Sorry, everyone, for my break down yesterday. Ok, I’m not sorry in the way that I wish it hadn’t happened. I mean, its not always nice for that stuff to happen so publicly, but that my my choice so I can’t complain. I feel like the way I felt yesterday showed me that I needed to slow down. So today, I didn’t do any house stuff. I had a really nice morning at home with the kids, taught Dekker the word “cappuccino,” and washed my hair. Around noon, I began the process of getting everyone ready to go out for the afternoon. We had a big afternoon planned and of course, we all had to look our best. I wish I had gotten pictures of the kids but, as it tends to happen, we ran too late to really take the time. But they all looked ridiculously trendy and awesome.

Dekker and I have been talking about todays plans for several days now. We’ve been going over the order of events regularly. “We’ll go to the doctor for mommy and Rowan, then we’ll go get your glasses fixed, and then you’ll have a haircut!” At the end, he would get a goofy look on his face and add “And then a smoothie?” Dekker set the stakes for today. He told me last week that he was ready for a haircut. His exact words were “Dekker won’t scream at the haircut, and then we get a smoothie.” Not a question, but a statement. He decided, and I agreed. So we added the haircut to the day that we had doctors appointments.

We picked Brady up first, and then headed to the doctor. As usual, it was a really nice appointment. it was my six week (except we’re actually only at five weeks) postpartum check, and Rowans general well baby check. For my info (more for my interest than yours, I suppose) I’m seven pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight, which I’m happy with. My blood pressure is low, hemoglobin is good, and my cervix is closed and far away as it should be. I’m good to go. Rowan is doing great too! He weighs 11 lbs 14 oz, which is about two pounds gained in three weeks! He’s hanging out in the 85th percentile. She liked all of our answers to her questions and says he seems to be in good health. Once we were all good and done, I asked her about Laela. I realized recently that I never booked her an appointment and while I couldn’t remember for sure, I feel like 18 months was a time that she was supposed to have one. No hesitation, Dr Guselle said she could check her right then. So Laela spontaneously had a check up! She was incredibly cooperative, and I even tricked her into opening her mouth for the exam. She weighs a (not so) whopping 22 lbs 6 oz (about what Dekker weighed at 5 months) and she is 2’7″ tall, punting her down to the 25th percentile. Its ok, she’s petite 🙂 But she also checks out beautifully. We all left feeling good.

We hit up the glasses place next and got Dekker’s new frames adjusted. They slide down his nose a bit, and we were just hoping they could do something. They tried to convince us to just use a strap, but my gosh, we are so thrilled to be done with the strap and I basically just said that if that was our only option, we would just deal with pushing them up all the time. Oooh, well then they could adjust them a bit and bend the arms a bit more. So they did their best and we’ll see how that goes the next few days. Its hard to know that kind of thing immediately.

Unfortunately, the short drive from the glasses place to the hairdresser was just long enough to lull Dekker to sleep. He was groggy upon arrival, and as soon as he realized where we were, he got a little bit spooked. “I don’t like to get a haircut…” he whimpered. As I’d been doing the last few days, I reminded him the order of events, and he just responded with a hesitant “yes.” We went in and he got all set up on Bradys lap in the chair. Our hair girl, Carlinna, is so good to him and gave him a second when he started freaking out, right as it was about to start. I knelt down beside him and told him the order again. Once again “Yes…” but he was still squirming away from her. I finally made it very clear and I said that, if we didn’t have the haircut, we wouldn’t get to the smoothie. He sat up right away and gave in to the haircut. He didn’t like it, but he toughed it out. Even at the end when I took his glasses off so she could get closer to his ears, he just made it work. And it was so worth it!

We raced out of there afterwards, sped a lot, got the kids home, Brady hauled them out of the van, and I drove to concert choir practice. Jerilee and I made it with a few minutes to spare, but not many at all! We had a great practice, and had a really nice visit in the van before we went our separate ways. She made me feel pretty sane about my freak out and helped me make a short term plan for surviving the next day or two, so I don’t over- or underthink anything. It was so nice!

Now I’m home and everyone is sleeping except Brady and I. Time for a quick bath before bed. My irrational husband was at work today shortly after 5:00am, so I doubt he’ll be awake long, and its dangerous to sleep in water. Rest is good.

