I felt really really productive today. Finally! Its hard to get motivated at home in the day by myself, but today I was just overwhelmed enough by all that is coming up that I used those feelings for good, and I got stuff done. I did all of our laundry, I baked, I started some packing, I wrapped a few presents, and on top of that, I played with the kids, spent time with them, fed them, and I can confidently say I loved them up really well 🙂 They seemed happy at the end of the day. On top of those things, I worked with Rowan to get him eating more, and he did pretty good! He didn’t drink too much at all, but he had a couple of good poops that tell me that he’s still decently hydrated. Sorry for those of you who don’t want to hear about his poop. Its a big deal these days! But it was a good day for getting stuff done.

I’m feeling solidly successful, and I have that nice achy feeling radiating through me that says I’ve accomplished a lot. As things tend to work these days, however, my rewarding ache is a bit achier than I would prefer. My back is fairly sore, and my right leg may as well no longer be attached to my body. Dang pelvis is not the most cooperative part of my body, but thats nothing new to me in pregnancy, so I’ll take it.

Because of my full, full day, I am pooped! Brady got home around 6:15, and the kids bedtime routine begins around 6:30, so now that everyone is tucked away, it is time to eat and soak in the tub. I think he and I both killed it today, enough to justify not having to work too much this evening. Win!

It was the perfect kind of morning. We stayed in bed and had a coffee while the kids woke up, and then the five of us has a nice brunch together. We watched some cartoons together, and did a bit more Christmas baking. We kept the morning SUPER low key. After lunch, Laela and Ro went down for naps, and seemed to sleep for way longer than usual! When they did finally wake up, we bathed all three kids, packed up a few things, and headed to my parents for supper and the evening. We tend to move into their place over Christmas, and we had a good handful of things to bring that we were able to bring in advance, so we brought those to save a bit of time on Wednesday. As usual, we arrived later than we had planned, bearing our kids, their usual amount of stuff, and two big Superstore green bins full of baking, appetizers, a potty seat, gifts, and a few other little things. I’m glad we were able to bring it already though. That means, on Wednesday, we should just need to bring our clothing, toiletries, and any other last minute stuff. Easy peasy!

We ate a really yummy supper, as usual, and had peanut butter square for dessert. The kids played hard, which only resulted in minimal tears and devastation at the thought of leaving and going back home. But they all made it, awake and alert, which is perfect. Now we try to get some milk into Rowan before the night begins, and then a BATH! We didn’t start the van ahead of time this evening, and I am completely chilled to the bone! Brrrrr! I know, we’ve been totally spoiled this season with the gentle “cold” days. I’m still cold. If you know me, you know I’m cold.

Only three more INSANELY BUSY days before we get to break for Christmas 😀 And then the craziness begins again, straight after New Years! But we’ll talk more about that another day 😉

After some AMAZING snuggles, yesterday evening…

I slept incredibly poorly, and was rocking a bit of a zombie thing this morning. But we had big plans, and got all ready to go anyway! Thankfully, we weren’t in some massive rush to get out the door. We figured that we could always finish up our errands tomorrow if we didn’t get there today, since we were planning on running all of these errands on Sunday anyway. Praise the Lord for a husband who works quick so he doesn’t have to work on Saturday after all! We took our time, got the kids fed and dressed, did a few dishes, and I actually got put on makeup before it was time to leave! We were on the road around 10:45.

We hit up SO many stores, and did pretty much everything we needed to do! It was an incredibly productive day, and I am amazed at how NOT insane it was!!! I’d say the longest wait in line was probably at Michaels, but every till was open, and the wait time was probably around five minutes. Walmart was a minute or two, both Superstore and Costco, we didn’t even wait! We walked right up to a till! I commented to the cashier at Costco that I was expecting it to be way crazier, and she said it had been an amazingly quiet day. She said she figured everyone was probably scared of that, and no one was coming to risk it! Well I’m really glad we did, because we got tons done, and it was surprisingly relaxed. Traffic was another thing, and people in parking lots were just not even thinking, but we all survived. We got lots of good food for Rowan, a multivitamin for him, a few last minute Christmas things, and we accidentally splurged and bought a couple of seasons of a show we really really like! How can you not when they’re only $10???

