I’m feeling incredibly rich IN LOVE today. It was our first Sunday back to church, and we more than survived. Even with one kid, its amazing how hard it is to catch anything from the service! Sometimes it feels fruitless to even go to church, with one parent in the back with the baby and one chasing around the toddler. In our case, we also have a kid who screams when he gets the least bit upset. Our last few years haven’t been our smoothest church-going years, but we’ve tried pretty hard to maintain our routine, and with the exception of a few long-ish breaks where we just don’t get there, I think we’ve done ok. All of that aside, I feel like today’s service was one of our smoothest ever! No one had to hauled out once. I mean, Rowan had to step out for a diaper change once, but never once on account of attitude or noise levels. It was pretty awesome! Also, people were sooo ready to meet Rowan, give him cuddles, and stroke his soft little head. He got nice and socialized, and just dozed in and out through the entire social event.

The church also invited us up to the front to receive a rose and to be prayed over, which was really nice 🙂 It felt like the perfect welcome for Rowan. I think a lot of people were surprised to see us there with another kid, but he was beautifully well received and celebrated. It was thoroughly awesome.

We were among the last handful of people to leave the church this morning. It would appear we’re a chatty family, and were mildly popular this morning, thanks to cutie baby. When we did leave, we found a sweet gift tucked in our van window. Someone left us a sizeable Starbucks card as well as a Tims card, which is a more than appropriate gift for parents to a new baby!!! Whoever you are, you certainly made our day! I find those anonymous gifts make me crazy not knowing, yet I know the joy that goes into giving them, and having the person never know it was you, so you with the coffee cards! YOU rock. And you clearly get it. Thank you so incredibly much.

After church, we went to my parents for lunch. It was super delicious, and we all learned that my favorite green bean casserole thing can be made in a crock pot!!! This is a huge win to me 🙂 Needless to say, we had a delicious lunch, and then the kids went down for a nap. We realized mid-morning that we hadn’t brought as much formula as we thought we had, and that messed up the plans for the rest of our day in a pretty big way, so while the kids napped, Brady ran into the city to Costco and picked up a can of formula, as well as easily 75% of our grocery list. We like to buy in bulk. Rowan slept the entire time he was away, and so did my dad, so my mom and I played cards and visited for an hour or two. I always love that. However, life started up again when Brady got him the kids started to lull.

My parents had stuff up in the evening, and we were wanting to jog into the city as a family anyway, so we got the kids up and went our separate ways. We had doddled getting going, so we almost didn’t make it to our first stop before it closed! We arrived at Carters with less than ten minutes left until closing. Don’t worry, I was very apologetic. But Rowan has NOTHING that fits him! I know, he’ll be in 0-3 in a few weeks, so just suck it up. But you know how he is wearing basically one of two things in every single picture of him?? I hate that. It worked fine with the other kids, because they rocked 3 month sleepers right off the hop. But the difference is that we’ve already gone out a couple of times since he was born, and we actually have quite a bit going on in the near future, and his one pair of pants don’t fit. Something has to be done, even just for those few weeks of size limbo. So I ran through like a whirlwind and came out with three sleepers, a handful of diaper shirts, and an outfit that contains a nice pair of sweats and an adorable hoodie. Wins all around, I’d say.

We crossed the parking lot and headed into Walmart. We were probably quite a site. Laela sat up in the little cart spot, Dekker rode on the end of the cart, and Rowan’s bucket was inside. Good thing we didn’t bring the diaper bag, or we would have had no room for our purchases! We proceeded to shop the worlds most random list of things, including things like winter boots, lipstick, an oil filter, a few baking ingredients, light switch covers, cereal, and a bunch of other things. Dekker wanted to carry the tubes of Dap, and we reminded him to put them in the cart when we was done carrying him. We promptly forgot about the interaction, and at the till, we found the Dap.

Good thing those carry some weight, or we would have left them behind completely!

We were going to talk about supper next, and Dekker confessed to me that he was tired. This almost never happens, so instead of going into the restaurant, we figured we’d just get drive thru and eat in the van. Not very glamorous, but it works for us.

Sometimes. Not today though!! It was completely hilarious, actually. We freed Dekker and Laela kids, so they were both pushing to get at the console that held their food. We were trying to let some of it cool off first, which took up lots of space and seemed to be more confusing than anything to them. If they can see it, why can’t they eat it?! With that all going on, Brady and I tried to eat, and we also had to feed Rowan. So he came up front with us while the kids, still in their winter coats, did a lot of falling over and sharing food. It was cute. At once point, Dekker came up to me and cried “French fry face!’ with a fry hanging out of his mouth. I leaned forward and nipped the end of. He momentarily panicked but then decided it was very funny and let it go. He came up to me again moments later with a very similar situation, and when I went to bite the end off, he opened his mouth, leaving me with a mouthful of soggy, pre-chewed fry. Well played, son.

Once everyone had eaten enough, we got on the road and drove home. This upset Dekker quite a bit. He didn’t feel ready to go home and sleep. However, it was 8:00 as we were leaving, and they’re normally tucked away by 7:30, so we are more than confident that it was time. He cried, and said things like “I don’t like our house!” to which we replied with “Well, hopefully we’re moving soon” and that seemed to quiet him down. He gave us our biggest laugh of the evening (this might sound cruel) when we beard him burst out crying in the backseat, and scream “I dropped the ball!” Brady and I couldn’t help but laugh 🙂 I wish we could all just announce it when we screw the pooch. Dekker’s got it down.

We got home and put Rowan on the table in his car seat while we went to get the kids to bed. Once in jammies, Dekker asked to kiss Rowan. I know my kid likes to stall, but this was a pretty awesome request, so I said that would be lovely, and I’d go get him. Dekker said not to worry, that he would go get Rowan. I asked if maybe I could come with him, and he said “Uh…sure mommy.” So I walked out to the dining room with him, where he pulled a chair out from the table, climbed up, grabbed Rowans face on both sides, and planted a big kiss right in the middle, before saying “Sleep well, Rowan,” he climbed back down, pushed the chair in, and took my hand to walk back to their room. Amazing.

Now, Dekker and Laela are in bed and mostly asleep, I think. A bath is run, and we woke Rowan to feed him, so maybe he’ll have some awake time now. He’s slept so much, being out of the house and in his car seat, that he hasn’t eaten much. Might not be our best night yet, but my husband is home tomorrow 🙂 And for a little while still, which is awesome, so a few rocky nights aren’t going to set any of us back too far at all. Yay!

So the moral of the story of today is that we are SO RICH! I am completely thrilled to have the people around me that I have, and I feel incredibly grateful to have my own little growing family. My kids all play well together and love each other, and I’m a pretty big fan of them and their dad as well. We have a good thing going on here, and I feel incredibly rich in love today.

God is so good <3