(as I’m combing Dekker’s hair in the bathroom)

Rowan: (enters bathroom)
Me: Hey, Ro.
Rowan: Ya. (dips toy screwdriver in toilet without hesitation)
Me: Rowan!! (takes toy) Ew! Thats yucky! Don’t dip toys in the toilet!
Rowan: AAAAAHHH!!!
Laela: (closes toilet) No, Wowan.

Me: (continues combing hair)

Dekker: Don’t worry, mommy. Rowan does that all the time.

Me: Oh does he? What does he do?
Dekker: He puts toys in the toilet. He, like, dips them right in there. Its ok.
Me: I don’t think its ok. The toilet isn’t a clean place. Ro puts that screwdriver in his mouth all the time.
Dekker: Don’t worry, usually he just sticks his hands in there. Not always toys.

*face palm*

You learn something new every day. Todays lesson should probably be “Never let the toddler out of your sight,” but I’m going with “Toilet water won’t kill ya” instead.

Thanks for keeping things interesting, guys. Love you all.

We had a nice sleep in kind of morning, but when we did venture to check on Laela, we found her considerably more awake than expected.

But who could blame her? With all of the activity going on just outside her window!

Brady and I are SO excited to have neighbours, but more and more, we’re thinking this is going to be a spec home. We know Northridge is building it, but thats the extent of our knowledge. However, we haven’t seen any home owners come to watch (maybe we’re the only weirdos who wanted to be part of every step??) Also, while the lot is marked “sold” on the big map sign, the big sign on the lot itself still says that its for sale. Yet if it were a spec home, why would the excavator be here on the Saturday of the long weekend? What would the rush be? Hmmm. We don’t know. But its exciting!

We spent the day in the city, and while we got a lot done, we are all bushed. FAR more tired than we usually feel at the end of an errand day. But we made it, and got a good handful of things done. We even bought THREE Christmas presents today! How great is that?!

And how great is he??

He looks like such a little man <3

We are so happy to be home, and to have almost all of the kids tucked away already. Soon, there will be supper, a soak in the tub, and hopefully a bit of a Netflix marathon.

Please, Lord, let the kids simmer down and fall asleep soon! Haha!

Welcome to the history of Hailey and Brady: The Couple.

Ten years ago exactly, I arrived at Bethany College. I settled into my room with my roomie, Jerilee (we knew each other beforehand, and had requested to room together), and our year began.

Details are fuzzy, and whether it was that evening or the next, we went to a “freshman mixer,” which involved rootbeer floats and meeting new friends. There, we met Bradys roommate. He pointed out Brady across the group. Our gazes met. Thats a lie. They totally didn’t.

The next day, Jerilee and I were being annoying, and harassing a group of guys playing foosball. I put my hand in there and Brady shot a ball against it. And it hurt. But there was love. I’m just kidding. There was not.

In fact, for the next couple of months, I dated Brady’s roommate. (I know, I know, I was sooo close!) He and I broke up sometime in December.

Early February, 2007, Brady sought Jerilee and I out to color his hair. We spent a large chunk of a day coloring, washing, and straightening his hair. I spent a large chunk of that day with my hands in his curly hair. Then there was love. No. There wasn’t actually. But there was attraction. At the very least, I was intrigued.

Over the next 4-6 weeks, Brady kept showing up. My student job was counting how many people came to meals, so I always ate last, and Brady waited. Every. Meal. Except breakfast. I never made it to breakfast, but he began leaving my favorite muffin in my mailbox in the morning. I was officially wooed.

Our first date has always been up for debate. We remember two significant dates in the beginning of our relationship, and we aren’t sure which one came first. I think it was Chianti and a movie, and he thinks it was Bonanza and a movie. Whichever it was, we saw Flushed Away. It was hilarious to our 18 year old selves.

March 26, 2007 was our first kiss. It was in my parents basement after we watched Kindergarten Cop. Super romantic. We called that day the official beginning of our relationship. The conversation went like this:
Me: So, should we talk about this?
Brady: Well, I don’t just kiss my friends…
That was it.

Roughly April 20th, 2007, we left Bethany. I cried. It was hard.

I saw Brady twice over the next four months.

Our 19 year old selves moved to Winnipeg in September, 2007.

October 2007, I had my appendix out. This was the point in our relationship where Brady learned to take care of me. I had never felt so advocated for in my life.

