I have a truly LOVELY day today. It was exactly what a break should be. There was a delicious breakfast to be had, casual getting ready, and then some really good shopping with my sister. We mall walked and each got just a few things. Nothing major, just relaxed. I required a soft pretzel, as I always do in Winnipeg, so we did that as well. We spent a couple of hours at the mall, but it was still the late afternoon when we hit a nearby Starbucks for a little coffee and cake pop date. It was delicious, and a really really nice time to just sit and chat. We don’t get on the phone too terribly often, though I’m very thankful every time we do make the time to call, because I love visiting with my sister. She’s pretty exceptional.

Once we got back home, we decided we weren’t hungry enough for supper yet, so we ducked over to Stefan’s parents place and lounged in their hot tub for a little bit. It was actually pretty perfect, since I forgot my pelvic support belt, and I was feeling fairly achy after walking the mall, even though I really hadn’t pushed it. But the hot soak felt great!!

This evening, we had an unbelievable fettuccini alfredo with caesar salad. I ate more than both Caity or Stefan. It was delicious!! We had dessert soon after, which I also managed to eat too much of. We watched a chick flick and rested our evening away. I feel so relaxed here. SO relaxed.

My trip comes to an end TOMORROW already, which feels crazy. CRAZY short visit, but its been refreshing and incredibly enjoyable! That being said, I do miss Brady and the littles. I was sent pictures of them all freshly bathed, as well as videos of Laela playing piano, insisting that she was playing from the heart rather than from the book 😉 I want to see some of that in person. And I will soon! But for now, I’ll enjoy my last few hours out here!

Brady was home today, thanks to some warranty work being rescheduled last minute, so we were able to do my morning routine together! It was a treat, and I know the kids loved having him home for breakfast.

I left shortly after breakfast, and headed to the city for a couple of appointments. I got my legs waxed, and as always, had a really nice visit with the girl who has the dirty job of my hair removal. Turns out we’ve both had a ton going on since we last saw each other, so there was much to share in our short half hour together. But time flies, and I was in and out very quickly!

I went to my hair place next, just to get the chunk on the one side shaved again. I’m aware that this is something I could do myself, but the guard on Brady’s trimmer broke a while back and I just don’t want to risk a patchy job. And frankly, the girl who does my hair says it would be priced as a bangs trim. So I enjoyed a lovely but very short appointment with her, paid her $5, and was on my way home WAY sooner than expected. I grabbed some junior bacon cheeseburgers for myself, Brady, and my mom for lunch, and drove home.

We ate our burgers, and my mom headed into the city to run a few errands of her own. Brady came downstairs with me and helped me pack a small suitcase and get organized for a trip I’m taking this weekend! I don’t think I’ve shared it on here yet, but I took advantage of an unbelievable seat sale a while back and booked an incredibly short but still very anticipated trip to Winnipeg! Just a very special trip to visit with my sister and brother in law 🙂 It has come at a perfect time, when I’m feeling a really solid need for a rest/getaway, but not to the point of anxiety or like I feel like I’m losing it. Just the perfect time. This is also the one weekend that would have worked pretty much anytime in the coming months, and I couldn’t have gone sooner either. Once again – perfect.

Brady and the kids drove me to the airport. After lots of hugs and kisses, I headed in and enjoyed a surprisingly short flight. I was greeted lovingly by my sister and brother in law, with lots of hugs and stories and the promise of an amazing supper at a restaurant downtown. They delivered, and I ate my body weight in AMAZING food. Now, we’re back at their home, and I’m safely cuddled away in their guest room. I have everything I need, though I am certainly missing my husband already, and my three little loves. But if you guys know anything about my husband, my kids are in incredibly capable hands. This trip will be SO quick, they’ll never notice that I’m gone, I’m sure.

