In case you hadn’t already guessed it, I delivered by BEAUTIFUL fourth child today 💙 Brady and I are completely smitten and head over heels for him! I’ll share his birth story soon, but not today 🙂 The rest of this evening will be spent doting on him. 

Solomon Brady came earth side at 5:20pm after the BEST labour and delivery I could have asked for. Everything about it was exceptional, from the comfort levels to the friends who dropped by to the care given to me by all doctors, nurses, residents, students, etc. You name them, they rocked. Solly weighs in at a whopping 10 lbs 7 oz! Three ounces shy of Dekker, and a full week early! Eek! He was 23″ tall as well, making him our tallest baby yet by a full inch. He looks so much like Laela and Rowan but has a body built exactly like Dekker. He also has one of Dekkers  crazy cowlicks, right in the front, haha! He is relaxed and tolerant of all exams, but sucks his fingers like a vacuum. 

We are sooooo in love with him! He already fits in perfectly. 😍

Welcome to the world, Solomon Brady!!

Today was Bradys last official work day before baby comes and the move goes and all of that crazy stuff goes forward! In case you missed it on Facebook, we are moving THIS SATURDAY! Sooooo if you so desire, feel free to come lend a hand!! We have lots of trucks and trailers but not quite enough hands, so this is me pestering YOU to come help! I promise this will not be the last time you hear about this 😉 Can’t let the hubs move us all by himself!!

His work day went a bit longer than usual, but the kids were quiet and in nice moods. And honestly, I felt good today. Baby is nice and low, but I feel like he maaay have dropped? He’s been solidly engaged for a while already, but I felt a slight relief on my ribs and lungs today, which just made me feel that much better. I think the kids could tell, and they were happy for my lift in spirits. Because everyone was in such good shape, Brady and I made plans for the evening to do something just a little bit more special than our usual routine, and go out for a bit in the evening with the kids. Baby could come any day now, and we just felt like we wanted to do something different with our crew before it changed and grew.

Brady got home and bathed all of the kids. I dressed them then, and we headed out for supper. Unfortunately, they were in decently rough shape by then, and we knew we couldn’t drag them all into a restaurant to wait and fuss. So instead, we rocked a family favorite that we call “redneck foodcourt” where we drive through all of the different places that everyone wants, and we all get exactly what we want, and then we eat in the van. I know, it sounds absurd, but its fun, and yummy, and the kids like it. So I got Subway, Dekker got popcorn chicken from KFC, Brady got burgers from Wendys, and Laela just wanted fries and milk so she got Wendys too. Rowan got everyones cast offs. It worked out really well, actually. When we were all fed, we drove through McDonalds and grabbed some chocolate chip cookies for everyone, and then headed to see the house.

Light fixtures are up today!

I’m SO happy with these! Yes, I hope the cords straighten up a bit over time, but the globes are exactly what I had wanted, and I’m SO thrilled that they turned out so well. All of the cover plates are on the light switches, outlets, etc. too. It looks SO finished. (Ok, I know these pictures don’t look “finished” but its happening.) Today, the cleaning also began. Carpets were vacuumed, anyway. Tomorrow will be a big cleaning day, and likely at least some of the touch ups. I believe Wednesday is appliance day, and Thursday is our final walk through! EEK! I am SO excited!!

We drove home all together, listened to good music, and our kids fighting in the back. We made a quick stop at Walmart where I ducked in and bought a couple extra hampers before heading home. The kids did a quick tidy and then we got them ready for bed, with lots of cuddles and tickles and screaming and farting. No lie. It was hyper activity in that room tonight, but it was happy and funny. I absolutely adore my family. And I cannot wait to add this little guy to it!!! Please keep him in your prayers!

Brady and I have a few little jobs to do around here this evening but hopefully we’ll soon be able to tuck in for the night and relax. I don’t feel like running around and doing a ton. Just hanging out 🙂 Just tonight. We’ll be adults again tomorrow. Maybe…

Leading up to the insane week we’re going to have, our family thoroughly enjoyed today!! It was probably the ideal Sunday for us at this point.

