I mentioned on Wavy’s six month post that the kids are still pretty enamoured with her. This morning, as I carried her down from her LONG sleepy morning (longest stretch of sleep we’ve gotten out of her in a while!) Dekker instantly abandoned his game and asked to hold her.
They snuggled for a good long while, until she started to get squirmy. He giggled at her and tickled her neck and teased her. He told her she was his best friend. He did SO good.
When I could tell his interest was starting to wane, I asked if he’d hold her for just one more minute while I made her a bottle. I should’ve seen it coming.
“Can I feed her??”
Lol! Of course you can.
I swear, she took her bottle better for him than she does for me.
At first, I helped him get her situated, and he asked me to hold the bottle in her mouth while he readjusted his hand. It wasn’t long before hie confidence grew, though! He’d take her bottle and set it beside him while he wiped her little mouth, and then give it to her again, never once getting flustered in between.
At one point, she was getting just too wiggly and flappy, and I offered him a break. He laughed and said “Ya, I think I might be done,” and relinquished the bottle and the baby to me. He got over half of it into her, though! Way to go, Dekker!
I love when I have a different blog plan and then something like this happens instead 😍
I hope you didn’t miss yesterday’s post! It was Waverly’s six month update, and those pictures are easily among my favorites of anything we have of her so far! She’s just so stinking sweet!
It was a bit of a later post, but I was out on a date with Jerilee and my mom!! We were also expecting Jerilee’s mom, but some unexpected plans came up and she wasn’t able to join our mother-daughter date after all :/ Sad story, for sure! But still, we went and had a total blast! Movie snacks galore! A super comfy theatre, too! We saw Mary Poppins returns, and I have to say it did not disappoint. I’m not the biggest fan of Emily Blunt, but this may have won me over for her. It was a very cute movie. The songs were catchy and fun.
I slept like a rock. Today is our ONE day we had this Christmas when nothing was booked, and we used it for a full errand day in the city. I was a little bit bummed, to be honest. I would’ve loved to spend Brady’s last day at home just being together, relaxing with coffee, disassembling Christmas, listening to music with the kids. But errands were necessary. We hit Walmart, Costco, a key shop and a couple of parts stores, Dollarama, and two Canadian Tires. Was a bit of a big one, but everyone did well 🙂 (Super speed update! Our bus runs again. Gas lines were frozen. Thats a whole other story.) The parts stops were just for some small fixes that Brady wanted to do on his work van. Everything went pretty smoothly, and Brady is currently reassembling his dashboard outside while the kids play outside.
Tomorrow, Brady heads back to work. We’ll miss him, but I’m so thankful that he got as much of Christmas off as he did, and also that he has work to go back to. We’re so fortunate.
What better way to celebrate the beginning of a new year than celebrating a half year with our littlest family member, miss Waverly Violet!
She brought such richness to our last year, I can’t even explain it. On one hand, we’ve all long since become familiar with her. She’s not “new” anymore. Yet she is still SO exciting! The kids still squeal when she gets up in the morning, and they celebrate when she hits a new milestone. She is SO well loved, and fits in beautifully. As if thats ever been in question! We love our brood so so much.
This little peach tip the scales at 18 lbz 13 oz, which is up 2.2 lbs since last month. She’s SO chubby now, and extra soft. I could pinch that arm pudge aaaaall day! She’s SO sweet and snuggly! Her hair is getting SO long, and there’s so much new growth coming in, too!
Her two teeth from last month are all the way out now, and as always happens, they’ve completely changed her look! Wavy is exceptionally friendly to new people, and rarely makes strange.
Right after Wavy’s five month post, she found her voice! She squawks like I imagine a pterodactyl might squawk. She’s lucky she’s so cute, because her cooing in the night has become far less endearing. And with her teething like crazy again, she’s up a lot more than she used to be. We love you, Wavy, but we’re sooooo tired!
Another change with Wavy is that she almost never needs to be burped anymore. She’ll either burp right as we sit her up after, or she’ll just burp on her own later. We used to burp her until she burped. Now we pat her back a couple of times, and if nothing comes of it, we leave it. She burps eventually. She’s SO user friendly!
