blankets for all the new grandbabies, so we went to find flannel, and actually found more than we thought! There was a lot of Christmas themed stuff, which wasn’t so much what we were going for, but there was lots of cute chevron and plaids and really nice thick material. Yay for baby Jim being in a blanket that can actually be wrapped around his inevitable massive bulk!

We decided to hit up Superstore for a few groceries for her afterwards. We’re going to be over tomorrow for Halloween, and since we were gone and then they were gone, Bradys birthday sort of got missed, so we’re adding that to the mix. Therefore, special food was purchased, as well as bedtime snacks for Brady and I. Yum. Chocolate covered raisins.

And then, of course, it was too late to go home and not have eaten!! So we ducked into a nearby restaurant for supper. I don’t remember the last time my mom and I went on a date without husbands or my kids! We spend lots of time together with everyone, but not often just the two of us, so that was delightful. We just caught up. We talked about the baby and about plans for Christmas, and the upcoming year. I love her. (Ya, you, crazy mama!)

We finally decided that it was time to head home, which was kind of sad, but we’ll see each other tomorrow, so my withdrawal shouldn’t last too long. Its been a wonderful day, but also strange, in the way that Dekker and Laela weren’t up when I left in the morning, and they were in bed before I got home. Weird!! That happens so rarely, but I really loved today, and will see their beautiful faces much too early tomorrow morning, I’m sure. That will also be a good day. Trick or treating!!!

We never actually get everywhere that we’re trying to go in a day, but today, it worked! Granted, our list of places was shorter than usual, but our actual shopping list was not. Still, we celebrate our success! We celebrate by putting our incredibly overtired children to bed early, because they hate the world and are slowly making us hate it too. It doesn’t help that Laela is cutting her very first molar. Some of it has actually broken through but those stinkin’ things have to break through the gums in like four different spots! Poor babies. Cutting teeth is hard. Everyone is laying in bed now. The kids in their room, and us in ours. I’m blogging (obviously) and Brady is playing games on his iPad. Eventually Brady and I will surface and make something for supper, but not yet. First, we rest our feet and look over our pictures from today. Our beautiful kids attracted a ton of attention. Can’t blame them.

After the way yesterday ended, we didn’t have high expectations to actually make it to the city at all. I have a hair appointment tomorrow morning, so we thought I’d likely run most of the errands on my own after that, but the kids were super chipper this morning and we couldn’t resist taking them out. We had mostly long grocery lists to take care of, and thats not always buckets of fun with two kids, but with two of us, one can often take a kid out or defuse a situation, or worst case scenario, just wait in the car with both littles while the other accomplished the task. We’ve done a lot of that in the past. Hardly at all today, though. Just in the really quick stores. We started at Carters to look for mini gloves for Laela. We got some little ones for Dekker last year for just a  few bucks, and they fit Laela decently well, so we thought we’d get her some too. Believe it or not, all they had were the little ones with all five fingers separate!!! Can you imagine trying to get a one year old to cooperate long enough to get all the fingers in the right place, only to have her pull them off immediately?! Brutal. Not a chance. So we ran across to Walmart and found the right ones for sixty cents. No joke. We also picked up about half of our grocery list, some tubs for packing up clothes that don’t fit the kids anymore, and our first Christmasy decoration of the year!!! (I’m planning on keeping track of details and amounts so I can tell you guys at the end of the season what we all bought and how much our yearly savings plan helped 🙂 ) Dekker was a bit upset as we were leaving because we didn’t stop for fries, which we often do. But the promise of french fries was coming, so he held on and kept a pretty cool head about the whole thing.

We did a quick stop in at Old Navy so I could look at their maternity clothes. I’m really in need of a good maternity hoodie, and without sounding super cheap, I’d love to not spend $100 on one from Thyme. The American Old Navy website has them for around $25, but the Canadian website doesn’t have a maternity section!!! I can’t be the only person annoyed with that. It wouldn’t be a bit deal, but the cheaper brands like Walmart and Target don’t fit me. Its Thyme or Old Navy. Anyone going to the states anytime soon and wanna help me out?

