Christmas wasn’t all that long ago, but I want to reflect on a few parts of it. Bear with me, for a minute.

Its not a secret that it was a difficult Christmas season for us. Honestly, I think a lot of people felt this Christmas was a bit heavier than usual. I have a large handful of people I know who struggled this holiday season, all for entirely different reasons. Ours was sickness. The kids all got sick mid-November, and now that I think of it, I remember that Brady had a cold just before that. So it began even earlier. And it lasted aaaaall through Christmas. While we’re all pretty much done with it (knock on wood) Laela and I are still congested, and Rowan is still coughing. But thats beside the point. It was a hard Christmas.

Its not a new concept that its good to help each other out. Its really good to reach out and meet the needs of others, and to help someone up when they’re down. I know this. I’ve always known this. But this Christmas was a serious reminder about just how much of an impact it can make! Its more than just bringing someone some food one day. Its saving the time of prep. Its saving you from the fuss standing over a hot stove while wrangling kids, having to constantly leave to blow your nose, then wash your hands, then return to the food just in time to have your nose start running again. Its providing tomorrow’s lunch. One simple gift of a meal can have a bigger effect than one maybe thinks of at first. And we were blessed countless times in this way, among others.

Brady and I barely cooked over Christmas. We were gifted supper a handful of times. We were given baking a handful of times. A loving neighbour came over and babysat our whole sick brood on Christmas Eve while their entire family was gathered together for a couple of days. Heck, our tire shop gave us a fabulous price on winter tires! Blessings overflowed for us this Christmas, and honestly, we really really needed them.

I’ve said before, I’m very confident in our decision to have a big family, and in feeling that confidence, I’m not too concerned about other’s opinions about us. We’ve entered our decisions prayerfully, and have confidence in Christ. But this Christmas, I realized I do have a bit of a pride issue. It was hard for me to need so much help, and embarrassingly enough, the hardest part about it was my fear that people would think I wasn’t capable of caring for my kids. Because at times, I didn’t feel capable of caring for them. I was SO broken about not being able to heal them up and get everyone healthy. Every time there was a glimmer of health, the next illness rolled on in, and I was SO discouraged.

In stepping back a bit, when we’ve seen some improvement around here, I’ve been able to clear my head and I know that, whether I had no kids or ten kids, seven weeks of sickness is a LOT! I would likely have felt just deeply burrowed in sorrow and struggle as I did with my four kids. I keep privately wondering if this all had to happen so I would realize my pride, and get that business back in check. NO ONE is above needing help. EVER. As my loving neighbour reminded me, it takes a village to raise children, and I have seen just how many amazing people we have in our village!

So as I reflect on Christmas, I have learned that the impact of reaching out and meeting a need without being asked is bigger than I thought, and bigger than I could have known had I not been in a position of needing help. It was quite a big lesson. I learned a lot this Christmas.

Without this being super resolutiony, I want this lesson to ring in my heart throughout the year. And throughout my life. I don’t want to put any amount or time stamp on it, but I want to challenge myself not to wait to be asked for help, but to keep my eyes and ears open always, and meet needs as best as I can as they come around. Because not only can it help in a tangible way sometimes, but I hope I can make people feel as loved and thought of and cared for as I have been made to feel these last few weeks.

To those of you who reached out to us, cared for us, and made sacrifices for us, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am humbled in the best way. Thank you for seeing our needs, and meeting them with love. This Christmas would not have had such sweet notes in it if not for you. 💜

It has been suggested that I always keep my cool around my kids. Well, I do not. Sometimes, I flip my lid, just like everyone else. Today was one of those days.

The kids were fine this morning. Its a pretty normal day. Dekker has entered a new fun stage of correcting Laela at every turn. If she speaks, she is WRONG. And its driving me up the wall! I was struggling hard with it today, because she’s started to fight back. Honestly, I’m ok with my kids figuring some of that stuff out between themselves. I want them to communicate well without me always refereeing. But when they’re both resorting to just saying mean things or screaming, I’m done letting them work it out. Then mom intervenes.

