My morning began early, as did Cher’s. We drove to Saskatoon together just shortly after 6:00am, and she dropped me off at City Hospital right around 6:45. I registered quickly and painlessly, and was directed to the women’s health clinic.

I didn’t talk about it in detail here, but I had a test done in March where a doctor inserted saline solution into my uterus and took a really good investigative look around in there. I tried to rebook the appointment, because it was right in the thick of Brady’s stay at rehab, and you may or may not remember, but I had ZERO capacity for extra anything. However, I could not reschedule without fully cancelling, and the doctor who was on the books to do it was about to go on sabbatical. So, I went through with it. Turns out, they found at least one decent sized piece of scar tissue that could very well be affecting my fertility. Even if I were to become pregnant with it in there, it could actually cause growth restriction.

So, even with everything going on as it is, Brady and I do not feel ready to completely close the book on our fertility. So today turned out to be the day I went in to have the adhesion removed.

It was actually a pretty fast paced morning once I got there. I sat in a waiting room for about ten minutes, and then I was brought in for a covid test. My first one. I passed! 🥇While the rapid response machine worked, I was talked through the lead up, the procedure, and the after. It all seemed pretty straight forward. I signed some waivers, and was walked to a room to change into a gown, robe, and slippers. It was a look. I put everything else into a locker, and was brought to another room right away where I answered some more questions, and laughed my way through a couple of unsuccessful IV attempts before we got it right.

Before I was finished in that room, my OB came in to touch base and ask if I had any questions or needed any clarification. My main question was about my previous D&C. I was curious how they were similar and different. They said it was similar, but on a much smaller scale pain- and recovery-wise. She then asked about Brady, which I thought was really lovely and a lovely example of a doctor going the extra mile. When all was done, I was walked to yet another room and wrapped up in a warm blanket to wait.

I only waited maybe five minutes before it was time to go.

I was taken into a procedure room and put up on a bed. Rather that stirrups, they hooked my knees up, which was vastly more comfortable. My favorite part of this story is my sedation nurse. I wish I remembered her name. She was SO warm to me. She stayed by my side and reminded me that her entire job was to make sure I was comfortable, so if I felt at all uncomfortable, she would absolutely help me. She was very reassuring. She told me what medications she was putting into my IV, and it was explained to me that I would be conscious and awake, but likely I wouldn’t remember much, if anything.

I was to receive three medication. Gravol was first. Next was a relaxant. That did its job beautifully, because I don’t remember the third medication going in. But what I do remember is my nurse laying her hand right on my hairline, and gently rubbing my forehead. I would lull here and there through the procedure. I think I told her stories. I remember apologizing to her, saying I probably didn’t make sense, and she told me I was doing just fine. Her hand was still there.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am a touch person. If I laughed with a stranger in a public place, I would often touch their shoulder. I like touch. I’ve missed touch. I think touch is SO special, so I really notice it in a different way in these months where no one touches each other anyone.

The men who helped build our lake deck hugged me when they left.

Dr Guselle touched my arm when she noticed the scars where I anxiously pick.

And today, my nurse who had a hand on me through my entire procedure.

I don’t remember everything finishing up, but I lulled awake in a recliner, once again wrapped in a warm blanket. I dozed in and out for about an hour. I kept water down, so I was given juice and digestive cookies. That worked too, so I just had to pee.

Buuuuut I was too asleep and considering I had been required to fast beforehand, the fluids just weren’t ready yet. They told me I was allowed to leave without peeing, but to come back in if I couldn’t pee within a couple of hours.

Spoiler alert. I can pee now.

Cher took me home 💜 Per nurses orders, we stopped for coffee along the way, because it would motivate my peeing. And it sounded good to me so I knew my stomach could handle it. Woot!

We brought home three americano nuevos for us three adults, and since then, I’ve pretty much been in bed.

So. So. Tired. I’ve slept a lot.

But its been ok, honestly. I have no regrets. If all of this craziness blows over and I never get pregnant again, so be it. But if we do decide to try again somewhere down the road, then I know my uterus is ready.

Tomorrow I’ll show you a few cute pictures from today 🙂 Buuuuut I don’t have the energy tonight.

All in all, I am tired, but I am content. Thats my story for the day. What a big Monday!

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of joining many of the people in and around Kinasao for a wing night! For a small cost, they offered a huge plate of fresh wings, coleslaw, potato salad, and beans. Brady and I were eager to get in on it, but most of our kids were not excited, because they don’t know good things. Lol! However, Brady, Dekker, and I know whats up. So the others ate peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and the three of us went for wings.

