You may have caught it on Facebook, but yesterday was the day Cher and I became friends! Three years ago, she took photos of me, and we did a little project together about miscarriage. What was going to be a one time thing grew into a lifelong sisterhood that I never anticipated but am dearly grateful for. Praise the Lord for knowing what we need.
Cher and I had planned to spend the day together. Neither of us were oozing money or energy, but we decided to make the most of a few hours out of the house! Our first day was spent walking together, so we walked! In and around the same area of Kinsmen. We just moseyed and took some selfies. It was cute 🙂
We made our way to the university for some more walking and talking.
My poor Cher is just aching for campus, so it was good to get back there, and sit in the grass, look at the buildings, and breathe in some university air, whatever that means. Starbucks was involved, thanks to an old gift card balance on my account that I forgot about. Heyo!
We took selfies, like the dorks we are. Got a little silly.
Only almost got attacked by a bird once.
Total success! We sat in the sun on one of the last warm days of the season. We really couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to spend together!
Our plan from there was to go have supper where we did the first time! Alexanders! But who had any idea that they were closed for renovation? 😳 We did not. So that was kind of a bust. We went on a hunt for somewhere else that would feed us chicken fingers, and Boston Pizza did it!
They were delicious! Almost as good as our first day hanging out 😉
We had some time to burn, so we went to a nearby park that she had been to many times but I never had, and we sat on a bench and took yet more selfies! As if there weren’t enough. The portrait setting kept stealing our messy buns! It was weird!
I know. We are SO good looking.
We walked and talked and just truly enjoyed our down time together! No regrets at all with how our day turned out!!
I got home in time to help get the kids down for the night, and then Cher and I exchanged gifts. We hadn’t specifically made plans to give gifts, but it worked out! I had seen something online that was just TOO funny not to get for her, and she had made me a little character that is pretty popular around here! I now have my own personal egg butt!!
I love him!
While we gave gifts and laughed like doofuses, Brady made popcorn. Brady makes the best popcorn! And once that was done, the three of us headed downstairs for a movie! The plan was “Bridesmaids,” because it was another kind of first for Cher and I, from our first teenager sleepover. Buuuut another true crime documentary popped up on Netflix that we had to watch first, lol! Then Bridesmaids!
It was altogether SUCH a nice day! Its good to celebrate our people all the time, every day, because we love them! Yesterday was excellent.
I’ve mentioned a handful of times now that Brady’s not doing 100% health wise these days. I wasn’t trying to be cryptic by not going into details, its just been uncertain, and we’ve been working to figure out what’s happening.
To be clear, this is still all what we think. We have good guesses based on good information and intelligent professionals. Things will be confirmed next week, but we’ll talk more about that shortly.
I also want to be clear and upfront about the fact that Brady is pre-reading this and I have his total permission to share all of these things on the internet. There are personal details, but here we are, being open and honest, as we tend to be! Not a lot to hide over here!
Earlier this summer, Brady got a sore back. This was not surprising, considering the amount of work we were putting into our property and then the RV. Brady’s back would be sore at the end of the day, but it always loosened up when he got moving, and it reset overnight. We very easily wrote it off as busyness and Brady’s muscles readjusting after being off work for a while.
As summer wore on, it worsened. Basically, his back hurt if he wasn’t moving. So we kept busy! It was totally survivable if he was moving.
Once we got the camper to the lake, home projects slowed down and his back felt worse. It was reminiscent of the work injury that Brady suffered three years back, where he was in physio for months to repair seized ribs. It was a long road that first time, and he was discouraged even thinking this could be that old injury flaring up again.
When pulling out those old exercises didn’t do any good, it was clear he needed to go back to physio and get a treatment in person. We figured it could need some adjustment, and then the exercises will keep it where it needs to go.
Brady’s physio confirmed this – that his ribs were seized together in a tight band around his body, and needed loosening and muscle strengthening. It had previously been a group of four ribs seized together, and now it was five. Worse than the original injury! So, more exercises and work and pain meds. For a couple of weeks. More appointments. More money we don’t have. It was exhausting for Brady, discouraging, expensive, and frustrating.