Rowan and Solly ate lunch and went down for naps a bit early, so the big kids tidied up the floor and lay out a blanket to play Lego. I figured they should have a snack first, at least, so I suggested a popcorn party (aka: eating popcorn on the floor while watching some tv) and they were thrilled. While I was in the kitchen putting popcorn into bowls and unwrapping fruit bars, Dekker snapped on Laela again. AGAIN! And I absolutely lost it.

I chastised him for being so mean to someone who he loves SO much, and someone who loves him SO much, and how would he feel if she did that to him constantly, and all that stuff. And then I burst out crying and sank to the floor. I had a good long cry there. I heard Dekker crying a little bit from the living room, where he sat on the blanket they had laid out. A couple of times, I heard Laela ask if I was ok. I told her I would be ok, but I needed to have a cry. “Ok mommy,” she said.

So I took my cry, because I needed one, and then some deep breaths, because you guys know I needed those too. At that point, Laela quietly, very politely asked “Mommy, you want to get some food for us please?” I said I would get them food in a minute or two. I was just finishing my cry. And she followed up with “Want some help?”

I took her up on it.

She came to the kitchen and waited beside me while I got things unwrapped and ready. She brought a fruit bar over to Dekker, which he thanked her for. Then she brought hers over and sat down beside him. I reminded them to pray, and instantly I heard Dekker yell “NO LAELA DONT EAT WE HAVE TO PRAAAAAY!” I looked over and Laela was sitting still, looking at me while Dekker was chewing his bite. Honestly, I don’t even care that he had taken a bite already, but MAN I was angry at him for yelling at her when he had done the exact thing he was freaking out about her not doing! I raised my voice and said “Come on, Dekker!! She didn’t do anything wrong! It was YOU who took the bite!” Laela looked at me and just said “Its ok, mommy.”

So. I don’t love how today went down. And I’m still struggling with Dekker’s new attitude towards Laela. But I really appreciate my kids, and how they handled it when I needed a cry. Dekker and Laela still love me, and they still love each other. Today, though, standards are low. Everyone is alive, and that is all I can ask for.

Wish us luck for a better day tomorrow!

I haven’t gone to my chiropractor too much recently. Weirdly, I feel like I’ve healed up after Solly in a much different, more thorough way than I did after any of the other kids. I never felt like I specifically didn’t recover well after my deliveries, but I feel like my body is in better shape since Solly than it has been for a while. So my need for chiropractic has been less. The last time I went, it had been quite a while, and Dr. Mike was impressed with how trash I was not. Win for me!

However, since this unreasonably long bout of sickness, I have had these headaches that are just unreal! I am the first to admit that I am a headache wimp. But these are unlike anything I’ve ever felt. They have been NUTS. In my research, I’ve come up with the idea that they are tension headaches. Maybe. I’m not sure. But it sounds right.

Brady booked he and I in to see Dr. Mike today at 5:00pm. Brady’s had a twingy neck here and there through Christmas, and now I have these unshakable headaches, so chiro is usually our first stop. While we got there SO late thanks to an accident on Circle Dr, it was very good that we went. Brady really needed a refresher with work starting back up today. And my neck was trashed. I don’t often leave those appointments feeling sore, but that was very very uncomfortable. He said my upper neck was really really tight, and that the treatment should gradually help me get back to normal. I hope he’s right!

After a bit of a crazy day with the kids here, one at school, and Brady have a bit of a gong show of a first day back to work, we are ready for a soak in the tub and some Big Bang Theory! Have a great night, everyone!

It was our last chance to get out today, and we needed to. We didn’t have TONS to do, but we needed to get some groceries and run a few errands. Luckily everything was open, and it was actually possible. Though it was freezing! Not that it bothered us when we were inside. Solly had his first toga party!

