** This isn an incredibly victorious post. I feel optimistic and excited and hopeful and accomplished. I’m not sure whether its my general fatigue, hormones, or what exactly, but I just found out that through the events of the day, a very special piece of furniture got scuffed up and effectively ruined, and I’m feeling quite devastated. It was handmade, and cannot be replaced, and the one person who could repair it is no longer on this earth. Sad. I will put in a solid effort to write the way I felt about ten minutes ago, but if it lacks lustre, know that I truly am happy with the results of the day. Its so uncool when 99 things out of 100 go so well, and I choose to let that one sad thing spoil the day. So I’m trying not to, but hang in there with me if I don’t ace it **

Brady and I set alarms for this morning, so that we’d have time for some breakfast and an episode of Greys in bed. But around 9:00, we surfaced and got ourselves together for the day. My hair was greasy and I was lazy so I put it up in a style that resembled a soft ice cream cone, in my opinion.

Stylin’. I know.

My parents arrived shortly after 10:00 and we kind of made a half assed plan for the day ahead. “Half assed” is pretty generous, though. Unfortunately, Brady and I were pretty unprepared and disorganized. The guys carried all the stuff upstairs that we had piled up, and loaded it into the trailer, but then came asking me what should happen next. I began to flounder and get super overwhelmed. I was so thankful to have my mom over. She talked me off my ledge, and we did a full house walk through. We quickly learned that more needed to be done than just driving stuff to our container. We had a good stack of garbage to get rid of, as well as a bunch of stuff we needed to recycle, like old paint, a couple of old tv sets, and some cans and bottles. So quickly, their unloading trip turned into an unloading trip/garbage run/sarcan stop. As they gathered up the garbage and recycling, my mom helped me pack up some other things that I didn’t know how to pack. We wrapped lots of big vases up in sheets, removed and packed probably half of the linens from the closet, and even wrapped and boxed up the light fixture from the kids room that had been made for us that we are not about to leave behind! My mom also helped me realize that, while we want the place not to be cluttered, and while we want it to look presentable, we also want it to look like people live her comfortably, and that prospective buyers could too. So I started to panic less about clearing shelves and more just about condensing. It was smart.

When the men left, my mom and I put Big and Middle down for naps, and then we fed Little, and then ourselves. Instead of working our butts off, we opted to rest while the kids did. We had a really good heart to heart, and time flew by. The guys were unloaded and back home in good time. They said that maaaybe a quarter of the container is full, which is awesome to hear!! We should have no problem fitting everything else in there when the time comes.

Once the fam was home, we warmed up some leftovers and had a really yummy supper together. But my parents left soon after, and we’re back to our own devices. I was hoping we’d still be rocking motivation, and that we’d get a bit more done tonight. Lots of repairs and small fixes to do, as well as lots of cleaning, laundry, and general tidying. But we are tired, and I think thats ok. We did lots. And without being too gross, the small amount of stitches that I got from delivering Rowan are starting to dissolve/work their way out, and that is not the most comfortable thing in the world. A bath and a sleep might make me feel better than more trips up and down our stairs and heavy lifting.

My mom pointed out that I likely felt a bit lost and scattered today because we had already done so much that there wasn’t much left to do today. And I’m choosing to believe that she’s right! I know there will still be trips out to our storage container, but for now, we can really start putting rooms together and seeing results. Its starting!! Or maybe its coming to a close rather. I don’t know! But I’m excited to see where this all ends up 😀 Hopefully in our brand new house, before the end of the year!

Our plan for today was to get a good start on hauling our belongings into the trailer. But first, Brady was called into work to do a bit of warranty work. As in about a half hour of warranty work. Its a bit annoying to me that he spends more time in his van that he does in the house for such a small amount of work but he’s the only finisher for them, which we LOVE, so sometimes thats just the job. Luckily, Brady is a very willing morning person, so he went in nice and early, and was home before Dekker and Laela were even out of their room for the day! He brought coffee and breakfast sandwiches for us, which definitely helped me start my day of well.

Once the kids were up and fed, we turned on the Cars movie, and began emptying out one of the basement bedrooms thats gradually turned into a storage room. Brady made tons of trips up and down the stairs with armloads of stuff, and I basically dug through the piles to try and make it easier but probably didn’t aid too much i the process. I made some lists of jobs that need to be done through the house so, if we need a break from hauling but still want to be productive, we’ll have things we can do. Brady and I did a solid walk through of the house, into each and every room, and discussed what would stay or go, and how we might rearrange. Its really exciting to actually see it taking shape!

