Today, I’m thankful for a husband who goes into work brutally early in the morning so he can be home with his kids in the evening as much as possible.
Today, I’m thankful for my baby girl who slept through the night, and got me up shortly before my alarm so I didn’t startle awake. Alarms are the worst.
Today, I’m thankful for happy attitudes in the morning before school, and a little boy who happily packs his own lunch.
Today, I’m thankful for a friend who came over on her day off to spend time with the kids and I. I’m thankful for the conversations we could have, the games she played with our kids, and the muffins she brought. VERY thankful for my people, as always.
Today, I’m thankful for a doctor who stands up for me, listens to me, and remembers all of my details. I’m SO thankful I can laugh with her, also.
Today, I’m thankful for a loving mom who offers to pick Dekker up from school, even in the bitter cold, just so I didn’t have to rush home.
Today, I’m thankful for my cozy bed when I can’t warm up.
I have so much to be thankful for. On such an odd day as today, where I have such a fun morning, and a weird afternoon of doctors and sickness, its good to remember whats really important. Gratefulness. And I’ve got it.
I mentioned yesterday that Rowan was going to pick out his own birthday gift. He doesn’t always love new things, so we thought it might be nice for him to get a chance to really look around and have a say in his gift. Same with his dessert! Would you believe he picked those sawdust cookies from Walmart? Lol! Ya, he definitely did. The pink ones with sprinkles. They were $3.
Since we were at Walmart, we figured we were in the right place to look for a present. Now we hadn’t given him the ok to go full bore and pick anything, but we hadn’t set a specific number or guideline. He could just look around and see what he liked. The first thing he mentioned was a big stuffed toy next to an Easter display. His little crowd of admirers (siblings) was eagerly encouraging him to choose it. He stared at me, wide-eyed. “Can I really have this??” I looked at it, dreading the presence of such a big stuffed toy in my house, and suggested we do a bit more looking before we decide. He happily went along with that.
When we got to the toy section, I could tell he was instantly overwhelmed. He was excited, but with all the kids suggesting thing after thing, he seemed to just submit. “Ok, I could have that” was said over and over again. We were only halfway down the first aisle. I tried to help him regroup, and I gave him a few options. But he just couldn’t focus. It was too much.
I thought back to the first thing he had seen. That stuffed animal. He would’ve been so happy to just walk out with that right in the beginning. And honestly, I would’ve been THRILLED as a kid to get a stuffed toy like that. So I asked him, if we said he could, would he want that stuffie.
“Yes, I really really would!”
Sigh.
Thats how we headed home with a giant rainbow striped llama in our van.
No, Ro wasn’t buckled yet. We DID buckle him.
Rowan was SO SO HAPPY. We had plans to have supper with my mom, and he insisted on bringing the llama in. The poor thing was a trampoline all evening, but it was well loved. Ro made up for the rowdiness with soft snuggles on the drive home.
He needed to bring his new water bottle along, too.
All in all, Rowan’s recap of his birthday is that he had a really fun day. A very Ro-style day. I’m happy he’s happy, and I’m happy he’s in our family. And I’m happy we now have a llama. Sort of.
Kid number three, Mr. Rowan Toby, turns FOUR today!!!! Four years feels not so long ago at all…
Rowan was the perfect third delivery, and the perfect third child. If you want to re-read his birth story, its here for your viewing pleasure 🙂 He brought so much healing and peace. He is SUCH a delight to my heart, and to our family.
One year ago, Rowan was a vibrant, silly little dude. He still felt like a little boy. Almost even a toddler still. But in such a good way! He was SO innocent and soft.
He’s still all of those things, but he’s so much more grown up. This year has changed him! As you can see in these pictures, he’s still very much himself, but his heart has grown and changed.
He’s still abounding with joy and excitement! But he’s matured in a lot of sweet, amazing ways. Rowan accepted Jesus into his heart a few months back, which made my mama heart soar! I’m so happy he’s chosen Jesus for his life. It seemed so simple for him. I remember him saying “Oh! Is Jesus not already in my heart! I want him to be. I live for Jesus.” He understands so much. He’s thrilled to finally be old enough to go to childrens church with Dekker and Laela!
Rowan has been our snuggliest child to date. I remember, when I was very pregnant with Solly, Ro got much more snuggly. We figured it was an instinctual thing, with the new baby coming, but it never stopped. To this day, if I’m outwardly flabbergasted or if I cry, he’ll come to me and say something along the lines of “Did you want to have a snuggle with me?” and he’ll drape himself over me until I can breathe a little easier. He has mad cuddling skills, and comforting skills.
