Cher and I had a REALLY fun day of shopping, eating, driving, chatting, laughing, and taking selfies.

Cher’s pictures are vastly better than mine, so most of these are hers. Except the ones of her, of course, such as the super extra nice ones of her at the Lawson mall food court while I was blinded by the Santa photographer. We didn’t start there, though.

We started with a Tims breakfast, and then hit Value Village for some Christmas presents, some shirts, including a Dunder Mifflin shirt for Brady, a mug, and an artsy print. When I say we “hit” Value Village, I mean that we went, not that we stole. Another couple did, though. And that sucked.

After VV, we went to Lawson. We walked the mall and didn’t end up buying a whole heck of a lot, but we didn’t need to make purchases to enjoy some laughs.

We did, however, get some New Years appies from M&M before we got that lunch I told you about a minute ago.

Something about food court asian food is just SO good, and Lawson has the best of it! We shared a HUGE plate of lunch before we headed out to the next thing!

From there, we went to 8th St and did McNally. Unfortunately we didn’t find what we wanted, but it was just a quick trip over to Indigo! We found some of what we went there for – one of the big important things – and we were about to leave before realizing we hadn’t gotten our token Sbucks drink yet! So we did that, too. Caramel Brûlée lattes this year.

Cher just decided to order what I ordered, and I was SO happy she absolutely LOVED it!

After Indigo, we went further south and shopped that Value Village, where we found yet more Christmas gifts, and a couple of small extras.

Walmart was the big sop, with some groceries, a few heavier things, and a couple of Christmas things. It wasn’t a big shop as in a big haul, but a lot of walking. Cher and I were both absolutely exhausted by the end of it. So, to Montanas we went!!

We were told there would be a half hour wait, and we were absolutely fine to sit and wait for a little. The promising 30 minutes was a lot more like 15, and we moved to a booth. Cher sat sideways to rest her feet and be cute, but she kept whacking her head on the picture behind her, lol!

She didn’t like it, but I did.

We both ordered fish and chips, and I ordered the boozey lemonade they had on special. It was incredible, honestly. Pink lemonade! Yum!

We made one more stop on the way home to pick up a few more appies, and then came home just a few minutes before my mom arrived home with Dekker after their date! Dekker went to bed, and Brady, mom, Cher, and I watched a movie all together until waaaaay too late. We were all BEAT! What a fabulous day it had been!

Thank you for spending a busy day oot and aboot with me, sweet Cherice 💜 I absolutely LOVED spending those hours with you, even with all the hustle and bustle and the occasional overwhelm. We crushed it, with productivity and lightness 💜

I love you and I like you! 💜💚🧡

Merry Christmasdate to yooooou!

Its SO LATE. The day has officially wrapped up, and the stories deserve more than a rushed post before I fall asleep in the next five minutes.

What I can tell you now is that I spent the entire day, start to finish, with this sweet little morsel 💜

We ate good food, enjoyed good coffee, shopped in so so many stores and tied up all kinds of loose ends for Christmas. We saw some familiar faces, some people robbing stores, a lot of friendly, helpful people and a handful of pretty impatient, grumpfolk. But on a Saturday before Christmas, everyone is out and about, doing their things, including us.

But we had the most fun 💜 Easily.

Brady kept incredibly busy in the day as well. I am SO grateful to be able to be gone all day and have a willing, capable husband to be with our children, and even get so much else done. What a great day 💜

Now, everyones feet hurt, and its time to snuggle them into bed and not get up until well into the morning.

Courtesy of my dear best friend, Cher, we were able to once again have some excellent family pictures taken this summer. And I do mean excellent.

Not only were they taken by a professional photographer –

Not only were they taken by someone who is invested in us and loves us and who we love –

Not only were they taken at a place we treasure –

But we LOVE how they turned out!

We finally did it. We went full funny face on our cards. And I have NO regrets. Of course we love the nice ones too, but the funny faces were just SO much more “us.”

Our kids are so stinking beautiful. Man alive.

Such goofs, and SO beautiful.

Its almost like their parents are also super weirdos 🤷🏼‍♀️ They come by that honestly.