And then everything got SO much worse. Brady’s legs went numb, and he stopped being able to pee. (Yes, I’m allowed to talk about this.) He could pee when he really needed to pee, but hypothetically, going pee before bed so he wouldn’t have to get up in the night, that was out of the question. Or it would take a solid half hour. If he pushed too hard for it, his ribs would hurt him SO badly. If there was ever relief for his back, his legs would be more numb, and vice versa. We knew there was bigger issues when that started. Alongside ALL the pain and frustration, he was getting back spasms in the night, and wasn’t sleeping. I pushed Brady to talk to his physio about the peeing, and when he did, and it wasn’t getting better, his physio waved the white flag and said he couldn’t treat Brady anymore until he had seen a doctor.
So the boy FINALLY went to see the doctor! And what a day that was for him! 😆😩
He and Dr. Guselle hadn’t seen each other in a while! They caught up a bit, and talked out all of his symptoms. She teased him about trying to wear a mask over his beard…
and made some decisions for tests. She did some sensitivity tests on his legs, feet, and butt, and printed off requisitions for blood and X-rays that she ideally wanted that day. She paid me a HUGE complement and asked Brady what I thought the issue was!! I was pretty honoured she’d ask, but she has proven time and time again that she trusts me. I loved that! Aaaaand after all that, she asked if he’d be ok to have a rectal exam, to check for inflammation and all that fun stuff. He wants answers as much as I do, so he agreed.
I say again, yes, I’m allowed to talk about this on here.
Brady’s description of the exam is probably a bit too off-colour to post on here, but he was a good sport and said it wasn’t so bad. More awkward than anything. But Dr. Guselle, being the BEST doctor in the world, congratulated him on his first ever rectal exam as she left the room. I laughed FAR too hard about that. That being said, the exam was fine, and she found no immediate issue all up in there. So Brady left, and called me with all the info, and told me he was going for blood and X-rays in the north end. Dr. Guselle called him along the way and lamented that she thought he would be able to get an ultrasound on his bladder to see if he was retaining any urine after he peed, but that she was informed it needed to be done via catheter. As if the rectal exam wasn’t enough, he was a good sport and went back in that afternoon for that second procedure.
Yes, I’m allowed to talk about these things on the internet.
He went back to the doctors office, peed, met Dr. Guselle’s nurse, and then set up for his catheter procedure, to see what was left in there.
For reference: Anything over 50 mls of retained urine is considered “significant.” Anything over 150 mls gets you on an emergent MRI list. Anything over 250 mls sends you to the ER immediately.
Brady was retaining 85 mls.
So while he didn’t qualify for anything “urgent,” it was considerably more than he should be retaining.
Brady’s blood and X-rays all came back clear, and negative for all the scary stuff. MS and things like that. So that was a relief! Dr. Guselle made a bunch of calls on Brady’s behalf, to his physio, and to her contact at Spinal Pathways. She was able to book an assessment for a CT scan on October 13th. Thats SOON!!! Two weeks from the beginning of Brady actually seeking help. Two weeks is FAST in the world of big scans and specialists, but its SLOW in the world of not being able to stand confidently or empty ones bladder fully. So praaaaaise the Lord for an appointment! At this point, it is mere days away. It will only be for the assessment, not the scan itself, but hopefully the specialists will agree that he needs to be seen asap.
Everyone involved has the same suspicion. Brady very likely has a slipped disc. We believe it has slipped in a more uncommon way. Its been described to us that it usually slips outwards from the back of the spine, but that it seems Brady’s has slipped in towards his body rather. Which isn’t unheard of, but is less common. Since this initial diagnosis has been put forward, Brady’s physio has consulted other professionals, and they’ve made a new plan in how to manage his pain and try to repair his back. There is small progress, meaning Brady has pain-free moments again. But he is on a consistent pain med regimen, taking stomach protectors and relaxers on top of basic pain killers. All is being monitored by our doctor and his physio, who are working closely together for his sake. Brady diligently does his exercises multiple times a day, takes his meds on time, to a point where he wakes up to an alarm in the night to take another relaxer. He works hard to know when to move and when not to. He is not a guy who likes to just sit still. Its been a crazy challenge in every way.
