With Dekker and Laela off to school, I have just the three younger ones on hand this morning. I figured I’d do a shorty update on them 🙂
Rowan all of a sudden can puzzle!! We had puzzles out a while ago and no one was really into them. They were rediscovered recently and Dekker and Laela crush them! The one that used to be “hard” is now complete within five minutes. Turns out we need to be on the hunt for puzzles! Dekker walked Rowan through one of the harder puzzles once, and now he can do it, too! And he’s so proud of himself. He loves it.
Solly is way more social these days, initiating games and conversation. His language has been fine for a long time now, yet it continues to grow and change. He contributes more than yes or no answers, and participates without us always having to ask him to join. He makes real jokes, too. He’s SO fun!
Waverly is busier these days! She backs herself into a corner (literally) multiple times a day, but she’s pretty cute about it. Eventually she’ll learn how to crawl forward, right? Lol! Until then, I’ll continue to rescue her from corners or from under the tv stand.
These two are closer friends every day. I wonder if he’ll like her less when she can actually move and come for him, but he’s smitten with her for now, so I’ll take what I can get!
We spent a lovely morning with a friend, but now, its nap time! Gotta get rid of these runny noses! Spring is NOT the time to be down and out with a cold!
Information about me. I hated losing teeth. Part of it was just the general discomfort and pain that came with it. Part of it was the interim where it would wiggle and make gross crackly sounds. Part of it was that my mouth was too small for my face, resulting in me having to go have teeth pulled a couple of times growing up. I still remember how it felt when the dentist grabbed a molar are *shiver* loosened it. SO gross. I was NOT into the whole “losing teeth” thing. Not at all.
Dekker has lost four already, so I’m not new to it, but I’ve never participated in the extraction part. One Brady pulled, one came out in a cinnamon bun, and I think he pulled the others. And you’d better believe, every time, I give him a solid attaboy and examine the lone tooth, and the hole it left behind, as if I’ve never seen such an amazing thing before! But I’m not going near the part with the pulling.
Dekker noticed a loose tooth a couple of days ago. He showed me how far it could wiggle with great enthusiasm. I exclaimed along with him, how close it was to falling out and how great that would be. I promised him I wouldn’t send him an apple to school. That was really it.
Last Thursday, Jerilee was over for the evening. We were hanging out in the kitchen, waiting for our supper to finish up, when Dekker emerged from his bedroom. Now we’ve been having some annoying issues recently with our kids getting up after bedtime way more than is reasonable. But its never Dekker. I greeted him and asked what he needed.
He went on to tell me his tooth was really bothering him and seemed like it might come out. He looked at me for help. I stared back at that face, not willing to help him, haha! Ok ok, I was willing, but not excited. I asked him if he wanted me to pull it. He hesitated. Perfect. I asked him if he wanted to try and pull it himself, and he said he’d try. I gave him a Kleenex, and he just went for it, yanking that tooth forward and back, over and over, no holding back. Jerilee and I watched him, both fully nervous and a smidge grossed out, haha! After a minute, he checked his Kleenex, and there was some blood on it. To my surprise, he didn’t get upset, but commented that it looked like something was happening.
It was around that time that supper finished up, so after checking that Jerilee was game, I invited Dekker to hang out with us while we ate, and he could work on his tooth. He accepted, and sat on the ottoman in the living room, wiggling that tooth. He only sat with us for a few minutes before he gave up. He grabbed an extra Kleenex, just in case, and headed to bed. I know for a fact he was asleep within minutes, haha! So it was TIME!
Aaaaanyway, that brings us to Saturday, when it finally came out! Brady was brushing everyone’s teeth before bed. Dekker and Laela brush their own teeth usually, but we do them once in a while to make sure they’re being thorough. While Dekker was having his teeth brushed, he emitted a little “ouch!” Brady asked if he was ok, and he was, so he continued. Towards the end, Brady asked Dekker to smile big so he could give the fronts of his teeth one final scrub, and Dekker stuck his tongue through his teeth and spat out the tooth!!!!
He was AMPED!
I know it seems like a small thing, but my little Dekker Thomas has spent a lot of time being afraid, or at least cautious. I love how strangely brave he is with teeth! I thought teeth falling out would leave him feeling like his world was ending, and he has pleasantly surprised me by being excited about it! I think it leaves him feeling really mature 🙂
Way to be brave, Dekker! You’re a tougher cookie than your mom!
Its raining today. I have waited for the rain. I LOVE the rain. It smells amazing, feels amazing, and brings a cleansing refresh to everything it touches. I’m SO happy the rain is back. And April showers bring May flowers, right? My little front step planter is looking pretty naked.
We got the kids to church this morning in the beautiful grey misty weather. Its Palm Sunday today. All the kids opened the service by walking into the sanctuary waving palm branches while the worship team played music. It was a really wonderful opening. I didn’t catch a whole lot beyond that, with my twitchy little baby girl. She woke up just that much too early this morning, and was pretty over church the moment it started. But we rolled with it. I held her off by sitting on the floor with her and letting her play, then carrying her around, then back to the floor, etc etc etc. We made it through, and the moment church was done, Waverly was whisked away by the eager hands of some of the youth. Boom! Off she went!