Rowan and Laela shared the cart at both Superstore and Costco, and they were SO cuddly and adorable all day!!

Meanwhile, Dekker either rode on the front of the cart, or he held my hand and wanted to help. And I’ve got to give him credit. He would take anything I picked up and carry it to the cart for me. If Rowan would start getting sad, he would say things like “Its going to be ok, little cutie,” or whatever encouraging thing he could come up with. At Costco, he was riding on the front of the cart again while the cashiers helper was packing it up, and while I didn’t observe what happened between the two of them, I know the guy thanked Dekker 🙂 Whether he tried to lift something, or just offered up a “good job,” I love that there was an interaction there. He is SO much less afraid. FINALLY.

We made it home, and the kids were super hungry, but definitely on the edge of overtired, and a nice sit-down meal wasn’t looking good. So instead, we whipped up a big pot of macaroni and cheese, and we all ate downstairs and watched some tv. When it was time to call it a day, Dekker insisted on tidying the few toys they had spread out by himself. Because he’s a rockstar. Then it was a bathroom break, teeth brushing, jammies, and bed. Everyone was SO ready.

Now for Brady and I to have a soak. We’ve earned it! Its been a wonderful and busy day. I know he’s tired, and I’m achy. And coffee and dessert is calling…..

We had a really interesting night last night that I have to share about.

Lately, Ro wakes up to drink milk once in the night only, and when he does, he fights the bottle after about three ounces. He then goes right back to sleep. We’ve kind of been wondering if this is a good time to phase out his night feeding. We’ve been tossed up about it, because with him eating so little in the day, we’ve been feeding him as much as possible in the night in an effort to get something nourishing into him. But if he’s not even wanting that nighttime bottle, we’ve been thinking of taking the opportunity to get him sleeping through the night.

Last night, when he woke up, we changed his diaper and put him back to bed. He was NOT impressed, and we figured that we would try to feed him rather. While our other kids have EASILY been sleeping through the night at this point, he has a difference circumstance, and we just may be up with him in the nights until he is fully on solid foods. So we figured we’d embrace it, feed him the little amount he’d take, and put him back down. So he ate about two ounces, and was over it. So we put him back to bed. And he began screaming. I’m not exaggerating. SCREAMING. It was amazing. And loud. So we tried to feed him more, but he was not having it. We sat him up for a few minutes, and tried to figure out if something else was wrong with him. His body looked fine, his diaper was dry, he had just eaten (sort of), his temperature was fine, he was good! So after about ten or fifteen minutes, we tried again, and he drank another two ounces! We were thrilled for a few reasons! For one, any amount of formula into this boys body is a win. Two, he is one small step further away from being dehydrated. And third, we figured out a bit of what was going on in that moment. We really think that, for some reason, his reflux was driving him crazy last night! He had his full dose of medication at the right time, so I’m not sure why it was specifically bugging him so much, but with the chance to sit up in between for so long, I think it settled his tummy. Just speculation, but its something. So we waited another ten minutes or so and managed to get yet another two ounces into him!! This went on for quite some time, but we managed to get a full ten ounces into our boy!! But it was a LONG process.

While Brady was trying to feed him, and taking breaks with him, I called Health Line. I want to say I have all of the respect in the world for nurses! I know a lot of amazing nurses personally, and have come in contact with so many AMAZING medical professionals in my last few years. I also know that the nurses who work for Health Line have to go by their directions in front of them, so sometimes things are just a little off. Last night especially. So no burn on anyone, but I can’t NOT share this part of the story.

It was around 1:30am when I called, and I was actually the third caller waiting in the queue, so I waited for a while to speak to someone. We went through all of the normal questions, ruling out an emergency and all of that good stuff, before she asked what was going on with Ro. I explained to her that he has been diagnosed with silent reflux, I told her what medication he’s on, and I asked simply if there is absolutely anything a person can do in our situation to calm his reflux. Anything. At that point, if we tried to feed him at all too early, he would completely lose it. Not just crying, but like panicky screams. I gave her all of the right information, and instead of looking into my actual question about my sons reflux, she said “Any child that is out of sorts for longer than an hour needs to be rushed to the ER.” I had to stop myself from just laughing right out loud. If thats the case, I should be taking all of my kids to the ER every single day when they’re moody in the afternoon!! Anyway, I had a really good private chuckle, thanked her for her time, and hung up. Its not a total loss, really. I don’t think there is any miracle solution for Rowan in this case. I’m confident we just have to keep doing what we’re doing. (Also, in the nurse’s defence, I know what she means. A kid who is uncontrollably screaming and crying for more than an hour should be seen, in case they’re in some awful pain and can’t communicate it. I get it. Just not so much AT ALL the case here.) All in all, we got a full ten ounces into him last night, and he slept through til around 8:30!