Around lunch, I was finally informed that Target marked their bedding down to 40% off! Lots of you know I’ve been waiting on pins and needles for this tip. When the Target sales began, bedding was only 10% off and I’ve been waiting for it to go down far enough that I can justify buying some. Before the sales started, i bought a mustard yellow blanket I’d been eyeing for almost two years, because I was worried they’ll all be gone as soon as the sales started. They have remained in stock through the entire sale process, and now they were going to be 40% off! So I talked to Brady and he agreed that we should jump at the sales and pick up some more nice blankets. It was so close to the kids nap time, so we went inside and played with them for a while, fed them, and spent a bit of time with them and without working. But right at nap time, they went down, and I took Rowan with me to the city to hit Target. A date for us, a nap for the big and the middle, and kid-free packing time for Brady.

It was SUCH a warm day, and it felt lovely being out and about in the sun with my baby. We hit the store on our side of the city, and parked nice and far away so we’d snag a few rays before going inside. As soon as we were inside, however, I made a beeline over to the bedding and was SO pleased to see the yellow blankets still on the shelf. I snagged two twin yellow blankets. I also had recently had my eye on a coral colored patterned blanket, but it had been way too expensive before so I had sort of given up. Brady and I had agreed I should buy it if it was still there, but I didn’t see it. Until I dug. It was waaay the heck in the back, not at all in the section where it belongs. I’m pretty sure someone hid it. Sorry, someone. I wanted it more, turns out. I wanted to do a bit more shopping, but Mr. Rowan was starting to become less fond of our date. I ended up carrying him on his tummy, facing out, through the store, and pulling my cart behind me. He fell asleep and hung there, limp and comfy. I am sooo thankful that Target carts pull just as nicely as they push! It made it possible to continue my date with my son, and carry him around, which he doesn’t usually appreciate. My entire Target haul included three blankets, three throw pillows, a beautifully soft sheet set, two shirts, polysporin, and some spray sunscreen, and I paid about $200. Considering the blankets alone would have cost that much at full price, I’m feeling pretty thrilled with my purchases 🙂

Everyone was up when I got home, and Dekker was playing drums all on his own, and singing along, which was pretty awesome actually. A lot of people aren’t confident singing while playing an instrument, but maybe everyone should start nice and young and they’d get the hang of it 🙂 We all played and then ate supper together. After supper, the kids played together while Brady and I did the dishes and attempted to make a bit of a game plan for after they went to bed. I think we came up with something, but I have no idea what it was. So many little places in the house need to be broken down and we need to decide about what to pack and what to keep at home.

It’ll be good to have help tomorrow. My parents are coming for the day, and I know having some help with the kids, as well as some muscle and some wisdom, will help greatly in the process. I would so love to keep my sanity through these next few weeks, but I also want tomorrow to be a wild success! Please root for us!

We had a really nice day today 🙂 Not the worlds most productive day but it was still very pleasant. We all got up mid-morning and had breakfast, got ready, and left. I feel like the warm weather is doing good things inside of me. I just feel lighter. The kids can wear their spring jackets, we don’t have to have the heat and fans cranked in the van, and the best part – other people are happier too! Doesn’t everyone feel a bit better when winter potentially starts to let up? When I left the house today, I had on really fun makeup, cute new flats, and pre-pregnancy jeans! I felt pretty awesome about it all.

We hit up my parents house quickly on the way in and picked up a big stack of newspapers. After the whole Facebook conversation about where to buy materials for packing, my mom came to our rescue and gave us a big stack of papers. She even called the downtown drugstore and they also offered us a big pile of papers. So inky fingers I will take if I can get them for free!!! We stopped by my dads work afterwards to grab something for the trailer and so he could see the kids for a few minutes, but then we headed in to run our errands! We only had a few places to hit today, and didn’t want to doddle for too long, so we really went for it.

I ran into Walmart myself so the kids could eat while I picked up the few things we needed. It wouldn’t have been worth bringing everyone in for such a short trip. I bought some command strips for the few things we’re going to rehang on the walls, and I bought a bunch of tubs. I know people pack in boxes, and thats much much cheaper and smarter in some ways, but since we didn’t know where our stuff would be resting during this process, we began packing stuff in rubber tubs when we started our house purge months back. It just feels tidy and clean and like, if suddenly we need to ask people to store some stuff for us, it won’t be hideous and off putting. Anyway, our ideal tubs (68L) were only $6! So I bought a bunch of those too and was back in the van in no time.

We ducked into Reliable Parts really quickly to finally pick up a replacement shelf for in our fridge door. It cracked a few months ago and the replacement was kind of pricey. We figured we’d just rock the duct tape, but then changed our minds for the sake of selling an appliance that isn’t broken.

Believe it or not, our next stop was pretty much the last one! We hit up Home Depot, as we’ve done a lot these days. We were going to return a few things, but we forgot them at home. Oops! However, we did pick up a new dryer hose and vent, lightbulbs that won’t buzz, an uber padlock for our container, and a tile bit for Bradys work. In and out.