If you haven’t noticed in the pictures, Waverly sits now! This feels like a big one! She often hangs out on her back in a half-sit up position, trying to sit up. Its funny and cute 🙂 But when we sit her up, she’s surprisingly stable! She still topples over after a while, but slowly and in control of herself. She self corrects, too, if she starts to lean too far one way. None of our children have had this much balance and stability at this point! Her hand eye coordination is improving, too! She’s considerably more grabby these days.
Oh, and she eats! Just little bits here and there, but she’s tasted yogurt and apple sauce so far, and she’s both skeptical and super interested. It depends on the day. She always loves sitting up in her high chair.
Wavy still doesn’t have much of a schedule. We’ve never really forced the schedule thing, but our babies always kind of made their own. I wonder if its just because she’s so relaxed that she goes with our flow. Its hard to know. She’ll sleep at other people’s houses, or in her car seat or the carrier. Usually, on a home day, she sleeps in, and has some wakeful time before lunch, or during lunch, and then she naps shortly thereafter. Sometimes her nap goes until supper, and she’s up until bedtime. Other times, she wakes up in the early afternoon and has another shorty nap before bedtime. Bedtime around here is 7:00, and once the others are down, we feed her a bottle in the quiet and she goes down easy as pie! Never an issue getting this one to sleep!
Yesterday was going to be pretty low key, spending the morning with family and the evening with a friend, but our bus threw us for a bit of a loop in the afternoon, just to keep it interesting.
If you’re from around here, you know there was an extreme cold warning yesterday. So our plans to play outside got scrapped, but we still made our way over to my mom’s for the morning. After a lovely morning of playing and eating and visiting, we began the process of packing up to head home for naps and such. Brady went out and started the van, and came back in to help load everyone up.
By the time we got out to the van, the kids were complaining of the cold and we reminded them it was literally a two minute drive home. When everyone was buckled, Brady climbed into the drivers seat, and noticed that the van accessories were running, but the van itself wasn’t.
Spoiler alert. It didn’t run after that. Still hasn’t.
The kids and I sat for a good while as Brady and my brother in law worked to get it running. But it didn’t work :/ They helped us get home, and Brady will be running back and forth a bit today, trying to get the van up and running. We think the gas lines froze?? Not totally sure, but hopefully the warmer weather today will be enough to get things moving.
After that special shakedown, Jerilee came over and we spent the evening together, eating WAY too much food and watching trashy movies.
We were all feeling old, and we didn’t make it to midnight together. Jerilee stayed until maybe 11:00 ish, and Brady and I watched Life in Pieces until midnight. We crashed immediately afterwards, haha!
Today begins 2019!
I’m feeling blank slate-ish. Fresh start-ish. But not good riddance-ish at all. Its so funny to look back on each year as a whole. My 2018 was so amazing, but a lot of people I love suffered hard this year. My 2017 was heartbreaking and changed the course of my life, but I have friends who truly loved their 2017. I’m not itching to see 2018 go like I was after 2017, but I have high hopes and a fresh face going into 2019!
We’ll talk goals for the future soon enough, once I’ve had time to sort a few of them out. Be thinking about yours so we can share!
I started the “Womb in Bloom” series on January 1st. I was 13 weeks pregnant. So many doctors appointments and ultrasounds this month. Laela started writing out her alphabet. A group of ladies from my church planned an evening for me around Jamin’s due date, complete with good food, company, and some presents. January had been a rough month, riddled with missed due dates and miscarriages, and the support I received was overwhelming. Dekker lost his first tooth! We wrapped January up by finding out the baby’s gender, but we didn’t tell you guys right away.
More appointments in February. Brady and celebrated our ninth anniversary this month. We celebrated by going out for dinner and indulging in some shopping for our upcoming baby girl. February was also the month where we met the doctor who would eventually deliver that baby girl. We crossed the halfway point in my pregnancy and our appointment count slowed. I started planning the baby party. Rowan turned three 🙂
We started to figure out some of Solly’s bowel issues in March and got his laxative treatment rolling. And we got a piano! Not the busiest month, but those two details were IMPORTANT!
