I discovered after posting last night that my post contained those bloody ads 🙁 I’m beyond annoyed, as anything we can do on our own has been done to resolve the problem. I’ll be contacting Bluehost this week and seeing if they can tell us anything. I’m not sure what answers they’ll be able to give us, but if they can’t help, that leaves me either taking my computer in somewhere, or deleting my blog. That would be a tough pill to swallow after just abut four years of blogging every single day. Let’s all just hope and pray we can find a solution!

Anywho, onto the bulk of the post! Friday felt like Saturday, and I’m not sure what today felt like, but it definitely didn’t feel like a Saturday. I brought the kids (and myself) over to spend the day with my parents while Brady did his first day of finishing on our house!!! It was very exciting to know he was starting his work, and as I feel like I keep saying, it made everything feel more real.

There isn’t a ton to show for his work today, as the bulk of it was prepping jambs and machining doors. Subfloor also went in where tile will be laid down. Monday afternoon, hopefully he’ll get all of the doors hung, and then Tuesday should be all of the shelving!!! Our walk in closet is going to be SO exciting!!! I can’t wait to see all of the closets built. I bet they’re already aching to fulfill their duties of holding my clothes. As much as I’m loving having half of my clothes living on a drying rack in my living room, somehow I feel like a closet that is made to fit them will be even a tad bit better 😉

While he worked, the kids and I hung out with my parents. We ate a lot and played a lot and watched a little bit of tv when the kids began to fade. Rowan had a great nap, and so did my dad. When Brady was done working, we all drove over and we all walked through it. My parents haven’t seen it in person since they had just put in the insulation, so seeing it all drywalled, primed, with a poured basement was a whole new world. The kids hadn’t seen it for quite a while either, so they were very happy to get a good look at it too. Then we all headed back to my parents place and had a super yummy supper! They always feed us so well.

After tidying dishes and toys, we headed home. I’ve had some pretty wicked body pain today so while I wasn’t required to do anything strenuous today, its still nice to be home and in bed.

In bed, but just for a few more minutes. Brady and I will continue cabinet building this evening, and every evening until we’re done. We finished up the island cabinets last night, and I’m SO excited!!! They look awesome, and now that we know how they go together, its getting quicker and easier and way more fun. By the time Brady has assembled the actual cabinet box, and installed all of the tracks, I have the drawers mostly built (I’m usually a little bit behind, but its close) and we can slide the drawers right in. Everything runs so smoothly and the soft close is a dream. I’m really anticipating our new kitchen.

After a bit of a rough start, everyone rocked breakfast and an attitude adjustment, and the day was able to improve greatly 🙂 We played the morning away, and got a few things organized for the rest of the day. Brady didn’t work today, but is working all day tomorrow, so it felt like our Saturday. And we treated it as such!

After lunch, Rowan napped while the kids played, and watched some tv. Brady relaxed after FINALLY reloading the laptop, and I sorted through our tub of 0-6 month boys clothes. I pulled out all of the 3 month stuff, and chucked it haphazardly into the drawer that will be for the new baby that already has a pile of newborn stuff in it. Dekker never had the chance to wear newborn, but Rowan did. Tho Rowan was born a week early, as this baby will likely be. That all being said though, if Dekker had been born a week before he was, I still don’t know if he would have worn newborn, so we’re just trying to be prepared for anything! It was so fun to pick thru the box and see sleepers that Dekker wore, tshirts that we bought when Rowan was fresh, and adorable little stripey hoodies! I can’t wait for him to come. Less than six weeks now!

Once Rowan woke up, we got dressed, and headed out to Superstore. I know, we JUST grocery shopped! But we planned for a couple of meals in the next few days that require a lot more fresh stuff than we tend to have on hand. We’re a family that usually buys something in bulk and then eats the same thing for a while, but we needed more of a variety this time. Anyway, to the grocery store we went! We did the whole shop before going to get cookies for the kids at the bakery. Laela even remembered from last time to say “Can I have a cookie, please?” rather than just her COMPLETELY ACCEPTABLE “Cookie please?” But hey, if she can form the whole sentence, why not say it?? All of the kids got their cookies and were very polite and happy. I can’t get enough of Rowan’s cookie face!!