We broke up that winter. For about a half hour. It didn’t stick.

Those same selves moved back to Saskatoon area in April, 2008. I had a very hard time in Winnipeg, and was ready to come home. Against popular belief, I NEVER gave Brady an ultimatum about coming with me. I told him I needed to go home, and we would work to stay together, but he opted to come. Winnipeg hadn’t been gentle on him either.

July 2008, Brady proposed to me, at Waskesiu lake He played guitar for me on the beach. He gave me a ring. His hands shook, and I cried. It was awesome.

February 2009, we got married. Our 20 year old selves had no idea what was coming. There were some decent bumps (and there continue to be, because we’re humans) but we discovered soon after being married that we were SO MUCH BETTER at being married than we were at dating.

February 2011, we announced our first pregnancy.

August 2011, we had our first kid. And then we had a few more.

We have come a long, long way in the last ten years, and we have GROWN as people. I couldn’t be happier to be doing life with this guy. I’m so glad for where the last ten years have taken us. If not for our year at Bethany, there may be no “us,” and no Dekker, Laela, Rowan, or Solly.

Basically, I just want to say, Brady, I forgive you for hitting me with the ball during that foosball game ♥ It would appear we can get through anything.

I feel like I have SO MANY big things on my list of things to do. I can blame a lot of things on baby brain, and I often joke that if I don’t write something down, it doesn’t exist. This is truer than I wish it were, but I live in a certain amount of fear of forgetting things.

I really like to be organized, and I hate letting people down. I feel like one of the biggest sacrifices I’ve made by having kids is my inability to drop everything and run to help a friend. I CAN still do that, but I bring a group with me, and I am often less effective. I really really struggle to keep everything straight, but I’m learning more and more about choosing my family first. They are priority one.

The last few days, I’ve been feeling a tad overloaded looking forward into September. Yes, Dekker starts school next week, which is a whole separate topic that I’ll try to remember to get into soon. (writing it down…..) but there are just SO MANY THINGS to remember! The month is filling up, with lots of very positive things! I’m certainly not complaining about what we have scheduled 🙂 Its going to be a great month! But in amongst everything, we have appointments, jobs to do around here, and goals to meet. Its so hard to pick and choose what needs to get done.

For instance, we have this blog overhaul that I’m wanting. I’m finally learning and finding my way around in the array of blog themes available to me, but I have yet to find what I want. So the search continues.

I also really really want to send thank you cards to the hoards and hoards of people who backed us up these last few months, with Solly being born, our move, the three previous moves, and the many appointments/meetings we had to get to so close together. We could not have survived without everyone, and I want to send thanks! But that is a LOT of cards to write.

Meal planning is something I was hoping to get into gear with in September, but I’m thinking this one will get bumped until at least October. And thats ok.

Should I throw Laela a birthday party? We celebrated when my siblings were all out visiting, but we never had a chance to throw one with his friends. It might be night to plan a little party for Dekker and Laela together, since her birthday is at the end of the month. But time is definitely slipping away a bit too fast.

I had so hoped to purge the garage of as much as possible, in hopes that we could park both vehicles in the garage when the weather turned cool. We still have time, but not too much. And its hard to think about storing things when we have no shed or outdoor enclosure. We can only chuck so much.

I’ll stop listing at you guys, as I feel like I’ve gotten into a bad groove of ranting about unimportant things. These are things that are important.

BAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Remember that adorable picture I got of the kids laying on the floor a while back? I tried to relive it and it was hilarious!!!! This was the best one I got, too 😀 But seriously, my family sits at the top of the list, always. These other jobs can wait, or they can get left, and thats ok too. Because I would rather sit and hold them and waste the days than work on tasks and miss the moments.

Those make up for his fearful face in the first picture, right? I’m so glad Dekker called me over from doing dishes to see his game! And clearly Solly enjoyed it, too. Yikes!, how I love them!!!

I encourage you all to take a day, or an hour, whatever time you can, and just be with your family, whether it be your parents, your spouse, your kids, or your best friend. Soak up some time that isn’t based around getting stuff done. Its good for the soul.