I slept SO much better than I did the night before, so I felt considerably more rested. We got to sleep in a bit, and then we fed everyone, dressed everyone, and headed to my parents for lunch and the afternoon. My brother and his wife and kids are staying there for the time being as well, so we all filled up the dining room well, but it was fun, the food was delicious, and the kids played great together. After lunch dishes were cleaned up, Brady ducked into the city to make a kijiji pick up for us, so now Laela has a bed frame! She is SO ready for a big girl bed, though she isn’t climbing out of her crib or anything. She will just love one, its so obvious. So Brady snagged that, along with a coffee, and came back. It was a really really nice afternoon. The kids eventually made their way outside, and Grace, my mom, and I visited in the living room for a bit while Rowan napped. Eventually we all made our way out and caught some rays. It was nice.

Around 4:30, we said goodbye to the group and drove across to the other side of town, by our new house. A nearby street was throwing a block party, and were nice enough to include us! The circle of lawn chairs that were already there stretched to include us, and hot dogs were thrown on the BBQ. The kids actually acclimated really well and played nicely. They ate well and ran around and got FILTHY and had a total blast. Brady and I also really enjoyed the party. We met lots of people, caught up with others that we already know, and while we didn’t connect with everyone there, it was so nice seeing how many families with young kids live so close to us. We’re in a really nice area of town 🙂

We left around 7:00 ish, took Dekker to my parents for a bathroom break, then looped around to a nearby playground to steal Kim from her family and take her to see the house. SO FEW of our friends have actually seen the inside of it now, and it seems so fruitless to tour anyone around so close to the move, but she won’t be around for the move, so now is a good time! I wonder if I’ll ever tire of showing our house to our friends and family. I love it so much. Can’t wait to move there!

After we dropped Kim back with her family, Brady and I called each other and had a phone date on the drive home. I know, it sounds corny. We were in two vehicles, though, and I feel like all we every talk about these days is plans and stress and scheduling and its just silly. So we talked fluffy stuff over the drive home. It was nice. Now, the kids are in bed, and I just have a load of laundry to fold before we can cuddle in for the evening.

Its been SUCH a wonderful day. While its been full, its felt FUN and restful. Almost…

It has been an incredibly FULL day!!! We kicked it off with garage sale shopping around our street. We met the lovely people from across the street and bought a laundry sink for $10. Win! Conveniently, we were bringing our washer and dryer to our house today, so we loaded up the sink along with them and made our way to the house.

We wandered through the house slowly, and I have to say, I was in awe. Friday was a big day around our house. Not only did we get a garage door finally, but we got all of our plumbing fixtures installed, and I love them all!!! We had elected to go with their plumbers standard stuff, except for the few things we picked out, like the kitchen and en suite sinks. But I knew nothing of faucets, toilets, etc. I’m pleased to say that the plumbers “standards” are not bottom of the barrel AT ALL. Everything feels good and strong and beefy and looks wonderful. I am SO pleased!

I am SO thrilled with the vanities. Even just things like the toilet paper holders and towel bars are a bit thicker than average. They don’t wobble or flex. It all feels SO sturdy. I love that.

My brother and his wife and kids just moved out here this week, and we hadn’t had a chance to see them yet, so they came and met us at the house for a visit and a tour. Its always SO fun to see family, but we’re also kind of in our element right now, and we love showing our house off, haha! So we enjoyed walking them around and catching up while the kids ran laps around the house. It was a really nice way to spend a chunk of the afternoon. Before they left, Simon helped Brady haul the laundry machines downstairs, which was a legit weight off Brady’s shoulders. Thanks, Sim!

Once they headed back, Brady got to work on a few little things he had to do, and I drove to pick up some late lunch with the kids. While we were gone, Brady siliconed the kitchen and vanities, oiled the island top one last time, installed the last few drawer fronts and handles that we were missing, and installed the laundry chute doors.

We got soft close for them and everything, so they’re SO nice and don’t make any noise. I’m excited to use them!