I really love my family. I am so grateful for our life 💜 Changes and all. We are stronger than ever, ALL glory to God!

I hope our card gave you a giggle, and let you know we appreciate having you in our life.

Thank you, sweet Cherice, for taking these 💜 What a gift, year after year. I appreciate you!!

Have the merriest of Christmases, all!!!

Two of my kids are deaf as a post, which is a fun after-sickness thing. I dropped Wavy off at preschool and warned her teacher. Solly already told his teacher, though I’m sure she’s noticed, based on his extra loud volume these days. Ah well. Lots is going around, I’m sure I’m not the only one going through this!

This morning, I got the kids out the door, and had a coffee with Cher. Then I got Wavy to school, and picked up one of the gift exchange gifts on the way home. I haven’t done too terribly much since I got back from preschool. I was gifted a dehydrator recently, so I got that humming away on my counter for the first time! So I did that, I guess! I responded to a doctor text, and did a little more communication. I’m expecting a courier or two to pop by today with some orders. Hopefully not while I go get Wavy innnnnnn right now.

So there is no shortage of things to do, but my body is reacting SO BIG to all the busyness that I have to account for downtime or I might explode. Not actually, but almost. So it may sound like not a lot, but I am working hard to do the things and also take care of myself. Its a frustrating balance but I hope to find it, or something close to it anyway.

Gottagopickupthewavygirlnowokbyeeeee!

I am SO relieved that our bus is at the auto shop to get that side window fixed!!

If you’re behind, you might’ve missed it. We replaced the bus’s windshield earlier this season. Then the minivan got a big ole bullseye right in the line of vision, so we put that claim in. And while we were waiting for that, the bus’s side window got completely obliterated. So. We’re not good at glass, apparently. Brady has been working with a really nice, accommodating auto place in Warman, and when he spoke to them about the bus, they regretfully informed us that they wouldn’t be able to replace both the side window and the van’s windshield before Christmas. Brady and I completely agreed that the bus needed to happen first, and thanks to a last minute cancellation, the bus could go in TODAY!

And they want it for three days. Which is a lot for us.

Thankfully, after the hail damage debacle a few years ago, we upped our insurance to include loss of use, and we were granted a rental car for these bus-free days.

So today, I drove to Walmart to do some pantry stocking and a little bit of Christmas supplies shopping in what felt like a teeny little vehicle! I don’t think its actually little. Is a RAV4 little? I’m not sure. But its a lot littler than what I’m used to! It was fun 🙂

At Walmart, I got the makings of the desserts and treats I want to make. I got a couple of gifts. I got one ball of yarn, because there was only one in the color I needed, lol! I bought an absolutely boatload of noodles. I got some chicken breasts, which I haven’t had in my freezer in a while, and for good reason, because MAN they got pricy! Anyway. I stocked up on some good things 🙂 My pantry is overflowing, but likely not for long!

It was a successful day, and I am now appropriately tired. Its gonna be a macaroni kind of night around here! But I’m content. Its been a really nice day. Thank you, Cher, for taking a couple of hours away from your day and adding to mine 💜 It was lovely. I feel tired and fresh all at once.

I had the thought of doing a “X# of days until Christmas” series of posts, but I can’t be bothered, haha! All I know is that its SOON!! Does anyone else’s island look like this the entire month of December??

I hate how messy our island gets. Its actually a pretty wicked source of frustration for me, and in the last few months, I’ve been able to keep it managed, and I’ve been a bit more of a stickler of what lives on it and what doesn’t. But that is ALL out the window in December because I need to do things with pretty much ALL of that stuff. They’re all good things, don’t get me wrong! Christmas cards, a beautiful speciality candy cane advent calendar, chocolate to pass out, gifts to give, broken ornaments to glue back together, a stack of notes and lists, aaaaaand do you see my dehydrator?! Someone GAVE it to me as a beautiful gift, and I have a few small plans of things to try before Christmas hits! Eek!

So far today, I took this little nug to school…

and bought a stack of stamps. Stamps have been applied and envelopes are sealed. I’m going to run those back and drop them off when I go pick her back up.