We did a quick Costco run as well, but the kids were sleeping in the van, so I just ran in and grabbed a cart load of things while Brady drove around the parking lot.

When we got home, we unloaded groceries and threw some pizza in the oven. Putting away the groceries was an interesting challenge. We were so used to having a second fridge in our old house, and its been so strange not to have one in our rentals. Our second fridge was, however, a total beast, so it didn’t make the trip to storage. We’re realizing now that we are going to NEED a second fridge in our new house! I suppose this is the time when we start keeping an eye out for sales. Or I suppose garage sale day is coming up soon! Thats an option too 🙂 Either way, I’m VERY thankful to have an incredibly appropriately named cold room in this house, because our big bags of potatoes and carrots didn’t have homes in our fridge.

I’ve been having lots of contractions this week, so I’m taking a load off in bed while Brady and the kids tidy up the toys. I’ve got to rest this body with the work we have ahead of us! More cabinet assembly tonight!! I will admit that our first two cabinets were GRUELLING to put together, but they were the lesser quality and much more frustrating to build. Now that we’re into the kitchen cabinets, they are WAY more fun and far easier to assemble and build! Brady and I are both eager to get started on them again this evening 🙂 So I’ll rest up now so I don’t pay too badly for it all later.

I hope you all enjoy your Saturday tomorrow! Brady will begin his first stage of finishing in OUR HOUSE tomorrow!! I can’t wait to see it!

Brady worked hard on reloading the laptop yesterday, and it was unfortunately super unsuccessful. He backed everything up, which took a super duper long time, and then he began the actual reload. It predicted hours and hours of updating, so we were without our laptop for most of the afternoon and evening, and using any other devices was almost impossible. We left it alone to load overnight and, sure enough, it had glitched. We heaved big heavy annoyed sighs and started it up again.

We took the kids out this morning for some quick Walmart and Costco shopping, and when we returned, it was all loaded up and ready to go!! Well, for the most part. We quickly learned that it had reloaded to its original operating system, which is not the newest, so now we have to update that too. All of this aside, and I can see that my blog is still infected 🙁 I’m not sure it’ll look any different to you guys tho, and I won’t know until I publish it, so sorry in advance if its still all covered in ads and angry. If this doesn’t do it, we will contact Bluehost and see if they can see anything that we can’t.

The reload/update process is on hold for the moment, though, because Brady got a call from the delivery guys that they are about to head to the site of our build, and he needs to go meet them in. Then, he plans to help them unload and hopefully get the subfloor laid in the bathrooms and entrance. Eek! His finishing begins today!!!!! Also, we hope to see lots of progress around there in other places, so I’ll try to have pictures on here tomorrow of all of that 🙂

But for now, I’m hanging with the kidlets. Well, Rowan is napping, but the others are up. Just about to turn on some Paw Patrol and rest our brains a little. Sounds like exactly the kind of afternoon I’m looking for!

I super-dee-duper enjoyed today! It was filled with good food and drinks and friends and family and outings and fun. It was a fabulous change of scenery. 

First, Brady and I had lattes and chocolate cake for breakfast. I highly recommend that start to the day. It was delicious. After breakfast, we got the kids all dressed and ready, and we all drove to a late morning meeting with our mortgage broker, where the kids sat surprisingly well while Brady and I signed all of the official papers accepting the mortgage to our new house! Eek! It made everything so much more real, once again. Rarely have I enjoyed signing my name the way I do when signing house documents. It’s been fun 🙂 

My mom came by shortly after our meeting and picked me up for an afternoon of shopping! We hit Tony Roma’s for lunch first, which is always delicious. We split the lunch sized riblings and the kickin’ shrimp appetizer, and we’re good to go! We then did a bunch of shopping and while we didn’t come out with exactly what we were looking for, we had some good success. And some Starbucks. I highly recommend the mango black tea lemonade.  