I wrote my angsty, frustrated post yesterday about not being tech savvy, and rather than just feeling better and relieved after ranting, I felt motivated! Thats probably the best outcome I could have had. I worked every spare moment I had that afternoon, and poured over templates and themes and pages until I found one that was pretty close to perfect. Not completely perfect, but I figured that along the way, I’d understand parts of it more and be able to put it together into exactly what I wanted, even if it wasn’t quite right at first. A few hours in, I saw three little icons that would show me what my page looked like from desktop computers, tablets, and phones. And to my dismay, the mobile version destroyed the header. I am aware that my current template isn’t particularly mobile-friendly, with the tiny print, which is another reason for wanting to switch the look up. So all of that hard work lead me to absolutely nothing. Kiiinda disappointed, but now I have another thing to consider when choosing a template. Just armed better for my next battle with blog themes.

This morning was nice. However, Brady had a bit of a rough one, and wasn’t feeling as productive as he wanted to be. Around here, we appreciate the importance of a regroup more than just pushing and pushing and getting more and more frustrated, trying to go fast and faster. So after a late breakfast, I got the kids kids dressed and ready, and we drove to the city to bring Brady coffee and a donut. A coffee break with the fam is a nice pick me up, or so he’s told me. We listened to some old Andy Grammer (highly recommend his older album) and made our way in.

The drive-thru at Tims was SO dumb today. It wasn’t lined up at all, but MAN they couldn’t seem to grasp what I wanted. I ordered two double doubles, a boston cream donut, and then I asked if they ahd any donuts with fruit filling. This is about how it went:

What?
Do you have any donuts that have fruit in the centre?
Oh, ya, we do.
……..Ok, what do you have?
For what?
For donuts with fruit in the middle.
Ummmmm…like the gourmet donuts?
No, I just want a basic one with fruit in the middle.
Ok, so one boston cream and one chocolate dip?
No. Not that at all.
*order disappears, another car drives through the other side*
Hi, can I take your order?
No, its already been taken. I ordered two coffees and I’m trying to order donuts.
Oh, oops. What were they?
Two double doubles, a boston cream, and I’m asking about a fruit filled donut.
Oh. I’m not sure we have fruit donuts.
You know what? Forget the donuts. We’re good. Just the coffees.
Ok, so three double doubles and a boston cream donut?
No. Not that. Just the coffees.
Ok, hope we have this right, drive ahead.

Sooooo I was kind of annoyed, and drove out of there with two coffees, feeling like a bit of a failure. But my husband was happy to have us, regardless of whether or not he got a donut. He ate his lunch and we had a little visit. I think he was feeling better before we even got there, but it was nice to visit and break up the day.

Now we’re home, and half of the group is napping while the big ones play lego and have some quiet time. And I”m doing this before I get ready for later today. I have an evening of shopping, coffee, and opening up Ipsy packages ahead with Kim. Should be nice! I can’t wait to get the kids wardrobes filled up and ready for fall!

I’m getting more and more annoyed with this stupid blog, haha! Seriously! It does. Not. Work.

In high school, I had a blog. I forget what it was called. It was powered by Blogger, and was fine. Nothing riveting, from what I remember. Then, at bible school, I had another blog. That one was called “Utopia of a Troubadour.” I’m pretty sure I just liked big words. It was also a Blogger blog, and it was also pretty basic. I remember wanting to change the template at one point, and I found one online that I liked, but it wasn’t technically a Blogger template. However, a friend of mine tweaked it a bit, and made it happen. I remember him typing in his own codes and making it happen.

I thought it would be easy to tidy up around here but it really hasn’t been! I spent hours sifting through WordPress-friendly templates and I just don’t like any of them! I may just have to settle for something I don’t love, which is ok, I suppose. A challenge that I’m met with is that I post daily (in case you guys hadn’t figured that out yet) so I have very limited time to redesign the face of my page. I’ve played around with a couple, just seeing if I could make them into something that I like, but I can’t save what I’ve done! I have to either “cancel” or “activate.” Thats crap! I guess I thought this whole thing would be more user friendly, but apparently I was mistaken :/ Another thing I was wrong about was the ability to buy my domain name. I thought that could be done – buying the name outright! I expected to pay a chunk for it, which I’d be willing to do at this point, but apparently I will forever be paying a monthly fee for it. C’mon, internet! Help a girl out!

Sooooo that is my tangent for the day. The search is still on, and continue to expect some changes and hopefully some improvements down the road. Be patient when you do see that somethings being done, if you can, because it might not be able to all come together in one day like it should. And PLEASE! If anyone knows how to help with any of the things I’m griping about, I’m listening! I’ll take any and all help I can get!