Tomorrow brings the promise of a yummy brunch, and a little bit of afternoon shopping. Hopefully a coffee date and a soft pretzel (or two) are thrown in there for good measure. First, though, we sleep. Its hard to sleep without Brady. I miss you, hubs <3 See you soon! After pretzels…

I haven’t been out much lately. Its not a secret. Along with the inclement weather, we’ve been settling in and letting down. My little Laela girl is sick again which is just cruel, so we continue to stay inside. My mom asked me the other day if I’m feeling any cabin fever, and I could honestly say that I haven’t felt tat way. Not shut in or unable to venture out. I just haven’t needed to. However, I told her that the one thing about being inside so much that was bugging me was not seeing our house build.

Today, I was finally able to lay my eyes on the beautiful house that will soon be all ours!! Brady came home, and helped me get everyone dressed and ready and out the door. They were very excited when we told them we were going to see the house again.

When we did get to our lot, Brady and I walked around our house in awe. Once we had a good fill, we FINALLY got the chance to haul the kids inside and let them see their house. They were SO excited!

So was I, frankly. There was a bit of hysterical laughter turned ugly cry.

I cannot BELIEVE that this house is actually ours. And in these rough stages, I can already imagine how its going to look, and how conducive it will be to our family.

*deep sigh*

We are truly blessed.

It can’t be! Its not ALLOWED! Laela and Rowan both have runny noses!!!!! If we all get sick again, I’m truly not sure how I will handle the next two months. We CANNOT be six for the next six weeks. I don’t want to overreact, but I’m pretty spooked, as we’re all just recovering from the last blow of sickness.

That being said, we had lots of happy, playful moments in the day, but it seemed as though the bad attitudes were determined to win, and the kids struggled. Especially Dekker, which leads me to believe he could be feeling under the weather as well. Its a scary thought.

While the kids napped, my mom made she and I a delicious lunch, and we finished up a movie we had started the other day. We spent good time resting and discussing more housing details. She is a wealth of understanding, and a fantastic sounding board. After an afternoon chat, I feel so much better about so many little aspects of our impending move(s) and some extra confidence I didn’t have before. My mom is a rockstar, if you haven’t figured that out by now.

The kids are now down, which is a treat, because there were just so many tears this evening. I think it was hard for everyone. Dekker is so expressive, and I am so thankful that he can cry and say “Mommy, I’m sad!” I’ve always just said that Dekker’s volume knob is stuck on max, and that continues to be true, which is hard for me when we’re in a somewhat stressful time of life and I’m feeling low. But clearly, he is as well, and I definitely can sympathize. Poor kid. I hope they rest well.

Helllllooooo third trimester!! I know some people would say 27 weeks was already the beginning of the third trimester, but I figured I’d just wait and confidently say it today 🙂 Eek! I can’t believe we’re already at this point!

I had a prenatal appointment today that, of course, I messed up the time for. My mom had offered to watch Dekker and Laela, which was a HUGE help, especially when I picked Brady up, hauled he and Rowan to our appointment an entire hour early. Yes, I blame my unborn baby, and what he has done to my mind, or lack thereof. The struggle is most definitely real. The positive side is that this mistake bought me and Brady a coffee date in the mid-morning, which never happens. It was special and out of the ordinary. When we did head back to my appointment, my doctors were running behind, so we had a bit more time to kill, but it was nice to have some downtime.

We eventually got into our room and waited for our student doctor. I think its safe to say that Brady and I connected with her better than we have in the past. We had smooth conversation, which was good, because I had a decent amount to talk about with her!

The biggest change in the last month or so is that I can tell the baby has grown A LOT. Specifically in the last week, I can tell I’ve gotten considerably bigger. Its harder to roll over, sit up, zip up my coat, things like that. I have felt WAY larger the last few days. Also, my reflux is kicking my butt and I’ve started taking the meds for it that I was given in my last pregnancy. Thank goodness I have some leftover! Other than those things, I’ve had a lot of cramping, which is fairly unremarkable, but a lot like what the beginning of my labour feels like, so its kind of nerve wracking for me. So there was nothing of real concern to discuss, but a few things just to touch on.