 
When our shop was done, we headed back to our place and played with the kids for a bit. 

   Always time for a Paw Patrol break!

We had breakfast sandwiches and watermelon for supper, which was completely delicious, and Tims coffees that we had picked up on our way home. (This was my third caffeinated beverage of the day)

My mom left pretty quickly after supper to attend an event elsewhere and Brady and I got the kids down to bed pretty quickly thereafter. Laela asked to go pee on the potty, which was HUGE!! She didn’t pee, but she hung out on the toilet for a good while, so I called it a success! 

  

 Shortly after 7:00pm, Kim drove by to pick me up for a Starbucks date. I got the new caramelized honey iced latte. Caffeine buzz #4. Then we pursued the mall and I bought a necklace and a mug. 

We called it a night shortly before 9:00 and she took me home. It was such a nice day of outings!! Now I’m home, the kids are asleep, and Brady and I are downstairs working on cabinets. Not for too long, tho. I’m totally happy about the day, but ready for bed soon 🙂 

Its been a really lovely day so far. After printing off the whole shebang the other day, my planner is in motion! Its very basic, but its exactly what I want. I filled in all of the dates today, and started adding appointments and reminders. I’m using pretty gelish pens that I originally had given to me with a coloring book, and I’m SO happy they don’t bleed through!! Its making my pages pretty and fun to look at. When Brady gets home from work, I have a few things to add in my planner that I need his help with. I hope he’s as gung-ho as I am!

We had a great morning of playing toys in the loft around here, and now the big kids are resting and watching Paw Patrol while I do this, and a bit of other research. I didn’t bring any of my recipes with me and while they’re easy to find online, I like a hard copy, so I may find and print a few off. I also would like to find some kind of pretty cover for my planner, so I’m looking for something like that as well. So we’re all in the living room together, resting our brains. Its lovely.

When we were all getting settled to watch, Laela was sitting comfortably on the couch with a toy, in the spot most central in front of the tv. When Dekker had grabbed a toy and came to sit on the couch with her, she moved right over and said “Here, Dekker,” offering him her spot. He turned on his sweet, baby talk voice and said “Wow Laela, thats great sharing!” It was pretty much adorable. There have been fewer sharing struggles today than usual, which always warms my heart. Not all days are smooth, but I’m so thankful for them when they come! Let’s be real, I’m thankful for everyday. 33 weeks pregnant today. Baby will be here SOON!!!

*Insert guilty face here*

I woke up to Rowan kicking the wall shortly before 7:00am. I shushed him through the monitor and he fell back to sleep pretty easily. I heard Dekker close his bedroom door after getting up to use the bathroom, but he stayed very quiet, which is unlike him these days. But I was thrilled, and spent the next while dozing in and out and getting some extra rest. And then that turned into a LOT of extra rest! Laela lulled a little bit, but was just singing to herself very quietly in her crib. Everyone was comfy and cozy. And then I heard the bathroom footstool move. The footstool??

I ventured out into the hallway and, sure enough, Dekker was in the can. Now I had been awake and aware for quite some time, and I hadn’t heard him go in there, which leads me to believe that his door clicking was actually him leaving their room, which I don’t usually hear. Unfortunately, Dekker hadn’t quite made it to the toilet in time, and had peed his pants. On the rare occasion that this happens, he waits for help. I asked him how long he had been in the bathroom, and he hemmed and hawed for a bit before answering “Kind of probably like almost forever.”