She’ll come home and lunch and nap. I have a counselling appointment this afternoon. I’m expecting a parcel to be delivered sometime today also. I have to feed everyone something, sometime. I definitely need to make a grocery list. And I have a giant hamper of socks and underwear staring at me right this moment, but I’m thinking I’ll leave that one for the kids to sort out after school.

Never a shortage. Ever.

Hopefully we get our local Christmas cards delivered really soon! Whooooo did what I said and got a mailbox?? 🙋🏼‍♀️

Today marks that last full week at home without the school kids before Christmas break. And guys – these are busy days! My goodness!

Of course we’re starting the week less productively than I was hoping, as I have a sickie at home. No Walmart shop for us!! How long do you let your kid be deaf before you bring him in to check for an ear infection? Because I want him well, but there are also just so many appointments in the near future! Ack!

This week holds two eye appointments, one counselling appointment, and one doctors appointment. The transit is getting its side window replaced this week (THANK GOODNESS!!) but it will be gone for three days 😳 Praise the Lord for loss of use insurance that is covering us for a rental in the interim. This week, I need to get Christmas cards mailed out, and ideally handed out around town, but that part can wait if need be.

I also need to write some cards to go with the Christmas pictures.

This Saturday is my Christmas date with Cher, where we’ll hopefully finish up all of our last minute shopping, all the while enjoying the bustle of the season and the time hanging out together 💜 I still need to make a bit of a list and get organized for that day.

I still need to sneak a Costco shop in somewhere very soon. Ideally this week. But I’m not sure where 😅

I’m waiting for about a million parcels to come via courier, and I still need to wrap everything. Luckily I really enjoy wrapping Christmas gifts 🙂 I’m excited for it!

I still have some baking and food prep I want to do. Party mix. Homemade oreos. Stuff like that.

Just writing this blog makes me sleepy 🥱

Push through, Hailey! 💪 There are some hours in this day, even if someone is sick!

Laela’s grade has the absolute coolest group of girls. In order to nurture that, a couple of moms got together and invited ALL the grade four girls to a Christmas party! I only recently realized that I really haven’t set Laela up with anything fancy to wear to a Christmas event, but she was VERY excited at the idea of wearing one of her summer dresses again!

She was SO excited to go, she couldn’t wait to get all dolled up. She walked around with her present until it was finally time to get out the door. It was very cute.

She just has SO MUCH of my cousin, Elise, in there. Its CRAZY!

Who says Christmas colors have to be red and green? Not us!! We are a much pinker family, hahaha! This girl LOVES color.

Merry Christmas season from Laela to all her friends!

Today feels a bit like the calm before the storm. But not in a bad way! Its neither calm, nor is there a storm brewing, lol! But its a fairly uneventful day before this coming week holds ALL the events. Yoikes!

Unfortunately, Brady got recruited to work this Saturday. We’re all a little bummed. He was able to trade, so this means he shouldn’t have to work a Saturday in January. Which counts, but if it were my choice, I would rather he worked a January Saturday instead of this December one. Either way, we’re here, and it won’t make or break anything 💜

I hope the day holds much of this.

Maybe some of this.

Some crafty crafts, maybe?

Maybe a bit of work… just a bit.

There will be music. Crocheting. Lego. Rest. I have some jobs that need doing, but I plan to recruit kids here and there. Most of them are fun jobs. Maybe I’ll even kick some outside at some point. I want things to get done without anyone feeling strapped or overwhelmed. Wish me luck that I manage to find that balance!

Before anyone even asks, I have full permission to talk about this stuff. Bathroom stuff doesn’t need to be taboo. Brady is not concerned about hiding this information from others, but we’d far rather normalize it a little. We all pee, right? Or at least we’d all like to! Some of that stuff isn’t the same for everyone, and we’re going to share what we’ve learned with the rest of the world! 

It was about a year after Brady’s surgery when we realized something was up with Brady’s bladder. To be honest, we were just so grateful he still had control of his bathroom stuff, and we didn’t expect it to be perfect, so we didn’t question the new little quirks that came with it. 