Please forgive me for todays post. I keep wondering if my hormones are nuts or if I am nuts or if I’m just stressed out but man alive, my insides physically ache with failure and disappointment. I know I have yet to lose anything, and I know this is a complete overreaction, but I feel like the workup to today has been absolutely huge. We have worked so unbelievably hard to get ready, and still, after all of that, I have failed to reach my goal. It just eats me up to actually put it out there. Its as though I need today to be over so I can just come to terms with it.

My body hurts, and I’m weeping all over my laptop, which can’t be good. I’m sorry this is all the post you get out of me tonight. Its short and pessimistic, but I have nothing left right now.

Too much workup, too much failure.

Goal suck ass.

I had super high hopes for Wonder Week being awesome, and while I think it was in a lot of ways, I’m so happy to see it go! And as it turns out, the first day after Wonder Week has already been so much better!

We took our time getting out of bed and got everyone ready to head to the city. They all looked super cute, if i can be so bold. It was promising to be warm out so Laela even rocked a dress under her jean jacket. The goal for today was to pick up a few little grocery things, as well as the few pieces of material we needed to finish up our house stuff.

As per usual, our first stop at Walmart resulted in buying a number of things we didn’t remember we needed but actually really did. So we left with groceries, and a cardigan for Laela. With it becoming dress weather, she needed a cute little sweater to go with her dresses. We also picked up a couple of bargain bin dvds. It was pretty low key. We crossed the parking lot to the Gap outlet to try and find Rowan some newborn jeans, but it would appear we’ve officially missed the boat on jeans, and everything coming in now is shorts, so I guess we’ll just have to wait for him to fit his 0-3 month jeans. Laela got some summer shorts tho.

Next was Superstore. We needed virtually nothing, but hauled everyone in for the free cookies. Sadly, Dekker took an opportunity right in the beginning of the shop to hit his little sister, so he was taken back to the van, foregoing his cookie. Devastation is the only word that remotely fits his emotion in that moment. It was quite a scene. However, I was down one kids, and quickly earned it back when I found a little girl who had lost her mom. I didn’t rush her over to customer service right away, which might have been wrong, but she had been lost just for a few minutes and hadn’t ventured very far from where they last were together. Maybe that was wrong, I don’t know, but her mom finally called her name loud enough that we heard and everyone was reunited. When all was well, I wandered back into kids clothes and accidentally bought Dekker some great shorts for summer, two pairs of jeans for Laela, and a gorgeous (albeit fake) leather jacket for her as well. Dekker rocks a fake leather jacket as his spring jacked, and we couldn’t pass up this beautiful one for Laela! I’m sure you’ll see it soon. Its almost unfair that we own it, actually. No other kids have a chance now. She is just the cutest thing. After clothes, we bought a couple little grocery things, and went to get her a cookie. Poor Dekker. The cookies were those special m&m ones today. He would have loved that. I also picked up a treat for Brady and I. I’ll tell you about that at the end.

Home Depot was last. Brady and Dekker ran in together and bought some more trim for the house, and when they resurfaced, we went for food. We got some happy birthday frapps from Starbucks, and then some fast food for lunch. Laela is finally capable enough to eat in her car seat without flinging food in every direction. We ate on the drive home. What a beautiful day in the city!

We got home too late to nap the kids, so needless to say, the evening was a bit of a challenge, but my parents came by for a couple of hours and my mom took pictures of the house for us. We feel nervous about it, but I think we’re going to list our home privately for a few weeks before biting the bullet and going with a realtor. I’m just nervous that our house isn’t worth enough to be able to get all the equity we need plus paying a realtor. And we can’t flex too much on the price at all. Plus, if we can sell locally, I’d love to try that first. Hopefully its a smart plan. We won’t doddle this way for too long. Anyway, my mom worked for two hours to get the best angles of all of the rooms, and made it all look beautiful. Hopefully we’ll make our ad tomorrow!!!

Now that the two older kids are sleeping, onto our evening! Rowan is still up but likely not for long. He’s been eating a ton this evening, so hopefully a few more ounces puts him out. Brady and I are having an at-home date this evening. My parents have given us some money for a little date each month as a Christmas gift, so today, we bought our date stuff! We bought a cheap movie, two Tims coffees, and a trifle from the bakery at Superstore. Hopefully dessert and coffee and a movie makes us feel a bit more like a couple and less like two people butting heads over an enormous amount of stress and work. If it doesn’t, at least we’ll sugar crash and sleep well. Thats good too.

