While I don’t have pictures to share of the serious Bachelorette date we had with Jerilee this evening, I do have a few pictures from earlier today. Not too many, or anything super duper riveting, but I have some adorable ones from after the kids took a bath, and also, from the flowers around our place. I only have a few lovely flowers that I make any attempt to maintain, but I really love those few.

But first, this is how things look immediately after bath time. Definitely my favorite thing about bath time 🙂

Laela has taken a very serious liking to the new/old chair we picked up recently, so I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of her. She is so sweet and soft and photogenic.

*sigh* Love her.

As for our flowers, like I mentioned, I only have a few.

First, my day lilies. They were given to me by a friend a few years back and they grow on either side of the stairs up to my home. So far this year, they’re a bit uneven :/ One side is blooming beautifully and looks like it might already be on its way out, and the other side is mostly just buds. Who knows. But what we do have is pretty beautiful.

The next ones are our random peonies that grow next to the house, almost under the garage. I LOVE peonies. Some years, we get one, and other years, we get lots and lots of different colors. So far, we just have buds, but there are LOTS!

Lastly, my rose bush in the front yard has started. But the time I found out there was a rose on it, it was pretty done. I had to hold it up for the picture.

Of course, the second I let go, it did this…..

So that was awkward. Luckily, there are more on the way!

Its nice to see some colorful summer things taking shape in and around our home. Maybe someone will see them and love them, and want to buy them and they house around which they reside.

I have appreciated the well wishes from you guys for my kids and our family. I thought I’d update you and let you know just how sick everyone is and/or isn’t.

Brady isn’t sick. Of course. And if he got sick, he’d get over it on the weekend. That man recovers SO quickly!

I’m ok. I have a tickle in my throat, which isn’t my fave, and I’ve blown my nose a few times today, so it could either be coming, or maybe this is as bad as I’ll get? I haven’t had a good nasty cold in a while, so its definitely my turn…

Dekker is the snottiest of all of us. Today seems to be his emotional breakdown day. Its partly sad, and partly endearing. Just about anything can set him off today, but not in a screaming rage kind of way. Just in a bottom lip quivering kind of way. And can easily be fixed up with some cuddles, soft words, and made up words 🙂 Those are his favorite right now.

Laela is constantly crusted over with snot and tears, but she’s playing beautifully and happily, and doesn’t seem too bothered by her cold. She is the one of the three who haven’t required any medication yet. She’s just toughing it out. The only part that makes her upset is when I wipe her nose. So she’s definitely taking it like a champ and is still pretty friendly!

Ro is a hard one to read, which makes sense, since he’s the least communicative. He has no visible snot, and rarely coughs, but he is so growly. He’s not sleeping awesome, but is in obvious need for as much as he can get. And for the life of me, I CANNOT get milk into him!!! He’s eaten maybe half of what he’s normally had at this point in the day. And I mean, its fine, but it just bugs me! My mom reminds me that this is what Dekker always did as a baby when he got sick. He slept. He woke up to eat once in a while, and then slept again. I guess I should be thankful that he’s not been miserable and awake when he needs to be sleeping. He can still lay on his back and sleep comfortably, it seems, so I’m thankful for that. And even with that cold inevitably brewing inside of him, he’s still so dapper and charming.

I love my troop over here. We’re making it!

A while back, my mom and I had a really awesome shopping day together. Mothers day, to be exact. We had great success, but we didn’t quite get everywhere we were hoping to go. My mom is going on a trip soon, and she needed a few staple summer clothes, among other things, so we planned for one more shopping date before her trip.

It came!!! I was getting my makeup on while the sick kiddos napped when I checked my Canada Post tracking and found out that my Ipsy bag arrived today!! In case I haven’t explained it in the past, Ipsy is a makeup subscription that I get each month. It comes with a small zippered makeup bag, and four or five sample products, with the promise of one being a full sized product. Brady picked it up from the post office on his way home, and I promptly tucked its bright pinkness into my purse and brought it with me to my moms.

The contents were really good 🙂

From top to bottom, left to right, I got a vitamin C oil to rub on my face, a gel type nail polish in a bright red color called “alarm,” an eye shadow stick that claims to green but is really more of a gold/charcoal color, a Too Faced melted lipstick in “Melted Candy,” and some face masks. The bag is neoprene with a neon pink zipper. Boom. I’m pretty excited to play with most of this 🙂 My mom and I had such a nice time out and about. We only had a few places in mind where we wanted to go, and fun surprise, most of them were closed. *rolls eyes* Not our finest moment. However, it worked out so well! The few places we hit were incredibly successful! My mom got some wonderful pieces to fill out exactly what she needed, and I even got my hands on – you guess it! – makeup!