For instance, Brady peed a lot. Like all the time. Some days, it felt like he lived in the bathroom. But if you remember waaaaay back in the beginning, one of his issues was that he couldn’t really initiate peeing when he wanted to. Those muscles wouldn’t do what he asked of them. With his paraplegia came further change, where the sliding scale of “how badly do I have to pee” was gone. He either didn’t have to pee at all, or he had to pee NOW. And obviously, the ability to hold it was unpredictable. It felt a bit like peepee roulette.  

This is something I witnessed a lot of, but Brady didn’t really realize the extent of it until he had a job, and was on the clock a bit more. At work, he was noticing he needed a 10 ish minute long bathroom break every hour, maybe every hour and a half. I remember the day he came home and said “Do you know how much time I spend in the bathroom??” And I laughed, because yes. Yes I did. 

Brady was finally able to see a new physiatrist this summer, and that opened up SO many doors of information and help!! The same physiatrist who did Brady’s botox injections 🙂 He knows a lot of stuff. Anyway, he offered a very clear description of what Brady is experiencing – a spastic bladder! 

A spastic, or neurogenic, bladder is a condition that comes from Brady’s nerve damage. It leaves him with an increased feeling of needing to pee, even when his bladder isn’t full.

Bladder lesson!!! 

We all have a bladder wall muscle. It covers the outside of the bladder, and when it contracts, it squeezes the bladder and helps empty the urine. When its not contracting, the bladder can fill normally. Simple enough, right? Then there are also sphincter muscles that regulate when urine is allowed to leave. Again, that all makes sense. Thanks to nerve damage that is very common with all levels of paralysis, it is just not that simple for Brady anymore. Rather, more often than not, all of those muscles would go at once. So the wall muscles would be squeezing the bladder, but the sphincter muscles would be keeping it all closed up. Picturing squeezing a water balloon. That was Brady’s bladder. Until they would all let go, and Brady would be left in an urgent position. This is incredibly limiting, restricting, unpredictable, and it just plain sucked for him to try and do normal life things. No “pee before we leave” for that guy. He just had to hope for the best. That sucked. 

However, having that information was really helpful. It means a lot to have things explained so clearly, doesn’t it?

This issue being prevalent and untreated indefinitely ramps up other health risks, like UTIs and kidney stones, to name a few of the simple ones. As a wheelchair user, Brady already is at a higher risk of those things, and a spastic bladder only makes it worse. 

While this cannot be cured, specifically, it can be managed with medications. Brady’s physiatrist said it would be easily done through our family doctor, so yet another thing got added to Dr. Guselle’s list, which she happily took on! 

Brady began a medication very slowly a little while ago. It was meant to relax the bladder muscles as a whole. There was fear there, for sure, of things relaxing too much, but we were reassured it would be a very gentle start, and that any and all changes would be made incredibly gradually. This is a commonly used treatment, so everyone was very relaxed about it. 

It was legitimately the day Brady started the new medication that he saw change. He decided to go try to pee while he was at work. He didn’t have to go, but he tried to go. And he could! Just a little bit, but his muscles cooperated more than they had in the last year! He had SO much hope, as did I!! 

This has become quite a long blog, so I’ll fast forward. Three weeks later, he was at three small doses of this medication per day, and he has found the sweet spot! The man can pee when he needs to, and if its not an appropriate time to break for the bathroom, he has a bit more confidence to hold it for a little while. Of course no one would ever deny him a bathroom break. Zero percent. But he is an incredibly hard worker and likes to finish his stuff up before he takes any kind of break. So this has freed him right up, and he is a WAY happier man! Sure, sometimes it still takes some time to get things rolling, but it is SO much more manageable! 

The more you know, right? My goal is NOT to humiliate my husband, but to inform and take some of the weirdness out of the conversation. We all pee, right? So does Brady. It’s just a bit trickier, and whether you’re reading this to learn, or just out of morbid curiosity, please follow along!! You NEVER know when you may encounter something or someone in this boat! Learn learn learn!! 

Brady has gone from a catheter to a bed urinal to a commode chair to a toilet to meds and normalcy! We have no idea where he’ll be next, or what will happen in our future, but we’ve learned a lot, and that takes SO much of the fear away!

Thank you, Brady, for being brave and humble enough to tell the internet about your spaz of a bladder. I am incredibly proud of you, and I’m happy you are a free pee-er!