All of our kids have done this at some point, when we put them to bed in a shirt with somewhat of a wide neck. Its pretty adorable. At least we think so. Maybe its just a parent thing…

Once everyone was awake (Ro slept until lunch again) we got some lunch and got everyone dressed and ready to go. Rowan finally got to sport the new headwrap he got for Christmas. I LOVE it!!

Then into coats! I had to ask Brady to take a picture of Solly, and then everyone wanted in, so we got a refreshed picture of all four kids.

I ran into Costco first while Brady and the kids went to fill up. It wasn’t a huge shop but I stocked up on some staples, which is always good. And I found season nine of The Big Bang Theory for $18!! We are so behind in that show, and everywhere I’ve looked, the season costs $35. So this was a huge win 🙂

We ran another errand to two before hitting Superstore.

One bummer about having such a big vehicle now is that we don’t fit into underground parking lots anymore. I should say, we don’t fit into most underground parking lots.

Brady saw the numbers and knew we’d fit, so we went for it. It is SO TIGHT!! As in tight enough that we have to fold our mirrors in to fit. Serious business.

So just because we can fit doesn’t necessarily mean we should fit, hahaha! But hey, we made it work. But MAN it was close!!

We did our Superstore shop, and the kids were completely happy the whole time, which was a treat. I love how much our kids love grocery shopping. Drama free, which is HUGE. The cookies at the end are a good incentive too.

I love you Brady!!!

Go back and look at Dekker again, and then Laela again! Their smiles are the same!!!

Rowan was SO proud of how funny he was being here!! He happily held this face while I fumbled to get the camera on my phone ready. It was hilarious.

A quick stop for coffee, and we made it home. Now, everything is put away, and Brady tidied up the floor in the pantry, which is AWESOME! We had a diaper box in there of who knows what, and now its gone, freeing up TONS of space! Soon, I’ll make Dekker’s lunch to prepare for him going back to school tomorrow, and gather up whichever Christmas gift he chooses to bring along, being that he has show and tell on his first day back. Reality begins again TOMORROW! Sadly, I’m not all the way ready :/ Still feeling somewhat under the weather here. But I think its just me now, so I can handle myself. If the kids are healthy, and my husband is strong enough to make it to work, I’m healthy enough to be at home with my kids. We’ve got this.

I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of 2017. I’m really happy to see the new year, and praying that it only gets better from here!

I know very few people who loved 2016. I think I can fairly safely say that it was a heavy year for a lot of people. I’ve been one of those people. This has been one of the longest years of my life. So. Much. Sickness. In a very quick calculation, I learned that our family has been sick for roughly four cumulative months this year. That is a lot of snot, coughing, gagging, barf, bathroom accidents, interrupted sleep, attitudes, and doctors visits. There have been some hard things. BUT, in reflecting a little bit deeper, past what I’m feeling currently, our year has been amazing! So, we recap.

We officially moved out of out Radisson house this year! It made for a pretty insane new year, but while I hold no contempt for that house, it was good to close a chapter and begin our next adventure.

This was the last picture we ever took in that house. So long, Radisson house!

Early in 2017, our plan to build our home was finalized! As a family, we went to celebrate, and we broke ground together.

It was awesome!!

After our family ground breaking, the real work began!

That was even more awesome 🙂

The next leg of life was rocky and sick and hard, so we’ll skip over that and go to our next milestone, which was Brady’s and my seventh anniversary!!

Surprise surprise, we were all sick, hahaha! I am thrilled to say that at seven (and now, almost eight) years married, I still have the most real love for my husband. I KNOW that love is a choice, and not always a squishy, romantic feeling that you feel, and sometimes, you have to choose to have love, because love takes work. We know about that. But I think we are very blessed to still feel a lot of those squishy romantic feelings for one another. Bring on another seventy years, my love. I’m in.

Rowan turned one!!!

This kid is SO great! I’m a huge fan of him, and him turning one just seemed huge. Possibly because he was quite so huge? He was still SUCH a baby for us. He didn’t walk yet, or say anything, and was SUCH a snuggler. He still is 💙 Love that boy.