We were home for the evening, and the kids were all pretty overtired, so we kept a pretty low profile. Rowan started smacking himself and saying “bonk,” so that was kind of hilarious. Perhaps we were all overtired, haha!

Once the kids went down, I got ready for maternity photos!! A friend had reached out, looking for pregnant ladies to photograph, and since I am in the VERY significant stages of pregnancy, I asked and she answered! We had high hopes for sunset silhouette pictures, but today has been grey and rainy, so instead, we rocked some rainstorm pictures 🙂 I am SO excited to see how they turn out. I LOVE the rain! It was also nice to get out of the house a little.

Now, I can definitively say that its been a FULL day and I am ready for bed! First, though, to fold the biggest load of kids laundry we’ve ever done. THEN bed.

There is some kind of bee/wasp/hornet/buzzing character up in the high windows of our place right now, and I’m freaking out just a tad. I was planning to blog this evening, but right now will just have to do, because I need to do/think about something else! I told the kids the bug was a big fly. Yes, I know, I lied to them. Don’t judge me. This is survival. I do NOT appreciate this thing being in my house.

Speaking of my house, lol, Brady is actually not working there today! He is back to his usual job, while making lots of calls and sending out lots of texts, trying to organize our move. Of course, there is still a handful of things left to do on our house, but we got word that the last stuff that is up to him is ready for him! In our cabinet order, somehow, one front got missed. Then, Brady dropped and munched another. So we’ve been waiting for two fronts to be done for us, as well as the last of our drawer handles to arrive, since the ones we picked were PERFECT but the cabinet shop didn’t have quite enough on hand. Everything is now ready and waiting at the shop! So Brady will have to duck by our house tomorrow afternoon to install the last few fronts and handles, silicone our kitchen with a different color, caulk the shower doors, and re-oil the island top one last time. And then that is IT on our part! There are a few little things that are just behind that he’ll do later, but that aren’t important enough to hold up possession. We are SO ready to move in, no hand towel bar is going to hold us up!

Today has been relaxed (until this dang bee…) and I am SO looking forward to the evening! Kim and I are attempting a round two of our last date that got cut a little short 😉 So we’ll do a little bit of dinner out and maybe a shorty shop. Just a girly date, and I’m super looking forward to it! Its nice to have understanding friends who know your limits and still want to hang out with you!!

I’m in a bit of a funny position where my body is just done, but my loving husband has agreed to do some chores around the house this evening so I can rest and be nice and mobile in the evening 🙂 Thanks, hubs. I would have no social life without you.

Ok, break is over. Time to go try to chase this bee out of here. Its getting ballsy…

So much is getting done on the house these days! Sorry to those of you who are bored of hearing about it, but its SUCH a whirlwind right now!! Brady went in today to install some more door handles, to secure the island top a little stronger, and to install our shower doors that came yesterday!

He also managed to get bath hardware on and get a few things prepped for the plumbers and electricians to come in the next few days to install their last fixtures and such. Our painter was in today, painting the new trim and jam on the closet door in our room, and a few other things he found that he wanted to perfect.

PS: Thanks everyone for your comments on this different set up. I am SO happy with the trim, and thankfully, so is Brady 🙂 And so are you guys, apparently! Brady even said the painter commented on how much more finished it looked. We are all 100% happy with this decision. Win!

Tomorrow, I believe its the plumbers who will come through. They’ll be installing faucets, toilets, our water heater, and I’m sure a few other things I’m forgetting. Also, tomorrow, we’ll get our garage door. Yay! I’m excited for the big pop of white on the front of the house 🙂 SO much is going on!

We got the crazy news this evening that our possession is actually being moved UP!!!!! This is SO exciting, and SO crazy all at the same time, but we are completely thrilled! Its sure going to be a busy time, but we truly couldn’t be happier! So if anyone is itching to move a family in the next little while, get in touch 😉 We’ll take all of the help we can get!!