So. We ask for prayer. Its been a crazy year of physical pain for our family, and its currently Brady’s turn. He has been cleared to do some light duty work, and while we both feel somewhat urgent about having income again (Remember income?? We do not…) we also feel pretty urgent about not messing up his body any further than it already is. So, pray for wisdom and guidance. Pray for healing. Pray against back surgery. Pray for miracles. Pray for God’s will, above all else. Pray for Brady!
If you’re from the same area of the world as me, you probably know about the big ole grass fire that started yesterday afternoon. My neighbour texted me shortly after 2pm saying there was a huge fire across the field from our street. She wasn’t kidding.
Cher and I met her in the street to take pictures.
We watched emergency vehicles race to the scene, drive away, drive back, etc. We watched an obscene amount of vehicles rip down the gravel roads to go check out what was happening. Guys. Don’t do that. Not safe. Not helpful to crews trying to get to the scene.
Through the afternoon, the three of us exchanged pictures, articles, videos, and thoughts on the impending fire. It kept growing, and spreading. The smoke had started suuuper dark, but it lightened up as multiple fire crews fought it. Amazing efforts!
Collectively, though, we were all unsettled as dusk approached and the fire was still going. The darkness was going to take all of our information away! It was disconcerting at the very least.
I’ve got to say, though. The darkness did not take all of our information, and if nothing else it made it that much more nerve wracking. Maybe the smoke wasn’t as evident or billowy, but the flames were a lot more visible. 😳
At 8:30pm
We hoped for obvious improvement before bed, but at 10:00pm, it looked much the same :/
I have this funny thing where I have a really hard time falling asleep when the power is out. I want to be awake until its back on. Anyone else? Its just like I need the reassurance that the problem has ended before I totally settle. Thats very much how I felt last night. I wanted the fire to be out before I completely let down for the night. But it simply wasn’t possible, and that is totally fine, because I know its a total first world problem.
I was fortunate to wake up to no fire, no damage, and no problems directly. Meanwhile, other people suffered greatly, and that doesn’t go unnoticed. I hope everyone is safe.
All that said, if kids are coughing today, think smoke before covid, please and thank you.
Today was the first time ever in history that just Waverly and I hung out. Around 9 am Hailey and Solly left for pre-school. It was Hailey’s turn to help out so she stayed until 11ish. That meant that it was ONLY me and Wavy. I was ecstatic.
We played with balloons in the basement. I showed her three music videos: Under the Sea, Everybody Wants to be a Cat, and Beauty and the Beast. She LOVED them. She called everything puppies and pumpkins. Planets are also pumpkins in case you didn’t know.
Waverly helped me put away dishes and then we had a lengthy coffee break with really good conversations about pancakes, boogers, and blankies.
I taught her how to do cheers with our mugs and to say: “clink” or “boop.” She was very interested in the concept and continued to ‘cheers’ me throughout the whole date. It was very cute.
One thing Waverly has started to do is randomly yell “PANCAKES!!!!” It’s very cute. She gets very excited.
After our coffee break she wanted to colour, and we came upon some tattoos, so I decided that it wouldn’t be a successful day unless her mom came home to see her tattooed up.
I swaddled foxy for her and she spent the rest of the time on the rocking chair with her “baby” waiting for mommy to come home. She got a little nervous for the last half hour or so, but she came back to life when Hailey returned. It was a very cute date.
I love being Waverly’s Auntie! She is such a special little girl.
I won’t make you wait. It went great 🙂 Apparently he had a bit of holdback, just like his older sister had. But he jumped during singing and, upon retrieving him afterwards, he was playing with other kids happily. You know that version of catch where they use scoops kind of? Ya, that. He was totally happy! Not eager to leave, but didn’t fuss about it either. He was completely comfortable and content!
On the drive home, I asked him what his favourite parts of school were. Number one with a bullet was his teacher. ❤️ He liked her a lot! He liked his friends. He liked using scissors, lol! He liked crafts. He really wanted to go downstairs and wasn’t allowed, haha, but that was his only complaint 😉
He was back in time for lunch, and Wavy was really happy to have him back 🙂 Normalcy restored, haha!