Old Navy was a bust, so we headed for lunch. Just to a nearby Wendys, but Dekker was so excited. I ordered all of our food while Brady got the kids settled, and someone even carried one of our trays over to our table so I didn’t have to make two trips. Dekker happily ate his fries and burger, and drank his milk before getting his Scooby-Doo toy. Laela didn’t eat much, I think because her teeth were bugging her, but Brady had given her some milk in the car while I was pestering the Old Navy staff.

Kinda gnarly how much she liked to suck on the table though…

Our next spot to hit was Superstore. Laela was a bit sleepy, but she perked up…

Now, Superstore is always a long visit, and it can go one of two ways for Dekker. See, he remembers things now. He knows that, at the bakery section, he gets a cookie. And with the order of the store, that comes at the end. So, he either anticipates it, and gets really excited, and enjoys it at the end, or he mixes up the sections and cries from about the deli on. Today was a good day 🙂 He talked about his cookie pretty much the entire time, but he was more so just reminding us. We assured him that we remembered. We got pretty much EVERYTHING on our Superstore/Walmart list, plus a few really good deals, like hangers and stemless wine glasses. We took our time all through the store, and once we got to the bakery, Dekker told us he was ready for his cookie now. We headed over to the counter and luckily, we weren’t the only people who had kids waiting patiently for cookies. Someone came out and gave us all cookies and Dekker used his manners, which I’m always happy about. And the exciting part was…Laela got a cookie too!!! And let me tell you, that was one happy cart load of kids!! They both had their own treat, it was a super yummy treat, and best of all, it was distracting! They sat in the cart like perfect angels and ate their cookies while we waited in line and unloaded everything.

 If thats not a happy cookie face, I don’t know what is.

Because we’re suckers for punishment, we decided we hadn’t bought enough groceries yet and went to Costco still. It was actually a great shop though! We are so stocked up! We bought each of the kids some new sleepers for winter (including baby JIm!) and even took advantage of the HUGE deal on formula and bought a few cans. Laela is switching to milk right now, but formula keeps forever, and this way we have a bunch on hand for when the baby comes. Good to be prepared when things are on sale, right? We bought a new coconut oil and then stocked up on our regular stuff. When we were going through the line, the cashier was really chatty with the kids and Dekker responded beautifully. It was so sweet to see them interact. She teased him about buying so many apples and he just giggled at her and admitted that he really likes apples.

We grabbed coffees and headed home. We made a quick stop by Grandma’s house to bring her a bag of apples (ambrosia apples are hard to find, but they’re delicious!) and she provided him and Laela each with a new toy car, which was an obvious win. The cherry on top of a great day!

Upon arriving home, Brady and I began the task of getting our stuff put away and organized. I don’t think we’ve had quite this huge of a grocery shop to put away all at once in a long time. I DO have to say that it felt like less hassle today though. We used the tubs we bought for storage at Walmart for packing up groceries, as well as the Superstore green bins we have in our van at all times. And Costco uses boxes. So we didn’t have all the tearing bags to mess with, and fewer trips to and from the van. It was MUCH easier clean up! But the clean up did reveal just how out of control our house is. We both began to feel overwhelmed and went into crazy mode. Its ok now though. We’ve done enough work for the day. Brady is so tired, and I’m super sore. I began to feel my pelvis hurt and shift like it tends to do in my pregnancies, and my back is quite tired as well. So we did enough, and now its time to quit.

We accomplished SO MUCH! And it felt pretty amazing. Now, we will soak, eat, and sleep. And tomorrow, I will get my hair done! We’ve been so busy recently, I haven’t had a chance to get your input this time around, and I’m scrambling a bit! Geez, why aren’t you all here in my home right now? Probably because that would be super overwhelming. Good call. Stay home, guys.

Today felt like a bit of a strange day. The kids were GREAT in the morning! Ate well, played well, etc. They went down to nap better than usual, which was a wonderful change from our normal. Laela woke up after a solid 2.5-3 hour sleep, and it was her who woke Dekker, rather than the usual other way around. And then the real fun began.

Brady went to get the kids up, and Dekker told him that he felt a bit sick. Now, Dekker has never said that to us. The only reason he actually knows the phrase is because unfortunately, we used it a lot in my first trimester. His mommy often felt “a bit sick,” so he picked up on it. I was actually relieved to hear that he had told Brady, since that would seem like we FINALLY wouldn’t be guessing anymore! But we’re still guessing.