Going from three to four feels like a big jump. He’s officially crossed into the land of bigger kids, haha! He’s more confident and self aware, and his comprehension is great, too! It feels important to note here, also, that this was the year we figured out his lactose intolerance. Thankfully, he’s a champ about it, has learned what has dairy in it and what doesn’t, and reminds us every time he needs to take a lactose pill. Thank goodness those things exist!
Rowan loves his stuffed Foxy, listening to stories, and singing along to music in the van. He doesn’t like being dressed, sweets, or when his duplo falls apart. He also doesn’t really like new things, hence our plans for his birthday.
We spent the morning having a BIG waffle feed, with strawberries and peaches and whipped cream and the like. Though Ro opted out of the whipped cream for a tiny bit of syrup, and fruit on the side. He opened some presents and painted pictures with the paints my mom brought everyone to play with. She has a great set up, and the kids love painting with her! After a while, we fed the kids a quick little snack and put the nappers down for naps. After naps, we’ll be heading to the city to go shop for a gift for Rowan. Yes, he will be part of the choosing of his present, and he is STOKED! He just tends to be hesitant of new things, and this way, he can pick! After that, we’re going to go find him a “birthday cake,” or dessert of some kind. Also his choice, because as you read above, Rowan doesn’t really like sweets. We’ve tried something new every year and can’t figure out a good treat for him that he truly likes. Maybe if he chooses it, he’ll be happy! Unconventional, perhaps, but it works for us! And most importantly, it works for Rowan.
When we prayed for our third child, Rowan was exactly the right child for our family! You reminded me of God’s grace, and His mercies, which I so desperately needed.
I love you to the ends of the earth, my boy. You are such an amazing ingredient in our strange family cocktail. We wouldn’t be us without you! You bring a special zest and silliness, as well as a warm sense of understanding. You are lovely, my boy. Your hugs are soft, and your hair is soft, and your heart is soft.
I’m so smitten with you, Ro. Congratulations on turning FOUR!!!
My plan this morning was to go pick my mom up from the airport, but as a somewhat last minute addition, I decided to bring the whole fam jam.
First, Brady did a little shovelling…
A handsome mountain man I have here
We got to the airport a little bit early, so we wandered around it together, and made our way over to the big polar bear by the baggage claim.
When the time got closer, and we knew planes were coming in, we headed back to the big windows and watched.
Wavy was caught in a MAD windstorm, apparently! Or she just had a wet ponytail under a hood. Believe what you want, lol!
Aaaaand then grandma’s plane finally came!!
They waved and waved and waved
Of course I have no pictures with my mom, or anything after she landed, because we were all just too excited 🙂 We tried to take her home, but she insisted on treating us to lunch first 💜 She’s the sweetest thing, really.
I am thrilled to tell you guys that Brady finished boarding the basement today!
That means we have two bedrooms, a bathroom, the furnace room, and a laundry area are all walled off. He also made sense of our one middle-of-the-room telepost, the bulkhead on the ceiling, and the area under the stairs. So much work, but he did an excellent job! At least we hope our tapers feel the same way when they arrive for their part!
I realized the other day that drywall has been the part of the basement I have dreaded the most. The dirtiest, dustiest, messiest, grossest part of the basement. Also the most expensive part. And here we are, halfway through the whole thing. All the way done our part of it. And I’m SO relieved! We will putter away at the rest, but having this part done will feel GOOD.
Thank you, Brady, for all your hard work. ❤️ We all appreciate it so much.
“Wavy” is pretty much interchangeable with “baby” in our house. You can hear it, right? Baby toys are Wavy toys. The baby seat is the Wavy seat. Its possible I even sing her “Wavy Shark” from time to time. The kids LOVE it!
That was all just to explain the odd wording of todays blog title. Stop being such a weirdo, Hailey.
If you guys have been paying attention, you know Waverly is working on sleeping through the nights. She’s doing a great job, occasionally waking up for a few minutes here and there, but going back down on her own. Only one night in the last couple of weeks has flopped completely. But a big change that comes with Wavy sleeping through is that schedule actually matters. It hasn’t really up to this point, because she sleeps anytime, wherever, and always just gets up once a night, which has been fine! But now that we know she can sleep through the night, we want her days to make sense. We also like to see her from time to time, haha!
Yesterday was a tricky one. She woke up somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning, and she was ready to just go right back to sleep. Except that she had slept through the night and needed to be up! So rather, we brought her down to the dining room and she hung out with the kids during breakfast. She was ok with it, but not thrilled. She didn’t want to eat any food from the table, unlike her usual grabbing, hand-sucking, breakfast eating. I played with her through the morning and managed to keep her up until the kids started lunch, around 11:30. She was SO tired. I made her a bottle to sleep drink, and figured she’d not beautifully.