My heart is relieved. Not because I thought he wouldn’t do well, but because my heart is so much lighter when my children are content and doing well. And this morning, as far as I can know, everyone has been well. Praise the Lord for beautiful, capable kids, and beautiful, capable teachers to pour into them!! I see you, and I appreciate you.
Kid #4 started school today 😳 Feels a liiiiittle bananas! But he was beside himself with excitement!
He was even jazzed about “getting” to wear a mask. 😷 (To be clear, these will only be enforced during singing time because we cannot do playschool without singing!!!)
Solly wanted so badly to leave with the school kids, but he had a bit of a wait ahead of him. I decided to busy him with a “first day of school” photo sesh. Waverly wanted to join so badly, and let me tell you! Lol! Those are are almost impossible to get looking at the camera at the same time! 😆 They’re terribly cute, though!
Once it was finally time for him to go, I got some solo photos of Solomon on his FIRST day of school!!! 🥰
He was SO happy to go to school. ❤️ Didn’t even look back.
Brady has left for a short day of work now, and I’m one on one with Princess Baldy over here.
Believe it or not, she’s a pretty easy gig 😆
I’ll tell you all about how it went tomorrow! I don’t anticipate any issues. My heart feels such relief when the kids go easily. Thank you Lord!
I know two blogs in a row about Waverly’s bedtime prayers might seem repetitive, but they’re such special memories, I can’t not record them!!
After Wavy prayed on her own the previous night, I was very curious what would happen the next night! Whether she would repeat the same prayer that got her so much attention, or if she’d even remember. When it was her turn to pray, the kids started to prompt her, but I shushed them and we waited. And her prayer went like this:
Dear Jesus. Thank you day. Thank you.. uuuhhh… Daddys back hurts… Amen.
Just try and tell me she doesn’t understand what prayer is! She knows exactly what she’s doing!!
Lord, hear her prayers! Heal Brady’s back!
***
I’ve been working on a full post about what Brady is going through. Look for it in the next day or two!
We always pray as a family before putting the kids to bed. Sometimes the kids pray for the same things for a long time, like a routine. Sometimes they mix it up, depending on what they did that day. There are seasons.
Its always a fun time when the youngest kid is verbal enough to pray! Wavy has been on that level for a good while now, but being a two year old, she relies on the rest of us to help her through it. Which is great, and also adorable.
Last night was a first for Waverly.
She asked to pray first, and as always, she opened her prayer on her own with a “Dear Jesus.” Usually from there, a kid pipes up with a “thank you for this day” and then suggests things for her to thank Jesus for. Maybe it was the few extra seconds after her opening where nobody spoke up, but she continued on all on her own. Her prayer went like this:
Dear Jesus. Thank you day. Thank you Auntie. (Cher) Thank you eggs. Thank you Dekko. Amen.
Brady and I just stared at each other in total disbelief. She prayed her thoughts out, all on her own! And the first real thing she thanked Jesus for was Cher 💜 followed by eggs, and Dekker! Hahaha! It was SO amazing!
We continued through our prayer time, and she prompted Solly in his prayer, suggesting “Auntie? Eggs and toast? Me! Hahaha!” She thought she was SO goooood!
And she was right. My gosh, that girl never ceases to amaze me!
Cher might’ve been a tad on the thrilled side of things, also 😘 Or at least she should be!
Pre-covid, our plan for projects this year was the fence and the grass. We wanted to get our yard in good shape so our kids could go out a bit easier without being worried about vehicles ripping down the back alley or animals running loose. We got to some of those things, but then covid hit and priorities changed a lot! Opportunities changed, I guess is more accurate. As you know, we did the fence, and the dirt, and closed in under the deck to make a shed. And then before we got to the grass, we bought our RV and there went the summer! Haha! I say that in the BEST way, but its incredibly accurate! Our summer was SLAMMED, but it was fine in terms of the yard, because apparently its best to do grass in either Spring or Fall anyway.
As the quarantine, and by default, the unemployment, continued, we opted to seed grass ourselves, rather than our original plan of hydroseeding. It helped that Costco had everything we needed for a nice cheap price. That way we could still consider doing grass even after all the projects we’d worked on while Brady wasn’t able to be working. It was going to happen!!!
We seeded the front yard and saw really lovely, green, even results within the week! Success! It was time to rock the backyard!