I can’t express to you how nice it was. It felt like there was some normalcy for a minute. It was all done safely and by the Covid guidelines, not to worry. We met a lot of people, and chatted for a nice long while. Sometimes our kids would filter by, but most of the time they just played at the playground.

Dekker, on the other hand, ate fifteen wings.

Fifteen.

He just kept on going, he loved them SO much! He ate his two scoops of beans, and his potato salad, and drank two cups of juice. He had a full chicken grease beard by the end, because he is a shamelessly messy eater. But that man ENJOYED his food and it showed!!

After all was said and done, Dekker told me he really hopes he can go to “chicken night” again next summer. I’m pretty confident we can make that happen 😉 It was a great success!

I am so grateful we landed here the way we did 💜 This site was a total gift from God last summer. We knew it then, but didn’t understand why we were being blessed this way. We get it now, Lord. We are so thankful for this home away from home in this season of our lives.

I won’t lie. Yesterday was a lot rockier than I wish it had been. I wanted Wavy to have a light, restful day of play. Unfortunately it was actually a rough go, where no one had slept very well and woke up grumpy as all get out. We were SO happy to have my mom drive out to join us for the day, and she made it a lot sweeter and very extra special!

The morning was spent on the beach in the blistering heat. Lots of tantrums and struggle, but Wavy sat out on the dock, as she tends to do, most of the morning. Sometimes she has friends with her. Sometimes she doesn’t. She’s very content either way. Meanwhile, the other kids dug in the sand, made “lakes” just beyond the lake, kayaked, had water fights, and other, more rude, verbal fights. It was a solid mix, haha!

We had a snacky lunch and a grossly unsuccessful quiet time, which maybe wouldn’t be as big of a deal except that everyone was overtired and overstimulated and all that good stuff that is eased by rest. Whatever! On we rolled!

Wavy, while she didn’t sleep, was in better shape after our nap time, and back to the beach we went! When we came back, it was time for her requested supper – pancakes. We had plans to make them in bush pie irons over the fire, but since a fire ban was set in place that very day, we rather did them in a pan on the barbecue, which worked great. Everyone was happy with that!

At the end of the day, mom pulled out the cupcakes she had baked for Wavy. We sang for her, and she blew out her three candles in ONE try!! We ate our cupcakes, and then loaded up in the golf cart to drive around and share them with some other people around here!

A lovely idea when everyone cooperates. Its extra tricky when they don’t :/ And unfortunately, they did not. That whole scene ended unceremoniously with screaming and fighting and everything being a mess. But I was granted the opportunity to take her out, just she and I, and find some friends to share her birthday with.

I’ll show you more pictures when I get home. I know that seems mean, lol, but I’m short on data and have zero wifi out here, so this one, my FAVOURITE one, will have to do 💜

I am SO grateful for our Waverly. SO grateful for a husband who took on the struggly kids while I took Wavy out. SO grateful for my mom making cupcakes. SO grateful for the people who participated, thanked Wavy for cupcakes, and sang to her. She felt like a rockstar. And now, she is a three year old rockstar.

Except that we all know she’s actually an adult who works for the government. No one is THAT together THAT young.

Wavy is celebrating her third birthday at the lake, among friends and family, on possibly the hottest week of the summer. We hope so, anyway! 🤞

Wavy’s last year has been HUGE.

You’ll notice she went bald halfway through the year. Maybe you remember or maybe you don’t, but Wavy got a crazy rash that refused to quit last summer. She ended up on strong steroids, and as a result, her hair started falling out. Once she started eating the hairballs, we made quick decisions and shaved the rest off. She, being herself, didn’t miss a beat.

Waverly Violet is friendly and sweet. She likes to hold back on new people and pretend to be shy, but its all a facade. She is hopelessly social and very ahead of the game on a lot of things. She knows all of her colours, though mixes up blue and green from time to time. Otherwise, she’s got them down. She counts pretty close to 20. She loves to pretend with her siblings, and she builds the coolest things out of magformers. She “reads” a lot, and tries to write her name, which is super wrong but super adorable.

Wavy is frightfully independent, and loves to do as much as humanly possible on her own. It makes both easier and harder.