Mr. Dekker refuses to tell us what kind of sick he feels. So he and I cuddled in bed a bit while Laela had her bottle and Brady heated up supper. That seemed really comfy for him, and of course, I loved it too. We had mac and cheese for supper, which he devoured. He was back to his energetic self, and even told me he felt better. He played well all evening. He was very active and giggly and seemed 100%. Until it was bedtime. Well, then he felt sick again. Sigh. So I have no idea!!! is he actually sick? Or just learning that he could maybe get out of something if he was? I absolutely don’t want to overlook sickness in my children, but he seemed quite irritable and mostly just a bear. So we told him he could have a good sleep and probably feel better in the morning. After checking on him fifteen minutes after, he insists that he feels sick.

All of that, and Laela is really struggling to get to bed tonight. She had a molar that is working super hard to poke through, and I think she’s feeling that in a pretty big way. So she’s crying periodically, and Dekker is sooo frustrated. With her, and his illness, whatever that may be.

Its just felt like a really odd day. I’m relieved that Brady will be home tomorrow. We’re really hoping for an errand day to finally get some big stuff done, but I may either be on my own, or we may leave it for another day. I’m getting my hair done on Thursday morning, so I could always finish some tasks then. We’ll see how the kids feel. Hopefully tomorrow is better than today!

It seems like I’m learning more and more every day about having two kids, and being fair. For example, Dekker is a great helper, and brings his dishes to the kitchen after he eats. Yes, they are plastic. He used to bring his dishes, and then come get Laela’s yogurt cup and spoon next. Now, he happily brings his dishes to the kitchen, but says Laela should bring hers. Huh. Obviously, when Laela is old enough, she will absolutely be in charge of her dishes, so it won’t always be his job at all! Yet, its nice to help out whether it seems fair or not. Like I said, we’re always figuring.

Our big one is learning about sharing. So far, our method has just been that we don’t steal toys from each other. Neither kid is the kid who picks their toy and holds it all day long. They swap around constantly, so within a few minutes, the other kid would be able to play with the toy. So currently, if Dekker wants a toy that Laela has, he can’t have it until she’s done. Its been a long time coming but Dekker has come to terms with it. He’s also starting to slowly work in trading her for another toy. Since she is often still holding onto furniture while she’s standing, if Dekker gives her a “new” toy, she’ll have to drop the first one, and then its fair game apparently, haha! Good system, Dekker. Today, he tried a new method that I couldn’t resist sharing on here with you guys.

Deks was building something with Duplo when he noticed that Laela had a block, and he wanted it. He went up to her and made a bit of a whiny sound, and asked me if he could have it. I told him that Laela had it right now, and he could have it when she finished, like always. (Keep in mind, we have a tub of Duplo in our basement.) He was bummed, but then perked up and put his hand out. He said “Dekker just wait til Laela gives it.” A VERY good move on his part! Laela’s great with giving me toys that she’s not supposed to have, and in situations like that. I never have to actually take anything from her. Obviously, Dekker has observed this. So he sat patiently with his hand out, right next to her little hand with the block in it. She slowly switched the Duplo to her other hand and gave Dekker a hearty high five. I burst out laughing, and so did Dekker. Once the laughter had died down, he said “No Laela, the toy for Dekker?” in the adorable little high voice he uses when he talks to her. Once again, a high five. This went on, and seemed to become less and less funny, but more and more funny to me, and to Laela, who responded more to my laughter than to Dekker’s rising temperature. Finally Dekker took the block, put it in the appropriate hand, and put his hand under her hand. She finally gave in, and he took off with it. She followed him on foot, which seemed to throw him for a bit of a loop, but he giggled the whole time. Both kids were happy, and I certainly didn’t intervene. It was a fabulous interaction to watch! One of those when I had a “Oh cmon, Dekker, lay off”moment, but Laela held her own and didn’t give him what he wanted until she had finished having her fun with him. They have a fabulous dynamic.

I can’t wait to see the chaos that will ensue with a third kid in the mix! Jim and I are having some one on one time now as the two crazies get some sleep. I’m loving that his kicks are getting bigger, and I’m LOVING that I can know that he is, in fact, a he 🙂 I simply can’t wait to meet my little boy!

