Brady is beside me, feeding Rowan EIGHT OUNCES! Ro has never eaten more than six, but today was a crazy day! And I mean that is a fabulous way! But Rowan was sort of napping on and off, and didn’t get a ton to eat because he kept falling asleep during his feedings. It was worth it, though. The kids are all wiped, but super hopped up on adrenaline. All. Of. Them.

My hometown opened a big park this year and the official dedication and grand opening was today. We wanted to go be part of the festivities, but we know how brutally shy our kids, especially Dekker, can be. So we figured we’d mosey on over, and if it all seemed too overwhelming, we’d just move on and go for a really nice walk around town.

We were completely surprised when they just dove right in. Laela went down the tall slide with me once before she wanted to go by herself. She is only twenty months old, and I figured she would need a lot more assistance than she did. She loved the slide so much, but the big win for Laela was the curb surrounding the new structures. She did laps. Slow, adorable laps. It was all about trying to balance, and she was quite determined. Dekker loved the slides as well, but there were also ladders to climb, a fire truck to drive, and swings to play on. There was a crazy futuristic merry-go-round thing that he wanted in on at one point but he got a bit nervous watching it spin around, filled with children, and decided just to watch instead. But by the end of the couple of hours we spent there, he would run through groups of kids, go off on his own, and he even hugged the mascot! I NEVER would have expected him to hug the mascot! Best. Day. Ever.

We stopped at my parents place afterwards to nap the kids. They weren’t home today, so we just lurked for a bit on our own. Bet you didn’t know that, mom and dad! We were all creepy and didn’t leave a note, haha! Anyway, we tried to feed Rowan, since he hadn’t been fed the whole time we were at the park, but he was too sleepy to notice.

We hit up the city afterwards, just for a few quick things. Diapers, milk, and just because we were already there, we figured we’d clean the few non-essential groceries off of our list. We ended up going out for a quick supper, and then hitting Superstore for those few things, and the yummy cookies they always get at the bakery for their dessert. Lucky kids, they had m&m cookies tonight!!

We made a quick drive back through town before going home, since my parents had arrived home and we wanted to quickly drop something off. We were pleased to see the most gorgeous rainbow on our way out to the highway 😀 Its always a treat. One end was even a double rainbow!!

As I mentioned, the kids are wired. Wired and tired. Rowan ate his full eight ounces, which is insane and awesome. Dekker is talking away, and Laela is telling him to quiet down, in her own way 🙂 Everyone is happy, at least. I wish they would just go to sleep and feel all refreshed, but I’m happy to hear Dekker talking about his day. They grew so much today.

I’ve really enjoyed today 🙂 I was nervous going into this weekend, and its probably seemed, because I was going to lose Brady for a good chunk of the day to our driveway to work on his van. I am so pleased to report that things have gone way smoother than expected. I had afternoon plans, and Brady got the vast majority of the work done by 12:45, so he could come in, wash up, and I could go. He’ll do a bit more work here in a few minutes, but its so nice that its the time of year that we have daylight for longer. And again, seeing how the first chunk of the work went, I have high hopes for this next bit. Knock on wood I’m not completely jinxing it.

I drove into the city to go to Jerilee’s open house. She sells Mary Kay now, and was hosting a get together so her customers could see the new line of products. It was fun to hang out at her place for a bit, eat snacks, visit, and of course, shop. I came out of it with a new blush/highlight combo, a purple lip/cheek stick, a spray lotion, a fragrance, and I have a foundation on order. Not too shabby, I’d say! I definitely overstayed my welcome before leaving and heading onto my next stop – Value Village.

I ordered Jerilee’s birthday present months ago, and it FINALLY came in the mail a day or two ago!! Good thing, since her birthday is next week! However, in the process of getting the house ready for sale, I either packed or chucked all of our gift bags and pretty much every box ever. So I thought Value Village would maybe offer me a unique type of “wrapping” for her gift. And honestly, it absolutely did! I am so please with what I found 🙂 I also snagged two shirts, a large bag of pre-strung fake pearls (for something artsy, I think) and a wristlet/wallet. Best of all, I only spent around $25! Woot!

