So my mom, my sister, and I braved the crowds for a little bit of Boxing Day shopping! I haven’t gone since I was a teenager, and even then, I have a vague memory of going once in my life. It wasn’t my thing then, but I was really anticipating today. Shopping with people of a life mind helps a lot, and our group was very much on the same page. We knew we only wanted to check a few places for a few certain things, and we wanted a coffee break in the middle.

We ended up doing pretty well, I’d say. We got the bulk of what we were looking for, which is always a win, and it really wasn’t too crazy. I really think the parking lots were busier than the actual stores. Brady and I have been trying not to spend very frivolously recently, with the move coming and such, and I was SO good, but I did buy a few things. I bought Dekker and Laela each a sweatshirt, and a long sleeved shirt for Ro. I bought Dekker some new underwear, because he needed them anyway. My best purchase, though, was at Thyme Maternity, where I bought two pairs of incredibly comfy pants for $30, together. WIN. It felt like a very successful day. Good shopping, good coffee, and good company. Yes, yes, and yes.

This evening, we ate pizza and planned out tomorrow. Everyone has been loving and willing, so we are all going out to our house to get some stuff organized for our upcoming move. I’ve been feeling a bit anxious about it, but working pretty hard not to feel so out of sorts about it. I accepted that it wouldn’t get started until after Christmas, but now that Christmas has come and gone, its time, and having tomorrow be an organization day helps a LOT. So I’m genuinely looking forward to that! First, though, we sleep. Well, first first, we watch Netflix in bed. Then we sleep. And tomorrow, we START!

The kids had their chance at their gifts this morning, which was a loud, rambunctious affair. But that was surrounded by the usual – food, playing, Mario kart, and lots and lots of talking. 

I won’t lie. It was a slightly more challenging day with the kids. They are so very excited and happy and overstimulated that they are incredibly hyper, and not as respectful as they usually are. Yes, playfulness is wonderful. But arguing as much as they have is not wonderful. It’s been a tough day of breaking up fights, discipline, and just being even more “on” than usual. But I know it all comes out of a good place. We watched a video that my siblings had made for the kids right before bed, and Dekker sat with his arm around me the entire time, occasionally leaning over and kissing me, just like I so often do for him. It was a beautiful end to the day 🙂 they’re really incredibly sweet kids. 

Tomorrow, us three ladies are braving Boxing Day shopping. I know, it’s not likely the brightest idea, but I’m so looking forward to it!!! Should be a fabulous day tomorrow, and likely the next day or two after that. 

Merriest of Christmases to you all!

I’ll warn you in advance that there will likely be a number of posts like this one over the next week or so. I mean posts that insist that we’re having a riot and are completely happy, but are not particularly lengthy or detailed. Take these shorty posts as invitations not to spend too much time online and rather go do Christmas stuff with those you love!

We headed to my parents this morning, to stay for the next handful of days. We spent our time with my parents, as well as my sister and her husband. Our kids settled in really fast, and I can guarantee that their day flew by. They played hard and loud and happily all day, ate well, talked TONS, and went down hard at bedtime. But they were more than ready, and it worked out well.

Once the littles were tucked away, the rest of us had our Christmas of opening gifts and being together. We had a super lovely, low key time of sitting by the fire, having some treats, with soft music playing. After gifts, we watched a few little classic Christmas short movies, and then decided to pack it in for the night. There will be much more to come tomorrow 🙂 Today was lovely though. My heart is full. Its good to be here with family.

Merry Christmas Eve <3

After a pretty brutal night for me, it was SO NICE to sleep in a bit! However, we had an appointment at noon and we didn’t have too much time to spare.

My voice was completely gone, so I was trying to wrangle the kids with a whisper, which isn’t the most effective way, but eventually they caught on and were super adorable and whispered back. Once they had breakfast and I had tea, I sent them downstairs to play and I got ready for the day. Once I was ready, I packed the diaper bag, picked everyones clothes, and brought them downstairs for the kids. They got dressed really quick and were upstairs fighting with their coats in no time. We all made our way out to the van and got buckled in. When we were finally ready to go, it was perfectly on time! So no big rush, but no real time to spare either.

We met Brady over his lunch break and drove to our rental! Eek! It was so good to see it in person, and be able to plan a bit what to bring and where stuff will go. We brought all of the kids with us, like I said, and they did a great job. They were polite and excited, and loved exploring the place. Dekker told the owners “I really love this house.” So I think he approves 🙂 It looked great, and we’re very excited to get there first thing in the new year! Its SO good to have that nailed down, finally. We have a place to live!! Yay!!

After our visit, the five of us hit up McDonalds and grabbed a quick lunch before Brady headed back to work. I drove the kids home, and we all sat in the van while they slept for quite a while after arriving home. Once everyone was awake enough to go inside, we did make our way inside, where the kids happily played for the next hour or two.