Wait, yes, I can wait!!! Probably it would be pretty bleak if he were born today. We’ll keep his little buns cooking a bit longer 🙂

So after our wonderful day of events yesterday, we ended up somehow losing a whole schwack of pictures, duplicating a ton, and mixing everything up. Brady worked furiously to fix the problem, and I worked just as hard and staying level. by 1:30am, we gave up for the night. It was during my pee break shortly after that when I had my breakdown. I bawled my unreasonable eyes out over the loss of my last ten days of pictures. I needed those pictures!

But I didn’t. Brady got me back to bed and rubbed my feet a bit while we watched Netflix. Finally, around 2:15am, my body gave up and let me sleep. I slept hard until I woke up to pee around 6:00. I went back to sleep but had bad dreams until I woke up really early, in time to get to church in time for practice. Not my best night. But I wore a cute dress and felt relatively put together, and like I didn’t look like a zombie. Somehow, that helped a little.

Brady and I practiced and everything went smoothly, so we went to my parents place. They had the kids, and had fed them breakfast and were playing toys. We hung out there until it was time for church. The morning service went really well, actually. The music went smoothly, especially considering that we needed a couple of extra songs and had only found out that morning! Thank the Lord for a husband who can just pick something instrumentally on his guitar and it can bring people to worship.

After church, Brady and I once again handed the kids off and headed to meet with our small group for lunch and our session. We ate unbelievable pulled pork on a bun and cold veggies for lunch. I could have eaten seven buns, but I didn’t. Self discipline, folks. We headed upstairs for our video and discussion afterwards, and from there, we went our separate ways.

Our kids were both asleep upon our arrival at my parents, and so was my dad. So Brady and I visited with my mom and made some plans for later in the week. Eventually everyone woke up and we had pancakes and bacon for supper, which was amazing. Our whole family loves pancakes, and Dekker was so polite and pleasant to eat beside. I always love him, but he was loving the food and was just super adorable about it. We then decided that, for a special treat, we’d go outside for dessert, make a little fire, and roast marshmallows. This was a HUGE win! Dekker raced around the backyard, got rides in the wagon, swung on swings, and ate lots of treats. The rest of us huddled by the fire, except whichever one was running around with him. Laela ate two whole graham crackers, and would likely have gone for more, but we called it quits. I fully expected a serious meltdown when we had to leave, but grandma and grandpa held Dekkers hands and ran like the wind with him to the van. They got him all buckled in and he happily waved and shouted his “bye byes” at them as we drove away. It always helps when grandma races the van 😉

We got home after their bedtimes, and Laela just finished her bottle up now, to bed she goes! Dekkers already tucked in but is definitely up waiting for her to join him. I love that boy. There are still a few things to do before bedtime tonight, but I feel weirdly refreshed. Yes, I’m tired. My body is tired. But today was busy and great and exactly what I needed. Seems like I might sleep really well!! I hope the same for the rest of you 🙂 The sleep, not the mad fatigue…

Sorry for the late post but its been SUCH a good day! Waaay too much going on, and instead of blogging immediately after the kids went down, I decided to play some games on Bradys iPad while he backed up the laptop a bit. But thats another story.

I woke up this morning when Brady dropped the monitor, haha! Not the best way to wake up, but convenient, considering I wanted to make my new recipe today and it needed to be in the crock pot for nine hours. Brady was lovely and got up and helped me put it together while the kids were waking up in their room. Once it was assembled and the slow cooking had begun, I was sent back to bed to play free cell and try to sleep. I didn’t sleep, but I did take time and rest while the kids had some one on one time with their dad. When I did venture down to the family, we talked about what we might want to accomplish in the day, and realized we had a few things to do in the city. It wasn’t much though, and would likely not be stuff we would haul the kids in for. So I got all ready and went by myself. I love my shorty trips into the city on my own. Its nice to be hands free once in a while.

I started at the mall closest to my end of the city and grabbed Starbucks, and booked a hair appointment for next week. I actually need some help with some ideas but I’ll bug you about that in another post. I bought a Christmas tree ornament and some cookie cutters from Frenzy, and picked up my replacement phone. Not a new version, just a 4s, but time for a new battery.