I carry some grief with Wavy aging specifically. Never before have I had a three year old without having another baby on the way, much less another baby born. Our largest age gap was 25 months before this. I don’t know why I’m saying this. I just want to be honest. I can’t believe my youngest is three. I never would’ve thought she’d be our youngest. She is SUCH a big sister. Its just in her. Who knows whats still to come, I suppose.

I am beyond grateful for this little morsel. She lit our family right up with her birth, her contentment, and her soft nature. She was a gift to us at exactly the right time. God knew we needed her, and He continues to know what we need.

My Waverly Violet, you are my reminder that we can conquer crazy difficult things through Christ who strengthens us!! I am abounding with love for you, and I am incredibly excited to see the woman you grow to be in the years to come. But, sweet girl, I beg of you – stay little for just a while longer.

Happy birthday, sweet Wavy Vi!

We jumped in big with a five day trip to the lake! We got here yesterday in the late morning and settled in!

I will not lie. It has been HARD so far. The kids were suffering pretty badly almost right away. Yet, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. They were coming off the school routine. They were part of the stressy hustle and bustle getting out the door. Its too hot to breathe. Everything all put together can be VERY overwhelmed.

Yet, I feel all the same emotions, and I have to control them. Lol! Oof. Adulthood. Overrated.

Sooooo rather than complain about being somewhere I LOVE with people I LOVE, I’ll just show you some cute pictures 🙂 That counts, right? Right.

Our drive was decent. We got bagels on the way there, and we made great time. Not everyone felt happy, but the majority did. 🤷‍♀️ Can’t please everyone all the time!

The highlight of actually getting to the lake was getting in the WATER! Our kids are not fish just yet, but they were HOT and it was time to face those fears!

I haven’t told you all yet, but Dekker got an early birthday present right before we left. I’ll show you more about that shortly, but I’ll just let you know now, its a kayak! 😍 He was BESIDE himself!! His favorite thing, though, is to give Waverly rides.

She obviously loves to kayak, too.

The rest of the day wasn’t really worth noting 😬 It was HARD. But it ended with a couple of good tight snugs.

In this case, I lay on top of Solly to smush him, and he just grabbed me 💜 Rowan joined in once a camera was out, lol!

And then Laela came along shortly thereafter.

Sorry about the SUPER real facial expression. Thats just very much how I felt, and still feel a little on the inside. Supper after the kids went to bed helped.

Today has been better, though. Its Canada Day, had you heard? We did.

Stay cool, friends. In the 😎 way, but also in the…

Way.

Cher here again!
It’s the most mundane activities and small moments that can bring memories to our hearts. Sometimes even in the middle of the night, when you reach the end of the toilet paper roll.

Last night I was so tired. I hobbled in the dark to the washroom and ended up using the last of the toilet paper. I checked the drawer for more. None. Bummer. I thought about leaving it until the next day when I wake up before the boys do. “They don’t use toilet paper to pee anyways” I thought at first. But then I remembered something that made me change my mind. 

When I first stayed here last year during COVID, there was a night I had come downstairs after hanging out with Hailey and Brady and headed to bed. I was carrying a small pack of toilet paper from the grocery shop earlier that day. (this was when toilet paper was apparently going extinct) I left the pack outside the bathroom door and went to bed, thinking I would deal with it in the morning. 

I remember waking up needing to pee a couple hours later but I could hear Dekker was in the washroom, and not only could I hear that he was just in there, but I heard him open the pack of toilet paper at 1am. I could hear that he opened the drawer as CAREFUL and quiet as he could, placing each toilet paper roll in there one by one, so he didn’t wake anyone. Then he slowly crumpled the bag and placed it in the trash bin beside the toilet. 

And I thought, if Dekker can do such a selfless thing in the middle of the night without being asked, then why can’t I? And it may seem like such a small thing. But I don’t know any eight year old boys who would have noticed the toilet paper outside the room, nor had the heart to do that in the middle of the night with no glasses on. 

I think we learn important things from kids just as much as they learn from us.

Cher here.

God knows things before we do, that’s all I know for sure in this life. He accounts for our stupidity before he makes plans and knows the struggles we will face. He knows our flaws and fears. But he also knows our strengths.

I was really lost when I became Hailey’s friend by accident. I was looking to do something nice for someone, but also for a project to keep me busy. A new friendship was the last thing on my list as I struggled with almost every close friendship I had.

The more she put into me, the more I wondered why. Over time, we just became part of each other in a way. It was so gradual that the foundation was strong and unshakeable. There was room for forgiveness and patience. I guess you could say, since there was no agenda or race to be best friends, that our friendship grew and bloomed organically.