In kind of a quick decision, Brady and I decided to rock our family Christmas tonight. We couldn’t imagine waiting until the 29th-ish, or whenever it would fall, and its been SUCH a strange season for us this year! We’ve been so busy and preoccupied and while we’re happy and excited, there is obviously stress and fatigue that comes with it. All in all, the move has completely overshadowed Christmas. The kids have no idea that Christmas is actually here. Their only reference point is that we’re getting a new house after Christmas. I know it won’t be like this every year AT ALL, but it makes me feel sad that they’re so unaware. So we decided to pull it off tonight!

When Brady got home, we made a supper that the kids loved. They ate fast and were happy. Then they went and opened up all of their presents, which was SO FUN! Never before have they been so into it! Even Rowan was super wound up with all of the excitement. Dekker’s favorite gift was probably his slippers, and a $5 truck from Laela. Laela loved her baby carrier from Dekker and her new necklaces. And Rowan liked his matching truck to Dekkers, as well as the bell he ripped off the bottom of the tree, lol! So wins all around! It was such a fun evening. We let the kids stay up a little bit later so they could play and enjoy their new toys, and then they didn’t even have to tidy up. It was a really really good time.

Now that the littles are down, the work begins for Brady and I! We’ll settle into my parents for Christmas tomorrow, so we have to pack this evening!! And then have a bath. And probably eat something. So there is still lots to do, but it’ll be good, and I know we’ll get it all done. Its been a great evening, and I know the coming days are only going to be better 🙂 Merry Christmas!!

Except in this case, the BOOT came back!! A friend of mine wrote me a Facebook message today inquiring about which location we had lost Rowans boot. I told her, along with a few other details about it. She responded by sending me a picture of ROWANS BOOT!!! It was apparently hanging out at the photo lab. We had been through there on the day we lost it, but we assumed it would have wandered its way back up to customer service. But nope. It was on the counter in the photo department, waiting to be found, and I’m SO thrilled that it was!!! I won’t lie. I cried. I know, its just a boot, but besides the fact that they’re kind of expensive boots, they’re incredibly soft and versatile, gender neutral, and we sure hope to put kids in them for years to come. So my pregnant hormones bawled their eyes out, and we made plans to run into each other later that day. If you’re reading this, thank you thank you thank you again and again! And really, knock social media all you like, but that played a role in getting this little boot back! So wins all around there!

We were at my parents for a bit this evening, and the kids got to bed super late (as in just recently, down around 9:30) but they went down SO smoothly! Its not usually so much a fight as it is a storm of tears and mourning. Tonight, Brady tucked Laela in and she pretended to sleep. As in Brady called to her and asked questions and she lay still with her eye closed, giggling. Dekker got into bed and tucked himself all in without being told or complaining. Our kids are rockstars.

To top off our day, I’ve been getting sick over the past couple of days, and today has been “that day” in a cold where I gag every time I cough. My throat is so itchy, therefore, I’m scratching it with lots and lots of snacks. So onto that! If you’re up reading this, grab a throat scratching snack and go to bed. Its late, and Christmas is coming. Rest up!

I felt really really productive today. Finally! Its hard to get motivated at home in the day by myself, but today I was just overwhelmed enough by all that is coming up that I used those feelings for good, and I got stuff done. I did all of our laundry, I baked, I started some packing, I wrapped a few presents, and on top of that, I played with the kids, spent time with them, fed them, and I can confidently say I loved them up really well 🙂 They seemed happy at the end of the day. On top of those things, I worked with Rowan to get him eating more, and he did pretty good! He didn’t drink too much at all, but he had a couple of good poops that tell me that he’s still decently hydrated. Sorry for those of you who don’t want to hear about his poop. Its a big deal these days! But it was a good day for getting stuff done.

I’m feeling solidly successful, and I have that nice achy feeling radiating through me that says I’ve accomplished a lot. As things tend to work these days, however, my rewarding ache is a bit achier than I would prefer. My back is fairly sore, and my right leg may as well no longer be attached to my body. Dang pelvis is not the most cooperative part of my body, but thats nothing new to me in pregnancy, so I’ll take it.

Because of my full, full day, I am pooped! Brady got home around 6:15, and the kids bedtime routine begins around 6:30, so now that everyone is tucked away, it is time to eat and soak in the tub. I think he and I both killed it today, enough to justify not having to work too much this evening. Win!