*Sorry if the rest of this post is less happy. I’m trying, but just learned that through restoring my phone since getting home, about 400 pictures are lost, as well as all of my videos of the kids :*( They were not all on my laptop, and I’m really, really bummed. Damn you, something or other…

While I waited for my phone, I had a really nice visit with the girl at Telus. I actually dated her brother years back, so we knew each other in high school. Its always nice to catch up with friends from back in the day.

When I was done at that mall, I hit up Value Village. Its so silly, but thats something of a guilty pleasure for me. I love to peruse all the same sections every time I go – maternity, shoes, and housewares. Sometimes I get into kids clothes too but I can kill hours there. Plus, the vast majority of kids stuff is diaper shirts, and I’ve sort of stopped buying into those.  Today, I added a couple of other sections to my list and had a WONDERFUL haul! Not anything huge, but I’m very happy with my purchases. They include some boots, and a fall dress and denim jacket for Laela, a dressy little vest for Dekker, a work shirt for Brady, a really pretty dress for me that shows off my Jim bump really nicely, and a measuring cup/container thing. I’m not sure how to explain that, but I really like measuring things that are 4 cups or bigger. I seem to always need them and they’re always dirty. This one isn’t just a cup, but a Tupperware ish thing with a lid. I like it.

Post-city trip, I hit up a nearby town for the best buns in the world to bring to church tomorrow, as our small group is having pulled pork on a bun. Plus, buns with the soup I had made for supper made sense. So I bought buns, picked up coffees for Brady and I, and went home.

The kids were just waking up as I got home, but we worked with my phone and laptop and actually, had a really lame time of it. Our laptop is about to die, and therefore wouldn’t restore my phone, much less stay powered up. I think we’ve got the laptop mostly worked out for right now but the phone not yet :/

Brady and I weren’t super hungry for supper, thanks to our massive coffees, so the kids ate honey chicken on rice happily while we did dishes and assisted them as much as needed. Brady offered to bathe them afterwards, and Dekker was itching to get in there. He wasn’t even completely undressed before he started to climb in. I helped him get there, and yes, into swim shorts because thats how he rolls, and then into the tub. They played happily at first, fussed a bit during the rinse, but hardly. Dekker is always so pleased afterwards, and we have a big long talk about how much fun the bath is. As the kids were getting dried off, Dekker said he didn’t want to wear a diaper. Brady asked “Did you want to wear underwear?” Dekker heartily agreed! So I rushed over and pulled out the one and only pack of underwear we have for him. I pulled out each pair and laid them on the floor so he could pick. He picked the ones with the skateboarding turtle. I slipped him into them and he was sooo proud! We took a bunch of pictures, but I know some people think those kinds of pictures are super offensive so I don’t want to piss anyone off by posting. It was pretty awesome though! I got him into a shirt and said she should go play a bit. He insisted he wanted pants too. I was a bit bummed, since I was expecting him to pee and I wanted to save his jammies. But, no luck. So I got him all dressed how he wanted, and we went downstairs. The timing was no good, as it was an hour before bedtime, but I certainly wasn’t going to say he couldn’t wear underwear!! And that whole hour, he didn’t pee! Not going to lie, I was in my underwear and a shirt as I tend to be, and Dekker pointed out that I was wearing underwear. It became the “lets see your underwear” party, and we all showed our gitch off. It was pretty hilarious, but he was so pumped about it.

The sad part was bedtime. He likes underwear, but will not sit on the potty. So I told him that underwear are for big boys who sit on the potty, and if he can pee on the potty, he can even sleep in underwear! But he wouldn’t, and had to be put in a diaper. And he was devastated!!! He bawled, but I don’t think there was a way around it. We don’t have mattress covers, or more than four pairs of underwear. But at the very, very least, we are close! I’m sad thinking that he’ll probably want to wear underwear again tomorrow, and we’ll be away all day with no way to really let him be. But, we know that he’s interested, and likes the feeling of it 🙂 Yay Dekker!!!!! I love you in your cute underwear! “Dekker likes these shorts!”