Just for a point of reference for those who may not know, one way they measure me is from my pubic bone to the top of my uterus. However many centimetres it shows often corresponds with the number of weeks along I am. Its not a big deal that its exactly correct, but it shows consistent growth even, which is important. In the last four weeks, however, I have gone from 23cms to juuust over 30cms! So that is a pretty big jump, as I suspected. No one is worried, but if I have another super jump in size at my next appointment, we’ll order an ultrasound to make sure fluid levels are still looking right. I haven’t gained too much weight in the last four weeks either, so who knows. Another thing I learned today is that my hemoglobin has dropped a bit lower than they’d like, so I need to go get my iron tested.  I didn’t go today, since I had already stolen more of Brady’s morning than expected. Also, because today I also consented to having my whooping cough TDAP shot topped up. That was one big needle poke, and it was enough for one day. I’ll check for iron soon though. Want to keep my blood where it belongs.

Our appointment ended well, with Dr. Guselle around as well, asking about all of the kids and how we were all doing with our sicknesses. We told her that we had to leave our last rental, had moved to my parents, were moving again for April 1st, and again when our house is finally built. Oy. She kind of teased us for biting off more than we could chew, which we fully agreed with. We had some laughs, and our estrogen wildly outweighed Brady and Rowan’s testosterone, but the boys are good natured, and we all had a funny last few minutes, laughing at the antics of living with your parents/in-laws, with all of our kids, in our situation.

We left after booking our next two appointments. Four weeks until the next one, and then it goes to two-week intervals for a few appointments, and then once a week until the day!! My goodness, thinking of it that way, its coming SO SOON.

I drove home to my mom and kids playing in the living room, with grilled cheese sandwiches made and ready to be popped into the oven. Needless to say, its been a pretty decent day! The weather isn’t great but I’m staying in for the rest of the day! Hopefully Jerilee makes it out here safe for the evening!!

I thought I’d offer up a post about the kids today. I’m sad that our living situation has bounced around the way it has, and I can’t help but feeling that I haven’t done a good job of keeping them feeling safe and warm. Its been a challenge. Thankfully, where we are now is both safe and warm, as well as familiar, delicious, and quiet, so pretty much exactly what we all needed.

I wanted to share with you how they exhibit stress, because some of the ways, I didn’t know were real until I witnessed them in my children. Besides rocking some BIG feelings, and struggling with attitudes and general change, they have shown stress in surprising (to me, anyway) ways.

Dekker is itchy. ITCHY. We started dousing him in lotion daily when he wouldn’t stop complaining about it. He would reach as far behind himself as he could, but couldn’t seem to satisfy the scratchy spot. When we checked, he was scratching his spine red. I am pleased to say that since moving in with my parents, even just after a week or so, his itch has gone away. His skin looks great and he hasn’t mentioned it in a few days. I’m taking this to mean that his stress level is going down. Whew!

Laela has dry, cracking, chapped little lips. Poor little girl just picks at the flaps until her lips bleed. Now, I know this just sounds like dry conditions, but it started back at the last place and it is FINALLY settling back. She has only one red spot left on her lips where she has recently picked. I’m so relieved she’s on her way out of stress as well.

And Rowan. Poor Ro. His bum is just in shambles. Nothing in the way of his products has changed, but he has a bum rash like you wouldn’t believe. I’ve heard of this one before, that some kids exhibit their stress through diaper rash, but if you’ve read long enough, you know that Dekker had an awful yeast rash on his bum for an entire year, and that was the year before all of the struggles with his eyes began, so I wouldn’t attribute that rash to stress. But I would be willing to wager that Rowans is. It had its worst day a couple of days ago and appears to be on the upswing now. Poor kid, though. He’s sure been feeling it.

I wanted to record this for my sake, but also just to put out there that my kids are feeling better. Finally. Sometimes it helps to see physical symptoms change, rather than just attitudes. Its hard for me to know, sometimes, if they’re struggling with life a bit, or if they’re simply entering a new stage that we’ll navigate, regardless of our living situation. I’m relieved to have some answers, and also, that they are the answers I wanted! I am thrilled that my kids are feeling better. Brady and I are as well. Our sleep is more restful. We are comfortable here. We can’t stay for the duration of our build, but I am actively praying that our next rental will be THE place until our house is ready. I’m hoping it is exactly what we need, that everyone is comfortable, and that the kids especially can really settle in and enjoy. Feel free to pray for this with us.

