Everyone keeps eating. I don’t know what thats all about but man. That doesn’t slow down as they age, hey? Noted. Duly noted.

Yesterday, the morsel woke quiet early, and while the baby was quite the peach, it was evident that the time we’d normally be at church would be the time the morsel would need to be sleeping. So, I decided to stay home with aforementioned morsel, and Brady attended church with our five.

As expected, the morsel easily went down once the house was quieter. This was my cue to click on some true crime and use my time for good. Thus began my bake day. Possibly my biggest bake day to date! And I really really enjoyed it.

I sipped coffee.

I licked my fingers.

I listened to true crime.

The oven whirred and whirred.

It smelled amazing.

I felt accomplished.

Of course, my couple of quiet hours ended abruptly and the day moved forward. I still baked, but it was less zen and more messy. It was still crazy productive. It was around 4pm when I clicked the oven off for the day. I abandoned all the baking at that point and went on with the rest of the day.

The haul is as follows:

2 gigantic batches (about 150) pumpkin bran muffins
42 oatmeal-to-go cups
2 pans granola bars
4 loaves of banana bread with crumble on top

Once most of the kids were down for night, I got to wrapping each item to be a grab and go breakfast or lunch item. That is definitely my least favorite part, but Brady pitched in and helped get things done quicker 💜 I wrap the pumpkin muffins in twos. Everything else is individual. Its annoying, and yes, its a lot of wasted saran wrap. But it works so well for us at this time.

While I’m definitely missing my giant island from the other house, and the space is afforded me on my bake days, that is a small price to pay to be settling into this home 💜 We’ll get those details worked out in time, but for now, I’m just grateful we have this giant table, and kids who don’t stick their fingers all over everything 😅 This absolutely works. We are so fortunate.

Our sweet little girly lost her first tooth yesterday! Yesterday it all came to a head and she was frustrated with it. I walked past her room while Brady was saying goodnight to her, and I hear her inquire if there was anything he could do to help her. I casually offered up a suggestion.

“You could let him pull it out.”

And I kept walking, because no reasonable person would jump at such an idea.

Except Wavy. She was down to clown.

It was the absolute teeniest tooth ever!! But WOW was it clean!!! I was impressed!

She bled for a little bit, but the excitement greatly outweighed the initial ick factor. And this morning, she was beaming while she told everyone about it!

My littlest girly is getting so big, I can hardly stand it. But I also LOVE it 💜 She is a riot. I’m such a big fan of her. And I cannot wait for her to lose more teeth, haha! Gotta love that jack-o-lantern look!!

You’re SO brave, Wavy!

Its pretty cute over here. We have a baby who has finally embraced tummy time, and somehow cut three teeth in four days!!! 😵 That was a pretty nutty stretch, hahaha! We also have a baby who is crawling confidently, pulling up independently, and reaching developmental milestones all across the board! I am SO proud of both beautiful little babies in our care! 💜

Meanwhile, Waverly has her first wiggly tooth!!!! 😁 And she is STOKED!

She’s trying to show off which one it is, which is super not working, but is a super cute effort 💜 Anyway. Its on the bottom.

I’m so grateful for the privilege to witness milestones with these beautiful children. My heart is very full. Thank you Lord.

Ok. This is my call out. I’m on the hunt for this baby toy.

It is a heavy (and I do mean HEAVY) favorite for our morsel. However, it is not ours. It was manufactured a good while ago, and cannot just be purchased anywhere. So this means I will likely only be able to lock it down from a thrift store, or possibly from someone else who is done with theirs.

I’ve also heard there is a Facebook group specifically made for things like this, such as childrens prized stuffies and things their parents are afraid of losing. Does anyone know where to find that group? Help!

This toy was made my Discovery, or Baby Dolittle. It was seen on an episode of Baby Dolittle/Baby Einstein called World Animals in the early 2000s. Its referred to as a rattle, even though I would think a teether is more accurate.

I digress. Help me, friends. I want one of these butterflies. Or, I’d take a handful, lol! This toy doesn’t look like anything special, but it is 💜

The hunt is on!

Do you remember my post from fall where I talked about some of the medical conditions we’ve learned about since we began doing foster care? It was called Not a Medical Baby, and its probably in my top ten favorite posts I’ve written. We have learned SO much in the last stretch of our life, and while its not necessarily been gentle, its been incredibly enlightening, and not at all as daunting as it sounds.