I feel hopeful for what is to come. I don’t want to put too much information out there, but mostly for your sakes, rather than my own. I’m pretty open, if you haven’t noticed. So I’m sorry in advance if anyone doesn’t want to know. Feel free not to read. Thats fine too 🙂 No harm, no foul.

I’ve been seeing an incredible physiotherapist who specializes in womens health, and its a darn good thing she does, because she and I click. We both work very intentionally to be optimistic, but we both have dry, sarcastic humour. She is loaded with information, and I love information. Knowledge is power, seriously. That saying is a cliche for a reason – because its super true! I love how she thinks. Its encouraged me to think a bit differently, and to be intentional about positivity, always.

So. Pelvic health, guys. I’ve been working hard at this for a while now, and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve been learning what is going to strengthen what, the importance of each exercise, and the reality of my position as a child-bearing mother.

Its not been easy to always sneak away to do my exercises, and while I know the goal is to be able to do them through everyday life events, almost subconsciously, but its important to learn them really well first. While I know how to do them all, I need more practice in order to actually strength my pelvic floor. Its strangely difficult to breathe and flex the right muscles at the same time, haha! Who knew??

The biggest event of today’s appointment was a pelvic floor exam. Through that, I learned that my muscles are not quite as strong as is ideal, and there are a few “imperfections,” so to speak. But with that, there are no real red flags or anything to indicate impending doom.

I asked a lot of questions, and now, the rest is up to me and my well-informed self! I will see my physiotherapist again in about six weeks and see how I’ve done! In that time, I want to make a very conscious effort to do some form of kegel or exercise every day. If anyone desires to remind me, I would GREATLY appreciate it! Even on Facebook, lol! I won’t be embarrassed. Pelvic health is super important, so I can handle it. And if you think to remind me, do a couple yourself!

Before I begin this post, can we all just stare at Solly as he rocks 6-12 month clothing?? He seems pretty happy about it, while his mom is almost fainting at how fast he’s growing!

After spending the morning and early part of the afternoon at my parents, we headed to the city for some shopping.

 

With the great clothing sort, we’ve discovered where there are some holes in our kids wardrobes. Dekker and Laela, being the oldest boy and oldest girl, don’t have too much in the next size up. We’re not going without, don’t worry. I’m not complaining. But its a nice excuse to go buy a few things for the upcoming cooler months. Rowan has Dekker’s hand me downs, but the seasons were different, so he’s got a lot of tshirts. So we decided to head in for a few minor grocery items, and a couple of clothing items, just so we’re not caught off guard on these cooler days.

The shop was a great success!! In true show-and-tell fashion, I took pictures of everything, minus a couple pairs of underwear and a new pair of jeans I bought for myself. And a lipstick, as usual. Behold! The adorable things my kids will wear to welcome fall!

This is obviously not the most detailed picture, but these are all long sleeved shirts for Dekker for school. He currently wears mostly tshirts, and while they fit, they won’t for very much longer. So these will be perfect. A couple of them were $10, most were $6.

The first shirt here is Rowans, and yes, the orange one in Dekker’s stash is the same. Then thats ons long sleeved shirt for Laela, and one tshirt. She has literally one tshirt that fits nicely under a hoodie, so she could use another. And then two pairs of leggings. Because sweater dresses.

We bought Rowan a fall hat/toque when we were in Edmonton a few weeks ago, and today, we stocked up the rest of the kids. Rowan’s is the same as the top one, only a little bit smaller and grey rather than blue. They’re all gonna look sooooo cute in these!

These are my favorite purchases for the day! My kids never really wear shoes until they can walk, but mostly because I can never find any that stay on! As the weather starts to get a little bit cooler, I’d feel much better if Solly had some shoes. And these stay on!!! Which is a HUGE win! And fringy boots for Laela, which I am THRLLED about. I wanted some for Rowan too but Brady says they’re too girly. I guess thats ok…

Seriously, I feel surprisingly excited for fall this year. I couldn’t tell you why, because I love the warm weather that comes with summer, and I know how short lived this season is around here, but I am very positively anticipating autumn, and I don’t want to try to explain it away. Embrace whats coming!