I grabbed some Tims coffees on the way home and was greeted excitedly at the door by happy, clean kids. Well, two of them were happy and clean. One was sleeping and cleaning. I like both of those scenarios, though, so I was thrilled. Lots of hugs and cuddles and curious glances thrown towards the bags I was carrying. They’re so cute, and say still while I showed them what I bought. Dekker asked to see it all again, but when I told him once was probably enough, he said “Oh, ok mommy. You’re nesclate (necklace) looks really pretty,” and he was off.

The evening was filled with lots of happy games, mac and cheese, and cozy jammies. Ro has been sleeping like there will be a million tomorrows and he couldn’t care less for today, which is pretty awesome actually. I miss him a bit when he does that, but I actually think he’s teething, so he’s more than welcome to sleep through all of that. But the kids are all quiet, and Brady is back out working, and I think he’s having success, so YAY! I’m looking forward to a soak and a coffee. That just feels like the perfect way to end this day!

I’m not sure what it is, but Brady and I have both been saying all week “Today feels like a Friday.” That can make for a pretty long week, I’m sure you can relate. Unfortunately, we learned this week that Bradys work van has a bunch of work that needs to be done on it. I had very high hopes for a family Saturday at the zoo, or somewhere else fun and relaxed. I would rather NOT spend a thousand dollars (literally) on a mechanic if Brady can repair it himself for a couple hundred instead, so while the answer is usually supposed to be “You can’t put a price on family time,” this time, you can. So we’ll lose our Saturday all together, which is sad, but we’ll still make the best of it and have a good day 🙂 Just a different kind of day than we were hoping for.

Because of this newfound information, our Sunday plans have changed as well. We were hoping to join our church for a Sunday morning spent at camp, and enjoy the camp music, camp food, and camp shenanigans in the afternoon. Now that would still be fun, but with the kids not being able to nap or rest anywhere at camp, we thought it would be nice if our day spent together as a family was a bit more relaxed, but still fun. SO! My hometown is having a grand opening of a new park, and its going to be quite an event, with food, bouncy castles, a train, the playground (obviously) and I don’t even know what else. I think we’ll meander our way out there on Sunday and check that out. Whether we stay or just keep walking, it will be good to get out without any real expectations or restrictions.

Knowing that tomorrow is finally Saturday, but won’t really be a Saturday, is a bit of a bummer for me. When I say Brady has a full day of work, I’m not kidding. So its not really a thing where the kids can run around and “participate” in the fixing. I am 110% confident that Brady will be happy to include the kids in stuff like that down the line, but even on his own, it would be pretty impressive if he got it all done in one day. So maybe next time, kidlets.

So while every other day this week has felt like a Friday, I’m thinking today is more like a Thursday. Does that make sense?

Next weekend will be sweet 🙂 Girls trip with Jerilee!!!!!

In case you aren’t a regular reader, you might not know we’re trying to sell our house. *rolls eyes* I’m pretty sure the entire world knows by this point. We are ready to move on to our next place, and while we haven’t been listed long, it feels like its been years. Our ad went up on Monday and I have to hold myself back from texting my realtor and inquire if he’s got any leads. Because everyone HATES that person. I’m confident that I would know if someone was wanting to come see it. But we wait. And I twiddle my thumbs.

So today, I started doing this silly thing. I’m not sure if its actually a good idea, or a bad one, but I think it works on two levels. I’ve said to my family for a while now that I have a really big desire to be able to throw parties at my house for all of the people that I love. Now, I know I can do that here too. My house is a completely respectable size, and there wouldn’t be anything really holding us back. However, we’re pretty far away and our company often has to leave a bit early due to the length of the drive, or the weather conditions, if its winter. I hate that. Also, straight up, I want to entertain this hypothetical group of people somewhere that I am happy and joyful and proud of. I really really want to entertain people in the house that we have been dreaming of for the past three or four years.

