*deeeeep breath*

*deeeeep sigh*

Its raining today. I have waited for the rain. I LOVE the rain. It smells amazing, feels amazing, and brings a cleansing refresh to everything it touches. I’m SO happy the rain is back. And April showers bring May flowers, right? My little front step planter is looking pretty naked.

We got the kids to church this morning in the beautiful grey misty weather. Its Palm Sunday today. All the kids opened the service by walking into the sanctuary waving palm branches while the worship team played music. It was a really wonderful opening. I didn’t catch a whole lot beyond that, with my twitchy little baby girl. She woke up just that much too early this morning, and was pretty over church the moment it started. But we rolled with it. I held her off by sitting on the floor with her and letting her play, then carrying her around, then back to the floor, etc etc etc. We made it through, and the moment church was done, Waverly was whisked away by the eager hands of some of the youth. Boom! Off she went!

Everyone was loaded into the van when I finally tore Wavy away from her group of admirers. As I carried her out to the van, her bare shoulders tasted the rain. She startled, and gasped, and giggled. Yesssss! PLEASE love the rain as much as I do, sweet baby!

As tends to happen, everyone disintegrated upon arriving home, and nap time happened very quickly after lunch. Now that everyone is up and at ’em, we have the rest of the day to play together 🙂 Our only job is to go through some tubs of clothing for Wavy. I had to dig into tubs this morning to find things that fit her, so its time for yet another size swap! She keeps growing!!

Thus begins a week of Brady being home! Sadly, he is swamped and will be working late all through our Easter break the following week :/ But hey, we’ll take what we can get! This week is already filling beautifully 🙂 Lots to look forward to!

I posted a picture on Instagram yesterday of Wavy and Dekker looking the same. Maybe you’ve seen it. If you did, sorry for the repeat. While I know lots of you say Waverly looked like Dekker right off the bat, I just didn’t. I know my kids better than anyone, but I couldn’t see past Waverly Violet exactly as she was. She was herself, period. With Rowan’s lips. But she was her own!

Now, its clear, as shown in the Insta picture from yesterday.

This picture of Dekker came up in a Facebook memory and I immediately saw Wavy in his face! I went searching for a picture of her in roughly the same pose, and sure enough! There she is! Its not exact, but the similarities are unmistakable!

Today, she was up having some lunch at the table. It was dim in the house, and she was just in a diaper. I looked over at her and saw a specific picture of Dekker! I dug it up, and once again, there they were!

No doubt about it! These kids are SIBLINGS!!

Which is convenient, because they are very fond of each other!

He would be SUCH a good dad. His kids would be SO cute. I wonder how his life will go…

I’ll keep today’s post short.

Do you remember Monday? The day when I napped my whole crew around 10:30 because they were all complete exhausted disasters? Today was very much on the same course.

I took them for a drive to bring Brady a coffee, which is kind of a win for everyone. But my little troop did not rally. Rather, they disintegrated upon arriving harm, scarcely eating any lunch before going to bed.

A loving friend dropped by for a little bit so I didn’t just stew in my own frustration all afternoon. I slept maybe three hours last night, which I know is a huge part of why I am the way I am today. Everything is SO much more difficult when a person is behind in sleep. I know we can all relate, I’m not saying I’m any more tired than anyone else.

I know I haven’t done a good job today. I’ve been harsh and unreasonable, and I have some apologies to hand out after nap time. I haven’t eaten, and I really need to shower. Today has just been a day I’ve let get away on me, and it shows. I’m struggling, and its not helping those around me succeed, thats for sure.

Yup, they’re in sweats or jammies. The boys’ hats make them appear put together, right?

I have good people. Great people. People who love me even when I suck. And today, I suck.

If you remember yesterday’s post, I put the kids down for naps suuuper early in the day. Rowan was out cold within five minutes! I felt pretty justified, and I had a few of you tell me throughout the day that it had been a good move on my part. I always expect to be judged, and I really appreciate when I’m not. I know we all do things differently, and thats just great 🙂 At our house, our kids tend to nap a bit older than other homes. No biggie.

Once naps were in full swing, I went upstairs and found Wavy lulling. So she and I spent “nap time” together on my bed. I blogged and we listened to music. Waverly drank milk, played toys, and chewed her hands. It was cute.

I had somewhere to go in the afternoon, so a friend and her kids came by for the afternoon. When they arrived, the house has been perfectly quiet for about two hours or so. It was the perfect timing! They could all get up anytime and have had a great rest! Rowan was the first to surface, in a shirt and underwear. I went back into his room to grab him some pants, and there was Laela, sawing logs, completely cashed out. Solly, too, was completely silent. It was the perfect time for me to duck out, so I did!