April brought in the third trimester of my pregnancy! That felt GOOD. For some reason, I was super nervous about the glucose test during this pregnancy, but I did it in this month and passed without issue. We hit Waskesiu for the first time in 2018 in April. It was so awesome to be back. Bikes came out and spring began. A close friend of ours suffered great loss this month, and it was my first opportunity to see someone through their grief since I had experienced my own. It was eye-opening for everyone, and brought us WAY closer as friends.
May was a big one. Jerilee and I went on our annual Edmonton trip. Brady shot himself in the hand at work, which turned out to be his grossest work injury yet. We hit Waskesiu again. Brady painted our front door purple, in secret honour of the baby I was carrying. Laela wrapped up her year of preschool. The school had its wind-up BBQ (where our family ate 19 hot dogs collectively.) Solly’s birthday wrapped up the month. He turned two.
June was another big month. We started it off by playing music at our local car show. Was SO fun. The school had their track and field day, which Brady and I brought the whole family to see. Solly finally started talking! I hit full term in my pregnancy and got the final things taken care of in preparation for the baby to arrive. I even started making some of the decor for the party. Finally, school wrapped up for the year!!
July was obviously the month to note. Beautiful Waverly was born on the 2nd day of the month, setting the tone for an AMAZING summer. Her birth was amazing, as was the rest of the month. Shortly after her birth was her big party, which we sadly have NO pictures of 🙁 And just days after the party, we went to the lake for our much needed vacay. The only part of the month I wasn’t too fond of was the very very end, where I turned thirty. Gag me. I’m still not happy about it.
August was supposed to be quiet but it definitely didn’t turn out that way! Brady was very busy with work, and our weekends were full! Brady and I saw Marianas Trench in concert again. Jerilee took me to a spa for my birthday. We crossed one year from the day Jamin was born, and days after, celebrated Dekker’s 7th birthday!
September! Just as fast a summer began, it ended. School started back up for Dekker, and for the first time with Laela! Both were completely happy and not apprehensive at all! This year, on the last day of summer, it snowed. Because why not? It had been four months without snow so it only made sense. Sigh. We wrapped up the month with Laela turning five.
October was a big month for Brady. He turned 30, and if I do say so myself, I planned him an epic birthday! We had a lot of fun 🙂 Other than that, Brady bought his work van in October, which has been far better than the stupid Astro. And Halloween was the last notable thing in this month. Halloween was dang cute.
We were bus-free for about a week in November and MY GOSH what a shake down that was! I’m SO thankful for our vehicle! In that time, I went away on a ladies retreat where I crocheted for three days straight. It. Was. Awesome. Brady and some friends got a bunch of work done on the basement in November, which was also awesome. Wavy popped her first two teeth.
December held another road trip to Edmonton with Jerilee, to wrap up some Christmas shopping, but to also just get away together! Was SUCH a fun Christmas trip. Brady rolled through his beer advent calendar. We spent the bulk of December cramming for Christmas and helping some friends get a few details sorted out before winter officially hit! It felt good, and productive.
Something very notable that happened in 2018 was that our circle grew. Like grew grew. Our little village, if you will, is no longer so little. An amazing amount of people rallied around our family this year, and I truly couldn’t be more grateful. It was one of those things you don’t realize you need until you have it, and then you wonder how you lived so long without it. We’ve been fortunate to always have loving support nearby, but it feels like our circle has stretched farther and wider this year.
What an amazing year 2018 has been for our little family. Thank you to all who have been part of it. We hope to have touched some of your lives as well.
Yesterday, in the late afternoon, Brady and I got a group text from Carrie saying the worship leader for Sunday was down for the count. Could we step in? I called my mom right away. I knew full well that she had company the next day, but wondered if we could borrow her help for an hour during sound check and a short morning practice. She agreed on the spot, and I responded to Carrie that we could do it!