*insert another guilty face here*

So I felt pretty bad that he was deserted in there for quite so long, but weirdly, he was in great spirits! Laela was really positive too, though she did give me a very clear, stern talking to about leaving her in her room for quite so long. Hahaha! It was actually hilarious. “Mommy, looooong morning! Door closed, SO long!” Got it, Laela. I know now. I told her I thought they were sleeping, and that I didn’t know Dekker was peeing, and she just laughed at me and said “Oh IIIII get it!” and she laughed at how silly it was. That was it!

The big kids ate a great breakfast and went up to play in the loft. Rowan woke up shortly thereafter and had his oatmeal and yogurt. The kids have all been in awesome spirits today, which I did NOT expect after such a funny misunderstanding this morning! We’ve had a rocky, heavy couple of days recently, and the late morning was exactly what I needed, whether it was “correct” or not. I’ll take it, and I am SO thankful to God that my kids have been so gentle and loving today. He is good, and He knows what I need.

*

On a completely unrelated note, though, have you guys been noticing some words on my blog are connected to links? Something is up with my laptop and I am NOT putting those links on here. They only show up after I’ve posted, and no matter how much I go in and edit, they don’t go away. I’m now noticing some are generating a day or two after. I’m not sure if this is just on my laptop or on other’s copies of my posts, but I would advise against clicking on anything! I will be reloading my laptop in the near future, and hopefully some of the funny things that are happening go away. Too many new popups, and now this. Don’t click!!

BAHAHA! After posting this, I see there is an ad attached to the word “popups.” Nice.

We skipped church this morning after a bit of a rough night, but went to my parents to spend the afternoon and evening, like usual. We had a super yummy lunch, also as usual, and then my mom and I snuck away so she could show me some new clothes she recently bought. There were a few things she was unsure about, so we critiqued them and decided what should stay and what should go. We began toying with the idea of a shopping date sometime this week, and it very quickly grew into us going today.

Now if you knew my family growing up, we would NEVER shop on a Sunday! Not that it was bad or wrong or against God’s plan, nothing crazy like that. But Sunday was always church, good food, good company, all being together. So NOT as usual, my mom and I bailed on the boys and hit up some Sunday afternoon shopping!

We couldn’t be shopping for too long, since it was already 2:30 and everything closed at 5:00, but we only had a couple of places to hit. We returned her one thing and got a double of something she really liked. Then we hit up the small mall in the north end of the city, and perused our way through. I bought Brady a $5 shirt and myself a $2 necklace, but that was it. Nothing crazy went down. Once we had walked the length of the mall, we stopped at Starbucks for a break. My mom got steamed milk with hazelnut and I had the mango black tea lemonade, which I HIGHLY recommend. It was refreshing, and terribly sad when it was over, haha!

After our sugary drinks, we made our way back to the car, stopping at Safeway to pick up cinnamon buns for supper. We usually have something delicious and light for Sunday suppers, like cinnamon buns or pancakes or something of the like. Its wonderful. The kids love it, we all love it. We drove home in the beautiful sunny weather, and arrived home to three wakeful children, two husbands, and a living room COVERED in toys. The kids don’t usually spread out quite as well as they did today, but good for them!

Everyone ate well, as I’m sure you can imagine, and after a quick tidy up, we left grandma and grandpa’s for home. Bedtime was easy and cute and the kids were lovely. Now for bed. We are SO tired, we haven’t even started assembling cabinets yet. Funny how we can be SO excited for it, but we want to enjoy it, so any bump in the road stops the project from even starting. But we’ll get there soon enough. Maybe not tonight, but soon.

The kids ate breakfast this morning while I made a list of things we needed to do (or try to do) today. The small list grew to what felt a bit overwhelming, but once I had it all laid out in order, it seemed much more doable. We had lots of places to hit but just a handful of things to pick up at each place. While Dekker and Laela ate their cereal and yogurt, Rowan demolished TWO of his oatmeal packets! No wonder he’s so heavy! He can EAT.