Yes. I’m planning a party. A party for everyone. Seriously. My desire is for this party to be a housewarming party in our new location. If you’re reading this and thinking “Well, she doesn’t mean me, she doesn’t even know I read this,” I mean you!! YOU are invited!!! I’m Pinteresting the kids nap time away, looking at DELICIOUS food ideas, favors, decor, etc. I’m thinking games are lame, yes? Anyway, I know its May, and this all sounds nuts, but seriously, this is my very real desire. I’ve been saying this whole time that I want to be in our new house by Christmas, and if we do get to build, our timeline is getting tighter and tighter. The reality is that it will be a winter party, which I am more than fine with!

We all know that there is a possibility that my house won’t be sold in time (but not a big one, right Chris?) so I’m thinking that, if we’re still here through the winter, then we’ll just shift gears a teeny bit and instead, throw a really great Christmas party!!

Deal? Is everyone coming??

My mom came over to play this morning, which was SUCH a treat! We haven’t had her out in our neck of the woods recently, so it was special to have her over, in our home for a couple of hours. We visited and caught up a bit, and the kids demanded every ounce of attention they could possibly squeeze out of her, which I think she enjoyed. An Old Navy parcel that we ordered together came, so we dismantled it together and picked and chose what to keep and send back. I got some great bathing suit bottoms and a rashguard, but weirdly enough, the bathing suit tops didn’t look nice at all, so they went back in the bag.

Mom left, and the kids and I some snacks for lunch, like always. Then I brought them Rowan and they were occupied while I ran around, getting the diaper bag packed and myself made up. I got dressed and brought an armful of clothes downstairs to dress them. And then, I was way too efficient, so I attempted to feed Rowan a bit more. When it was finally time to go, Dekker insisted on holding Laela’s hand, once again, this time helping her to the van. I love watching him help her in. He just gets right under her and pushes her bum as high up as he can 🙂 No shame. I love it. Anyway, we got to the city, where we met Brady and drove together to my wax appointment. As I’ve said, I love my waxing girl. I feel like I have the best of the business in just about everything. Waxing, hair, doctor, chiro, dental, vision, etc. I had a nice relaxing appointment (not even kidding) and was out in record time with fresh legs and arms, and we were onto the next place.

Most of our evening was pretty boring for the kids, I think, because it was a lot of one of us just running in somewhere for one thing while the rest of us sat in the van. However, we made it good with lots of music and toys and then going out to eat. They ate so well, and were SO well behaved. But especially Laela was wearing thin. It got to a point where she would be in mid bite, and her eyes would well up, she would choke back her tears, and keep eating. She was so done. The curse of no naps for these kids.

They slept on the drive home, so I could listen to my latest song on repeat, like I like to do.

It was a bit discouraging to come home to fresh truck tire tracks across our yard again but we’re working so hard to be positive 🙁 We hauled everything into the house, and I had a really nice visit with our neighbour over the fence. Of course, I got all caught up in it, and Brady got the kids diapered and dressed for bed. I thought for sure they’d be down by the time I got in, but they were still up. Apparently Laela had been a bit uncertain and was calling for me over and over. As soon as I entered their room, I sat on the floor, and she came up and sat on my lap with her blanket. I hugged her for a few seconds, and then she was good to go. Just wanted her mommy for a minute 🙂 I loved that.

We’re all tucked in finally, with a bath running to soak my freshly waxed legs in. I’m happy with today. I visited my mom, had some VERY proud moments with my kids, I made a few really fun purchases, and snagged a free playpen off of a buy and sell page! So many pros. So many!

Hopefully the sun keeps shining (literally and figuratively) and the days just get better and better from here on out!

Brady came home in the late afternoon, got cleaned up, and we all spent the evening in the city together. It was so nice to just get out of our house and do something for fun. We were bringing something out for a friend, so we did that first, and then went to Montana’s for supper. Kids eat free on Tuesdays!!!

I won’t waste too much time telling you what we all ate and how it played out, but I like to think we were the best looking table they had tonight.

We couldn’t get Ro to look at the camera but there was obviously a lot going on around him. Seriously, all of the kids got a lot of attention 🙂 For obvious reasons.

Everyone loves a cookie the size of their own head!