After dropping off a few coffees at my dads work, we went home. We were only home by 3:30ish, but it was too late to nap anyone, so I just occupied the kids while Brady moved vehicles around in our driveway, switched out some padlocks on the trailer, and got a few things ready for the next step of things! As soon as supper was over, we got on things!!! Brady started hauling out furniture that we want gone for the sale, and I started packing up one of the bookshelves. The kids helped me by finding all the books around the house and putting them in a hamper in the centre of the living room, and for the most part I was able to keep them out of Brady’s way. Not that he doesn’t love them, but he was trying to get furniture from the basement to the trailer without touching the freshly painted walls. Goodness. I can’t help but think we’ve done some of this stuff in the wrong order 🙁 But I am also confident that none of this is in our timing, but Gods.

Someone please remind me of this if and when our house is on the market for longer than I want it to be…

We haven’t been too private about the fact that we’re hoping to move this year. We were in the process of trying to get things started and arranged when we were blessed with Rowan. I love the little stinker but the fact is, all things listing/moving have been pretty much put on hold since then. Recently, we finally started putting our living room back together and it felt sooo good to see some progress being made. We’ve done a few other tiny little fixes around the house, but we’ve sort of hit a stand still. I spoke to my mom about it the other day, and I told her about my inner battles about where in the world I’m going to put everything. We have two bookshelves in our living room right now, and I’d like to knock it down to one for while we sell. So we need to pack up some of the books. OR… we could put them in the hutch in the dining room. But the hutch holds the nice glass dishes and some bigger, pretty casserole dishes. So do we pack up the books or the dishes? And WHAT in the world do we do with our storage room full of all of that storage?? We’ve done a ton of house purging in the recent past, and I think a lot of our mess is just disorganization. But I know that trying to reorganize our entire home is going to take forever. So after actually a pretty short chunk of our conversation, I discovered our obvious next move in the process.

Storage. We were expecting to rent a sea container/storage unit of some kind once our house sold anyway, since we plan to build a home and will need to lurk somewhere for those months without all of our stuff. Why not get it now?! Our house could be so much cleaner and simpler while its listed, and then there would be even less to move when we relocated to wherever while our house is being built. I spoke to Brady about the idea of jumping on the storage bandwagon a little bit early, and my mom spoke to my dad about it, and we hatched a plan. Today, that plan was put into action!!

We have a trailer in our driveway, just itching to be filled with the belongings that we don’t require on a daily basis. We have been approved by my dads work to house a sea container for us on their property until further notice. AND we have a container being dropped off there on Friday 😀 I know this might not sound like a milestone for many of you, but we’re very excited at the idea of preparing our house for sale. All of sudden, my HUGE list of things to still complete before we sell has shrunk down to paint touch ups, a couple small handyman fixes, tidying and arranging rooms, and a big clean. Boom.

With all of these new, fast acting plans, we have to get on things!! Tomorrow we’ll go to the city to pick up tubs, a few more items for the little fixes, a really really beefy padlock, and probably treats to celebrate. Then, we can really start hauling stuff around and getting organized and loading up the trailer!! Hopefully soon after this, we can start getting papers drawn up and get our house on the market. If anyone feel so led to pray for us, and this early in the game, please pray that we can sell privately!! I want to be able to use all of our equity without having to pay a realtor, but I also don’t want my house to be on the market forever and ever. Houses out here stay for sale for a long time. I really want us to the anomaly and sell right away.

Anyone want to live here? Anyone? Because its for sale!

Dekkers glasses broke yesterday. Its not the best thing in the world, nor the worst. Broken glasses + no insurance = new glasses + lots of money spent out of pocket. There sure aren’t a lot of options for buying off the rack for kids, if any, and his glasses broke right before every optical shop in the city was closed for the day. So I gave up for the night and I planned to bring the kids to the city at the end of Brady’s work day and we could go figure everything out together.