I spent several hours today sorting through those tubs of clothing I’ve been complaining about. I have a pile for each size that I found, and it makes for a LOT of piles! I’m positive I have tubs downstairs filled with clothing of each of those sizes, and I just need to add to them, but the goal is first to sort, and then find where they belong. In the afternoon, however, my brother texted me and said they were heading to the playground soon, and invited us to join. We accepted right away, knowing how nice it would be to break up the day a bit, play outside with the kids, and visit a bit. We were right. It was a lot of fun.

Our playground date was probably about an hour only, and Dekker was so sad to go home, but it was definitely time. It was getting later into the afternoon, for one thing, but it was really hot, muggy, and windy outside. So we parted ways, and made our way home just as my parents arrived with some corn on the cob, fresh from a nearby colony. I’m SO anticipating some of that in the very near future!

My parents only stayed for a few minutes, and once they were headed out, I continued the great clothing organization. I am pleased to say that, for the moment, it is DONE! I know, that sounds super non-committal. I have sorted absolutely everything that I can find. I’m positive there are more mixed up tubs and bags downstairs, but for now, I have accomplished a TON! Everything is separated out and ready, and I’m really anticipating getting the tubs moved downstairs into a somewhat organized stack tomorrow maybe. Our clothing tubs are a BIG part of what we store, and I feel like once those are organized, some space should free up in our basement. Or at the very least, it will motivate me to start organizing the rest of the basement and get rid of all of the junk I don’t want to store anymore. The purge never ends!

I think I’ve worked enough today, though. My back is sore from the amount of bending, crouching, carrying, and hauling that I’ve done today, and I’m ready to lay back and have an evening of solitude with Brady. I love our evenings together. I’m a lucky lucky lady.

I didn’t get to add a picture of my new hair yesterday, since my laptop blows at updating pictures and I was too lazy to get them on here another way. I am less lazy today, so here it is!

We kept the shaved side nice and short, and brown, because why not. Otherwise, we hacked some bangs into the situation, and gave the actual length some layers and texture. There is SO MUCH HAIR up there!! Yikes! I never really clued in to how thick my hair was until recently. I think I’m truly starting to like and appreciate my hair for the first time. Would I love curly hair? Absolutely. Do I love what I have? Actually ya, I think I do. Win!

This morning, Brady stayed home later than usual, and took Dekker to his eye appointment. Usually, we drive in and meet him there, and we haul everyone in, because otherwise we have to entertain them in the van for a long, long time. But with Brady being home with us this morning, it worked so much better for just the two of them to go in. I would have happily went with him, but Brady is Dekker’s safe place in situations like that. He always sits on Bradys lap at Dr. Rubabs. So they had a little morning date, and I hung out with the others while they were out. Facebook informed me today that it was three years ago that we were told to start patching. We’ve come through a few different stages and obstacles along the way, but I’m pleased to hear that Dekker did pretty well at his appointment today! He cooperated pretty well with the games and exercises, and when he did get upset, the doctors were able to change up their methods and re-engage him. Apparently his script has changed a smidgen for the worse, but nothing big enough to warrant a new pair of glasses, so we keep on going and praying. I’m really happy he was less panicked with the exams, though. Always improving, this boy.

Brady and Dekker came home with Tims for me. We had a short visit so I could hear all about the appointment, and then Brady headed off to work for the afternoon. The kids played a little bit, and ate lunch, and I just finished putting Rowan down to bed. He was SO dozy in my arms. He easily puts himself down to sleep, so I have no real need to stand and rock him or anything, but he was just so still today, so I snuggled him a little bit longer than usual. He lifted his head after a while and his usually smiling face looked so serious and calm. He leaned forward and I kissed his forehead. He gradually moved his face higher, so I kissed his nose, and eventually made it to those huge, puckered lips. In true Rowan style, he burst out laughing and came in for more and more kisses. I was soon covered in slobber and goldfish remnants, but it was totally worth it. We had lots of good kisses, until I finally asked if he was ready for a nap. “Ya!” So down he went, happy as a clam. A sleepy clam.

The day has gone smoothly thus far, and I have high hopes for the afternoon as well. Brady, Solly, and I are all going to Dr. Mike for treatments, and then we’ll hit Costco and head home for the evening. Fall is in the air! I’m not sure why I’m anticipating it so much this year but I really really am 🙂 Feeling good today!