I wasn’t being unreasonable, I promise. I have been waiting for this particular mascara to come back in stock for a while, and it finally did! As I perused the rest of the display, I decided to snag a micro brow pencil since mine is a weird color. And yay for Nyx! Because I spent $20 today, for whatever reason, I got a free lipstick! I got this weird purple lilacy dusty color that looks a bit lame in the picture but pretty awesome on 🙂 Tame but not at the same time.

We grabbed some Starbucks, a few groceries, and headed back to my moms. She tried on a few things she hadn’t had a chance to try yet, and I showed her a few music videos on YouTube before we went our separate ways. What a fabulous evening! I’m feeling so refreshed and happy after an outing and some date time with my mom. All is well in this house.

Well, despite the fact that we all slept better than we expected, all three of the littles are now down for the count. They’re all still quite friendly and in good spirits, but they’re noses are flowing and the dry cough is almost a constant white noise. Good fun.

I expect to be graced with its presence in the next few days, but hopefully not quite yet. If I could still be healthy tomorrow, that would be great, because my mom and I are going on a date, but then I could be sick Thursday to Saturday, and if I could be healthy again for Fathers Day, that would be great. Sooo if any of you have any say about that kind of thing, put in a good word for me!

Lastly, as I type this, I’m texting the always lovely Jerilee, and we’re talking about having a barbecue together. Its making me really REALLY excited and hungry and wanting to host some type of gathering. Anyone? Anyone? Burgers, grilled veggies, long island iced tea, maybe corn on the cob? YUM.

You’d think I hadn’t eaten supper yet, but you’d be wrong. I just REALLY want barbecue now.

Its been SUCH a weird morning!! All the kids are a bit off of their schedules from our big Saturday with family, and then no nap again on Sunday, so we expected a bit of backlash from that. Its part of having kids, as well as additional things going on in your life! Right? Thats what I hear, anyway.

Rowan woke up to eat around 1:00am, and then again shortly after 6:00am, which I still prefer to consider the night. He, however, loves this new thing where he’s awake from 6:00-7:30 and then goes back down for a few hours. Strangely, that is not my favorite time of the day to be awake, but such is life. I can work with it. So I had a decently early morning with my poor teething little guy. His day hasn’t run particularly smoothly.

Once he was back down, Dekker and Laela were awake in their room so I went in for them. Laela greeted me with such a big smile and “HI!” Her boogers also greeted me in a big way, running all down her chin and stringing over her mouth zombie-style. Its a shame, really, for her mouth is one I dearly love to kiss.

So that was two out of three down for the count. Thankfully, my Dekker Thomas was chipper and healthy, and didn’t really use the situation to his advantage. Instead of vying for extra attention, he’s kept to himself somewhat and played very well.

I am SO thankful for my children! Even on days like these, I see so many things that I am blessed by. Laela dripping her way over to Rowan with a burp pad when she sees he spat up a little. Dekker telling Laela how pretty she is. I’m SO thankful that my kids are obedient. Laela truly hates having her nose wiped, but never once have I had to chase her down. Sometimes when I would ask her to come have her nose wiped, she’s say “no,” but hers is the CUTEST “no” out there. Its new 🙂 But when I would reply with “Yes, come now please” she just does! Its awesome. I’m so thankful that my kids sleep when they’re sick. I’m under the impression that lots of kids struggle to sleep when they feel so bad, but mine prefer to sleep through it and wake up feeling better on the other side. So when Rowan really started giving her, all I had to do was wrap him up and he was silent. Didn’t even whimper when I lay him down. And I’m so very thankful for Dekker, being my big helper, watching out for his siblings, and not really asking for anything. Until about 12:45.

The kids usually nap around 1:00, so they had a bit of time left, when Dekker kind of rolled into the playmat that was set up for Rowan, and knocked it over. Rowan was already upstairs sleeping, so I wasn’t concerned at all, and didn’t really pay attention to it. Dekker, however, was ticked, and burst out crying. I was very gentle with him and told him it was completely ok that the toy arch thing fell over. No big deal whatsoever! But he started to struggle with it, trying to put it back together. Unfortunately, its not as easy as just lifting it, but things have to go in places, and it just takes a bit of coordination that he hasn’t learned yet. I went to him and tried to show him how he could do it, but he wouldn’t relax. I asked him why he was so upset, and he just dropped his hands at his sides and cried “I don’t know!”