This morning, a few things changed. Firstly, the house that Brady is working on is a house that he’s more so repairing after someone couldn’t complete it to the home builders standards, and as it tends to happen, Brady found additional work there that we hadn’t bargained for. Knowing he’d have to work later than expected, we decided I would come in with the kids sooner rather than later, we would get lunch and break up his day with the glasses fiasco, and then he could go back to work for a few hours. So our timeline changed. The other change was in the ease of the day. Last night, when the glasses broke, we realized we had no copy of Dekker’s prescription, and Brady had called his optometrists office to ask for a copy. They had emailed him one and we figured we were clear. However, upon closer inspection, we saw we had a problem. We had originally takes Dekker to see this optometrist, and she had prescribed him a fairly high strength lens. We were referred to his paediatric ophthalmologist soon after, Dr. Rubab, and she prescribed something we were much happier with. When we went back to the optometrists office to purchase glasses, we gave them the new prescription and asked to use that one. They agreed and updated it in their computer, but what actually happened was they made a tiny little fine printed note at the bottom of their prescription for him. I didn’t ask to keep the hard copy, as I figured it had all happened pretty thoroughly, but what we were given when we asked for our prescription was not a valid prescription at all. Sorry if none of that made sense! Lots of info to work with here. So after that was kind of a bust, I figured I’d call Dr. Rubabs office and ask them to email me Dekker’s prescription. I spoke to Dr. Rubabs personal secretary, and she told me that every other clerical staff member had called in sick and she was manning the desk on her own, and I know how crazy that line up can get! Poor her 🙁 She still went into his file for me, though, and told me his most recent prescription was dated in 2013. I told her that we were just in the office not two weeks ago, and that Dr. Rubab had checked for a prescription change, but there hadn’t been one really at all. She said that was not uncommon for it to not be updated until numbers actually changed. However, I know lots of optical shops won’t deal with a prescription that is over a year old. However, the woman on the phone could only help so much, so I offered to come pick up the prescription in person and she jumped at that. Even though it was an old script, I hoped someone would understand my tale of woes and help me out. The last place I called was one optical shop, right downtown, that I know is usually pretty quiet and had wide open spaces. Sounds silly, but that counts for something when you’re bringing three kids somewhere! The woman I spoke to listened to my story and said that she totally understood and that lots of ophthalmologists did things that way, and she would have no problem filling a bit of an older prescription. Yay! I told her I’d see her in a few hours. Thrilled!!

Just getting the kids out to the van was a bit of a challenge. With the beautiful weather, we get this glassy icy patch from our sidewalk out into our driveway, and it is way to big to be salted away. I can barely make it to the van, much less help the kids. So four trips to and from the house got all three kids and the diaper bag into the van. Once that was all done, the drive was completely clear, and we picked Brady up from work so we could all go together. And I am pleased to report that our day ran so nice and smooth and in order! We grabbed some drive thru lunch and the kids ate while we drove to our stops. First, the hospital. I ran in and grabbed the prescription from Dr. Rubabs office. Completely seamless, except that woman in the elevator. You know those people who just outright stare at you, shamelessly and unceasingly? Who does that?! I had to laugh a little bit, because I would make eye contact with her and try to smile and be friendly, but she would just keep staring. Weird. But I got the script, so onto the next place, which was the optometrists office. I went in to get Dekker’s glasses tack welded back together so he has something while we wait to find new ones, or while they’re on order. There was no line, so I could go right back. They hemmed and hawed a little bit, since they were past their warranty, and agreed to tack them together, with no guarantee, while melting the front of the frames quite a bit, and still charged me $40 for it. Kind of a merp moment, but it needed to be done. The kid needs glasses. It was done in less than five minutes and I was back out in the van.

Our next stop was the optical shop that agreed to take our prescription. We figured we may end up at other shops, but this was a safe place to start. Before we went in, I gave Dekker the toy from his happy meal, which luckily was a Hot Wheels car. I told him he could play with it in the store if he was quiet and cooperative, and he agreed. It was nice and quiet inside, and he was completely distracted with the car, so we had no trouble getting him in and over to the kids glasses. He wasn’t particularly fond of us trying multiple frames on him over and over, but he held it together pretty well. He even let a salesperson take frames off of his face, or adjust them while they were on him. He doesn’t usually like new people so close in his space, but he was incredibly calm and cooperative! However, we learned very quickly that plastic frames don’t fit his face yet 🙁 He has no nose bridge whatsoever, and it shows. None of the frames would stay up on his face. Every time I would slide a pair onto his face, he would tip his head down, look at me overtop of them, and make a funny face. Cute, but not what we were hoping for. None of the wire frames were especially fun, or different than what he wears now. Not that I don’t like his current glasses, but we’re buying him new ones and were hoping for a new, trendier look. I was pretty disappointed that nothing we liked would fit. We finally settled on a cool frame that was similar to the ones he has now, but slightly larger lenses. They were a good price, and if we had to go with wire, these were the ones. On a whim, I tried on one more pair of plastic frames. They didn’t jump out at me at all, being that they were a weird light color, with light arms. I was definitely leaning towards the darker frames. But I slid these plastic frames on him, and they fit flawlessly. Dekker checked himself out in the mirror and seemed really happy with them too. I took them off of his face to read the specs on the side (width of lenses, distance between lenses, and arm length) and while I was looking at the numbers, Dekker slowly reached up, took them gently from my hands, and slipped them back on. Decision made. No hesitation. We headed over to the desk to order them.