Our list included grocery shopping at FOUR places. We always hit Costco, and usually Walmart or Superstore, but today we did both, and we even hit up Co-op for a couple of things. We also hit Lee Valley, and went out for lunch. None of the kids napped at all in the van, but they all kept their spirits high. We thought for sure they’d sleep on our way to check the house, but no dice. It was ok, though. We bought a new song on iTunes and that made them all very very happy.

When we got to the house, we were really happy!! I mentioned the other day that I felt like the two trades who were working on our place recently are taking longer than I had hoped, and while I do still feel the way, we saw progress!!

The front of the house is starting to look really really nice, in our opinions!

I’m so very glad that we were able to get the darker siding taken off and the lighter siding put on in its place like we had originally hoped for. Obviously, the siding is still unfinished, we’re without stonework still, and the board and batten will be on the peak just over the garage as well, but I am loving how its all looking together! I didn’t anticipate liking the black trim as much as I do!! I was worried that it would really darken the exterior, but I think it makes everything look crisp and new. And since our stonework is quite dark, it’ll all tie in nicely.

The other thing that made us really happy to see was that the taper was working. We don’t often see people there on Saturday, but since we’ve been feeling like he’s a bit behind, its nice to know he’s coming in on his hypothetical days off and getting it done! There is still work to be done but its coming along.

I was surprised to see that some of the screw holes still haven’t been filled, while some seams have clearly been through a few coats of mud and tape. I’m sure he has a system. I was just very thankful to find him there today.

We drove home, put Rowan down for a super short nap, and unpacked the groceries while the kids watched a bit of tv and played toys. We asked what they wanted for supper (Brady and I had decided to eat later in the evening) and they both requested pb&j sandwiches. So we made sandwiches and I cut up a hunk of the watermelon we bought. Guys! I FINALLY picked a good one! I always follow all of the tricks and my watermelons never have much flavor. But this one is yummy 🙂 So they really enjoyed supper and Brady and I enjoyed the watermelon that they didn’t finish. Now for he and I to find some supper. Kids are in bed, my body is a bit pissed about the busy day, and its time to eat! I hope you all enjoyed the sun today, as well as the positive attitudes in SO many people out and about today. It sure seems that the weather plays a big role in everyones moods, mine included.

I feel ten times better this morning, having woken up to Dekker using the bathroom at 7:45. I’m not counting on this happening every morning, but it was incredibly refreshing to have slept a bit longer this morning! As I suspected, the kids were in MUCH better shape this morning as well. Even though its been Dekker waking all of us so early, he is also completely trashed from the new schedule. In bad moods, extra unpredictable, and he’s only been working in extremes. He will be SUPERHYPER and then he will BAWL if something goes slightly against what he prefers. Its been a huge challenge. This morning has been such a lovely change.

I got everyone up and Dekker set the table while I changed diapers. Everyone had breakfast, and then all three kids played in the loft while I did the dishes. As I was washing dishes, I kept thinking of things I need to remember to put in my hypothetical planner. I asked about the ideal planner a while back, and while I’m still researching, I’ve also slowly been designing my own templates, to have exactly what I want. Its basic layout is finally put together, we refilled our ink cartridges, aaaaand now the black one doesn’t work. Merp. So while we wait on that problem to be resolved, I continue to think of things I want to write down and schedule, and that I’m afraid I’ll forget! So once dishes were washed, I sat down at the table and made a list of things to remember to add to my planner when its finally printed off and in a book.

I was enjoying my listing and my salted caramel latte (seriously enjoying, too much) when Dekker called down in his sweetest voice “Mommy, are you done doing the dishes?” I answered that I was. He offered to come help me put them away, and I thanked him, but told him we’d let them dry a little bit longer. He then invited me up to the loft to come play. “I don’t want you to be alone” he said. This is a recent thing he’s picked up since all of the moving. He never wants us to be alone. So I thanked him and headed up to the loft.