Brady came home for the afternoon, and we took the kids out for some grocery shopping. Costco has SO many good sales on this week, so we ducked in there and got good and stocked up on a lot of things. We are SO thankful to be using my parents little extra freezer, because it made it possible for us to stock up on things we use often but require a freezer. I don’t know how we’d do it, just using the little one in the fridge! We are very accustomed to having a big extra one, so thanks again, mom and dad! We got nicely stocked up, and then hit Superstore, which was considerably less successful, but still decent. Dekker got some new underwear and some sweat shorts, and we grabbed some fruit and veggies. We even managed to get our hands on some of our favorite creamer that is often SO hard to find. Wins all around, really.

When we were checking out, I was hanging with Rowan at the cart, and he leaned into me and knocked his head lightly into my lips, and giggled. I made a kissy face at him and he giggled and kept leaning in for more and more kisses. Here I was with my purple lipstick, not about to deny my son kisses, so we had this little morsel to laugh at for the rest of our Superstore experience.

He’s such a gem <3 Love him.

We spent our evening with Jerilee, watching the first episode of the Bachelorette and eating Pizza Hut. I have loved living so close to a Pizza Hut, and will likely never live so close to one again, so we’re making it count 😉 Its been a really great day, and there are a lot more to come in the next weeks!

Life is crazy, and God is good!

I’ve really enjoyed today! We had a nice start to the morning, I had a late morning outing, we got an exciting house delivery, Brady spent the afternoon getting good news about the house and getting a thing or two done, and I chatted on the phone with my sister for a bit while he was away 🙂 It was really quite awesome! I’ll go in order.

We woke up decently early, and Brady went out to retrieve coffees and breakfast McFlurries. I highly recommend this breakfast to all, especially when there is a good coupon out! So I kicked the day off with a double double and a Rolo McFlurry. It was a delicious morning. After a little bit of doddling, I headed to my waxing appointment. I really like it there. I always do. And it feels nice to get my legs and and brows all freshened up. I have to laugh, though. Its always at my last waxing appointment before having a baby when I come so very close to fainting. I am just physically unable to recline at all right now. So if I’m not sitting straight up, or laying on my side, I can’t breathe. She was really good about it all, though. Soon, the fan was on, and she was letting me sit in different, weird positions so I could breathe while she worked. Its hard to wax upper legs when there is an enormous belly resting on them. She rocked it though. Thanks, Jenn!!!

After my appointment, I ducked into a grocery store for milk, and then headed home. The kids were in good moods, and the house was nice and relaxed. Brady and I visited and played with the kids, and while we were discussing his afternoon of work, we heard someone walking onto our deck. Brady opened the door, and accepted the delivery of our shower doors!!! I’m SO glad they came already!!! We were eager and silly and couldn’t wait, so we opened the box up, and everything was in order, in great shape, and looking exactly as we had hoped!

They don’t look like much here, but they’ll be perfect when they’re installed into our main bathroom in the new house!! EEK!

Since we’re coming to the end of the build, lots of little things are coming up for us to discuss and make decisions about. Its not the most relaxed part of the process, to say the least, but we got a lot of that done yesterday and today, and part of Brady’s afternoon was going out and making some of those changes, picking some things up, and asking a lot of questions. I’m SO happy to say that his afternoon was smooth and successful!

The shower doors came early!

The pricing we’ve been waiting for to possibly change out our exterior doors is FINALLY in, and is a solid $500 LESS than we were expecting!

The few door handles that were missed on the order are IN TOWN rather than being four weeks away like we thought! Brady was able to pick them all up today 😀

We got some answers finally about what hinges to get for our laundry chute doors, so we can finally go forward with them!

Best of all…..

Our garage pad got poured EARLY!!!

Ok, no, its not early. We still won’t be able to park on it for a week or two after we take possession, but we had been told the absolute earliest it would be poured was May 26th, and it would most likely get bumped. This is a lovely surprise! I’m SO happy its in already!

A little thing thats been irking me a bit is the doors in our master suite.