Through the first half of 2016, our home was being built!! I can’t exactly include every single stage of that in this post, but we had a riot coming in and out of the house, observing the steps taken to make it just right for us.

Even before the place had legitimate walls or a roof, we loved it.

Oh. See my belly? I was pregnant in that first half of the year as well! Bringing us to the next notable milestone…

We welcomed this little dude to the family! Solomon Brady came into our lives the last day of May, and settled in quickly. The other kids accepted him immediately, and he asked for so little. He was EXACTLY what I had prayed for when I asked Jesus for him.

He made the next four days of meetings/appointments/commitments so easy, as he came along with us as a witness to finalizing our home purchase!

Only four days after his birth, we moved into our home!!! The anticipation was NUTS, and the house was a long time coming, but I couldn’t have asked for a smoother move. We had an unreasonable amount of help, and everyone who came through in some form or another was efficient as well as super positive, which I know isn’t always the case in high stress situations. We were truly blessed in that whole situation.

After living here for a couple of months, Dekker Thomas turned FIVE!

And very soon after that birthday, he started KINDERGARTEN!! It was a rough start, but literally, he was sold after day one. He has grown up immensely this year! I’m sure proud of you, Dekker Thomas!

Quickly after Dekker started school, Laela turned THREE!

This little miss seems FAR older than she is. I still can’t quite get it through my head that she isn’t going to school next year! Possibly preschool, if she wants, but I swear, she’s “ready” for kindergarten!

Shortly after Laela’a birthday, I took a course and got certified in makeup artistry.

This was a big stepping stone of confidence for me 🙂 Not some lofty goal achieved or anything, but a selfish, exciting thing that I did. No regrets, thats for sure. I’m very glad I took that class.

Our most notable event from the last chunk of the year is our new vehicle!

We bit the bullet and bought a 12 passenger van. While it is still grossly overkill, we haven’t been private about desiring to continue to grow our family, and we figured it would be wiser to jump into the end result rather than first purchasing a couple of “transition vehicles.” Right to the good stuff, hahaha! So that happened, which feels good, and secure. Its nice to have room, and to be able to take other people places with us again.

And now that we’ve been sick for the last 6-7 weeks, we don’t have anything of substance to really note. No milestones hit, no big trips taken or goals achieved, but we did make it! And THAT in itself feel like an accomplishment 😉

So! Cheers to 2016, and bring on 2017! I’ll talk some goals/inspirations/super vague resolutions another day. Today is all about reminiscing. Whats the best thing that happened to you this year??

Today was a delicious day! Yes, I’m not kidding. The entire day was centred around food.

My brother and his entire family came down with the flu overnight, so they opted out of appetizer supper. It was a bit sad to see the plan with the whole family go down the tubes, but we are the most compassionate people when it comes to illness :/ It is HARD to be sick over holidays. So my parents brought them some chicken broth and sickie staples, and we changed our plans around a little bit.

Instead of an early appetizer supper, we fed the kids their special supper of pigs in a blanket, and brought out some pre-appy appetizers for us adults. Yes, those are a thing. We took out a cucumber salad, some leftover broccoli salad from yesterday (don’t judge), a shrimp ring with seafood sauce, and a little garlic parmesan pull apart bread I made earlier. It was all SO delicious!

After the kids supper, my parents read them story after story after story. They were so happy. And when it was time to hit the sack, no one whined or put up a fuss. They all headed to the bathroom to brush up and get ready, came back out for goodnight hugs, and then went back to their room where Brady tucked them in. Meanwhile, I fed Solly, who drank a whole bottle once again! Maybe you guys get sick of hearing about it, but man its a relief to see him drinking better these days.

Once all of the littles were tucked away, the real fun food began! Brady and I had written out temperatures and times earlier of all of our treats, so the four of us sat around the island while things cooked away very smoothly. We came out with a pan of mozza sticks, battered pickles, wings, and a margherita pizza, aka poor mans bruschetta. Haha! I was trying SO hard to be diligent with food pictures, but I forgot again, so this is the best you’re getting.