Not only is Wonder Week over, but I, in turn, am over Wonder Week. We accomplished a ton today, but we also discovered a few bumps in the road that boil down to us not being able to meet our goal of finishing everything for Monday. I won’t lie. I feel incredibly defeated and discouraged and angry and numb. Not great feelings, and I’m pretty sure a chunk of it is still some residual hormones from having my son four and a half weeks ago, but it is how I feel. Its hard to admit you won’t reach your goals, and that is so often why I keep things like this private. Its less embarrassing that way. But I’m trying to act in confidence and expectation that this process is going to happen! And while I still think it will, my faith is a bit shaken. Yes, I would consider myself “worked up.”

As for the facts, we did accomplish a lot today. We didn’t finish sorting toys last night at all, so we completed that today, and Brady loaded everything we want to store into our van, in hopes that we’ll make it to our storage unit one of these days again. We did some more scrubbing in the bathroom and replaces the faucet. I soaked and cleaned the hot and cold taps in vinegar and they now look brand new. i washed window sills, switched bedding, and did more laundry. Brady tidied up the furnace room, replaced some trim in a few different parts of the house, and swapped out our dryer hose for one that doesn’t require duct tape. We cleaned window screens, did dishes, dusted, swept, and cleaned cobwebs off of the ceiling. We did lots of other things but I can’t remember much. In all honesty, I found today really difficult, all day. I think we all did. I wanted it to be a big exciting work day where we dreamed of what is to come, and felt rewarded at the end. Instead, I feel nauseous and unsuccessful.

I took a shortie nap with Rowan towards the end of the afternoon, which brought a little bit of healing, and now I’m typing this out while Dekker drives his cars on the bed beside me. Its so much harder to concentrate when someone is beside you, going on and on about Pixar characters and asking your opinion on each and every one, but its good to finally be with at least one of my kids in a normal, calm setting. Less stress here. I’ve had my little break with both boys now. I’ve got to get some quiet snuggles in with Laela before the end of the day. If only she’d sit still long enough for that to happen!

While Wonder Week is over, we are foregoing church tomorrow morning and will instead be staying home and getting more work done. Every bit of me wants to just quit for a few weeks. Its exhausting to fail. But the time is now, whether we list on Monday or in a month. We can’t stop now.

Its Friday already!!! Tomorrow is a bit ominous, as there is a lot to accomplish still! Brady brought all of his tools home for the weekend so he can do all of the more gruelling jobs tomorrow, and I have a big clean ahead of me! I sooo hope we get it all done tomorrow, because if not, we’ll have to finish up on Sunday and I would really rather not work on Sunday if at all possible.

I did laundry all day today with the kids, and Brady worked a solid day in the city. When he came home, we looked at our list and realized we needed a few other things, so we ended up heading into the city for the evening. With that, our kids are only in bed now, around 10:00, but we’ll all be home tomorrow, working our butts off, so the later they sleep, the better!

We didn’t get everything we went to the city for tonight, but we were very successful anyway. I feel pretty well set up for Saturday!

Once we get Rowan down here, Brady and I have the large task of sorting through all of the kids toys downstairs. We’re both sleepy and fading, but hopefully we’ll get some snacks, throw on a movie, and make a date out of it! I like a good home date once in a while 🙂

Wish us luck tomorrow!!

I brag about my kids a lot, and I’m sure some people get tired of hearing about them. Thats fine, but that is a regular thing that you get on here, so it can’t be too surprising. This week has been interesting with the kids, to say the least. I can tell that my stressing out is stressing them out. They scrap more than usual, which I can deal with, but sometimes they just reach “that point” where they can’t seem to come back from it. I haven’t seen that in this house for quite some time, but recently, it happens a lot. I’m learning that, even though I’m feeling productive, the kids really do need my undivided attention sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, they play on their own beautifully. Dekker and Laela both always have played well independently. They’ve never had big “PLAY WITH ME!!!!!” breakdowns. But I’ve noticed them suffering a bit in the last few weeks. Maybe “suffering” isn’t the right word, but you know what I’m saying. Struggling? So I’m accepting this and working less while they’re awake. Playtime is important.