Today has been much of the same, honestly. Rowan crying and crying, drinking 1.5 ounces, fighting off the bottle, and continuing to wail. But around 3:15, I got 4 oz into him, and at 5:15, another 4 oz!! So I have high hopes for a less dramatic and quieter evening. Tomorrow will be a BIG errand day, filled with getting Ro weighed, buying him snacks, and getting as much done before Christmas as possible Wish us luck on all accounts!!!

Yesterday, Rowan hated yogurt. Today, I had the foresight to take it out a little bit in advance so it wasn’t so cold for him, and he ate an entire yogurt cup! I see that Rowans new “diet” will take a bit of figuring, but I’m up for it! I’ll get into the city this weekend and stock up on some snacks and such for him, and feel a bit more prepared, but I think I can safely say that I already saw improvement today! This is great news 😀

We had a really yummy supper of ham, rice, and green bean casserole. I know both Dekker and Laela love rice, and I know Dekker likes ham, but Laela isn’t pumped about meat usually. And they both fight the cooked beans. Laela struggled through supper, but Dekker did awesome! He ate tons, even his beans, and said over and over again “This is such a yummy supper, thanks for making me this supper.” So I’m calling it a success. While I had a decently productive day, there is still more to do. I feel pretty wiped out, but Brady is energized, praise the Lord, so we’re going to tag team a few jobs once Rowan is down. I’m actually looking forward to some time just being together. We’ve just been going and going, and yes, this evening will be more of the same, but I feel less stressed today, just tired, and Brady is feeling motivated, so it should be a pretty good time.

I finally feel like I’m starting to get a grasp on things. Not everything, but its beginning to be less overwhelming. If we can accomplish a chunk of baking tonight, we’re already in better shape. Brady brought home a bunch of moving boxes and packing materials that we’ve been storing in our container, so we’re ready for packing whenever the mood strikes! We’re not completely prepared, or even a little bit, but we’re prepared enough that I’m not losing sleep over it.

As I’ve said a lot over the last few days, small victories, but victories nonetheless.

The kids had a WAY better day today! They’ve been struggling a bit recently with what I believe to be just a lame new stage where they are at each other constantly. Its ok, its part of siblings and growing up, but it definitely wears a person out. Me, and them. On top of that, Rowan hates the bottle more and more every single day. Its been a challenging few days. I thought our outing yesterday would help, but it didn’t, and the kids were in rough shape all day.

Thankfully, today was a considerably better day!!! Dekker and Laela hardly fought. There were fewer time outs. Nine times out of ten, their screams were playful. There were even a few occurrences where one of them wanted something that the other had, and they simply gave it over without me having to remind them about taking turns. It was a MUCH better day, thank the Lord!

The aspect of today that still really kept me on my toes was Rowan. He slept very well, and hardly drank in the night, so I figured he would be solidly ready for a bottle when he woke up, but nope. He wasn’t. Trying to roll with it and do more of what he wanted, I gave him some Cheerios. He liked that, but it wasn’t enough. So I tried yogurt, but the cold really put him off and he would have none of it. So I hauled his butt downstairs and put him down to play. It lasted just a few minutes before he was just right ticked. Now Rowan LOVES to play on the floor with everyone. It was more than clear that he was hungry. So I gave him one of those foam cracker things (we call them surfboards) and he was happy. He just wants to eat and play and do his own thing. Throughout the course of the day, I worked with him to eat little snacks while gradually force feeding him some formula. I managed to get about ten ounces into him today, which is nothing compared to most babies his age, and certainly less than our superbabies before him drank, but every ounce counts these days. We take what we can get. For supper, he did really well with some scrambled eggs with cheese, and some peanut butter toast. He didn’t eat tons, but he’s still learning, so I’m not surprised. He’ll get there. And up until this point anyway, he has taken his bottle before bed fairly well, so hopefully that carries over and he can be topped up for the night. Either way, the day felt strange with Rowan, knowing he was hungry but that he just wouldn’t eat. But I still do feel a bit successful, considering I have some new ideas and directions to take him in. I’m sure hopeful we’ll be successful and I won’t end up with a dehydrated baby! I don’t think we will. We’ll figure this out. Just new territory.