So in the moment, it made matters worse, but we all hauled ourselves upstairs and I tucked them in. I didn’t hear a single peep, not one complaint, nothing. It surprised me that my healthy one was the one who fell apart in the end, but I hadn’t even considered that he may be battling it too, but just be a few hours behind. Who knows what we’ll find when they all wake up…

So, two out of three are sick, one is likely on his way, and I’m pretty sure there is very little hope for Brady and I. All three are sleeping, but Ro is stirring quite a bit since he wouldn’t have it and was asleep earlier than usual. Brady is discouraged at work, and I’m freezing and sleepy from being up since 6:00. I know thats normal to many people, but not to me. I suppose things change…

Anyway, think of us! We’re already sick and tired of being sick and tired, and its only day one. But its a Monday, so it feels more like day five.

The plan for today was outdoor church this morning and playing the afternoon by ear. However, after such a fun and busy day yesterday, Rowan had a really brutal night. We discussed our plans at 5:00 this morning, and decided that our zombie feelings paired with the promise of the heat not rising above ten degrees were enough to keep us home.

But of course, if you know me, you know my affinity for the rain, and being out in rainy overcast weather. So we took our sweet time getting ready for the day, and ventured out to the city. We had a truly lovely day out and about in the grey, and while we accomplished a few good things, we were still able to get home in good time before supper, with still lots of playtime. It was a wonderful day!

A couple of little points of interest 🙂

I couldn’t resist a beautiful little sleeper at Costco, and I learned that Rowan fits into six month things very well! I know, many kids do at this point , especially my chunky ones, but I have been holding onto the three month stuff with a vengeance. However, his three month sleepers are beginning to have plunging necklines. This new sleeper definitely points out that its time to find him some new jammies. Big boy!

On a completely different note, our cashier at Sueprstore mentioned that the granola bars we were buying not only were on sale, but had a coupon for an additional $2 off, and she took her time ringing our stuff through so I could run and grab a couple. How nice is that?! I never look at those coupon tear pads, and I wonder how often I miss deals! So nice of her.

Last exciting thing of the day is that we bought a chair 🙂 A really cool one! This weekend, our town put on garage sales. We had family out, so we weren’t around home that day and missed the event. Today, lots of people around town were posting what they had left on our Facebook Buy & Sell page, and I saw this beautiful antique clam back chair for a really good price! We jumped all over it. I’m SO excited to find it a place in our home!! I’m not sure what my exact plan for it is, but its so cool looking now, and would also be awesome reupholstered. Its a pretty lofty goal for me though. I’ve only ever redone my dining chairs, and that was with Jerilee and some additional help from someone VERY skilled in the business. SOOO that might take a while. But I’m really excited to have it around, and use it in the meantime.

The end. I think thats all I have to share today. It was a great day, and I feel really positive right now. Best of all, I JUST remembered that Brady and I have double doubles for the tub!! Yes please!

A pretty exciting thing happened today!

We spent the day at my parents house, visiting with them, as well as my brother, sister in law, and their two boys. We haven’t seen their family in around a year, which is CRAZY! It was super important to catch up a bit as soon as possible, and get them acquainted with Rowan. It was a lovely visit, and all five of the kids did well together. I never put big expectations on that type of scenario, because they are five kids under five, and one can only “expect” so much. Dekker has always been shy, and when he’s spent time with some of his other cousins, he gravitates towards the older ones. This Christmas, he was three, and loved his eight year old cousin. He was more and more timid, it seemed, the closer they got to him in age, which was actually really sad, since he would hug the older boys but not the younger one. Lots of crying.

I know Simon and Grace’s oldest son especially has tried to engage Dekker in the past, only to be rejected time and time again. At once point today, though, he asked Dekker if he wanted to come play downstairs. I actually watched Dekker’s face as he thought about it, and then he said “Ya. I’d like to.” And they went! It wasn’t long before Laela joined them. No one dared go downstairs and watch, or take pictures, or anything of the sort, for fear of disturbing the fun and tempting someone to head back upstairs.

NOT ONCE was there an argument, or any crying. We eventually had to go bring everyone upstairs for dessert, of all things! It was pretty epic, in my opinion. It went SO smoothly, and compared to Dekker being too shy to even speak to his cousins, this was a vast improvement! I’m so excited to see what the future has in store for all of these beautiful kids 🙂

Thanks, boys, for including Laela in the fun 🙂 I know how much she loved it!