Everyone was loaded into the van when I finally tore Wavy away from her group of admirers. As I carried her out to the van, her bare shoulders tasted the rain. She startled, and gasped, and giggled. Yesssss! PLEASE love the rain as much as I do, sweet baby!
As tends to happen, everyone disintegrated upon arriving home, and nap time happened very quickly after lunch. Now that everyone is up and at ’em, we have the rest of the day to play together 🙂 Our only job is to go through some tubs of clothing for Wavy. I had to dig into tubs this morning to find things that fit her, so its time for yet another size swap! She keeps growing!!
Thus begins a week of Brady being home! Sadly, he is swamped and will be working late all through our Easter break the following week :/ But hey, we’ll take what we can get! This week is already filling beautifully 🙂 Lots to look forward to!
Some of you have been noticing Solly’s hair has been in a ponytail recently! Its so long and shaggy, and we’ve started tying it up when he eats. He grumbled about it the first two times, maybe, and that was it. Now he cooperates just fine, and forgets about it after meal time. He only asks to take it out when someone draws attention to it and he realizes its still there.
I’ve asked him a couple of times about haircuts, and he flip flops. Sometimes he says he wants one and sometimes he just playfully shouts “No! No! No!” until I leave the topic alone. So I tend to just let it be.
This morning, I couldn’t resist sharing some pictures of the messy mop that is Solomon’s bedhead hair, post-pony!
I know not everyone is fond of our boys having long hair, and thats totally their business! No love lost! Just please keep the negative opinions to yourselves 😉 We LOVE their hair!! Be reassured that, when our kids want haircuts, they can have them. For instance, Dekker doesn’t like having long hair! So he doesn’t! Its simple. Its just hair.
Goodness this kid is SO cute! Extra “rough and tumble” today!
Not too long ago, Wavy outgrew her bucket car seat. Realistically, she could’ve legally been in there for little bit longer, but I’m sure many of you can relate to the fact that they get more awkward the heavier your baby gets. Even if I’m still allowed to carry her in it, I kind of don’t want to. Thanks to this change, Wavy sits in the cart more often! And guys, its just the cutest thing!!
She LOVES sitting in the cart. She kicked her legs like crazy as we’d put the cart through the parking lot, loving the vibration and bumps, I’m sure. She was so into it!
I wondered if Solly would love sharing it with her, but he’s actually all for it! Every once in a while, he’d look over and her and kind of “ugh” and say “Wavy is so cute.” He’s not wrong.
I pulled this little cardigan out of a tub of hand-me-downs this morning, and it was probably the highlight of my day. Thank you to the friends who shared their little girlies clothes with Waverly!
We grocery shopped the morning away, and I spent some of my Christmas money on a new sweatshirt that I’ll show you another day 🙂 Now that we’re home, groceries are put away, kids have napped, laundry is going, a couple of calls were made, and lunch was eaten. Dekker is home! Time for homework and maaaybe time for a bit of playing outside before supper! If anyone wants to donate fence materials and grass to our family, we would LOVE to be able to send them all out into a yard on their own! Lol! Maybe next year 🙂
I posted a picture on Instagram yesterday of Wavy and Dekker looking the same. Maybe you’ve seen it. If you did, sorry for the repeat. While I know lots of you say Waverly looked like Dekker right off the bat, I just didn’t. I know my kids better than anyone, but I couldn’t see past Waverly Violet exactly as she was. She was herself, period. With Rowan’s lips. But she was her own!
Now, its clear, as shown in the Insta picture from yesterday.
This picture of Dekker came up in a Facebook memory and I immediately saw Wavy in his face! I went searching for a picture of her in roughly the same pose, and sure enough! There she is! Its not exact, but the similarities are unmistakable!
Today, she was up having some lunch at the table. It was dim in the house, and she was just in a diaper. I looked over at her and saw a specific picture of Dekker! I dug it up, and once again, there they were!
No doubt about it! These kids are SIBLINGS!!
Which is convenient, because they are very fond of each other!
He would be SUCH a good dad. His kids would be SO cute. I wonder how his life will go…
Do you remember Monday? The day when I napped my whole crew around 10:30 because they were all complete exhausted disasters? Today was very much on the same course.
I took them for a drive to bring Brady a coffee, which is kind of a win for everyone. But my little troop did not rally. Rather, they disintegrated upon arriving harm, scarcely eating any lunch before going to bed.
A loving friend dropped by for a little bit so I didn’t just stew in my own frustration all afternoon. I slept maybe three hours last night, which I know is a huge part of why I am the way I am today. Everything is SO much more difficult when a person is behind in sleep. I know we can all relate, I’m not saying I’m any more tired than anyone else.
I know I haven’t done a good job today. I’ve been harsh and unreasonable, and I have some apologies to hand out after nap time. I haven’t eaten, and I really need to shower. Today has just been a day I’ve let get away on me, and it shows. I’m struggling, and its not helping those around me succeed, thats for sure.