It has been a LONG time since she fell asleep drinking milk on me ❤️
Brady was pretty happy to snuggle her like that, too.
Wrapping her up woke her a little. She always burrows into your elbow when she’s REALLY tired, but she also LOVES to be photographed, lol!
She’s such a ham.
The rest of the day wasn’t as smooth. She woke up earlier than usual, but our new normal is to keep her up until 7:00. But she wouldn’t drink, and was just flat out ticked. She wouldn’t play, or be cuddled, or eat. Just not happening. I put her back down within a half hour. She MAD cried for a bit, but then slept hard for a couple more hours.
And I’m thrilled to say that, even though our new usual got moved around a bit, she was down for the night before 8:00, and she slept through without any lulling!!! Brady and I woke up around 7:45, not because of any sound, but because we were rested and ready for the day. It. Was. Awesome.
Its not a perfect system, but we’re getting there! Its starting!
Its not a secret that we’ve been cruising around here, doing basement stuff and purging stuff. We’ve been SO busy and productive and its felt great! In the midst of our work, we’ve been managing to spend time with our family and close friends. We’ve made it to church, and we’ve eaten well. They’ve been some GREAT weeks!
I agree with the masses that its super important to live day by day, moment by moment, and not wish time away. I’ve worked hard at that in the last couple of years. But yesterday, I let myself dream and plan and get excited for the year to come! I talked about blog plans and summer vacation plans and let my mind go a little crazy. It was SO fun to think ahead and imagine what is coming, and what might come, and where we’ll be when. While its important not to wish time away, its so fun to have things to look forward to!
Yet as I’m sitting here, listening to the hammering downstairs, annoyed at the lack of siding guys, dreaming of future trips, plans, and posts, my little Laela is beside me, reading the “Pete the Cat” version of “Old MacDonald had a farm.” She’s singing/reading it to herself, saying “McDonalds” instead of MacDonald. She’s loving the donkey part, quietly giggling every time she says “hee haw.” And I’m in HEAVEN listening to her. These things are SO important, and are the things I do NOT want to miss while my mind is otherwise preoccupied or even overwhelmed.
Brady called me downstairs to confirm the placement of a wall light, and I saw Dekker was practicing hammering nails into a 2×4 cut off. I watched him while Brady and I talked. I watched him hammer his thumb and pull it away really fast. He took a look at it, shook his hand for a sec, and kept on going. Thats a pretty big deal for my easily-broken little man. I’m so glad I saw that!
I’m so happy today. I love my family, and our life. We certainly don’t ace it really ever, but we try always, and I think that counts. Does my heart good to see positive things happening!
Waverly has been sleeping through the night for the last little while, and its been SO nice for Brady and I! She is easy company in the night, only ever really waking up once, drinking her milk, smiling SO beautifully, and going right back down to bed. But it appears that the one break in sleep does have an effect. Sleeping through has reminded me what good quality sleep feels like, and I’m so thankful for it.
This morning, Wavy started fussing around 4:00. She wasn’t distressed, just talking. I tried to fall back to sleep, but thats usually completely impossible for me until she falls back to sleep, and sometimes its already too late at that point. Wavy chatted and fussed here and there for a while, until it turned into full blown crying. Now sometimes, that means she’s just about to fall asleep. So I gave her a minute. But it was clear that wasn’t the case this morning. Brady and I had a quick chat about what our next move was. Should we leave her to it for a bit? What if she lulled the other kids? Well it IS winter break, so if they’re going to be tired and grumpy, this is the right week for it. But there are a few extra factors to consider right now. She’s had some emotional days.
Factor number one is that Wavy is teething. There is one tooth thats been pushing for weeks, and some days I can tell its really bothering her.
Factor number two is related to her jammies. The sleeper we put her in at bedtime was SO small! Definitely the last time we could use it. I didn’t think it would cause her too much discomfort, but it was in my mind that it could be.
Factor number three is the biggest one. While she’s been sleeping through the night, she isn’t drinking more in the daytime to make up for the night. Alongside that, she’s eating more solids. All of that is to say she sometimes gets a tummy ache, and she’s not pooping quite as easily. (Not looking for tips on baby constipation! I’m on it, and its improving. Everyone is fine. Promise!) Pooping sometimes makes her cry, and she has a little diaper rash on top of it all, thanks to the more frequent little poops.