The sales lady started taking down our information, and asked for the prescription. I gave it to her, and her first reaction was “Ooooh, this is an old one. We can’t use this.” I went back over my day with her, and explained that we had recently had an eye exam and that the numbers had stayed the same. Also, I told her I had called earlier and was told it would be no problem at all. She gave me a few little snarky comments, like “Well, I know the law, sooo…” and told me her manager would be so angry at her for putting the order through. She tried to call Dr. Rubabs office, but being that they’re super understaffed today, no one answered. That seemed to set her off a bit extra. Finally, she asked her manager to come talk to us and see if there was anything that count be done. I was so pleased when her response was “Oh! We talked earlier on the phone, didn’t we? Yes, thats no problem at all.” Yay! So we proceeded with the order. Dekker cooperated beautifully while the manager made him look through an instrument that measures the distance between his pupils, and even helped hold the device still. Before we had talked any specifics, we were told our price, and while it was a great price, it was only the price of the frames. All of these prescription issues, I was going to get the lenses come hell or high water! I was then informed that we would be getting the kids discount, where we somehow qualified for free lenses!! Granted, they don’t have all the coatings or thinning treatments on them, but they’re free!!I was completely thrilled, and we happily paid what then felt like a measly $139.95 for Dekker’s new glasses. Hopefully they’ll come in over the next week or so, but just knowing they’re on their way helps a lot.

When we left the store, Dekker politely asked me for his new glasses. I explained to him that we had to wait to get them in the mail. He didn’t throw a fit or scream or anything, but he was not happy. As soon as we set foot outside the shop, he raised his voice a little bit and said “I still feel mad!” Call me crazy, but I was incredibly proud of him in that moment! How we work and work for him to learn to use his words instead of just pitching a fit, and this was the first time that he opted for words first. I immediately got down to his eye level and hugged him and told him how proud of him I was, and that I was sad to leave the glasses behind too. We had a good moment of being sad together, and then the day continued. I really couldn’t have been happier with how it all turned out.

So I WISH I could tell you all about the glasses but I kind of want them to be a surprise when they come. I know if Dekker understood, he would be excited to show them off as a surprise, too 🙂 But they are PERFECT for him, and he loves them enough to be sad to leave them behind. That order cannot go through fast enough!!!

Funny how something that seems like its going to be so bad can make for a pretty smooth and exciting day.

Can’t resist adding a couple Roro pictures at the end, from when we got home and he was all dozey.

He just takes my breath away.

Rowan is changing so fast on me! A few days ago, he woke up looking completely different. I think I figured that one out. Straight after he was born, he had that crazy ridge on his head that shows how babys skulls move so much in order to be born. Its a lot less noticeable now, and I think it likely hid itself during that night, making him look worlds apart different in the morning.

Besides his look, my baby boy is considerably less lump-like and much more like a baby person. He has much more wakeful time in the day than he used to. For instance, Dekker and Laela are in their room for a rest, and Rowan is laying here beside me in bed. I’m blogging and he’s watching, occasionally closing his eyes, putting on a big cheesy smile, and chuckling. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be hilarious. I love seeing him with his eyes wide open. He’s not quite responding to us too much, but when I talk to him right to his face without other distraction, he really locks onto my eyes, and I can tell he’s close.

While I definitely don’t want to wish away his babyhood, I am looking forward to him being able to fend for himself someday! His poor siblings. They are itching to play with him, and he’s still just a bit too floppy for that. I mean, not completely. Dekker plays with him so carefully, and wants to help with his care. Laela, on the other hand, wants to get up in his space and lay on top of him, and while she’s very petite in my eyes, she is at least 2.5 times Rowans size, and might just be too big to wrestle with him.

Wrestling!!! Quick story and then I’ll be done! Dekker and Laela are in a special stage of wanting to play with each other, but they seem to disagree on times. If she wants to play with him, he gets upset. But if he goes at her for games, she screams. Its pretty great. But this morning, they actually wanted to play together at the same time!!! Laela wanted to play toys and Dekker wanted to wrestle. Turns out those are different things. I walked in on this scene:

Both kids on the floor next to Rowans bouncy chair, containing Rowan. Dekker laying across Laela’s lap, begging her to tickle his toes. Laela consistently beating Dekker in the head with a flute. Dekker laughing uncontrollably. Laela wailing miserably.

It was pretty awesome. I didn’t interfere. I don’t want my kids to hit other kids, and I step in nine out of ten times that they scrap, in an effort to keep peace in our home, and also to encourage peaceful kids! But this one, I opted to let them play it out. They both survived and still like each other, so I think it was a good choice. But watching them play/fight, and slowly get closer and closer to their sleeping brother made me excited to see what it’ll all look like when he’s just that much bigger and they can roll him around or he can crawl after them.

Such hysterical kids.

While being pregnant with our third child, I heard a lot about how hard it was going to be. Apparently, the stereotype is that three is the hardest number of kids to have, because you’re officially outnumbered. My response to this was that, being a stay at home mom, I was already outnumbered with two, so I didn’t think three would be much different in that way. And honestly, so far, I’m right about that. It does get a bit different trying to take three out somewhere, though. Its definitely more of a juggling act, but its really more entertaining than it is difficult. So far, anyway. The fact that at least one stays wherever I set him down sure helps!