This is our walk-in closet and our en suite. We have no intention of having a door on our closet, so we just had it drywalled like this. It looks really clean and straight and I’m VERY happy with it. But. It looks unfinished to me. With the two openings so close together, to me, it feels like they should both have trim. Brady and I disagreed for a bit, which is fine. We mulled over it for a bit and yesterday, decided to bite the bullet and change it, even though it meant the painters charging us for having to come back an additional time. We just decided to take the hit. I knew it was something that was going to bug me every time I saw it. We’ve both had a couple of those things come up, so we’re fixing them as we go. Therefore, today Brady went and picked up some casing and jambs, and went to our house to pull out some drywall to re-case and trim the door.

I don’t know about you guys, and maybe I’m the only one who thinks so, but I think this is SO much better! It looks complete, and finished, and less like someone forgot to trim that one door. I am SO happy with it! Now we wait for the painters to come back and paint it. Whew! Easy fix.

While Brady worked, I visited with my dear sister. I love her, and every once in a while, she calls on her drive home from work, like today. We chatted for almost an hour before hanging up. Brady was then on his way home, and the kids were getting a bit twitchy.

Now to close off the day with supper and bedtime. And perhaps and late night McFlurry. Don’t judge. I am LOVING ice cream these days!!!

Before I talk about my pregnancy, I want to thank everyone who texted/liked/commented on the last post. Its been fun to see who is super interested in the build, and its also wonderful to have people excited with us. You can see by the pictures yesterday just how close they are to being done!!! I always hesitate to share official dates for things on my blog, just in case they don’t work out, but it really really won’t be long now. I am SO excited to have our baby so soon, and then to move into this beautiful home! I feel like its all going to just be surreal for a while. As if this is OURS!

Onto todays events, I had what might be my last prenatal appointment of this pregnancy! Yes, I tend to be induced a little early, thanks to my last two VERY fast deliveries, and I like to know I’ll be IN the hospital when baby is born. It just feels good to me to have my babes in a controlled environment. To each their own 🙂 No judgement here! Usually, we all go into the appointments as a family, but we had a pretty rough start to the day this morning and we just knew it wasn’t a good day for it. For the last several days, no matter what Laela says, Dekker argues with her over it, or refutes her. Basically, its as though anytime she speaks, he figures she’s sucking the air out of the room. I’ve felt that way, and it feels awful. Therefore, we’re jumping on his behavior, trying to stop it fast, which results in lots of correction and even more tears. It just wasn’t a good morning to all be cramped in a small room while the kids were expected to sit quietly. Brady and I decided I’d go to my appointment myself and he’d take the kids to go fill up the van, grab coffees, etc.

The clinics waiting room was positively BURSTING with new moms and brand new fresh babies. It was SO sweet, and just made me more eager for my baby boy to be on the outside! All of the little honking newborn cries just made me ache to hold him!! But that’ll all be soon enough. I was called in pretty quickly, weighed, and then put into a room. The nurse who usually takes me back was so surprised that I didn’t have the fam with me, but I told her they were just a little temperamental this morning and she laughed and claimed to understand completely. As I waited in the exam room, I hear Dr. Guselle, rather than my student doctor, approaching, and she commented to someone that she was going to get some family time in with this next patient. I LOVE that she was actually anticipating seeing my kids, and felt a bit sad that I hadn’t brought everyone with me, but truly, it was a fantastic appointment, just she and I. We have such a good dynamic. I have missed her being my primary doctor this time around, and just sitting and chatting with her felt so normal and comfortable. As for the little details, all checks out. My BP is good, babys heart rate is good, he’s fully engaged, or “good and down” as we said, and measuring right on. We talked more about induction day and made some further plans on it. She informed me about when she is and isn’t on call, and then made some notes on my prenatal information sheet, which she then printed for me. And I WISH I could post pictures of it, but there’s too much to blur out. She wrote that she was to be called, regardless of the call schedule, and that I was to be considered a VIP 🙂 I laughed, and was also incredibly pleased, because honestly, why not? Part of me is embarrassed that I require some special treatment, but I love her, and I LOVE that she is willing to provide me with whatever I need to be as comfortable as possible. She then encouraged me a lot about how capable I am at delivering my kids, and that she was very pleased with how my demeanour is regarding delivery. “Where did the anxious mama go?” she asked. She knows how shaken up I was after Laela was born, and how nervous I was going into Rowan’s delivery. I love that she’s seen the progress I’ve worked and prayed so hard for. I feel ready. Prepared. And she knows I am, too.