This morning, same as yesterday, Dekker was sweet as pie when he got up. He ate breakfast very well, and used his manners more than usual, which is saying a lot since I’m a bit of a manners nazi around here. When he was done, he took his dishes to the sink, pushed in his chair, and went straight for the bathroom. Right now, our bathroom door is closed 24/7 because we have a big Rubbermaid tub filled with cleaning supplies in there, and I don’t want anyone to have too much access to it. Its always closed, but just in case it got left open or they figured out how to open it, we keep the bathroom door closed. At least Laela can’t get into it. But Dekker can, and did. I’m not too worried about it, but I wandered over to see what he was doing in there, and he met me at the door as he was closing it behind him. He had a Swifer. “I want to help you, mommy,” he said. I told him that would be great. He wandered the upstairs, “sweeping” everything with his duster. That included the table, and counters, and everyones tummies. Lots of sweeping to be done. While he swept, I did some dishes, got the bed made, and did a few other normal morning chores. After I had finished all of the obvious stuff, I leaned on the counter and looked at my list for a bit. I don’t know about you guys and lists, but I like mine to look pretty and intentional. If they’re messy, I hate them, and less gets done. Not even kidding. So I had a few different colors of pens out and I was trying to decide what color to use to mark out a few specific jobs when Dekker asked to draw with the different colors. I gave him some paper at the table and he came back and forth to the counter to get new colors. Finally, he invited me to draw with him. I asked if I could color on my list with him, and he agreed that would work. So I sat down at the table with him so we could share pens, and he looked up and me really sweetly and said “This is really nice, mommy.”

It was in that moment where I decided I was done work for the morning. Instead, I pulled out a craft. A craft. Yup. I will be straight up. I like crafty things, and it makes sense that I should want to do crafts with my kids, but I don’t remember ever pulling out a pile of craft stuff with them. I’m not sure they’re at an age where I should be too embarrassed about that yet, but I know there are TONS of moms who regularly rock crafts. I haven’t before, but it felt like a good time to start.

I’m not going to tell you what the craft is yet, because it’ll come up again soon I think, but it was a HUGE success! Dekker did almost all of it by himself, even though it required a little muscle. He shared with Laela and even though it was out of her league to help, she was included and seemed to enjoy herself watching from her high chair.

When we finished up, Dekker helped carry the supplies back to the closet, and then we made lunch. He requested we eat upstairs instead of our usual downstairs, so we did. Its nice to finally have a cheap little coffee table to put their food at their level. I know, they could eat at the table, but their lunch is always just a good sized snack, and they always eat it freely while playing toys. I didn’t want to confine them longer if I didn’t have to. Once their snack was basically done, I pulled out the Windex and began shining up some of the stainless steel appliances and cleaning mirrors. Dekker, once again, wanted to help! So he followed me from room to room with a roll of paper towel, tearing off sheets for me when I asked for them. He loved this job, and pointed out each and every shiny surface he spotted so we could clean it. Honestly, it was actually super helpful because I never had to put the Windex bottle down where the littler, mischievous one could get her hands on it. She is one that walks up to the tub, finds the shampoo on the ledge, and pumps it until you catch her. You can imagine the fun she’d have with a squirt bottle. About a half hour before nap time, Dekker asked to go downstairs. So we went downstairs and had some nice lazy time, watching a bit of tv and playing quiet games.

They went down beautifully for their nap. Once they were settled, I brought Rowan in his seat into the bathroom to hang out with me while I started slicing the old silicone off from around the tub and shower. He lasted a decent amount of time, but became bored and I had to abandon that job. But hey! He is also my kid, and also needs cozy time with his mom. So we cuddled into bed and he had a tiny bit of milk before dozing off. My immediate reaction was “Perfect! I can put him down and get stuff done!” But he is not having it. He’s not wailing and whining, but he isn’t resting soundly at all. Therefore, the work day is on pause likely until this evening, and I think thats ok. I mean, part of me does. The other part of me looks at our list and wants to throw up with how much we have to do.

It’ll get done. Saturday is going to be positively monstrous, but hopefully wildly successful as well! Wish us luck!

We had a great work day today! My mom came out and helped me get some of my priorities accomplished, which feels pretty much amazing. Maybe they wouldn’t be other peoples priorities, but of the things on my list that I can do without Bradys help, they were bugging me the most.