We had done music last week for Christmas Eve, but through some funny circumstances, had to leave two songs by the wayside. So we decided to do those, plus another Christmas song or two, and then a couple of old standbys that we hadn’t done in a while. The set came together easily over the phone with Carrie, and the church staffed helped us by getting the songs onto the computer and set up. It all came together!
Except that we had no one nailed down to watch the kids at church. We knew people would come help, but it just goes against my grain to assume that, you know? But I knew we were needed, and we were so happy to go and lead our church in song! So we did it, and sure enough, our people showed up.
A woman from church actually came and offered her help before the service had even started. She took Waverly and sat on the bench with the kids. For the first time in the history of leading worship, I kid you not, when we went up, Solly didn’t cry! He’s our wildcard, and is usually the most hands on, and he wasn’t! They ALL sat and stood and sang and played a little. But they were SO GOOD! No one cried or fussed or got too out of hand. Wavy just sat in those loving arms and didn’t make a peep. It. Was. Awesome.
We actually had to be up at the front of the church four different times, and our loving helper stayed with us the entire service. A couple of other people came by and said they would jump in if need be, which warmed my heart. And I was SO happy to see that no extra help was needed! YES! Thank you, kids!
Not only did the music go smoothly, but the kids sat through the service SO WELL! I had heard our pastor mention that it wasn’t going to be a super long sermon, and by the time the kids asked for coloring, I could safely assume we were halfway through. I was sitting beside Dekker, and I heard him muttering the scripture references after our pastor said them, and that alone made my heart soar!! Did Dekker listen to the sermon to its full capacity? Probably not. But he was listening!!! It made me excited for whats to come 🙂
Today’s Sunday morning was probably our smoothest yet. While I don’t love walking in expecting that someone will watch my kids, and won’t make a practice of it, I’m also learning to loosen the reins a little and just let people love us! When we came back to the bench between sets of music, I let our helpful friend keep holding Wavy. When we were packing up our stuff, I didn’t try to relieve anyone who was with our kids. So often the world sees kids as inconvenient, and I need to remember that people who offer to help with my kids clearly don’t feel that way! They’re not holding my baby, aching to pass her off as soon as possible. Just because we can do a lot of these things by ourselves, its so much easier when we let others help us.
You know how good it feels to help someone? How God rewards those who show His love? Its good to need help so those people can feel those things and reap those rewards! I so often forget the blessings poured on those who help others.
So thanks to our friends, our church, and God Himself, this morning was just wonderful! Praise the Lord for a super smooth Sunday morning!!!
While I’ve had a handful of sad, difficult moments this Christmas, I am truly enjoying my holiday! There are lots of factors playing into that, including music, delicious food, company, sleeping in, lots of coffee, all the presents, having Brady and the kids home, etc.
I spent yesterday with Cher as she settled into her new place on her first full day there. We ran an errand or two, unpacked some bags, but most importantly, we broke in the tv area with some pizza and a showing of Bird Box. That wasn’t unsettling AT ALL. 😰 Once the movie was over, we chatted for a solid 3.5 hours before realizing that it was time to go home! Whoops! (Remember that time I promised I wouldn’t overstay??) It was a super lovely day, though. I was greeted warmly by my husband, who made sure no one scary was in my garage before I drove into it, and spent the rest of the evening snuggled up in our ice cold room, watching some New Girl. Two more days to finish the series before its kicked off Netflix!!
Today has been another fun day! We spend the morning and early afternoon with SO MUCH FAMILY!
We caught up with siblings, chatted, read the Christmas story, opened stacks more gifts, and ate ourselves silly at lunchtime. It was so much fun, and felt SO good to be all together. The kids were completely elated to have so many cousins to play with!
After nap time, we went our separate ways. Our kids were all breaking down, so we headed home and though it was already a bit late for naps, we decided to put everyone down for about an hour. And when we went to go get them, even the big ones had slept! Dekker and Solly were still sleeping!
The name of the game for the rest of the day is relaxation. The kids are wiped to the point of even them knowing it! They don’t want to go play outside or do anything specific. They want to be quiet, color, play, and have a light snacky supper. Sounds perfect to me!