After the kids went to bed, we ate the soup that had been simmering all day, and guys, it was sooo yummy! It lacked a bit of something that I haven’t totally placed, but it could be as simple as salt. There was no salt on the recipe at all, not even “salt and pepper the chicken,” and while I don’t require a salt flavor at all, it was missing a bit of something. But it was delicious, and we will definitely make it again! We ate a bunch of that, and now have been fighting with the laptop and phone ever since. Not the best evening to wrap up a beautiful day but I’m trying to stay positive. I have SO many great things in my life to be thankful for! Yes, I love it when my electronics work, but I also love my family and the things we can enjoy and look forward to and laugh about. Its been a truly marvelous day.

Still time for a bath?? Hope so!

How lucky am I to have friends over two days in a row? Very. Brady ran around and completed a bunch of small jobs for friends all day while I stayed home and visited with Hailey. She came with coffee and warmth, and we had a great visit all afternoon. Dekker was comfortable with her right off the bat, which was a great surprise! He hasn’t seen her in a while, and while I had high hopes, I didn’t know how he’d respond to having someone else in the house. That doesn’t always go smoothly. But he greeted her with smiles and showed off all of his mad running and falling skills. He did great, and only was sad at nap time. He didn’t fight it though, and cried for less than five seconds after I left his room. Both kids slept like logs for almost three hours.

While the littles slept, Hailey and I caught up. She leads a crazy life, as most of my friends do, so there is always tons to talk about. We cover life, friends, school, work, and we even talked Christmas. I’m getting really excited for Christmas!!!

I guess the question is what do you guys do for Christmas? We have our regular traditions with my parents, and siblings if they’re around. We are just really wanting to build traditions within our household, and its hard to figure out what we can do with such little kids. Can you guys fill me in on some activities that you do with your kids that are three and under? Here are some ideas/thoughts that I had:

Christmas tree cookies: As a kid, I loved making these chocolate cookies in the shape of Christmas trees. We’d stick two cookies together with minty green icing. I wouldn’t even say they were the yummiest cookies in the world, but I loved the tradition when I was little. I know the activity of icing cookies is still over Dekker’s head, but I know he loves when I bake and use the mixer, and he loves to be up on a chair, right in the middle of the action. So he might enjoy it, right? Laela would be the eye candy in the high chair eating icing, so I doubt she’ll complain either.

Maybe dipping treats in chocolate? Marshmallows, pretzels, etc. Really easy, and we have lots of good sprinkles and stuff that little fingers could decorate with.

I was contemplating cutting snowflakes, but even as a bit of an older kid, I remember making that mistake and cutting that one side just a little too much and having it all fall apart. Thinking that might not work.

Do we just color Christmas pictures?! Thats not too riveting hey?

What do you guys think? I love the idea of making Christmas cookies and bringing them to neighbours and learning about giving and all that good stuff, but I just feel like Dekker would find that so scary still, with the way he is with strangers, and I’m not sure that would be a great activity for him just yet. Please, all, thoughts and ideas are welcome!!! What do little little ones like to do for Christmas???!

I hope I can speak for both Jerilee and I when I say we had a hysterical day together! She came around noon and brought coffee. We played with the kids and visited about Vegas, work, plans, etc. Brady had a short day today, which was perfect since he had some paperwork and stuff to do, and he brought lunch! I saw this new pizza on a Little Caesars ad the other day, that bragged up pepperoni pizzas with pretzel crusts, and Brady was a doll and brought some home. Guys, those things are unbelievable, and they’re $6. The sauce is pretzel cheese. Boom. The one bummer was my very first ever experience where my pregnant mouth screwed me up, and for some reason, the crust tasted a bit metallic. It was actually super off putting, which was sad, but I still managed to eat four pieces so obviously it didn’t set me back too much. All in all, it was a super delicious lunch.

The kids went down shortly after, and Brady came and sat with Jerilee and I to do his quarterly report while she and I visited and watched “Say Yes to the Dress.” It was a super relaxed afternoon, where we laughed our way through baby name lists, trying to pick what to name our beautiful Baby Jim. There are some crazy names out there 🙂 We had a good laugh. I’m open to ideas!! What would you name a baby boy if you had one today?