Mom read stories to Dekker and Laela while I puttered around the kitchen a bit, and then we got them fed. Rowan slept almost all day, so if I don’t mention him much, its because he wasn’t exactly participating. We all sat and relaxed for about a half hour before the kids went to bed, so we could all have some food and snuggles and relaxed time. Once the kids went to bed (and Rowan kept sleeping) my mom and I checked the list over and began! We got the basement bathroom beautifully cleaned, scrubbed a stain out of the rug, and dressed the guest bed. Then we moved upstairs and absolutely killed the upstairs bathroom. The water here is pretty hard and, I won’t lie, the toilet and tub were in rough shape. Rough. Really not good at all. I can’t stress this enough. My mom is an incredible sport and was eager to jump on those really big, gruelling jobs. Once she had made a ton of headway on the tub, we swapped and I jumped in to work on the tub while she started cleaning the toilet. I thought that there would be permanent stains but little did I know that calcium buildup comes off! Yes, it requires an absurd amount of elbow grease, but it does happen! Our bathroom is positively sparkly! We still have to replace the tub faucet so it doesn’t drip anymore, but thats pretty much it and the bathroom will be done. I even washed the walls! After bathrooms, I did a bit more wiping down cabinets and doors around the house. I had no idea those little areas around the doorknobs and light switches could get so filthy, but my goodness, it looks so fresh and new around here. I’m so pleased with whats come out of all of this hard work. While there is still lots to do, it feels better, and like we’re actually making progress. I’ve been nervous about getting this all ready, but now I feel ready and motivated. I have much bigger and more pivotal things to be afraid of at this point :/ Merp.

I’m so pleased with today. Not only did we work really hard and get the big ugly cleaning out of the way, but the kids were peaches. Dekker was incredibly helpful and friendly today!! When I go back over it in my head, I feel like it was easier for me to have compassion for him because he had less of an attitude, but maybe he had less of an attitude because I was softer with him. Either way, he was so sweet and loving today, which made my day so much richer. Laela was a bit more snippy with Dekker than usual, which makes me wonder how many of their fights she starts, haha! But she was beautiful and entertaining as all get out, as per usual. And Rowan did exactly what I needed him to do, and slept all day long. I’m a bit nervous about what our night will look like, but he had some wakeful time this evening so hopefully that helps. I guess we’ll know soon…

Rowan decided to give us a run for our money and keep Brady and I up almost all night last night. We were able to joke through it a bit, and I commented that this probably officially makes us parents now, since this was really our first ever night like this that we can remember. Gruelling, though. I was not a fan of that fun thing where Ro would cry and I’d rock him to sleep and then he’d wake up the second I’d lay him down. Not a fan at all. Luckily he’s super adorable, and I’m pretty sure he was just hungry. This kid is growing at warp speed. I feel like his milk intake increases drastically every single day, and I’m just never ready for it! I’ll be very interested to learn what he weighs at our appointment next week!

I’m sure no one feels particularly motivated after a night like that, but as I will say another hundred times before this week is up, there is a LOT to do! But I learned very quickly that everyone was feeling fatigued, thanks to the littlest one, and it was not a day to leave them to their own devices while I tried to get stuff done. Instead, we did our normal morning breakfast and took our time, and then we all went downstairs and I listed my butt off. I mentally went through my house room by room, and made lists and lists of jobs that need to be done. While the list is huge and I’m completely overwhelmed by it, its good to see how many jobs I’ll actually be able to do. I struggle in the evenings to think of small jobs that I can do while Brady does the big ones, or the ones with lifting, or the tall ones. I have lots of places to clean and prepare! Its good to have it on paper now. I love crossing things off.

This evening, I am so looking forward to concert choir! I know, the busiest week in the world and I’m bailing for a couple of hours to go sing in a group. But I committed to it, and missed three weeks around Rowans birth. I must get back into it! And a little break will be nice. Not that I can do too much work in the day with all the kids around me, but I think my brain would appreciate a break from thinking about the house and all the stress that comes with it. I felt absolutely sick about everything yesterday evening, and then after such a short (or long, depending on how you look at it) night, a change of scenery will likely do me some good.

I hate titling these posts. As I sat here with my post idea, and tried to figure out what to name the stinking thing, I said to myself “I wonder what this week will look like.” And from there was born Wonder Week. Its not a short form of the question even, but what I am officially naming this week.

Welcome to Wonder Week 😀 Its a busy place.

This week, we are planning to absolutely kill it around here! We want to finish up our home so it can be ready to sell. One week. We really don’t have a ton left that I can do on my own, and thats left me feeling at a bit of a loss. There are some heavy duty cleaning jobs that need to get done, and I can definitely do those on my own, but I can’t have all of the strong chemicals out while the kids wander the house, or inevitable, wander around my feet while I have Rowan hanging off of one arm. Its just not possible, leaving the evenings after Brady gets home very, very busy. Its ok, we’re both ready and willing! But I sit here in the day, itching with anticipation to start working, but instead, twiddling my thumbs. Grrr! I am not always in favor of house cleaning, and its weird to finally be in the mood to do it but not be able to. The older two kids are sleeping, and Rowan is in and out, needing a bottle any minute now. Also, while I feel decent, the fact is my body is still at least a little bit in postpartum mode, and I’m tiring out pretty quick these days. My back is sore, and my right leg is still just as useless as it was when I was pregnant. Not ideal.