Apparently the kids woke up gradually and they all had a great afternoon together ❤️ It goes a long way to have friends who aren’t afraid of your family, and your numbers. I appreciate you so much!!

This morning has been a smoother start. Dekker and Laela are off at school, the little boys are playing well, and Wavy woke up earlier than usual and was clearly not ready for life yet, so she lasted about two hours before going back to bed. It’ll be a two nap kind of day for her! That means a no nap day for me 😉 Because, alternating. But I can hack it!

A two nap day for Wavy is a two coffee day for me!

Relient K reference, anyone? Anyone??

Anywho…

This morning hasn’t been our smoothest. It kicked off pretty hard, with Rowan coming up into my room over and over again, telling me he had to pee. I haven’t updated in a while, but Ro is like 99% potty trained! He jumped right into night training, and hasn’t peed his bed overnight once! Then WHY, I ask, must he come tell me every time he wants to pee???? Gah!!! So he came up and lulled Wavy and I about five times before I’d normally get up. So that was special, but I know, a learning curve. Whatever. Wavy went back to sleep, at least.

Breakfast was smooth enough, and Dekker got off to school on time. Except for some miscommunications that left us floundering for a few minutes, where he was insistent that dad had made a rule that I didn’t know about. You all get it. Lines get crossed sometimes. And then Dekker’s bike was hanging from the garage ceiling, so another moment of quick thinking, and the kid did get off to school on time! Oy!

Sadly, since pretty much right after that, everyone else around here has been in full meltdown mode. Its not just because it was a bit of a rough start, but its everything. Two duplo blocks coming apart causes a child to crumble into a heap on the floor. Tears cannot be dried with hugs this morning. Also, if you touched a toy in the last hour, it is YOURS and ONLY YOURS. No one else is permitted near it!

My. Gosh.

I hit a “mommy’s wrath” moment and threatened them all with a super early nap. And NONE of them turned their attitudes around!! Not even a little bit!! So I made good on my threat, and I sat them down for lunch at 10:00a,. I know. It sounds SO cruel, and I felt pretty cruel, but I was OVER it, as were they.

Everyone ate lunch angrily, peed angrily, and went to bed angrily. Don’t worry. I followed each one to their bed and tucked them in with lots of soft hugs and kisses. I wanted it drilled into them how much I love them, and I think the lesson landed.

They were tucked in by 10:40 ish. Rowan was asleep when I checked on them at 10:45. Turns out, sometimes, an unpopular decision can be the right one.

I’m glad I followed my gut this morning! Can’t have the kids disintegrating this afternoon when I’m not home!! Would be a quick way to lose the friend who offered to watch them, lol!

Trust me, I know church isn’t about cute kids, but they love to dress up and I just cant resist sharing the pictures!!

Dekker is big into these little ties we got when he was a baby. I think its time to upgrade him, because he wants to wear one every chance he gets!!

Laela has been alternating between two dresses for a long time now, but now that she’s asking to wear them more often, I felt a bit bad she was so limited. I ran downstairs this morning to check out tub marked “clothes to grow into” and found her two more dresses! She picked this one 🙂

Rowan opted for a tie this morning, as well! He picked his whole outfit, and he did an excellent job if you ask me!

Solomon couldn’t care less what he wears, so I picked his clothes, and I’m a big fan. He’s so soft and sweet. If you were at church this morning, you know he was at the front of the crowd for a good chunk of the service 😆

Wavy and I didn’t attend this morning, so she hung out in her jammies.

Look at her eyes!!!

Brady braved church with the four kids on his own, and apparently everyone did very well. He had some extra help with Solly, thanks to our pastor!

It’s so amazing to be reminded so publicly that our church doesn’t view children as a nuisance. We MUST nurture the children, or the church will cease to exist!

The rest of the day was spent outside ❤️

Sunday has been lovely 🙂 Enjoy your evening before the work/school week begins!!

We haven’t had a good waffle feed in a LONG time around here! It was finally time! It was so good to be back together again.

We ate well and much,

and spent the next couple of hours visiting, coloring, and listening to music. It was the best, warmest Saturday morning we’ve had in a while, and we’ve had some great weekends in the last month! But this one was better 🙂

Its good to be reminded once in a while that waffle brunch is worth the effort, the mess, and the sugar rush to follow. One day, I hope we get in a groove, and invite someone over every Saturday for waffles. Who wants to be on our list?