It all turned out to be SO delicious. I was very happy with how it came together. Best of all, I don’t think any of us super over ate, and we were able to sit in the living together afterwards with hot drinks and a few sweets to finish the evening out.

No, we definitely didn’t stay together until midnight. We’re too old for things like that 😉 But we still had a really nice time, and even took a poor quality selfie to prove it!

Happy new year, everyone. I hope 2017 rocks your socks off. Seriously. But until then, finish off 2016 well. Make good choices, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do 😉

I realized, thanks to Facebook reminding me, that we did our Christmas with Jerilee on this exact day last year. We were planning on having it on the 27th but, of course, we postponed because of our sickness. Now that we’re ever so slowly improving, we scheduled Christmas for today and made it happen.

She came in the afternoon bearing presents for each kid, as well as a gift for Brady and I that we cant wait to use!!! It was a successful gift exchange for sure.

Once the kids went down, we got to work cooking! We haven’t legitimately cooked in our house for a good long while. Suppers have been made up of quick easy things, like crackers and cheese, cold veggies, popcorn, sandwiches, cereal, bananas, etc. Reasonably balanced, but easy. When we’re not having snack suppers, we’ve likely been eating something that a loving friend or family member has brought us. We have been amazingly surrounded by love this Christmas, in a very new and humbling way.

BUT! We cooked today! And guys, it turned out awesome!

We had broccoli salad, cheesy potatoes, and this amazing new chicken recipe I found on Pinterest! Its loaded with honey mustard, bacon, mushrooms, and cheese. It was unreasonably good, honestly, and I know its tacky to say so. But it was. A great success! We had a DQ ice cream cake for dessert, which really, none of us had room for afterwards, but we all enjoyed a small piece of it after a little while. Because you can’t not eat a DQ ice cream cake! Luckily, those things stay good for a decent amount of time in the freezer, so it should make an appearance next week, at……… Bachelor night!!!

We called it around 11:00 and Jerilee headed home for the night. Everyone was solidly tired and ready to say goodnight. Tomorrow is another big day for food for us, as we’re putting on an appetizer supper! SO many good things to eat!

But first, we sleep. Because tiiiiired. Good night! Merry (Jerilee) Christmas!

We finally managed to keep a plan!! We arranged with my parents yesterday that they would come over today for waffles, and then DID! This is actually a great accomplishment for us, since we have seemed to be the worst for dependability this Christmas season.

My mom and I ducked into the city first for a bit of a date. We got food court asian food (SUCH a good guilty pleasure once in a while!) and discussed our New Years meal of appetizers. We decided what we’d get from where, and planned out some little details. When we were done our lunch, I ducked into Starbucks for a drink, and then we hit up M&M Meat Shops for appies.

Once we had done a bit of a mall walk and had what we needed, we drove to another grocery store nearby and picked up the rest of what we needed. Guys, appy day is going to be SO yummy! I’m super looking forward to it. We were originally going to have it at our house, but as has been the trend this year, plans changed and my mom volunteered her house. However, this is still very much my meal, so Brady and I will be preparing and serving as much as we’re able, even if we’re at their house. I want to tell you guys all about what we’re going to have, but hopefully I’m on the ball enough to take pictures, and then I’ll tell you.

We visited a lot, and mom ran our shopping cart into all kinds of things before we were done our date. It was funny. It felt good to get out of the house a little bit, even though my nose was running like a faucet. Its good for the soul, kind of.

Once our date was done, we came back to our house. My dad came soon after, and the whole gang sat down to waffles and breakfast sausage for supper. It was delicious, the kids were happy, (because who isn’t when there are chocolate chip pancakes involved?) and the evening went off pretty much without a hitch. They stayed a little bit after the kids had gone to bed, and we had a nice visit. No dessert, though, because no one required a little sweet treat after a supper like that!