This morning, we skipped church, because Rowan let us sleep until 10:00!! However, upon waking up, it was evident that Dekker and Laela had already been up for quite some time. We fed Rowan and went to get the others. The kids ate breakfast. Dekker, sensing we were going somewhere, wanted to be done way too early. We made him eat more. He whined. Laela, on the other hand, wouldn’t stop eating. Honeycomb after honeycomb after honeycomb. And lots of sharing of wet, soggy honeycombs. Can’t say no to my little girl calling “Mamamama!”while holding out a piece of cereal. Dekker finishes his food, takes his dishes to the sink, and brings Laela’s toy laptop to the table to play with. Laela breaks down. Breakfast is effectively over. Brady starts to get ready, and I put breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. The kids congregate in the bathroom while Brady shaves. Laela starts unpacking her bath toys suspiciously close to the toilet. I invite the kids to come hang out with me while I get ready. Rowan sleeps in his car seat. Dekker and Laela come to my room while I put makeup on. Dekker asks what each product is called and what its for. He is annoying but complimentary. Laela starts jumping on the bed. I kick her off, remembering her several spills off in the recent past. She bawls on the floor. I finish with my makeup. Brady packs the diaper bag. I go to the kids room and throw three outfits on the floor. Tiny stretchy clothes everywhere. Dekker starts to undress. Rowan cries. Laela begins dispersing pieces of the outfits throughout the house. Brady changes Rowans diaper while the kids terrorize him and make it worse. I invite the kids to the bathroom with me. Dekker is pretty much stuck in his shirt, with the sleeves on and the rest behind him. I pee in front of an audience. Dekker brings in a puzzle. I come to terms with the fact that its pretty soon time for Dekker not to pee with me anymore. Brady dresses the kids. I dress myself. I put on lipstick. Brady frees the rugrats from their room and they linger in the kitchen. Rowan sleeps in his car seat. We let the kids into the tiny entrance to get their coats and shoes on. Dekker requests his skaters rather than his boots. Spring jackets come out. Laela finally gets to wear her sparkly shoes, but Brady puts them on with her socks. Daddy is a redneck. Laela is not. She cries. Will not walk in sparkly shoes. Dekker cries about having to walk on snow. We finally get out the door. Brady carries Laela and the diaper bag. I carry the car seat and hold hands with Dekker. It takes a thousand hours to walk to the van. It takes a thousand hours to buckle everyone into their seats. We finally get in our seats in the van.

And then we’re supposed to leave?!?!?!

Luckily, the rest of our day looked like this…

TOTALLY worth the effort to get them out the door this morning!! It takes a little longer, there are more antics involved and a bit more chaos, perhaps. But my goodness, I adore these tiny humans.

Brady and I were determined to get a few things done around the house today. While we’ve had to give up any real dream of having a timeline for listing our home, its sat now for quite some time, and we’ve got to get back at it. We purchased a bunch of little things to help with small fixes all over our house, and I know Brady is kind of excited to get on that part of the job, but he made the mistake of asking where I would like him to start. And I picked the living room. In order to paint it, all of the furniture was pushed into the middle of the room. The two couches say facing each other and creating the perfect storage solution for every single mess that lingered through our house. Therefore, it wasn’t as easy a fix as simple pulling the couches apart again. We had to deal with everything that those two couches were housing. The whole room was a pretty daunting task, to be completely honest. But we just started in one corner and made our way around until the centre of the couches were emptied out! Yay for finally having a place to sit upstairs that isn’t the floor or at the table!!! I have SO missed having a soft place to sit upstairs when people come over. Its been over a month.

Its not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. However, we’ve come to the conclusion that we’ll need to store quite a few things before we try to sell this place. We were hoping to just wait until it was time to move, but it needs to be done. With that in mind, we are finding it easier to “tidy” as a bunch of our furniture will be going into storage, so we’re not having to waste too much time figuring out what fits where. Does that make any sense? Whether it does or not, we at least have a plan for our main upstairs area, how we want it to look, what stays, and what goes. We have to do a bunch more organizing before it will be possible, but we got a great chunk of that taken care of today. Our desk area has been a disaster pretty much since we moved in, so getting that cleaned off and organized was a HUGE accomplishment! Go us!

In the afternoon, a couple of our friends from church drove out with a few meals for us. It was nice to have them in for a little bit, to visit an indulge in baby cuddles. Dekker poked his face upstairs once, surveyed our guests, and promptly went back downstairs, but Laela came for a visit and to terrorize a little bit. Its good that she’s so cute.

We demolished a lasagna that was brought over this evening, and then played downstairs with the kids. Brady and I were hoping to get more done this evening but for some reason, as soon as the kids were up from their naps, he and I both felt dead to the world. So we’re done for the night, save for a bath and maybe a little snack. I’ve pretty much cut late night snacking out of my routine since Rowan was born, and I think its a really good decision, but the very real truth is that I miss it a lot. Anyone have super yummy and not-too-bad-for-you snack ideas for later in the evening???