March is a really busy month for weekends for us, yet we’re in a funny position now that we’re staying with my parents. Sundays are “normal,” whether we go to church or not. We’re here, spending the day with my parents, feeling relaxed and among friends. This is how Sunday usually goes, until recently, when we got sick and hermitted up. This is better, for sure.

With Brady having SUCH a busy week, we opted to stay home from church and spend some time together, just our family, while my parents did go to church. It was a nice quiet morning. When my parents did come home, we had pancakes and bacon for lunch. The kids watched a bit of tv and my parents actually left in the late afternoon to attend a birthday party. With them being gone so much, and me being SO tired and dozing on the couch, I can confirm that its been a very quiet and restful day.

Brady bathed the kids and we watched some Paw Patrol. Rowan is becoming the master of the stairs, and is able to back down them completely unassisted! Of course, we do assist him, and wouldn’t just send him down a flight on his own anytime soon, but he can back down the two steps into my parents living room all on his own. Very proud of him!

Laela struggled pretty hard through supper, but Dekker knocked it out of the park by helping me tidy toys up with a VERY positive attitude. We always tidy toys together in the evening before bed, but because I knew Laela was just completely at the end of her rope, I thought I would just do it as a gift to the kids. Lo and behold, Dekker offered to help, and had an amazing attitude about it! I praised him up and said I appreciated his help and his loving heart SO much, and he just soaked in that and kept working! He then lead the pack to bedtime with that positive attitude. I felt like he really jumped in to his role of “big brother” this evening. Love him.

The ‘rents have arrived and I’m ready to be done on the laptop for the moment, so I’m off! Tomorrow, Brady is off to work and hopefully we’ll have a low key day at home. Tuesday there is a bit more up, so first, we rest.

Brady and my dad arrived home mid-afternoon with a van and trailer load of our stuff from our previous rental. I am so relieved that the work is all done, and all of our stuff is moved. I have SO missed my husband this week. He has put in an exceptional amount of work moving us out, and I am completely thrilled that he can be home with us tomorrow. The move is done. Ish.

We still have to do a final walk through to confirm we get our security deposit back, but that will be it. Then, we will be onto the next thing!

I’m going to keep this post short, as its going up late, and I’m not feeling the greatest. My reflux is kicking my butt today, enough so that I’m crossing the border from Zantac into the land of prescription, and unfortunately, that hasn’t built up yet, so I’m just all refluxy. Also, this is the first day that the baby is hanging out in my ribs, which is neither helping my reflux, nor my ribs! Those two factors paired with fatigue are not ruining my day, but are making me ready for bed. So off I go! The kids went to sleep beautifully tonight for their dad, which I think all of them have been missing and anticipating. Its been a lovely day. Truly.

We had something of a reprieve today! Partly, it is because the fact that God’s love is new EVERY morning. He is the reason I have the strength to get up after days like yesterday. Secondly, being at my parents house means that my mom is around during the day often enough, and while I work very hard not to dump a bunch of child-minding jobs on her, she is happy to help and be an extra set of loving hands when she can see I’m getting overwhelmed. Pouring milk at the table, changing a diaper when both littles have pooped, putting boots on before outings, things like that. I appreciate her SO much. I also, have to thank Paw Patrol. My kids LOVE Paw Patrol, and we haven’t been able to watch a ton of tv the last little while. I admit, we watched a decent amount in our previous home. Then, when we moved to the rental, we watched considerably less, as their tv was actually a projector, and they didn’t much care to try and play in the dark. (My kids don’t often just sit and watch tv, they prefer to play and have it as background noise.) So we barely have watched tv in the last few months, which has gone smoother than I expected, but has also made for interesting challenges. Anyway, this afternoon, Paw Patrol saved the day.