This morning, I had all the kids settled playing downstairs, and I ventured upstairs to get some breakfast. I felt a bit weary, as many of us do in the mornings. Nothing new. I decided it was close enough to lunch that I could justify having leftovers, and I warmed up some leftover perogies and gravy. Don’t judge.

By the time I got back downstairs, Rowan was starting to fuss a little bit on his play may. I deflated a little, knowing that time to eat my hot food was already almost over. I’ve never really had this stereotypical issue with having kids keeping me from eating hot food. At least, its never bothered me, really. But today, man, I wanted it! Maybe it was a bad parenting move, I don’t know, but I asked Dekker if he would mind sitting beside Rowan for a minute. Ro loves his siblings, and calms down quite a bit when they come join him. Dekker came over immediately, and sat beside Rowans mat, talking quietly. He never tells me what he’s saying, and if I get too close, he stops. But thats cool. I like that special thing they share.

I ate as fast as I dared, and Dekker stayed put beside Ro, though I could tell he was just about finished. I ran upstairs once I was done eating to go make a bottle, and when I came back down, Laela was sitting to the other side of Rowan. He was in his glory with a sibling on each side, and was no longer fussing even at all. I quietly sat down and waited until they all dispersed, and only then did I pluck Ro off the floor and feed him his milk.

There is this stigma attached to big families that suggests that the siblings raise each other. I almost hesitate to post this because I don’t want people to think thats how we parent. It isn’t! So instead, I’m posting it, hoping to show just how loving my babes are, and how that situation would have been different had I immediately rushed to Rowans side and fed him his milk until he fell asleep. I’m SO glad I asked Dekker to help calm him, because it was a proud moment for my mommy heart!

…And I got to eat perogies for breakfast, which was nice too…

I had a bit of a laugh this afternoon while putting on my makeup. Well, to be fair, I was just about done. I had done everything but the lips, and i was running on a bit of a timeline. I knew how long I had for each thing, those things being getting myself ready, waking and feeding Rowan, and getting the older kids up, dressed, and out the door. I had enough time, but not much extra at all. Anyway, when I had finished my face up, minus my lips, I discovered that I was rocking two incredibly different eyebrows.

Because of my time crunch, I came to terms with the fact that my eyebrows are sisters, but they aren’t twins, I thanked God for my glasses that would camouflage them for the most part, and I kept on moving. I really like my funky glasses, but sometimes I feel like putting them on takes away the “pretty” and changes it to “funky.” I like both looks, but I sometimes get sad when I work so hard to soften my look, only to have it hidden behind my big glasses. Today, though, they worked in my favor, haha!

I took the kids to the city and picked Brady up. We didn’t have too much to do, but getting my back fixed was priority one. For some reason, the last week or so, I’ve had this crazy ache in my shoulder and neck when I’d take in a deep breath. Brady and I both figured it was a rib out. As the days wore on, I found myself more grouchy in the mornings and evenings, and totally unable to lay on my right side anymore. We went to Dr. Mike’s first, and instead of just quickly running in on my own, Dekker was quite insistent that he wanted to come. So he did! He and I went in together, just the two of us, and it was actually really pleasant. He was still a bit shy, so he sat on my lap until I got up for my treatment, but he sat very politely and quietly. Dr. Mike pointed out fairly quietly that he was doing really well, and wasn’t so scared as the last time. He said it seemed like Dekker’s confidence had really started to show, and I agreed. He said under his breath “He really looks good. He’s coming into his own.” I love that someone who sees him so rarely can tell and understand. He’s a good man.

After chiro, we ducked into a couple of stores, and then Wendys for supper. They did great, as usual. Our last place to hit was actually the show home for the builder Brady works for. Believe it or not, I haven’t been through this particular one, and they’re in the process of selling it, I think, and building a new one. Conveniently, it stays open nice and late, so we figured we’d wander through. The kids loved the new space and all the staging. They wanted to go back upstairs at the end and look over it all again. They were sad to leave, but it was nice to finally walk through and see it before it sold.

The kids were pretty sad to head home, but they came in holding hands and actually went down decently well. Rowan has eaten like a little piggy all day, so hopefully he’ll have a good sleep, and hopefully its soon so Brady and I can still have a soak! And a coffee. Because the only thing that can make a bubble bath any better is a double double.

Delish.