Someone over here didn’t need a cookie…

Montana’s was our main spot to hit, but we dropped into Walmart on our way home, just because it seemed too early to go home, even though it was already past their bedtime. But they were still friendly and energetic, so we picked up a small handful of things that we sort of needed sometime down the line, and today was as good as any. I wrote on Facebook a while back that I actually had a dream that all of my laundry baskets matched (how lame am I?!) so we grabbed another one of our laundry baskets off the shelf so we can FINALLY throw away our broken, unmatching blue one. We paid for our stuff, bought some iced coffees, and were on our way.

It was the cutest drive home ever.

I melt. I love these kids.

It was even better when we got home.

The big kids went down to bed pretty smoothly, even though they were sad. Once they were laid down, we went to get Rowan ready for bed, and were greeted with yet one last happy child 🙂

Today was a good day. I love my family and the life we have. Thank you, Lord.

I found myself tempted to let today be the very first day in the history of The Daily Hailey that I didn’t put up a post. It was that good of a day. However, I’ve decided to blow past it and instead just share a few picture from the day 🙂

Brady got me flowers for Mothers Day and they’re starting to wilt. They’re easily the best looking dead/dying flowers I’ve ever had. The leaves and grass are getting brittle, but are just showing streaks of yellow, which is SO much nicer than the ugly brown alternative. The flowers themselves are just looking BEAUTIFUL, though.

Ok, this one isn’t dying yet, but I thought it was gorgeous. I also like how I have an unbelievable camera now that can take clearer, more detailed shots.

Boom. Thanks, Canon.

I took these pictures first thing this morning before everything else fell apart around here. These last pictures were taken over supper, as things were starting to even out finally. Yes, we gave our kids eggs and toast for supper. No judgement.

Jam face.

I’m so thrilled that Dekker loves my jam so much. I make a mean pineapple jam, and he requests it over the store bought berry jams.

Laela preferred to pick all of the pineapple hunks off of the jam first, and wear the rest of it. But she ate the majority of it, so thats what counts.

There you have them – my two positive points in the day. My happy kids, and the flowers that brighten up my kitchen, even on a lousy day.

There is still good in the world!!!

Rowan slept through the night last weekend while we were away, but since getting back home, he has resumed his routine of his midnight/early morning feeding. I’m not too hellbent on him sleeping through yet, though it would be lovely. But last night, he slept through! It was such a pleasant surprise, yet we have no idea what the difference was. He usually wakes up in the night between 1:00 and 2:00, and we hadn’t done anything different yesterday night. But hey, I won’t question it!! It was SO nice. He had 6oz right before bed, which is bigger than his usual bottle, so maybe *knock on wood* we’ll get another full night?? That would be so great…

Unfortunately, the full nights sleep didn’t seem to have helped the other kids happy, because it wasn’t probably our rockiest Sunday in a while. They were super loud in church, and we had some solid attitude problems during the day. Looking back on it now, it probably wasn’t as bad as it felt it was in the moment. I’m glad our rough days really aren’t too bad in retrospect.

Now that we’re home and everyone is tucked in, I’m feeling invigorated. Our MLS listing goes up tomorrow and, as I think I’ve mentioned, we’ve decided to sell our house by this weekend. So let’s pray for that 😉

Lastly, upon arriving home, Brady and I got to watch a YouTube video that we’ve been anticipating for some time now. I wrote about a family several months back who struggled with infertility who fell pregnant with their second baby on their own. I have felt so joyful for them, and have watched their videos along the way. They had their second baby boy last night, and the video was up maybe twenty minutes after we got home. It was SUCH a beautiful video. I cried. I’ll throw the link up here, just in case someone could use a heartwarming pick me up 🙂

I hope you all have a great start to the week! Opt for optimism.

I want to post mostly about the new ‘dos that Brady and I are rocking, but first, look!!!

Our house looks beautiful! Don’t worry, we have mowed since then 🙂 It’ll be all nice and fresh and clean when the ad is officially up on Monday, and hopefully it’ll still be looking that fresh when it sells! Please keep praying that we sell. Its so our time to move on to our next adventure, and to really find ourselves a forever home.

Now, onto the new hair!! Brady hasn’t even had a trim in years, so this little cleanup did a lot, I’d say. He looks so fresh and ready for Spring!