It was a lovely, delicious, carefree day. Tomorrow will be wonderful, too, when we finally celebrate Christmas with Jerilee! Its nice to be well enough to at least see people again. Thanks, friends and family, for your patience, and your willingness to roll with the punches. We will not always be this unreliable, I promise!

If you guys remember, this time last year, we were moving! We were madly packing, storing, cleaning, purging everything in order to be out of our place at the right time. I feel like I keep saying that this isn’t the Christmas I was hoping for or expecting, and to be straight up, neither was last Christmas. Last Christmas was pure chaos. Because of this, our few small traditions that we had started with the kids got skipped. We have been determined not to let that happen again. Yet its not a secret that this Christmas season has given us a run for our money. Its obviously not been easy.

Our traditions from the past years are very simple. We go out for dessert in the evening, enjoy much more sugar than usual, and then spend the rest of our evening driving around Saskatoon and enjoying the Christmas light displays. The kids love looking at Christmas lights, and they also like dessert, so these seem like obvious, simple choices.

Sadly, sugar doesn’t help the situation we’re in around here. The kids health is definitely improving, but they’re all still emotional wrecks. Very sensitive. VERY. We don’t want to push any of them at this point, because I truly don’t know what I’ll do if everyone backslides and gets sick again. But we don’t want to miss all of our traditions for a second year in a row.

So this evening, we drove to Saskatoon. We picked up my family ring from our jeweller (eeeeek!) and then opted to grab everyone a light supper. No one was super hungry, as has been the trend with the sickies, so they basically just ate apple slices and a few french fries. But it was better than nothing. Then, we drove to the biggest Christmas light display in the Nutana area, then to the Charlie Brown themed street, and then home.

So our traditions were compromised, but not sacrificed. So I can’t complain. By the end of it, the kids were saying they were ready to go home, and no one complained once about it being bedtime. We were SO happy to be able to get them down only 20 minutes later than their usual bedtime!!

Now that they’re down, Brady and I are cooking up yet another meal brought to us by my loving parents, who are helping us SO MUCH by consistently taking things off of our plates. Or, I suppose putting things on our plates? Off of our proverbial plates? You know what I mean. We have been SO well cared for, its almost unbelievable. I am so very much looking forward to supper tonight, and a nice warm bedtime with my hubs. It feels good to have accomplished at least part of our traditions tonight without pushing the envelop too much.

I’ve really learned a lot this Christmas. I can’t wait to recap it all for you. But thats another post.

Merry Christmas lights!!

While I know that Christmas is not about presents, BUT we use a method of buying gifts around here that I thought I’d share about, and maybe offer up some ideas for those of you who do things similar to us, or might to in the future.

Firstly, we were not able to do our Christmas savings plan this year, for the sake of general disorganization. If you all remember, we moved a ton in the beginning of the year, and just couldn’t remember anything beyond necessities. So we didn’t get to prepare the way we would have liked, but what we did the year before was a weekly savings plan. Every week, we set aside money in a jar. Being that there are 52 weeks in a year, we started on the first week, and saved $52. The next week, $51. So yes, its an expensive kick off, but then you’re not trying to save that much towards the end of the year when you want to be buying for Christmas. In our case, once we reach $20, we do $20 each week until the end of October, and have saved about $1400 already! We use that money for everything for Christmas. Gifts, food, a date, traditions, new jackets, gas if we travel, etc. If we don’t use it all (like for instance, this year, when we’re staying home and in) the money carries over or moves into a separate savings account.) But I digress. If you like this savings idea, an even easier way would be to save a $20 every week. By the end of December, you’d have just over $1000. So if you were to double up once in a while to finish it up early, you can have a nice chunk of change in preparation for Christmas. (or a trip, or a purchase, or really whatever you want.) Thats how we like to make Christmas not feel like a super broke season.