So if you’ve followed along, you know we’ve fed our morsel through an NG tube. That system has been upgraded to a G tube!! Teaching time! The G stands for gastrostomy, which means its inserted directly into the stomach. Previously, we managed an NG (nasogastric) tube that went in through the nose and ran down into the stomach. I feel like logic tells us that the NG tube is a temporary solve, and a G tube is a longer term solution. A G tube does not have to be forever at all, but the NG is significantly more temporary, and is only really meant to stay in for a few weeks. We rocked one over here for a good six months. Moving to the G tube meant surgery, therefore another hospital admission, and healing a surgical site. However, it has proven to be a significantly nicer situation for the morsel, and we have absolutely NO regrets. Behold 🙌 This is what that G button looks like!

Ok but seriously. Its basically just a beach ball valve.

What is cool about going from an NG to a G tube is that almost nothing changes. We used to screw the end of the feeding bag into the tube that was taped to the side of the morsels face. Now, we attach ONE additional piece of equipment – an extension – to the morsels tummy, and screw the end of the feed onto it. We rock the right angle extension, as it lays flat against the tummy.

Poof. Thats its. Not so scary, is it? Everything else is exactly the same. Besides the obvious health benefits for someone who cannot safely feed, the baby has more freedom and comfort this way. The tube isn’t as buggy, and can be tucked under a high chair tray and out of sight. The baby can breathe better when they have a cold, and they are not constantly re-traumatized, having it get pulled out and put back in constantly. It is altogether better, even though the thought of it scared me at first. Now, its just part of us!

Thank you, Rae, for this BOMB shirt!!! 💜

Don’t be afraid if the topic of tube feeding comes up relating to someone you love 💜 That part of whatever they are going through is going to be SO manageable, and you CAN and WILL learn it. It will be easier than you think. One day, you’ll wonder what you were so worried about. It will feel big, but not forever 💜 Hear my heart in this, please. I don’t downplay anyone’s scene. I just want to encourage others to not be afraid of tube feeding. Its really just not so bad at all 💜 Don’t be scared.

Today is supposed to be a mushy, romantic, Hallmarky day, right? Well I’m going for SPICY! And by “spicy” I do mean that Brady built me shelves for my spices!!! Heyooo!

He took out one wall cabinet, and drilled holes in a million places before reinstalling it, rather than building a separate box. The space in there was so small, this was the best option.

And now, my spices have a home, and my dead space has a purpose.

I know. I know, guys. It doesn’t get better than this. A man who renovates.

For reals though, I love you, Brady, and not just today. Thank you for all you do around here for us 💜

Welp. We took seven children to the eye doctor today. It was quite the thing, I won’t lie. Conveniently, Bradys job is nearby, and flexible, so he joined us and we went in as a group of NINE! Also conveniently, the place was pretty quiet when we got there. Not to say it stayed that way once we arrived, but we didn’t disrupt many others, haha!

Everyone’s vision is quite stable, which is awesome! A couple of prescriptions changed, a couple did not, and some glasses had been through more than others. So. The breakdown is like this.

Dekker and Laela both had new prescriptions, and therefore needed new glasses.

Rowan prescription stayed the same, but his vision is improving! Thanks to this, the doctor met him in the middle with the things he struggles with in terms of his vision. This means a bit more glasses time and less contact time. Aaaaand fewer patching hours!! Rowan is THRILLED, and I’m also pretty happy. The reductions are small enough that I still feel like we’re moving forward, but big enough that Rowan feels validated and seen. Win win! With that said, he will keep the same glasses, since they have very little wear.

Solly’s prescription is stable and doesn’t need changing, but his glasses are pretty beat up and need replacing.

Waverly’s vision is awesome, and she doesn’t need glasses! Yet, haha! Who knows what will happen, but for right now, the eye doctor fed Wavy’s ego by telling her she’s basically perfect, haha!

Babies are glasses-free! For the time being, anyway. One will likely need them later. One probably won’t. And both of those options work great for us, however that looks! We are not afraid of a little one in glasses. We’ve done that before.

All things considered, it was a successful appointment and afternoon. One kid will go back in four months. One in six. And most in a year.

I’ll show you their new glasses when they come in. Because I like the suspense. And also because it all happened so fast and I don’t have pictures 😂 I have this one, though.

So. You’re welcome.

🥸

Today is officially THE day. New people take possession of our house on Bitner, and it is officially off of our plate.

I walked through it yesterday and gathered up the last things. The vacuum and the shop broom. Cher, Dekker, and Laela had cleaned the house top to bottom over the last two weekends, which was an IMMENSE gift 💜 The house looked and smelled perfect.