Now, I’ve said some little things here and there, and I’ll update you with real information soon, but Brady is not in tip top shape for projects right now. The idea of tilling our dirt was absolutely out of the question. Carrying everything from our yard elsewhere and then tilling the super hard soil and clay was just going to be way too much. As Brady’s pain worsened, it was clear that we needed to accept the fact that we just wouldn’t get there this season. And that was going to be ok. Maybe next Spring. We accomplished SO MUCH this year, if we didn’t see the backyard with grass, so be it.
Except that kind of eats a person when that was the biggest thing we wanted to accomplish this season, and possibly the easiest…
But we made peace with it. Passive aggressive peace, but peace nonetheless.
Then how did I wind up here, inside, blogging, while one of our friends and neighbours is tilling our backyard? If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. We have the BEST people in our corner. I don’t know what we did to deserve such a beautiful group of people in our lives, but my goodness, it is a gigantic blessing to our family!!
Brady and I got out there and tried to move some things around the yard as best as we could. I had a CRAZY moment where I was trying to drag the trampoline on my own, and Dekker and Laela showed up and each lifted, and the three of us carried it into the garden plot. Yes. Dekker and Laela helped me carry a trampoline. They’re 9 and 7. Just saying. It was bananas. Landry came and helped me get the picnic table moved as well, and Brady picked rocks and lightly worked at shovelling the topsoil we had piled in the corner of the yard. Landry is tilling, and the actual seeding will be easy. Brady has been cleared for “light work,” thank the Lord, so he can feel accomplished, too!
What a gift we’ve been given. Covid has its ups and downs, but I am ever grateful for the people we’ve gotten closer to over the months of quarantine and who has stuck it out with us. Thank you, Lord, for the friends and neighbours and family we have, and their willingness to put into our lives.
I really really enjoyed today. It was full, but of really good things. I used to be a person whose ideal level of busyness was one scheduled thing per day. Anything more than that was doable, but more than my mind seemed to want to handle. Everything has changed this year, and my busyness level has shifted significantly!
The morning began across the street, actually! After getting the big kids off to school, the three younger kids and I headed over to Rae’s. The kids played downstairs while Rae and I made four batches of salsa! I am not confident in the kitchen, as has been talked about a lot, but I chopped tomatoes for a couple of solid hours and I think I can safely say we both felt pretty accomplished. 💪 Brady joined us after his physio appointment, and happened to arrive just in time for Rae to crack out the fresh baked cookies! We all enjoyed some of those before packing up and heading home, with a container of cookies and two big jars of salsa, of course! Thank you SO MUCH, Rae, for inviting us!! It was a really lovely morning with you! And thank you for the treats!
Brady and I lunched the kids, and then lunched ourselves while we watched a show. Cher joined us for a swift hour and a half, for a visit and an iced coffee. She is always such a delight! One of the best parts of the day, easily!! 💜 But she couldn’t stay long today, so we said our goodbyes right around when the big kids got home from school.
I had been somewhat on the ball, and had put a pork loin in the crock pot early in the morning for pulled pork. My mom had offered to pick up buns for us, so upon her arrival, we invited her to stay for supper! Was a bit last minute, but she happily joined in the fun! I chopped up salad stuff with her and Brady chilling at the island with me, and the kids played downstairs. It was really, really nice! Supper went over really well, and everyone ate well! Wavy didn’t care for the pork on a bun, but she ate a whole big bowl of salad, so I have no big issue.
We ate Rae’s cookies for dessert, and decided to go burn that off with a walk! Our friend had a birthday today, and we had a gift to drop off anyway! It worked out! The kids were so happy to go on a walk, and my mom joined too! We walked across town and dropped off the bday gift, and then ended up visiting with some other friends down the street for probably a solid half hour. It was dark by the time we were heading home, but it felt like an adventure for the kids, so they were jazzed.
We came home to see the bright orange harvest moon at the end of our street! What a beautiful night! Crisp and dark. Very fallish.
Now, everyone is tucked away, and we’re running a bath. It has been such a lovely day, in all the ways. Tomorrow brings more busyness, and we’re ready for it! All good things, for which we are so thankful!