I had my 15 week prenatal appointment this morning! I was looking forward to it, as I always am. For whatever reason, I love going to the doctor when I’m pregnant. I couldn’t tell you why, but I do. Todays appointment was particularly early, so we got the kids out of bed, dressed them in sweats that were slightly classier than their jammies, and gave them breakfast in the van. This was the strangest part of the day for me. I love when the kids are all dressed and put together, and they really like it too! Today was my first time bringing them out and about in their sweats that I can remember, ever! They were obviously adorable, and with the early morning, no one had a thing to say on the subject.

My appointment went well. Besides the kids being cute and fairly quiet and respectful, both my doctor and our student doctor came in at once. I ran a few unnerving things past them and we figured out what they were so I don’t have to be nervous. We talked dizziness, blood pressure, pelvic pain, etc. All of the normal stuff. We were able to find the baby’s heartbeat easily, which is always comforting and refreshing and beautiful and all of those wonderful things. Somehow, hearing that heartbeat is SO much more real for me than an ultrasound even is! I LOVE hearing those baby beats! Afterwards, we touched a bit on delivery and what that might look like this time around. Its so good to have a doctor who understands and remembers and cares for us so well. I feel so little nervousness about delivery, because she is so comfortable doing exactly what we did last time, which was incredibly generous and accommodating of her. She is truly the best family doctor in the city.

On our way out, Dr. Guselle asked about Rowan’s reflux, and I told her that we were at an incredible loss with him. His medication doesn’t appear to be working really at all anymore, and he barely eats in the day. She gave us lots of really good pointers, and basically supported us in going against the grain a bit and doing a few things different with him. I know we can make our own decisions based on our parental knowledge of the kids and such, but it helps a lot to have a doctor I trust so much. I’m so thankful she brought him up and was happy to talk about him a little.

After our appointment, Brady headed to work and I went home. The kids were in rough shape from being rushed out the door so early, so all three of them napped in the afternoon. But they’re already asleep for the night so I don’t think it set anyone back at all.

What a great day 🙂 Todays appointment felt so warm and successful, and I’m now looking forward to Christmas, and the move in the new year, and everything that will bring. Days like these just make me excited about what is to come.

I’ve been talking about how busy our life is these last couple of weeks this year, and I have not been kidding. Brady is working long days, we have evening stuff up, we have Saturday and Sunday stuff up, we have appointments and meetings, we have packing and baking to do, we have children to raise! There is SO much to do.

Brady and I had a meeting today, and my parents were gracious enough to watch our kids while we were gone. The Reader’s Digest version of the story is that it is shortly after 10:00pm, we have JUST gotten home and put the kids down, and now we need to find ourselves some supper. I think I’ve had coffee today? But thats it. We are just GOING! (Please, don’t judge my lack of eating as some neglectful act. All is well with baby and I. Its just been a crazy day. These never happen to this extent. I eat.)

Tomorrow, we have a doctors appointment at 9:15am. This seems like a normal time for most people, but for us, its sooo early! That puts us leaving our house before the kids are usually awake in the morning. Thankfully, because of this and timing otherwise, Brady is going to come into the city with us and go to work after, rather than going to work for an hour or two, and then meeting us. He’ll love the sleep in, which is convenient because I’ll be a total zombie being up so early, haha! Seriously though, having the help in the morning will be wonderful. But then I’ll lose him for the rest of the live long day, most likely. But thats ok. I take the few moments of togetherness that I can get 🙂

The highlight of today was the evening. We originally had plans to go to church in the morning, but we decided yesterday not to go. Brady is booked so solidly until Christmas, and we will barely see each other. We opted to take our time this morning and do a few little things. We all slept in like crazy, had breakfast, and then headed to the city for a quick Walmart trip. We found most of what we were looking, and lost a boot 🙁 but it was nice to get out a bit and feel a bit more normal.