After a few more pleasantries, and even a little chat about baby names, I was on my way. She teased me that I should feel free to hit the lights and just take a little rest before heading back to the family. “Tell them I was running behind, like usual,” she suggested. I laughed and said I’d go save my husband rather. It was an incredibly lovely appointment. It really couldn’t have gone smoother. What a fabulous woman.

Now, we’re home, and believe it or not, Brady is back at work for a bit of this afternoon. A couple of things came up that are his responsibility, so he’s ducked out to make a few small purchases and go do a small job or two on the house. He’ll likely go out tomorrow too, and possibly again! All of the little things are getting done, but there are still a few big things we’re waiting on. Today, the painter is back doing a second coat, but thats all I know of for sure. Still, progress! Always good to see!

I wish Brady could have been home today. I’m always sad when he ends up working a stat. Somehow it just feels like a big, boring day, when I know so many families are all together and mine is not. But if Brady had to work today, I’m so happy it was on our house, and I’m SO happy it was countertop day! Countertop day is a fantastic day!!!

Of course, I’ll start with the small stuff. The main bathroom vanity is probably the least exciting part of this, but even that looks just beautiful to me!

 

Its a very standard unit with very standard tops, but to me, it looks like it could stay exactly the same forever and just be crisp and nice and exactly what we need. No frills, but just right. The drawers are nice and deep, so they’ll store lots, and its all just very classic, I’d say.

The next vanity is FAR more exciting! Its the one in our en suite, and guys, I can’t WAIT to get ready for my day in there!!

 

So as you can see, its a nice long vanity with a super fun raised sink! Instead of a double sink, we got a big long sink with two faucets! So Brady and I can both use the sink, but sharing is caring 😉 I think its cute and corny. Beyond that is a makeup desk for me (YAY!) and lots and lots of drawer space. There is a surprising amount of storage in this unit, which I am grateful for.

Then…*deep sigh*…the kitchen. Are you ready?

 

Whew. I know. Let’s just look at it for a second…

Its true. It really is that beautiful. The island top is now installed, as well as the other countertops, obviously. It is SO ready to be in operation, trust me. It told me when I went to visit it this afternoon. Now in this first picture, Brady hadn’t cut out the hole for the sink yet, but he did that later, and even dropped the sink in to please the plumbers. And I’m SO glad he did, because I am unreasonably enamoured with our kitchen sink!

Ok, maybe it doesn’t look like much, but it is a BEAST! And it is amazing. Its cast iron, coated beautifully shiny white, and let’s just say that when I first picked it out, it weighed more than I do. Obviously not anymore, because babies and stuff, but it is a super beast, and I can’t wait to use it!!! Just think of how many small children I could bathe in this sink at once!!!

If you’re looking closely at the pictures, you’ll notice that a few little things here and there are missing. A drawer front, a few handles, etc. We know, we’re on it. I still think it all looks just about perfect. Seeing it all together makes me realize just how close we are to being done, and being moved in! It also makes me really happy with all of our choices. I feel like we’ve had to compromise on very little, yet we didn’t go vastly over our individual budgets for each area of the home. Yay for not having super expensive tastes, haha!

I’m done for the day. Sleepy, happy, overwhelmed, excited, fat, you name it, I feel it. Its been a good day, and I have a great week of positives ahead of me!

Today was the day that Brady and I decided to install the baby’s car seat! I’ll be 38 weeks right away here and the plan is for induction around 39, so we figured we should make sure everyone is going to fit well, and that the kids had a chance to adjust to the new set up before baby makes his appearance. I’ve been researching like crazy, trying to see if there is a way to put three car seats across in our van, but the dang wheel wells made it a HUGE challenge! Everyone I asked said to replace our car seats with the Diono brand rather, because they’re some of the narrowest seats on the market. They are also some of the most expensive, and replacing all three convertible seats with Diono seats would have set us back around $1000. Also, after some easy research, we saw that our car seats are about 0.5″ wider than Diono, so for the sake of 1.5″, it was NOT worth the cost. Not even close.