The teething machine is also in full support of our relaxed plan for the rest of the day. Her personal plan is to nap, and while she’s not napping, to chew her arms rather than every other teething thing we offer her. Which is her prerogative, I suppose.
I should’ve put some pictures on yesterdays post but its Christmas and I’m not 110% awake or alert. Don’t judge me.
In the talks of grieving our losses over the holidays, I wanted to zero back in on the victories. I’m sure you’ve heard me say it time and time again, but bringing our Waverly home felt victorious! She is sweet as pie, and continues to be SO pleasant as the weeks and months roll on. I think she’s as happy to be in our family as we are to have her in it! The kids are SO pleased with their sister!
I’m planning a bit of a recap post for the last day of the year, like I usually do. Spoiler alert: Its been a weird one. LOTS of struggles, LOTS of grief, LOTS of anxiety, with some solid identity crisis mixed in. Welcoming this little girl was the light right smack dab in the middle of it all, and I’m SO thankful to the Lord that we could add her to our family this year.
Speaking of that particular morsel, she’s asleep, and the others are up and breakfasting. I’m upstairs blogging. Time to go get my hands on those 4/5!! Have a great day, friends!
Some reminiscing this morning got me thinking about the vibe I was feeling last Christmas. I remember how was such a hard season for me. I was so grateful to be pregnant, and at the same time SO scared that it would all end in shambles again, for the third time in a row. I looked back on the blog and last year, on December 27th, was my very first prenatal appointment for Waverly. Dr. Guselle wasn’t originally booked in between Christmas and New Years, but had figured she should come into the office at least once, so she booked me on her one day in there, so we could listen to the heartbeat together, and I could have some semblance of reassurance during the holidays.
A friend asked me the other day how I survived a Christmas in grief. I told her that I just survived. I let myself be sad, and scared, and kind of simply went through the motions. It hadn’t really felt like Christmas. In reading back, I see my efforts to stay positive and hopeful, and I was reminding myself not to look too far ahead, and to be thankful for each day that I carried that precious baby in my womb. I was trying to be SO brave, but it was all a facade. I was freaked.
As you likely know if you’ve been here for any length of time, that beautiful baby carried through and has been home with us now for almost SIX MONTHS!!!
The feelings from last Christmas – the fears I carried – are still present in me to a degree. I’m imperfect, thats for sure, and its hard to let go of all the fear and pain. Christmas is stereotypically this light hearted, happy time for people, but I wonder what the percentage of the world would be of people who actually struggle way harder during this season. Grief is thicker at Christmas, I can speak for that, as can some of my closest friends.
Whether they’re folded over in pain and suffering, or joyfully celebrating and free of worries, don’t forget about your people, and your people’s people.
***
Jamin and Theo, WOW how I miss you these days. I haven’t forgotten you, and wish I could know how either of you would’ve added to our family dynamic. Your siblings have been mentioning you here and there, too. You have stockings on our tree this year 🙂 Its fun here, but I know its better there. Enjoy your party!! We’ll catch you boys later.
I gave Brady his Christmas gift early this year. I bought him, for lack of a better title, a beer advent calendar, or as Sask Liquor would call it, an “Alpine Adventure Pack.” Its a box of 24 different beer from two different breweries out of Surrey, BC. There are 24 perforated little openings, numbered in order of how they’re to be consumed. Half bottles, half cans. I’ve had my eye out for something like this for a couple of years now, and this was the year I actually found one! Full disclosure, it was $80, which felt like a lot to drop on a gift he’d drink away, but for 24 beer, it wasn’t a bad value. Plus he’d have the month to enjoy it.
This post won’t be everyones cup of tea (or bottle of beer, I guess) but when I was on the hunt for his gift, I found NO reviews or information about it! So this might not seem important now, but I’m making the post so someone down the road will maybe find some info on the quality and variety of this as a gift. Feel free to click out if you don’t care, haha! No offence taken.
Here are the details, as noted by Brady along the way!