Before…..

And after!

I’m so thankful he kept it nice and long, but he says it feels so much lighter. I’m happy he’s happy. He said that she barely even cut anything off, but when I told her that, she had a good laugh and said she took off a pretty decent chunk. Its just so beautifully cleaned up 🙂

My turn! Before…..

And after!!!

This is easily the most fun cut and color I’ve come out of there with in a while, and I really like it. I feel a hundred times more ready for the warm weather, way lighter, and frankly, I feel a lot more fun with the color. SO much fun! It will fade out before my next appointment, so I can choose it again and have it all refreshed, or I can opt for pretty much any other color!

After haircuts, the kids were pretty finished so we’re home now, and everyone is fairly hands on. The one pro of no naps is an earlier bedtime for everyone! Can’t wait!!

I reeeaaally don’t like posting anything too controversial on here, so if you’re a fighter, please please keep it to yourself on this one. I know I’m not going to word everything right, and I may mostly just ramble without actually saying anything, but I want to put this out there. I know it probably seems silly to get so worked up about something that doesn’t have a direct effect on me (at least thats usually my rule of thumb for getting worked up) but I’m really sad and I need to get some of it out.

Josh Duggar. I’m sure a lot of you have seen bits and pieces of whats going on. It was recently discovered, through the illegal release of information, that the oldest brother from the show “19 Kids and Counting” was charged with molestation twelve years ago.

Let’s pick that apart before going any further, shall we?

It was discovered through the illegal release of information. Somehow (I can’t even keep it all straight) the Springdale Police Department leaked information relating back to Josh (age 15) and the victims, who were younger than him. ALL of them were minors. That alone covered their privacy. On top of that, the statute of limitations, three years, had passed. Like I said, this was twelve years ago. His record was expunged. Whoever released this information was obviously looking for money and to stir the pot. Well, consider it stirred.

Since this info came out, Josh has stepped down from his job, and their show has been pulled off the air. Talk about their “normal” being turned upside down! Yes, they’re “just people on tv,” but they’re a very real family, and these kind of things coming out of the woodwork must be brutally difficult on them.

Before anyone gets riled up, let me just say this. I AM IN NO WAY SUGGESTING THAT HE IS INNOCENT! He really, really screwed up. Best of all, he knows it! People need to pay for their crappy decisions. Best of all, HE DID. But say what you will about him.

Or rather, don’t. Because everyone else is.

The main reason I wanted to write this post is not so we could all bash him, or go the other way and be for him, or really have much of an opinion at al, I suppose. I found myself feeling incredibly emotional after reading these news reports and the awful, awful comments below them. People want his blood for this! They are using awful names, telling his family to bail on him, and even making very inappropriate comments about how his sister should be careful in their skirts around him. MY GOSH! One of the haters favorites runs along the lines of “Believing in God doesn’t make it ok!” I won’t delve into that one too deep because, as a Christian, I see red. What a STUPID statement. No one is saying that!!!! Yes, in the statement, the family talks about praying for forgiveness, and repenting, and the fact that we are covered with Gods grace. Whether you believe that or not, that is not the only road to recovery he travelled. It is a part that was important to their family. Leave their faith alone!!

Basically, whether you support the family or want them to be burned for their mistakes, I guess I’d just challenge you to look at it a different way. Take your very worst mistake – the reeeaaally awful and embarrassing one you try not to even think about – and imagine it splashed out into the world for everyone to see. A mistake that you have paid for, learned from, and probably will continue to repair all of your life, and have it public all across the world. All of a sudden, everyone hates you. We have all made huge mistakes, and I find it hard to believe that all of the haters out there have pearly white pasts. We have no right to judge each other.

On one last level, consider the girls he hurt. Of course, they are victims in this. While that makes many people even thirstier for blood, I can’t help but think that having to relive this now, day after day, would be horrific for them. I don’t want to speak too much on this, because I get worked up either way. I feel like this media storm is pouring down on both parties.

I love a lot of things about the Duggar family, and still do. I’m very very sad they’ve been pulled off the air.

#teamduggar