We wanted to include the kids in the installation of the baby seat, so we brought them outside with us the first time. It was insane, to say the least. The all were in the van with us, Rowan was crying, Dekker and Laela were getting feisty, and we had all four car seats rolling around from place to place, taking up a ton of space. Our van is not that big, haha! It was absurd. We got some ideas, and came to terms with the fact that three convertible car seats was not going to fit across in the back. We decided to break for lunch and do some more research.

I started researching booster seats. Dekker would still be good in his convertible seat for another 25-ish pounds, but he does meet the qualifications for boosters, and it was suggested to me that booster seats are often slightly narrower than convertible seats. After extensive online research, it seemed like a booster might help, if not be our answer. So we decided to go for an afternoon shopping trip and see what we could find. Brady went back outside to reinstall the car seats and came back in with some extra info. He pointed out that the convertible seats are 18″ wide, but that the baby bucket was only 15″! That gave a LOT of hope. We got everyone ready fast, grabbed the bucket seat, and headed out!

At our first stop, we found what we felt could be the ideal booster seat for Dekker. Not only was it a nice affordable option, but it was a high back booster that had a seatbelt guide, came in a nice blue, and was available in store! Its actually kind of a shame that Laela is still so little and won’t need a booster for a while, because the pink one was cute too!

(Yup, we were the parents that put our kids on the top shelf to test out the seats. Don’t judge.)

We bought the one blue one available, and headed back to the van to, yes, install it in the parking lot. We figured that, if it didn’t work, we’d go back in and return it right away, and then head on to our next place. We were determined to figure this out TODAY.

So it was a bit of a clown car situation out there, haha! Once again, we were ALL in the van, and everyone was getting in each others space. However, Rowan was clipped into his seat, happy, so that helped a bit. We had the AC pumping and some music on. It also helped that Brady and I felt really hopeful that it would work. And sure enough, all three seats fit across in the back, with Dekker in his new booster!!!

We knew it wasn’t a perfect set up, but we also knew that it was possible, so we beetled out of there and got some cookies and iced coffees on the way home.

When we did make it home, I freed Laela from her seat, and Brady brought Rowan in. I then went to unbuckle Dekker and, let me tell you, the struggle was REAL. I couldn’t figure it out! Finally, I realized we actually had to remove the baby seat first before being able to reach the buckle that was somehow within the bucket seat base. Basically, it was an enormous hassle. While we likely would pull baby out first anyway, it wasn’t a great set up. Brady and I sent the kids inside and did a bit more brainstorming. When we had a different direction to go in, I went inside to wrangle the kids and left Brady to his own devices in the van. And sure enough, our new plan worked 🙂

How fantastic is that??? We have Dekker in his booster in the back, Laela still in her convertible in the back, baby #4 in his bucket in the back, Rowan still rear facing in his convertible in the captains chair, and we’ll be able to leave that last captains chair folded into the floor so we have space to haul someone with us!!! We’ll have that floor space to make it easier for Brady or I to buckle the kids in, or to put groceries, or suitcases, or whatever else we need. Yes, it is a tight squeeze, and we will obviously be on the market for an upgraded vehicle sooner than later, but for the time being, we can make things work, and relatively comfortably at that!! I’m VERY happy with how the whole thing has turned out!

But let me tell you. We are TIRED! SO much figuring went into this whole thing, haha! And if we have another tank kid like Dekker, he could outgrow his bucket in a matter of 4-5 months. That will leave us back at square one, with a convertible seat that doesn’t fit in the back row. But if that happens, we’ll just crack out the last captains chairs and roll with it. This is good for now 🙂 I’m really really happy we found a way to make it work without compromising on the rules. Feeling successful!