We had breakfast, and then went on a Costco run with my mom. The kids each got their cookies, and they were SO fresh today that everyone left the store with a drooly chocolate beard. It was pretty adorable. After a totally successful outing, we drove back home and grabbed lunch. I gave the kids a smaller, snacky lunch, and my mom and I had egg rolls. I’ve never thought to have such a thing, but my mom occasionally cooks up an egg roll for lunch, so I tried it out, and it was a FABULOUS lunch option! I highly recommend them, with plum sauce. I decided not to nap the kids, and instead, we all watched Paw Patrol for a while. We all zoned out pretty nicely, and rested, and enjoyed.

When Brady was done his work day, the kids and I headed back into the city to meet him for an early supper. We met at a KFC where we all ate in the van and talked about our days. One day, Brady will be home again with us. I know this has been one week of the kids not seeing their dad too much, and I know people have work and harder circumstances, but I do NOT care for this setup whatsoever. I don’t know how people do it 🙁 Not our cup of tea. I’m anticipating next week!

The kids and I got home just as my parents were leaving for the evening, so we said “hi” and “bye” and went our separate ways. We watched a bit more Paw Patrol before it was time to tidy up and head to bed. I’m very very thankful that the kids didn’t nap because, by some miracle, they also didn’t sleep in the van! They ALWAYS sleep in the van if they haven’t napped. But they didn’t, so they went down for bed very easily. It was such a treat for me.

Now that they’re all tucked away, and I have the house to myself for a little bit longer anyway (not sure when everyone is heading back here) I’m going to watch a bit of YouTube. But first, a house picture, because I live too close not to check it all the time now.

I won’t go into big details, as todays post isn’t about the house (for the first time ever) but its looking SO good! I cried yesterday when Brady showed me pictures of how much of the roof was done. I still can’t believe this house is ours. It just hasn’t sunk in yet. We will actually be living here in the next few months!!! Exciting times!!!!!

It was one of those funny days that started out SO well. The kids were happy in the morning, I felt rested as well, mom was around to have breakfast with us, and everyone was in great spirits. We decided right after breakfast that we would even go for a short outing, all together.

The kids watched some Paw Patrol while we decided, and they stayed put while my mom and I got ready. We all loaded into the van for a nice drive in the country together to buy some sausage and fresh noodles. When we were back in town, we picked up a new diaper genie from Kim (you saved us from the stench!) and went to check the house. That was right around noon, so I’m not sure what the end end result was today, but the last I saw, all four walls of our master suite were up, and I could see through our big window that the interior walls were being done. I’m not sure what else they’ll do before the trusses and roof sheeting finally, but those things are close, and the weather is only helping them come faster!

When we got home, we had a yummy lunch and I put the kids down for a nap. Dekker was having a pretty snarky attitude and Laela was fading pretty fast. Long story short, Laela refused her nap again, woke Dekker, in turn everyone woke Rowan, and it was a complete crap shoot.

Sadly, the days events went down from there. I’m sure everyone can relate to the domino effect, whether you have kids or not. Regardless of what angle I took or what I did, everything seemed to explode at the seams. Dekker got in some real trouble right before supper, but to his credit, he tried really really hard to have a better mood once he got to the table. Laela, on the other hand, screamed when I asked her to take bites. She’d calm down enough that she wasn’t choking on her own spit, and I’d say “Ok, now take that bite” and she’d work right back up again. Over and over and over again. After I forced 3-4 bites into her, she relaxed and ate fine. Honestly, she was probably hungry, which was infuriating, but likely. She did manage to eat a decent amount by the end of things, but they probably sat at the table for about an hour, doddling and doddling. There are a few new stages that they’re going through, which is expected, but paired with them struggling through all of the change and transition in the last few months, and their current lives, it adds up into some pretty ugly times.

Sadly, now is an ugly time. I am feeling quite weak. I know I will feel a bit better when I have the help of my husband, but he is helping us in an ENORMOUS way these days!! We just don’t see him very much. Next week should be back to “normal,” whatever that is. I can’t wait for it.

The kids are in bed, praise the Lord, and I am stretched out in the living room. My second load of laundry is going into the dryer. I would not have chosen to make today laundry day, but it had to be done, so we do it with smiles on our faces, and with our mom close by, making sure we don’t crack under the pressure. (I love you, mom)

Brady is almost home, so I am finished for now. Time to rest.