I left the extra key on the island, as well as the garage door openers, the codes to the keypads, and the surveyors certificate. A bottle of wine. I prayed. And then I left!

And that, my friends, was the end of an era. We’ve had about a million firsts in the last few years, and this was a last. A different vibe, for sure, but with no big grief attached to this one. Just, a change, and a good change. We all love our new place. There is still much to do here, but we are well on our way. And now, we only have ONE house to manage and think about, which is way nicer.

I struggled posting this today, however, because TWO topics were relevant and needed to be posted today! This boy 🙌 is SO grown up!

He was off for the day crazy early to go be part of a breakfast thing at his youth pastors house. Ya. He is old enough for that kind of thing already!!

And he won’t even be home until supper because he has practice after school for the upcoming musical!!! I’m SO excited that he signed up for it even though none of his friends did. He is not afraid to do what he enjoys, regardless of his peers opinions. I am SO proud of my Dekker Thomas!

Anyway. Big days. Good days, though, I think. The week ahead is very busy. So far, it carries five appointments with different doctors, and I know a handful of things that will be added in before long. But the house being off the books is a huge relief to my heart and my shoulders.

We hope and pray the new owners love that place as much as we did. That it suits them so well. That it becomes HOME for them so seamlessly.

Happy Monday, friends.

Yesterday marked three years since Brady’s surgery. Officially three years of Brady being paralyzed. Goodness. Those memories do not come without cost.

I don’t know why, but this is one of my favorite pictures ever from when Brady was in the hospital. We were so happy to be together. We both accidentally wore Office shirts. We look well. It’s a nice bright spot. How fortunate we are that none of the appearances here were put on for the camera. We LOVED each other so very much in this picture, and we still do. So very much. More than ever.

We did not dwell on Brady’s surgaversary yesterday. Not at all. We didn’t even talk about it until the afternoon. We worked hard yesterday. Thanks to a couple of willing friends with strong arms, we knocked a lot off the list, and after the work was done, Brady and I collapsed in the living room and sat quietly together for a little while. We didn’t get too deep into it, but I let him know my body was really feeling it.

It feels SO SELFISH to “suffer” with the memories of Brady’s surgery, but I did :/ I do. Yesterday, I felt pretty overdone before the day had even begun. Struggly. Short with the kids. Exhausted. It was just hard all around. I actually fell asleep in the middle of the day, which NEVER happens.

No one faulted me for it. But I am rarely tired enough to fall asleep in the daytime and then still sleep like a rock overnight. But yesterday was that day. I didn’t consciously feel sad about Bradys surgery and our time of change in there, but my body must’ve screamed and cried all day long.

This is jumbled. So am I. But I think thats ok. I’m just trying to make it known that I know I’m a bit of a mess 😅 I also know my best is good enough, and that grief is allowed to show up in the midst of me doing my best. And I trust that those who are truly invested in our family will not judge me or think I’m selfish. Body memory is a very real thing, and I’m navigating it the best I can.

Anyway. Happy three years post-op, Brady. Truly. HAPPY years. I love you more than you know.

It is our last weekend of owning two homes, and I’m ready for it to be done. Its been a wild few weeks, and its time to get all the loose ends tied up once and for all. Meanwhile, I’ve already made a run into the city this morning, and Brady has been doing some work around the house. So far, he’s fixed our storm door and built me some laundry shelving! Woot! We will continue our work here, but while we do that, there is still buzzing at the other house! Cher and Laela are there doing the end of the cleaning (Thank you so much, guys) and some furniture is being moved out as we speak. But this is the list. This is whats left.

-have bed frame picked up

-have freezer picked up

-bring the swing set over

-bring the picnic tables over

-load up the firewood and bring it over

-dig my special rock out of my flowerbed

-take down the baby gates.

-take down tv bracket

-take down garage lights

-leave out surveyors certificate

-label keys

-leave codes

And guys. I THINK thats it! Hopefully today and tomorrow, we can knock that all out and be officially DONE over there.

And the work continues over here! Now that I have laundry shelves, I should get some of that going. A fridge will be picked up, hopefully this weekend, and another appliance brought downstairs hopefully soon. That would sure free up the kitchen. We could still use some muscle if anyone has a free evening and feels like slinging some boxes. But if not, things are still getting done 🙂 Just a bit slower, which is ok, too. Things feel a bit oddly daunting at the moment, but I think some of that will come to a close once we only own ONE home.

Happy Saturday, everyone 💜 I hope your stuff gets done.