Today when I look at my best friend, I am so glad she picked me. 

I am so glad she picked me because my life has improved so much since I met her. I put so much more into my circle, rather than friendships with no depth. I have learned the value of loyalty and what unconditional love in a friendship feels like. I stopped self sabotaging myself and started working harder on my goals. My relationship with Jesus is much closer than it’s ever been. 

I always thought that I had to do everything alone or in a relationship. I didn’t know friendship could have this amount of depth and forgiveness.. I didn’t know someone like Hailey existed. 

So, today while she is having a tough day and struggling with anxiety. I know she feels like she isn’t that person. She feels less than because she doesn’t have the same capacity as she did yesterday. But what she doesn’t always know is that it’s not her capacity that makes me happy she picked me. It’s not the movie nights, or the road trips, or the big gestures. It’s the space she has for me in her heart. A space I didn’t think I was worth to anyone, just a few years ago. And now, everyday I get to walk around knowing I have this incredible sister in my life that keeps me in check and loves me unconditionally. 

I’m glad she picked me. 

Another school year is done and gone! If I can be brutally honest, I have never felt more disconnected from the kids’ school experience as I have this year. Thats not to say ANYTHING bad about the teachers, because they’ve been AMAZING. It has to do with my brain being literally maxed out, paired with the inability to attend “easy” stuff, like assemblies, family reading lunches, etc. Not setting foot in the school even once this year has been so incredibly strange. Yet I am SO happy my children had amazing teachers, caring staff, lovely friends, and positive experiences.

Our family went to pick Dekker and Laela up after school today. Dekker had food on his face, and Laela had most of a popsicle in her mouth.

They were both super happy and bright. It was really good to see them like that. Before we had left the schoolyard, I heard Dekker say something about being SO excited for school to start again. I laughed and scolded him in the same breath. Let’s enjoy summer first, shall we?

I should throw in here that Rowan had his last day of school last Thursday, and I didn’t mention it. Whoops! He was super cute about it, though, and offered I could take a picture of him today, if I wanted. So I definitely did.

He’s got a pretty cute mug himself.

Next year, I will have kids in kindergarten, grade one, grade three, and grade five. Oof!!

Aaaaand one at home.

SO much change in our house these days. I can’t even imagine what’s still to come! God’s in control!

Remember when Brady added spindles and a railing to our deck stairs?

I think that was all the motivation he needed to get to work finishing the ramp at home!

It took a little longer than it might have last year, but it got done beautifully!! Brady worked SO hard and felt SO accomplished! As he should have!

I’m so happy to have this finally done! It looks complete, and we can start putting some of the tools that have been lurking in our garage away where they belong!

There is never a shortage of projects to do, and I know both Brady and I are relieved when we can do some of the work.

*packs more screws to do yet more work at the lake this weekend*

I used to buck trends pretty hard. I rocked flares looong into the skinny jean moment, and I’m hanging onto them tight as flares resurface. I fought bands that other people thought were cool. And frankly, I was far too poor to even consider a LOT of different trends, as they seem to come and go with the wind.

But I’ll admit, once the fuss wears off a little, I tend to dip my toe in. So in the last few days, I finally tried whipped coffee!!!

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Guys. Oh my gosh.

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• 

So. These are ridiculous. Like RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!

Here is how we do it!

2 tbsp instant coffee
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp hot water

Mix.

I’m not even kidding. Don’t ask me how it gets so creamy. I don’t know. Thats ALL it takes.

We put a handful of ice in a glass, fill it with milk, blob the coffee on top, take pictures (or it didn’t happen) and then stir it all together.

Be warned. The coffee whip will be STRONG! You’ll want to dunk your finger into it like its icing, but you’ll be surprised. It is NOT icing. Still, I want to stir it into everything, and I want to tweak the recipe in ALL the ways!

For round two, I mixed some up the night before to see if it would hold.

It did!! It had settled a liiiiittle bit in the bottom of the bowl but very very little. It worked great! We added some whipped topping to be fancy. The middle coffee wasn’t into it…

Haven’t laughed that hard in a WHILE!!

There has been talk of adding Baileys. Cher suggested drizzling something yummy overtop, too.

Basically, this can only get better and yummier. I’ll keep you in the loop. I’m on the hunt for a little immersion hand blender to be able to make it at the lake, because I might already be a tad attached to this new concept.

This might be the bougiest thing about me.