For supper, we just had a yummy big salad with chicken chunks in it. I make a really yummy (but very basic) honey mustard dressing that we smothered it in. It was delicious, honestly. Dekker loves salad, and chicken, so that helped. Oh, and garlic bread. Yum.

The kids went down just shy of an hour later, and the three of us left had coffee and dessert. Well, we tried to anyway. I don’t know if I’ve said on here recently that our awesome water cooler/Keurig is officially done for. Waaay too many glitches and overflows and troubleshoots later, we gave us and returned it. We purchased a totally different water cooler and set it all up today, only to discover that he water pump was broken. Back to the store. All that aside, we pulled our old Keurig out from the basement to make coffees, and it glitched a solid ten times before we gave up. It seems the water pumped wasn’t working. Irony. However, a half hour later, I went and ran it through and it worked, so who knows. But we definitely need a new water cooler and coffee maker soon. Hopefully tomorrow for the cooler anyway. So we had our drinks and some little individual cheesecakes from the freezer while we had what would normally be a nice quiet visit. But it wasn’t. It became a time of eating hilariously inappropriate candy, naming our child Bora Bora Born, the word “Hutterarchy,” and so much more. Probably none of this translates as funny to any of you, but my gosh, we were all just about falling over! We probably looked ridiculous (or hammered) if anyone were to observe us, but I think we were all just tired and old, hahaha! It was pretty much awesome. I’m sad we only see so much of Jerilee, but I’m so thankful we snag her on her occasional day off. And that she even wants to come, after living here for a week with the kids!! But they love her and were on pretty good behavior while she was around, so I’m sure that helps. Plus, she didn’t have to touch a poopy diaper or feed anyone, so maybe that helped too.

What a great day 🙂 I had such a good cozy day with a friend, and I have company tomorrow too! The lovely miss Hailey is coming!! I can’t remember the last time she visited, and I’m SO happy to have her over again! Gosh, I have great friends…

Ok, I’m tired. And funny, obviously. Time for bed.

I have had this unsatisfiable craving for asian food for the last couple of months. I want really, really good chow mein, and while I know Brady would happily drive wherever I asked him to within the city and pick it up from any restaurant I so desired, it seems really frivolous to keep trying out different chow meins for ten bucks a pop, over and over again. Laaame. But yesterday, we took a stab at some good chinese. Not chow mein, but it still counted.

We ordered from Genesis. We’ve eaten there once before, but didn’t really remember what everything was or which items were yummy. So we ordered a ginger beef, lemon chicken, and a vegetarian birds nest, which was like hardened noodles in the shape of a bowl holding sautéed veggies. Brady picked it up on his way home, and texted that it smelled really good anyway.

I lay it all out on the table in front of my hungry family. Dekker asked for macaroni instead. I told him that this was all really new food, and that if he didn’t like it, we could easily warm up some leftover honey chicken. I put nooo pressure on him whatsoever. I told him we had rice, veggies, and some different meats. “Want veggies!” Well, ok. He surprised all of us by not only liking, but devouring multiple servings of everything. He LOVED it! I mean, its all saucy and hot and so yummy, why wouldn’t he? It was all really delicious, and we’ll definitely order from there again. I mean, it was a tad pricey, and we’d definitely have to order another rice along with it, but we learned. And I mean, we could just make our own rice too. Not a big deal. Overall, it was super yummy, and hit the spot, and the leftovers in the fridge smell great! I’m still on the hunt for great chow mein though! I like the thinner noodles, and nothing dry. Juuuicy please! Do any of you make your own asian food? My gosh. This all makes me hungry. I should have a snack.

*goes to fridge for pickles*

I have a recipe I’m hoping to make this week still. Probably friday. I feel like a lot of the food I grew up on is the cats pajamas, and I’ve found myself intimidated when it comes to trying new recipes, since I have more of an attitude that nothing will even come close. But after I’ve found a few delicious ones that are now regular meals in our home, I’m excited to try out some new ones! The latest is a creamy chicken tomato soup, loaded with the obvious, as well some spices, and coconut milk and chicken broth. I’m really curious how it’ll turn out, but excited at the possibility of having found a new delicious soup to warm us up through these next months!

It would appear that my pregnantness has taken this post over, as I had other things to talk about, haha! But, food is calling my name. I’m out! Have a great evening!