Today was my first day on my own with all three kids. The Readers Digest version of the story is that the day was incredibly smooth. We just had a lazy downstairs kind of day, and Rowan had lots of wakeful time. The kids did great though, and I even got a few chores started. It felt like a very normal day. When Dekker and Laela went down for their nap, Rowan continued to be awake. It took quite a while before he fell asleep, but he does so very easily and on his own, which is pretty much a godsend. It was once all three were asleep that I realized how exhausted I was, and I made use of my time in the way of a catnap. I never nap in the day, but I definitely needed one today. Brady came home at a good time to find everyone still tucked away, and helped me out for the rest of the evening by being present, and also bringing supper home. Dekker was incredibly helpful and fed Rowan a bottle. No stretch there. He successfully sat beside Rowan in his bouncy chair and fed him all he would drink from it, asking for a burp cloth when “Oops! Wowan spilled a little.” It was an incredibly lovely day, and I’m happy to have had my first day home alone with the kids be a Friday. Broke me in slowly 🙂

Its been a very eye opening week and a half with Rowan. I’ve touched on it before, and I want to say it again. I feel healthy, and like I’m at a very reasonable place in my recovery after giving birth. I know my limits, I promise. I’m not just pushing myself constantly on adrenaline. I’m not on the road to burning out. I genuinely feel good. Because of how great I feel, I now realize how sick I was after having Laela. (Don’t get me wrong, my sweet girl. If you ever read this down the line, I love you to pieces, and what I’m talking about has nothing to do with how I feel about YOU. I LOVE YOU. Your birth was just scary for me. I learned a lot.) In the weeks and months that followed Laela’s delivery, i struggled pretty hard. I wasn’t especially private about it, but I mostly just talked about how I constantly replayed her birth over and over in my head. It was true, that was exactly what I did, but I didn’t see what else was happening to me. I stopped being able to cry. Instead, I would get really angry. And you can ask Brady, we fought a ton, and I’m confident that most of it was me picking the fights. I wouldn’t do much on my own unless I absolutely had to. Granted, I had other things on my plate. Dekker had his surgery and became incredibly afraid of people and public places. Work was slow and money was tight. The list goes on. But I was at my absolute worst to be able to handle it. I did seek help and started seeing a counsellor, who was great, and I was able to feel considerably better about Laela’s birth in good time, but I didn’t realize there was more damage that had been done that needed repair.

God knew, because He allowed Brady and I to get pregnant with our third baby!! And my goodness, what healing my beautiful Rowan Toby has brought our family already! One obvious aspect of healing is in the actual act of labor and delivery. I had no idea what to expect this time around, and while I know it will be different every time, I have seen how incredible and dare I say even EASY that it can be! I don’t expect to have such an easy go round every time from now on, but I know that they don’t all have to be scary and out of control. But in a much bigger way, I can just tell in all of our demeanours that we are in way better shape this time around. Even our rough nights are ok, and Brady and I are more than happy to tag team, rather than one or both of us getting snippy with the other. I feel more rested overall, frankly. While our house is in paint/reno mode, we’ve managed to keep it relatively organized, and haven’t fallen behind on our regular chores. I think last time around, my mom was coming out to do laundry. I did laundry today! And lived to tell about it! I’m sure not judging anyone who has outside help, because I have a TON! But last time, I think someone was in my house helping me with my kids every day for over a month before I had to be a grown up and learn how. This was eleven days, and I felt more than comfortable.

I’m sure some of you are reading this thinking “Ya, of course you’re more comfortable, he’s your third.” And I’m sure some of this is that! But I’m choosing to praise God through everything, because I feel healed. Or at least healing. Both are wonderful things. All in all, I know there will be days that I’ll tear out my hair, but I think everyone has those! Even people who don’t have kids. So I will thank God for mine, and tear out a bit less hair than I did before, when I was such a mess.

Since I’ve started watching a few families on YouTube, I’ve heard them talk about taking their babies to “well baby checks.” Makes sense to me, but I’ve never heard them called that. Most of the people I watch are from the states, so I figured maybe that was it. However, today Rowan has his first ever well baby check! Pretty thrilled to be included with the Americans 😉 Just jokes. I may have just missed the boat in the past. Anyhoo, I checked myself in for my appointment (10 days postpartum) this afternoon, and I also checked Rowan in for his well baby check. Our clinic has a little computer where we can go check ourselves in, and I got a real kick out of putting in his birthday and having his initials, RB, pop up on the screen. He’s real!! I love that he’s real.

Brady came with us, and my mom actually met us in the city and hung out with the kids in the van. It sounds awful, I know, but she was more than willing, and came with snacks and some toys, and they didn’t miss us for a second. Brady and I were really happy to be able to go in for Rowans first appointment, just the three of us.