Yup, they’re in sweats or jammies. The boys’ hats make them appear put together, right?
I have good people. Great people. People who love me even when I suck. And today, I suck.
If you remember yesterday’s post, I put the kids down for naps suuuper early in the day. Rowan was out cold within five minutes! I felt pretty justified, and I had a few of you tell me throughout the day that it had been a good move on my part. I always expect to be judged, and I really appreciate when I’m not. I know we all do things differently, and thats just great 🙂 At our house, our kids tend to nap a bit older than other homes. No biggie.
Once naps were in full swing, I went upstairs and found Wavy lulling. So she and I spent “nap time” together on my bed. I blogged and we listened to music. Waverly drank milk, played toys, and chewed her hands. It was cute.
I had somewhere to go in the afternoon, so a friend and her kids came by for the afternoon. When they arrived, the house has been perfectly quiet for about two hours or so. It was the perfect timing! They could all get up anytime and have had a great rest! Rowan was the first to surface, in a shirt and underwear. I went back into his room to grab him some pants, and there was Laela, sawing logs, completely cashed out. Solly, too, was completely silent. It was the perfect time for me to duck out, so I did!
Apparently the kids woke up gradually and they all had a great afternoon together ❤️ It goes a long way to have friends who aren’t afraid of your family, and your numbers. I appreciate you so much!!
This morning has been a smoother start. Dekker and Laela are off at school, the little boys are playing well, and Wavy woke up earlier than usual and was clearly not ready for life yet, so she lasted about two hours before going back to bed. It’ll be a two nap kind of day for her! That means a no nap day for me 😉 Because, alternating. But I can hack it!
A two nap day for Wavy is a two coffee day for me!
This morning hasn’t been our smoothest. It kicked off pretty hard, with Rowan coming up into my room over and over again, telling me he had to pee. I haven’t updated in a while, but Ro is like 99% potty trained! He jumped right into night training, and hasn’t peed his bed overnight once! Then WHY, I ask, must he come tell me every time he wants to pee???? Gah!!! So he came up and lulled Wavy and I about five times before I’d normally get up. So that was special, but I know, a learning curve. Whatever. Wavy went back to sleep, at least.
Breakfast was smooth enough, and Dekker got off to school on time. Except for some miscommunications that left us floundering for a few minutes, where he was insistent that dad had made a rule that I didn’t know about. You all get it. Lines get crossed sometimes. And then Dekker’s bike was hanging from the garage ceiling, so another moment of quick thinking, and the kid did get off to school on time! Oy!
Sadly, since pretty much right after that, everyone else around here has been in full meltdown mode. Its not just because it was a bit of a rough start, but its everything. Two duplo blocks coming apart causes a child to crumble into a heap on the floor. Tears cannot be dried with hugs this morning. Also, if you touched a toy in the last hour, it is YOURS and ONLY YOURS. No one else is permitted near it!
My. Gosh.
I hit a “mommy’s wrath” moment and threatened them all with a super early nap. And NONE of them turned their attitudes around!! Not even a little bit!! So I made good on my threat, and I sat them down for lunch at 10:00a,. I know. It sounds SO cruel, and I felt pretty cruel, but I was OVER it, as were they.
Everyone ate lunch angrily, peed angrily, and went to bed angrily. Don’t worry. I followed each one to their bed and tucked them in with lots of soft hugs and kisses. I wanted it drilled into them how much I love them, and I think the lesson landed.
They were tucked in by 10:40 ish. Rowan was asleep when I checked on them at 10:45. Turns out, sometimes, an unpopular decision can be the right one.
I’m glad I followed my gut this morning! Can’t have the kids disintegrating this afternoon when I’m not home!! Would be a quick way to lose the friend who offered to watch them, lol!
Trust me, I know church isn’t about cute kids, but they love to dress up and I just cant resist sharing the pictures!!
Dekker is big into these little ties we got when he was a baby. I think its time to upgrade him, because he wants to wear one every chance he gets!!
Laela has been alternating between two dresses for a long time now, but now that she’s asking to wear them more often, I felt a bit bad she was so limited. I ran downstairs this morning to check out tub marked “clothes to grow into” and found her two more dresses! She picked this one 🙂
Rowan opted for a tie this morning, as well! He picked his whole outfit, and he did an excellent job if you ask me!
Solomon couldn’t care less what he wears, so I picked his clothes, and I’m a big fan. He’s so soft and sweet. If you were at church this morning, you know he was at the front of the crowd for a good chunk of the service 😆
Wavy and I didn’t attend this morning, so she hung out in her jammies.
Look at her eyes!!!
Brady braved church with the four kids on his own, and apparently everyone did very well. He had some extra help with Solly, thanks to our pastor!
It’s so amazing to be reminded so publicly that our church doesn’t view children as a nuisance. We MUST nurture the children, or the church will cease to exist!
The rest of the day was spent outside ❤️
Sunday has been lovely 🙂 Enjoy your evening before the work/school week begins!!