1. Red Racer, No Friends on a Powder Day, vanilla stout – 2/5
Good for a stout, but I don’t really like stout Not very vanilla-y Kind of a rough start
2. Parallel 49, PILS Dryhopped Pilsner – 5/5 treat beer
Nice citrus, Shock Top-esque but less citrus Hailey’s notes: He gushed about this one aaaaall evening. Wanted a second one.
3. Red Racer, Fireside Warmth, Spiced Apple Honey – 3/5
Standard beer with spiced aftertaste Flavor made better by eating sweets besides
4. Parallel 49, Frosted Tips, IPA – 5/5
Similar to radler, comparable to beer #2
5. Red Racer, Idiot Strings Cranberry Chili – 2/5
Super weird on its own Tastes more cranberry-y when eaten with sweets Too many flavours, needs less things. JUST cranberry would be yummy.
6. Parallel 49, Naked Scotsman, chocolate and coffee scotch ale – 4/5 with food
Like a lighter stout
7. Red Racer, Tea Bar – 5/5
Standard beer, fuller flavour
Could be an every day beer
8. Parallel 49, Ugly Sweater, Milk Stout – 4/5
Surprisingly light for a stout Hint of rye and coke, somehow? Smooth and delicious
9. Red Racer, Summit Speak Easy, extreme pale ale – 3/5
Nice flavor, stronger Notes of whiskey A little odd at first but easy to get used to
10. Parallel 49, Sahti Claus – 5/5
Fruity and delicious Citrusy and crisp Win!
11. Red Racer, Frozen Ghost, American Barley Wine – 3/5
Very flavourful and strong Too many hops by the end A bit winey Surprisingly wonderful aftertaste
12. Parallel 49, Mr. Needles, pine pale ale – 3/5
Tree taste, went away after a few sips Interesting taste, like a normal beer plus a tree Distinct
13. Red Racer, Wine in a Treewell – 4/5
Smooth, easy to drink Bit of a wine taste Yummy
14. Parallel 49, Schwarzwald, Black Forest Porter – 3/5
Good dessert beer Chocolate cake in a bottle Haileys notes: I REALLY liked this one! Think chocolate cake and cherry liqueur.
15. Red Racer, Liftie Southern Session Ale – 1/5
Yummy radler-type smell Prominent grease/metal taste Hard to finish
16. Parallel 49, Humphrey Biere De Garde – 4/5
Standard Its good. I like it.
17. Red Racer, Sky Bunny, Dirty Blonde Ale – 4/5
Slightly more flavourful Coors light Crisp and refreshing
18. Parallel 49, Rock the Bells, Cranberry Sour Ale – 5/5 weird beer
Beeresque cider Yummiras drank 5/5 (Haileys notes: Its possible this one was strong?? Lol!)
19. Red Racer Treeline Campfire Juniper Smoked Farmhouse Ale – 3/5
Smells like a Christmas tree Yummy basic beer Hint of evergreen and campfire
20. Parallel 49, Megalomania Spiced Saison – 4/5
Smooth with a burger Champagnesque
21. Red Racer, Shred the Gnar, Salted Caramel Coconut Ale – 3/5
Hint of coconut So sense of salted caramel Basic beer
22. Parallel 49, Oak Boy, Brown Ale – 4/5
Strong flavourful beer Good with pizza No odd flavours, blended well
23. Red Racer, Gelandesprung – 4/5
Flavourful, pretty typical German beer Kinda caramelly Nothing stood out, a good beer
24. Parallel 49, Night Flyer, cappuccino milk stout – 5/5 for a stout, maybe overall
Definite hint of coffee Signature stout taste, not bad for a stout
Thats a wrap, folks! Here’s Brady’s take on the Alpine Adventure Pack.
“Most enjoyable advent calendar I’ve ever had, bar none! Would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys beer. I’m one who sticks to what I know, but this kind of helped me sample around. Some of it was really weird. Some of it was really good! It helped me know there are other kinds of beer I might light. Like milk stouts! Ya. It was really enjoyable. I’d definitely do it again if they made a new one for next year! It made having a beer every night for the month of December really interesting. Reviewing each one along the way was really enjoyable, too. 5/5.”
You heard it here first! The Alpine Adventure Pack 2018 was a WIN!