I didn’t want to leave her uncomfortable, so we got her up. She stopped crying right away. No extreme drool, so her teeth seemed fine. No poopy diaper, just wet like you’d expect. I changed her jammies, just in case. But she really seemed fine. Brady fed her and Wavy easily went back to bed shortly after 5:00. My alarm was set for 5:45 (shuttling my mama to the airport!) so Brady and I opted to watch some Netflix rather than attempting another half hour of sleep, and I think it was a good choice! That way, I was wide awake at the right time rather than waking up to the shock of an alarm.
After I dropped my mom off, I grabbed some coffee for Brady and I and headed back home. It was still nice and early, so I tucked back into bed and we snuggled in for another episode of our show while I warmed up.
Today will be filled with hanging drywall downstairs and very little else. I suppose I’ll also hang out with my emotional daughter who just started crying. Off I go to do the mom thing! Byeeeee!
Yesterday evening was interesting enough that we didn’t bathe the kids before bed. We always bathe the kids the day before church, but there was just no way. So we bathed them this morning. They’re so cute when they’re clean 😆
I admit, we didn’t get to bathe Waverly this morning. Our poor little dear is SO sweet and SO teething, her sleep is all over the place. She slept beautifully through the night, as she had been for the last week-ish, minus a few minor hiccups. She woke up around 7:00 and she went right back down after her feeding! SO awesome for her, and for us, but we couldn’t justify waking her for a bath when she’s still so little and not stinky or greasy. We put her hair in a curly little pony and called it.
Our kids made it through church pretty smoothly, except Wavy, who we had to wake up for church and who would’ve rather been sleeping. One particularly eager little girl held her through a good part of the morning, and I traded her out for the second half.
My mom came over for lunch and the afternoon. We ate super easy food and chatted our few hours away. We showed her the progress we’ve made in the basement, and talked about whats coming next. Just before she headed home, Wavy woke up, and was in way better shape.
Those eyes!
I’m happier when I don’t have to wear pants, too. I get you, Wavy.
The kids are eating a snacky supper, and Brady and I have a yummy supper planned for after they go to bed. We used to eat after bedtime a lot more, but we’re trying to make some changes. Eating with the kids is nicer for them, and healthier for us. Its a bigger challenge oftentimes, but its a habit we’re trying to set, and its working! But today, we feast on stir fry that we love that the kids hate. Lol! I can’t wait!
It might seem small, but getting two dates in one month feels like a HUGE gift we’ve been given! Last year, I planned to really be intentional about dates, and go on at least one per month. Its proved to be a hard thing to prioritize, and we easily go months without one. So far this year, however, we’ve done better! We’ve now had two this month, and have a NIGHT away booked in March!! I’m SO excited!
Brady and I get one on one time at home every day, so we’re not without chances to chat and be together, kid free. So the “need” for a date out of the house doesn’t always feel necessary. Yet I can honestly say that, going out on these last two dates has been a different kind of refreshment. I slept great, I feel more upbeat this morning, and the kids are happy to see us. I only wish we could date every week like this, haha! But maybe I should keep pushing for dates more regularly.
So, because we had our anniversary date last week, we decided to just be comfy and casual for this one. Not that we were super dolled up and fancy for the last one. We opted to hit a restaurant that we were super hungry for, and ended up at Montana’s. I used to always order the same thing there – baked chicken penne – but guys, the newish menu item, the buttermilk country chicken plate, is SO good! I could drink that country gravy with a straw. So I got that, and Brady ordered his usual firecracker burger. We played hangman while we waited for our food.
After supper, we ducked into Dollarama for a minute before heading to our movie. We had reserved seats for “Isn’t it Romantic.” I have to say right here and now, I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. We went into it expecting a basic romantic comedy, super tame, without much thinking required. And while we did get that, the whole movie was based around making fun of romantic comedies! Rebel Wilson was the lead, which helped. It was SO. FUNNY. I highly recommend it for a funny movie night with friends, or your date. Brady laughed super hard, too, for the record. Wasn’t just me.
We took our time getting home, thanks to a never ending train. But our childcare (childCher?) was happily hanging out, not rushing us at all. We drove home and ate popcorn and laughed about the movie. It was SO chill and SO fun. We felt like a couple again rather than just parents.
I feel like I should say, I know some people really feel like they get lost in their role as parents. I honestly don’t feel like we have. I should speak for myself, I suppose. I don’t feel like I’ve lost myself in being a mother and a wife, but sometimes it feels great to step back and see it for myself. Not just as a memory, but in real time. It was nice to just be Brady and Hailey for a few hours.
Thank you, Cher, and Sandy, for hanging with our kids yesterday evening. What a huge gift!
We’re spending today snowed in! Brady finished all the little nitpicky parts of our basement yesterday so today, he’s begun hanging drywall! I’m SO happy we’re finally at the point of WALLS!! Woot!