That was quite a rant about money, haha! Onto bigger and better things! Our method of gift buying is likely familiar to a lot of you. We get each kid something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read. On top of that, we get them a thing or two for everyone to share, jammies, and socks and underwear if needed. This year, the kids picked names and they each bought a gift for one of their siblings. Thats it! Yes, with four kids, it comes out to a LOT of gifts, but its a really great way for everyone to be involved, and to also not end up with SO MANY TOYS. They’re going to get toys from everyone else anyway, so its ok if some of their gifts from mom and dad (or Santa, if you do Santa) are a bit more practical.

I know it took a lot of brainstorming for me to think of good gifts for each kid in each category, but I think thats part of what makes it awesome. Helps parents get creative and think before going into stores and coming out with whatever looked good. While I TOTALLY respect going in blindly and finding THE thing, it doesn’t always happen that way. Its nice to be prepared sometimes.

Ok, onto the presents!! If you’ve made it this far, I hope its worth it! I’m going to be annoying and detailed, in case someone wants to use these ideas in the future, because I personally am really happy with what we ended up with, and the kids aren’t complaining either.

Starting with Dekker, I’ll say he’s a five year old, in his first year of school. For his “want,” we got him a LEGO Creative set that is specifically designed to build different kinds of race cars, which is RIGHT up his alley. Wheels from any toy are always a hot commodity around here, so it seemed quite perfect. Dekker’s “need” was tricky because if our kids need something, we get it for them, so we just took this category as a suggestion to get a more practical gift. For this category, we got Dekker a new pillow. His is flat as a pancake and isn’t even rectangular anymore. His “something to wear” is a digital watch, as he’s learning about numbers and time at school. Plus, I think it’ll be nice to be able to give him a timeframe and for him to understand what that means a little bit better than he does now. So, an orange watch, with a button for it to light up. So far thats the best part 😉 Lastly, Dekker’s “something to read” is a subscription to Clubhouse Jr. Unfortunately, his first issue hasn’t come yet, so we had to explain to him why he didn’t actually get a present for that round. He was really cool about it, though.

Laela is next. She is three. For her “want,” we got her two beautiful, soft little dollies. We wrapped them in their blankets, and put them in this special little baby crib that I had when I was a little girl. When I got it, it was white and beautiful and weathered, and years later as a gift, it was refinished, and a beautiful little teddy was painted on the side. Now, little miss has it in her possession, and even a couple of little dollies to care for. Her “need” is also a very special gift, because Brady built her a jewelry box! I know, if she needs a jewelry box, her life is pretty good, but I thought a handmade jewelry box would last forever, and be nicer than the Dollarama baskets that her necklaces are currently tangled in. Her “something to wear” is a chain necklace with a name pendant on it. I ordered it off of Etsy, and it came out even prettier than I expected! Its her first chain necklace, and she loves it. Lastly, her “something to read” is a subscription to Chirp. To be honest, I was really hoping to get her Highlights instead, because I loved that magazine when I was little, and there is even a younger version called High Five that looked great for her. But they were SO EXPENSIVE!!! So maybe another year. We’ll see how she likes Chirp this year.

Ro is 22 months today, so I guess I should stop saying he’s one and a half. Whoops! His “want” is a set of vehicles from Costco. They are bigger than Hot Wheels, but can still be held in one little hand, if you can picture that size. They are the kind of cars/trucks that you can pull back and then they drove across the floor. And they’re soft! They’re a bit rubberish and squishy, so I don’t fear them ramming into my walls, accidentally into heads, or wherever else. Very toddler friendly. Rowan’s “need” was a pillow, the same as Dekker’s. Ro doesn’t have a pillow yet, and he was THRILLED about it. He spent the rest of the morning sprawled out in the middle of the floor on top of his pillow. He’s a big fan. His “something to wear” is a headwrap from Buff. Brady used to wear them all the time when his hair was long. It can be a hat, headband, bandana, you name it. He wasn’t a super fan of it, but I’m not too worried. When I’m all congested, I don’t like stuff on my head either. We’ll try again down the road. I’m super excited for him to wear it! Its super cute and he’ll look so hardcore in it, haha! His “something to read” was actually two books by Leslie Patricelli. If you’ve never read her books, you should, because they’re hilarious! Very simple, but Dekker and Laela still love them and laugh through them. His from this Christmas are “Faster Faster” and “Blankie.” I highly recommend “Potty” to anyone potty training! Its really cute 🙂 Also “Toot” if you can appreciate that farts are funny. If you don’t, definitely don’t get it. Its SO funny.