We spent the day with my parents at their place, and the kids were particularly thrilled to have the attention of their grandparents for an extended period of time. My mom helped me address some envelopes for our Christmas cards (my most dreaded job) and we chatted the afternoon away.

I will admit that today felt a bit huge for me. I couldn’t tell you why, and I will for the first and last time (hopefully) blame my crappy attitude on hormones, but I was struggling hard today. A combination of a hundred little things just brought me to tears finally about a half hour before we were supposed to attend the church Christmas party. My mom and my husband cared for me in my absurd state of emotional turmoil by holding me, fetching kleenex, and feeding me cinnamon rolls for supper. I recovered just in time to make it to the party, where Brady and I led everyone in a handful of carols, up in a hayloft on someone’s acreage. It looked like it had been a pretty lovely party. I wish we could have been there longer but today just wasn’t the day for it. Hopefully next year, it will just fall on an easier day for our family. It was a lovely setting, though, and it was really nice to see friends from church in such a different setting.

We went back to my parents afterwards, doddled a little bit more, and then left. The kids joined me on my emotional crazy train as soon as we got in the van, and then proceeded to sleep the entire drive home. We are all bushed, needless to say. But last night, I got in too late for a soak and I’m pretty determined to have one tonight. So I’m going to get on that here before it gets too late. Here’s hoping to a solid nights sleep and a better day for sanity tomorrow.

I really really enjoyed today! It was an early start and a late end, yet it was completely refreshing! I haven’t had a day away for a long time, and honestly, I haven’t had an outing in a while at all! So I absorbed all I could, and I got a lot done!

I picked up Kim around 9:30am and we headed to the city for some Christmas shopping. First, we stopped at the post office to reserve a post office box!!! Eek! Exciting times 😀 We’ll close our current one down soon, but I know there is mail on its way here, so we’ll wait a bit still. Christmas is a silly time to shut down a PO box. After that quick stop, we drove into town and began the mad race around to all of the important places which I cannot list, for the sake of giving away where I bought everyones gifts. I can proudly say I am DONE Christmas shopping! Well, I’m worried I bought one thing wrong so I have to double check the one item, but I’m very happy with all I accomplished. That aside, I had a really good time just visiting and shopping around with Kim. Good company always adds.

We were completely wiped out after our last shop, so we headed back to Kims place to drop her and her purchases off. However, after parting ways, I headed back in to a hair appointment. I got to the mall early so I perused Thyme Maternity and bought a new pair of jeans. I have never been able to fit the jeans from there, no matter what size I try, but it would appear my body has changed enough at this point that I can finally fit their pants! I fell for a pair of light wash super skinny jeans with a delicious jersey belly panel that goes aaaaall the way up. The only maternity jeans that have ever fit me properly are from Old Navy, and they have just a short little belly panel. I like the shorty panel sometimes, but at this point, my belly is more soft and squishy than a hard round baby belly (if we’re being honest) so I rock a bit of an unflattering pooch overtop of the panel. This full soft panel is SO comfy. I loved the jeans so much, I wore them out.

At that point, I had killed enough time that I could head to my hair appointment. I had a style in mind at my last appointment that required me growing my hair out a bit, so I’ve been feeling like a shaggy dog for a couple of months, and I was THRILLED that my hair girl, Carlinna, agreed that we could give the style a go. And I’m SO glad we did!!

I feel so fresh, and like my hair is finally interesting again! Haha! I know it was fine in the interim, and she had given me a cut to really help it along, but it was definitely a transition cut, and I finally got to my goal. Now I’ll see how long I actually keep growing the length out! I’ll maintain the buzzed part, but may rock the long part for a while. I’m excited to see how long this style holds my interest 😉 And of course, I love having this color back!

As you can see in the picture, I met my mom for supper after my hair appointment. We went to Tony Romas, since we’ve found a way to do it on the cheap, and still on the delicious. We ate, and chatted, and paid, and probably chatted for another hour! I miss her. It was great to catch up.

I made it home safe and sound, blasting my latest favorite music. I don’t get to rock LOUD music too much anymore these days, so I really take advantage when I can. The roads were clear and the weather was beautiful. It was a nice wrap up to the day.