We played in the loft for the rest of the morning! Around 11:30, I went downstairs to make lunch. Pretty quickly after leaving, Laela burst out crying. She came down and told me Rowan had driven the walker toy into her knee. I kissed her knee over and over as she stood with one foot flat on the floor and the other on a tippy toe. When she confirmed that she was feeling better, she stuck around to help me set the table and get the plates to eat spot. We kept it classy with pb&j hot dog buns, and bananas. Its so funny how changing the shape of the bun makes all the difference. The kids think its hilarious, and they eat WAY more, hahaha!

After lunch, Dekker said his thank yous and took his dishes to the sink. He came back to the table and informed me he planned to “stay happy” this afternoon. I told him that would be super awesome! Laela announced “Me too!” from her spot at the table.

Rowan is now down for a nap, but so far, the big kids have keep their promises, and are both doing very well! We’re watching some tv, and I’m on the laptop, blogging, researching some more planner ideas, and trying to figure out how to force my phone to upload its pictures onto my laptop like I’ve asked it to! Nothing has been uploaded since Sunday this week! Lucky for you, there are other ways to put pictures on here 😉

It is a rare occasion to get a picture of Dekker where he’s not making a face, so enjoy this one while you can! Luckily, they’re all still cute!

I’ve been mentioning Dekker’s newfound desire to wake us all up around 6:30pm for the last little while. This morning was our earlier morning yet, and while its been a bit challenging to say the least, I’m relieved that today wasn’t Dekker’s fault! Unfortunately, it was Bradys, haha! Sorry hubs, I have to tell. Brady dropped his aluminum travel mug on the stove top this morning on his way out the door at 5:30am, and that was just it.

We took our time getting up, of course, and Rowan managed to fall back to sleep in that time, so the big kids and I got up and had breakfast together, and pretty much right as they finished, Rowan woke up. So Deks and Laela went to play while I fed Ro breakfast in the dining room. Finally we all migrated up to the loft and played for the majority of the morning.

Ro didn’t last long before he needed a nap, so I hauled him down, and took a break to call health line quickly. I’ve been having some funny vision problems that appear a lot like when you see spots after a dizzy spell, yet they don’t come from dizziness, they are MUCH bigger blank spots in my vision, and they last quite a bit longer. I called mostly for information, to see if anything could cause them that is common, but of course, like pretty much any other time I’ve called, they basically said “Oh, you’re pregnant? Go to the hospital immediately.” Yup, but nope. So I hung out in the loft with the kids while Ro napped, and right around lunch, Kim and the boys came for our afternoon playdate!

It was SO nice to have company over!! They brought lunch, we made lattes, and spent the afternoon in the loft, playing toys and all being together. It eventually got super hot up there, and that paired with my grouchy, overtired children, and their youngest being in desperate need of a nap, we parted ways in the mid afternoon. I’m sure she’ll have some nappers in her van, and my kids are currently half asleep in front of a show, just resting their minds. But it was SO good to get everyone together again! I didn’t manage to get photos of everyone, but these are what I did get, anyway.

I’m not completely sure what the evening will bring at this point. I had hoped to duck out to Walmart to grab a few groceries, but I’m not sure the kids could hack it. On another hand, though, they would likely sleep on the drive, and maybe that would be just enough sleep to get them to the evening without too many additional meltdowns. We’ll weigh our options once Brady gets home.

Lastly, yesterday, our cabinets came!!!!!

Those poor guys had 144 boxes to carry into our living room! But they did it surprisingly joyfully, and efficiently. Brady and I waited until the kids were down before he began the task of hauling them all downstairs, and we organized them in order of where they’ll go in our new house, matching up cabinet boxes to drawers and fronts, all as many other little things that we could. We are SO ready to dig in and start building/assembling everything so we can really get a feel for how things are going to look!!!

However, after a day quite like this, I am already sleepy, so I’m not sure today is the day. Maybe it’ll just be Saturday. Saturday is a good day too 🙂