I’ll admit that, once again, Solly has been asleep all day, but I’ll let you in on what we got him 😉 Hopefully he won’t read this before he opens his gifts. Solly boy is coming up on 7 months, so baby stage. He was the hardest to get creative for, because babies don’t need much, and don’t play with much, and being that he’s kid #4, we have pretty much everything that babies require. But! He still has to be involved, obviously. So here’s what we got him. For his “want,” we got him a Lamaze toy. They’re so great, and I never buy them because they’re just a bit pricey for a baby toy. But we’ve acquired a few along the way and they’re just really good. Conveniently, I even found one at The Bay when they were having a sale. Woot! His “need” is a baby record book, for me to one day actually fill in the information for. Yikes! Please tell me I’m not the only mom who sucks at this! But my intention is there anyway, haha! His “something to wear” is a lovely pair of boots that my talented friend, Nikki, made for him! Her shop is closed until after Christmas, but a girl must give credit where its due! Lastly, Solly’s “something to read” is actually two more Leslie Patricelli books, this time “Higher Higher” and “Hair.” Those books are just a win for everybody, but for sure for under 3.

On top of these gifts, each kid got two pairs of two piece jammies, and they all got a sleeper to match each other! I’ll see if we can swing a “matching siblings” picture but I make no promises! The little boys aren’t the most cooperative. Also, they got one book to add to their collection of “Little Blue Truck” books. They’re gold, and I randomly found a Christmas one at Walmart recently. The main gift I wanted to get them as a shared gift was a Paw Patrol set. They don’t watch the show too much anymore, but they still base SO MUCH on it. Their favorite colors are all based on their favorite pups. But we have a single character toy and that is it. So we got them a set with every single pup in it, in its uniform, in its vehicle. That was a HUGE hit.

The last gifts they got were from each other, because as I said earlier, they picked names and each bought for a sibling. Dekker and Solly pulled each others names, and Laela and Rowan picked each other as well. Dekker and Laela were the kids that grasped the idea more than the others, obviously. It was fun to talk with them about what they might like to get their brothers. Dekker wanted to give Solly a stuffed toy, because he figured a baby should have something soft. He opted for a stuffed Zuma, which I actually awesome, because Dekker would LOVE a stuffed Zuma, and he wanted to give Solly the best thing. He asked me to help Solly buy him a garbage truck. Laela had it in her head that Rowan should get a train for Christmas. We found the section with the Hot Wheels sized trains, but she wasn’t into those. She randomly found a single squishy train bath toy. She was instantly sold. And Ro was adamant on getting Laela an oversized stuffed puppy. He picked one out of the box, and that was that. I was so pleased to see everyone have ideas and opinions on what to get each other, and was even more thrilled that we could find each thing for a nice price. The kids all love the gifts they received from one another, and they were all very excited to see them opened. It was a pretty adorable exchange.

Aaaaand done! It sounds like a ton, and I know we are totally blessed to be able to buy this many gifts for our kids. But if you boil it down, I don’t feel like we overdid things. Everyone got 4-6 gifts, (in the case of the boys getting two books) some jammies, and a shared gift. The end! I am so happy with how it all turned out, and I hope you guys enjoyed this frightfully long winded post!! If not, sorry! Lol! You probably didn’t stick around this long if you were bored 😉 Thanks to those of you who did!

If anyone decides to do the yearly savings thing in the New Year, let me know! I know we want to get back into the habit of it, so some accountability would be great!

I hope your all really enjoying your Christmas seasons, or will begin celebrating very very soon.