It was the perfect kind of morning. We stayed in bed and had a coffee while the kids woke up, and then the five of us has a nice brunch together. We watched some cartoons together, and did a bit more Christmas baking. We kept the morning SUPER low key. After lunch, Laela and Ro went down for naps, and seemed to sleep for way longer than usual! When they did finally wake up, we bathed all three kids, packed up a few things, and headed to my parents for supper and the evening. We tend to move into their place over Christmas, and we had a good handful of things to bring that we were able to bring in advance, so we brought those to save a bit of time on Wednesday. As usual, we arrived later than we had planned, bearing our kids, their usual amount of stuff, and two big Superstore green bins full of baking, appetizers, a potty seat, gifts, and a few other little things. I’m glad we were able to bring it already though. That means, on Wednesday, we should just need to bring our clothing, toiletries, and any other last minute stuff. Easy peasy!

We ate a really yummy supper, as usual, and had peanut butter square for dessert. The kids played hard, which only resulted in minimal tears and devastation at the thought of leaving and going back home. But they all made it, awake and alert, which is perfect. Now we try to get some milk into Rowan before the night begins, and then a BATH! We didn’t start the van ahead of time this evening, and I am completely chilled to the bone! Brrrrr! I know, we’ve been totally spoiled this season with the gentle “cold” days. I’m still cold. If you know me, you know I’m cold.

Only three more INSANELY BUSY days before we get to break for Christmas 😀 And then the craziness begins again, straight after New Years! But we’ll talk more about that another day 😉

After some AMAZING snuggles, yesterday evening…

I slept incredibly poorly, and was rocking a bit of a zombie thing this morning. But we had big plans, and got all ready to go anyway! Thankfully, we weren’t in some massive rush to get out the door. We figured that we could always finish up our errands tomorrow if we didn’t get there today, since we were planning on running all of these errands on Sunday anyway. Praise the Lord for a husband who works quick so he doesn’t have to work on Saturday after all! We took our time, got the kids fed and dressed, did a few dishes, and I actually got put on makeup before it was time to leave! We were on the road around 10:45.

We hit up SO many stores, and did pretty much everything we needed to do! It was an incredibly productive day, and I am amazed at how NOT insane it was!!! I’d say the longest wait in line was probably at Michaels, but every till was open, and the wait time was probably around five minutes. Walmart was a minute or two, both Superstore and Costco, we didn’t even wait! We walked right up to a till! I commented to the cashier at Costco that I was expecting it to be way crazier, and she said it had been an amazingly quiet day. She said she figured everyone was probably scared of that, and no one was coming to risk it! Well I’m really glad we did, because we got tons done, and it was surprisingly relaxed. Traffic was another thing, and people in parking lots were just not even thinking, but we all survived. We got lots of good food for Rowan, a multivitamin for him, a few last minute Christmas things, and we accidentally splurged and bought a couple of seasons of a show we really really like! How can you not when they’re only $10???

Rowan and Laela shared the cart at both Superstore and Costco, and they were SO cuddly and adorable all day!!

Meanwhile, Dekker either rode on the front of the cart, or he held my hand and wanted to help. And I’ve got to give him credit. He would take anything I picked up and carry it to the cart for me. If Rowan would start getting sad, he would say things like “Its going to be ok, little cutie,” or whatever encouraging thing he could come up with. At Costco, he was riding on the front of the cart again while the cashiers helper was packing it up, and while I didn’t observe what happened between the two of them, I know the guy thanked Dekker 🙂 Whether he tried to lift something, or just offered up a “good job,” I love that there was an interaction there. He is SO much less afraid. FINALLY.

We made it home, and the kids were super hungry, but definitely on the edge of overtired, and a nice sit-down meal wasn’t looking good. So instead, we whipped up a big pot of macaroni and cheese, and we all ate downstairs and watched some tv. When it was time to call it a day, Dekker insisted on tidying the few toys they had spread out by himself. Because he’s a rockstar. Then it was a bathroom break, teeth brushing, jammies, and bed. Everyone was SO ready.

Now for Brady and I to have a soak. We’ve earned it! Its been a wonderful and busy day. I know he’s tired, and I’m achy. And coffee and dessert is calling…..

We had a really interesting night last night that I have to share about.

Lately, Ro wakes up to drink milk once in the night only, and when he does, he fights the bottle after about three ounces. He then goes right back to sleep. We’ve kind of been wondering if this is a good time to phase out his night feeding. We’ve been tossed up about it, because with him eating so little in the day, we’ve been feeding him as much as possible in the night in an effort to get something nourishing into him. But if he’s not even wanting that nighttime bottle, we’ve been thinking of taking the opportunity to get him sleeping through the night.