So here’s what I’ve accomplished so far today. This morning I did a bunch of emailing to several realtors as well as a mobile mortgage specialist from our bank. I have an appointment set up to meet our mortgage specialist later this week. Also, of all of the realtors that I wrote to, one called me almost right away and actually has already come by and taken a walk through of our house!! I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say for ideas and plans for our house, but he is in full support of our desire to get on this whole thing really, really soon. I feel relieved after talking to him, and also scared that it will all look so great and be all ready, and then never sell. *shivers* God is bigger, God is bigger, God is bigger.

Strangely, after that meeting, I just felt tired. I think I just have so much put into this that I’m always nervous and stressed, even when I don’t feel like I am. So instead of taking a break right away, I did a nice scrub down of the stove top and face with all the knobs. It is completely caked in grease that we have neglected for way too long. I got the majority of it, but I’ll need to run over it again before the big day comes. But after leaning over the stove for those ten minutes only, I know that my body is begging to rest. Sooo annoying, but I must listen before I break. I broke the other day after we worked a bunch and I could hardly move the rest of the day. I don’t want to listen, but I know I need to.

Welcome to Wonder Week.

This whole situation feels gigantic.

God is bigger. God is bigger. God is bigger.

We haven’t had whats felt like a “normal” Sunday in quite some time, and today felt pretty darn close! Except that we were late…

Our church service starts at 10:45, and we live about a half hour away. We always aim to leave around 10:00, knowing it always takes longer to get the kids into their coats and out the door than we bargain for. Its usually five or ten after. Today we were just in the van around 10:15, and in case you’re reading this years later, our third day of spring this year gave us tons of snow and freezing rain. Our drive took longer than usual and we just about made it on time! I believe the music had just started when we arrived. It worked though. Other people were still filtering in, and it gave us a bit more space to get the kids out of their stuff.

The service was the absolute smoothest service we’ve sat in maybe ever. I say “sat in” because we didn’t have to haul anyone out once. Laela played happily and fairly quietly the entire time. Dekker was especially cuddly and gave us tons of hugs and kisses the entire time, but was very happy, rather than giving hugs out of discomfort. And Rowan slept in his bucket the entire time!!! We never bring his bucket into the service because he always wakes up when we arrive but he slept until the very literal last minute of the service, and started to fuss while our pastor prayed us out. It was crazy, and awesome.

We visited a bit after the service, as usual. This was only Rowans second appearance at church, so lots of people still hadn’t met him personally yet. But besides that, Dekker was in a great mood! All of a sudden he has this newfound confidence, which does my mother heart a lot of good. Not like he was striking up conversations with people he’d never seen, but he was just less shy, and suddenly a bit more playful and endearing. The crowd didn’t seem to put him off at all. It was refreshing and exciting to watch. I have to wonder if his new glasses are at least partly to thank. He loves those things. The prescription is the same, so its not a matter of his vision being any different, but I think he feels like a rockstar in them.

After church, we ate lunch and had to put the very sad kids down right away for their naps. It seems a bit cruel maybe, but we all visited at church for quite a while, and then we ate lunch for so long because it was so yummy, and by the time that was over, it was already a half hour past their usual nap time. Yet, they obviously needed the rest, and both older kids slept for about two hours. Rowan had a couple really nice wakeful times but his naps were long and snorey and sweet. Both of my parents got some nice long cuddles with him.

Everyone woke up at the same time and we played a bit more before supper. Once again, we seemingly ate forever, and talked about all of our plans about housing, and what the next steps are. The steps include basically killing ourselves over the next little while to get things done, basically. Brady needs to make another run to our container to store some more stuff, I need to do a bunch of emailing and calling to make contact with a few possible realtors, and we have our same fixes and cleaning to do that keep getting pushed back. I know that things don’t have to be perfect, but I want to be able to photograph my house in a way that will show off how beautiful our house really is, and will create a really solid listing.

Dekker and Laela are in bed, and Rowan is having a bottle. Next on the agenda: work!! Sooo not in the mood right now, but its gotta get done and we don’t have much time. Goals are goals!!!