Dr. Guselle was running perfectly on time, and we were called back in great time. The tech who hangs out in the back was eager to get a peek at Rowan. He weighed in beautifully at 8 lbs 9 oz, which means he has surpassed his birth weight! A week ago, he had done the common newborn weight loss and was down to 7 lbs 13 oz. Thats a good amount of weight gain for one week!!! Also, maybe no one wants to hear about it, but just for curiosity’s sake, I asked if she would weigh me as well, and I’m incredibly pleased to say that I am only eight pounds away from my pre-pregnancy number!!! Granted, I kept ten pounds from Laela’s pregnancy, but I don’t have a desire to get all the way back down to that number. I’m not sure I was healthy then. Anyway, I feel really good knowing I’m losing some of my baby weight already, and I don’t feel like I’m making tons of big sacrifices or changes to get there. Sorry, enough about me, but I’m confident there are some of you who will be able to relate to me, and how good it feels to know what you’re doing is working.

Our appointment was smooth and comfortable. So far, Rowan is checking out perfectly. He had a cry about being undressed, but she checked his throat in those moments. Then, once most of his exam was over, he closed his crying mouth and just opened his big eyes and stared at Dr. Guselle. Always on the ball, she whipped her light up and checked his eyes in that moment, so he really didn’t have to be poked and prodded all that much. My one and only question about him was in regards to his belly button. His is SO different than our other kids, and I was concerned at first that he had an umbilical hernia. Dr. Guselle is confident that it isn’t, and that was good to hear! She said it looks perfectly normal, and that while some kids (like Dekker and Laela) have belly stumps that separate seemingly right on the surface of the tummy, others seem to fall off higher up, and can till shrink down to be innies. It can actually take up to a year before all the muscles make their decisions and decide where to be. Either way, I just want that yucky stump to fall off. I don’t care if there’s an innie or outie underneath it. I’m just happy he doesn’t have a hernia.

We booked our six week check and were out in good time. It seemed a shame to break up the fun in the van so fast, but my mom had other things on her list, and so did we. We did visit a little bit more though, and feed Rowan some milk, before parting ways. Mom, again, thank you for watching the kids! Those recorders were a hit for them. I repeat – for them 😉

A surprisingly fun trip to Home Depot was next, and the kids rocked it. Dekker didn’t get spooked when people talked to him, and Laela sat in the cart and danced up a storm all on her own. And Rowan slept, because he’s chill like that. We spent just less than $200 and came out with new entrance flooring, a few length of trim, a new tub faucet and drain stopper, sink stopper, some weird lightbulbs, plumbing shims, and a toilet flapper thing. I think I forgot to mention, our toilet broke in the middle of the night last night. Big win when you have to flush your toilet using salad tongs. Don’t be afraid to eat salad at our house. We will be throwing them out the second they are not needed as plumbing repair. So, all in all, Home Depot was a success.

I ducked into Target as our last stop, since once again, sales got better, and I really want these specific blankets. But bedding is still pretty high priced. I think I need it to be 40% off before I can justify it, and while its getting closer, its still a bit too much to buy those blankets just to have them. But I did buy a toy for Laela for a birthday or something down the road, as well as a really beautiful, beefy notebook that kind of matches my fancy pants day planner, a new pack of pretty pens, some graph paper, and a cute little newborn hoodie for Rowan. I know he’ll only be in newborn stuff for so long, but as such a low price, and having passed by it so many times, I just went for it. It was all cheap cheap cheap, which feels good.

A quick stop for coffee, and we left the city. We ducked into a friends place on the drive home, where she gave us a box of size 1 diapers that she is officially finished with. What a wonderful gift!! I don’t have to tell you guys how nice it is to receive the gift of diapers, especially when all three of your children wear them! Plus, we usually put our kids in Kirkland diapers, and their smallest size is size 1/2. With Rowan being so much littler than the other kids, I’m actually weirdly excited to have real size 1 diapers to put him in. His tiny little bum says thank you!!

I won’t lie. Upon arriving home, the you know what hit the fan and that hour or two was quite a stretch for everyone. Thankfully, Dekker and Laela are both in bed with their heads still attached to their bodies. Parenting win?? Hope so! Now, a tub is running, Rowan is starting to doze, and Brady is making he and I some supper so I can be in bed, blogging.

It was an incredibly successful day, and while there is still lots to do around our house, its nice to know that we have a lot of the stuff we need to get it all done, or at least get a healthy start on it all! But we won’t start just yet. Brady is back to work tomorrow, and I am about to learn how to be a mommy to three kids at once. All three, just for me 🙂 I’m curious how it’ll play out, maybe the teensiest bit nervous, maybe? But mostly anticipating a new kind of day, and just getting in all the cuddles I can.