Last night, when he woke up, we changed his diaper and put him back to bed. He was NOT impressed, and we figured that we would try to feed him rather. While our other kids have EASILY been sleeping through the night at this point, he has a difference circumstance, and we just may be up with him in the nights until he is fully on solid foods. So we figured we’d embrace it, feed him the little amount he’d take, and put him back down. So he ate about two ounces, and was over it. So we put him back to bed. And he began screaming. I’m not exaggerating. SCREAMING. It was amazing. And loud. So we tried to feed him more, but he was not having it. We sat him up for a few minutes, and tried to figure out if something else was wrong with him. His body looked fine, his diaper was dry, he had just eaten (sort of), his temperature was fine, he was good! So after about ten or fifteen minutes, we tried again, and he drank another two ounces! We were thrilled for a few reasons! For one, any amount of formula into this boys body is a win. Two, he is one small step further away from being dehydrated. And third, we figured out a bit of what was going on in that moment. We really think that, for some reason, his reflux was driving him crazy last night! He had his full dose of medication at the right time, so I’m not sure why it was specifically bugging him so much, but with the chance to sit up in between for so long, I think it settled his tummy. Just speculation, but its something. So we waited another ten minutes or so and managed to get yet another two ounces into him!! This went on for quite some time, but we managed to get a full ten ounces into our boy!! But it was a LONG process.

While Brady was trying to feed him, and taking breaks with him, I called Health Line. I want to say I have all of the respect in the world for nurses! I know a lot of amazing nurses personally, and have come in contact with so many AMAZING medical professionals in my last few years. I also know that the nurses who work for Health Line have to go by their directions in front of them, so sometimes things are just a little off. Last night especially. So no burn on anyone, but I can’t NOT share this part of the story.

It was around 1:30am when I called, and I was actually the third caller waiting in the queue, so I waited for a while to speak to someone. We went through all of the normal questions, ruling out an emergency and all of that good stuff, before she asked what was going on with Ro. I explained to her that he has been diagnosed with silent reflux, I told her what medication he’s on, and I asked simply if there is absolutely anything a person can do in our situation to calm his reflux. Anything. At that point, if we tried to feed him at all too early, he would completely lose it. Not just crying, but like panicky screams. I gave her all of the right information, and instead of looking into my actual question about my sons reflux, she said “Any child that is out of sorts for longer than an hour needs to be rushed to the ER.” I had to stop myself from just laughing right out loud. If thats the case, I should be taking all of my kids to the ER every single day when they’re moody in the afternoon!! Anyway, I had a really good private chuckle, thanked her for her time, and hung up. Its not a total loss, really. I don’t think there is any miracle solution for Rowan in this case. I’m confident we just have to keep doing what we’re doing. (Also, in the nurse’s defence, I know what she means. A kid who is uncontrollably screaming and crying for more than an hour should be seen, in case they’re in some awful pain and can’t communicate it. I get it. Just not so much AT ALL the case here.) All in all, we got a full ten ounces into him last night, and he slept through til around 8:30!

Today has been much of the same, honestly. Rowan crying and crying, drinking 1.5 ounces, fighting off the bottle, and continuing to wail. But around 3:15, I got 4 oz into him, and at 5:15, another 4 oz!! So I have high hopes for a less dramatic and quieter evening. Tomorrow will be a BIG errand day, filled with getting Ro weighed, buying him snacks, and getting as much done before Christmas as possible Wish us luck on all accounts!!!

Yesterday, Rowan hated yogurt. Today, I had the foresight to take it out a little bit in advance so it wasn’t so cold for him, and he ate an entire yogurt cup! I see that Rowans new “diet” will take a bit of figuring, but I’m up for it! I’ll get into the city this weekend and stock up on some snacks and such for him, and feel a bit more prepared, but I think I can safely say that I already saw improvement today! This is great news 😀

We had a really yummy supper of ham, rice, and green bean casserole. I know both Dekker and Laela love rice, and I know Dekker likes ham, but Laela isn’t pumped about meat usually. And they both fight the cooked beans. Laela struggled through supper, but Dekker did awesome! He ate tons, even his beans, and said over and over again “This is such a yummy supper, thanks for making me this supper.” So I’m calling it a success. While I had a decently productive day, there is still more to do. I feel pretty wiped out, but Brady is energized, praise the Lord, so we’re going to tag team a few jobs once Rowan is down. I’m actually looking forward to some time just being together. We’ve just been going and going, and yes, this evening will be more of the same, but I feel less stressed today, just tired, and Brady is feeling motivated, so it should be a pretty good time.

I finally feel like I’m starting to get a grasp on things. Not everything, but its beginning to be less overwhelming. If we can accomplish a chunk of baking tonight, we’re already in better shape. Brady brought home a bunch of moving boxes and packing materials that we’ve been storing in our container, so we’re ready for packing whenever the mood strikes! We’re not completely prepared, or even a little bit, but we’re prepared enough that I’m not losing sleep over it.

As I’ve said a lot over the last few days, small victories, but victories nonetheless.