The Daily Hailey

Each day, it seems, I get a new email or text from a friend or family member detailing all the fun stuff they’re doing. I’m so thrilled for them, but a bit bummed for us. We are still stranded at home, sick, and with some grouchies. Its sad, but its ok. I’m coming to terms with it. We went straight from Brady working, to ten hours in the van, two days visiting a new place, and ten hours back home. It was great, but busy. The kids were incredibly overtired. It seemed like the moment we got home, we rushed out the door again to run a decently busy schedule on Christmas Eve. It was lots in a short period of time, and I think thats what hit us the hardest. Its not a secret that our little family doesn’t usually do lots and lots each day, and I think a few home days will do us good. Dekker is considerably less snotty today, but is still pretty grumpy. Brady and I are definitely on the mend, and Laela seems to still be in good shape. Knock on wood she isn’t just a few days behind. It would be ideal if it didn’t hit her this time around!

Our plan for tomorrow was to have an early supper before heading to the city for a special dessert and then driving around to enjoy the self guided Christmas light tour. Anyone who has already gone, please tell us the hot spots! Last year, we did the same evening and it was so much fun! This year, the kids will be able to see out of the vehicle a bit easier, and Laela will be more entertained and less asleep. However, last year we did Moxies for white chocolate brownie. With the way Dekker is feeling, I don’t want to push it and try to hit up a nice place, so if we can actually surface and get to the city, we decided to go to Jerrys instead. They have the most delicious ice cream, and I LOVE their milkshakes! Plus, I’m less self conscious if the kids get noisy at a place like Jerrys, so thats always helpful. Less fancy, but still yummy, and kid friendly.

So maybe by tomorrow, I’ll actually have a story to share about something we did! Not today, but I’ll give you a cute little story about the kids anyway, before signing off for the evening.

We got Dekker a camera for Christmas. Just a VTech one. I was hoping to find one that would actually take pictures that would show up on the back, and that would maybe hold like ten pictures at a time. I’m not picky. But the one I found was $35 I think, and it holds up to 800!!! No, the quality isn’t exactly meant for developing, but Dekker doesn’t care. He LOVES the thing! He’s getting the hang of actually looking through the viewfinders (there are two!!! lol!) and lining up his shot, and today, he discovered how to look back through the pictures he has already taken. At one point this evening, Laela was playing on the floor and Dekker was on the couch scanning through his pictures when he got up and beetled over to her with his camera. He started to talk to her in the squeaky high voice he often uses when talking to her, and he pointed to the screen, saying “Thats you, Laela!” He went on to show her pictures of mommy, daddy, and the “orments” on the tree, all in his adorable baby-talk voice. Laela giggled and was really into it the entire time too. I love those kids.

And I cannot wait to add another one to the mix! I’m coming up on 31 weeks, and this Sunday, sick or not, we’re going in to UC-Baby to see our latest morsel and get just a little bit more acquainted.

On that note, my loving and doting husband is cooking for me. Basa filets, and broccoli mix with cheese sauce. I’m sooo ready for that! Time to eat!

As humor and strange changes of plans would have it, we had a nice, sick day at home. I say this with genuine honesty. In order of illness, we’ll start with Dekker being the worst off, dry coughing and fevered, with his nose running like a faucet. Brady was next up, with an angry bowel and a nasty headache. I was third, with the same angry bowel, and Laela was in the best shape of all of us, only fighting a bit of teething pain. However, she did a lot of sleeping, so she’s either fighting something bigger, or is going to be sick tomorrow. I vote for fighting.

The kids slept in forever, so Brady and I opened our gifts from each other in bed, in front of a YouTube yule log video 🙂 It was funny and cheesy, and suited us just fine. We finally retrieved the kids around 10:30-ish and told them we had a yummy special breakfast planned. Dekker cried and asked for water. My heat hurt for him. We got him all changed and wiped his face up before bringing him to the table. I got him a cup of water, which he destroyed. Then I asked him what he was hungry for, and he said “just water.” I figured it would just take some time, and it worked. As soon as he saw Laela having Cheerios, he wanted some. So he had cereal with milk on it, and just a cup of water. He had a fruit cup besides that, and that was it. As soon as he was done, he asked for his presents. We had just told him that morning that he’d get to open gifts, and the prospect seemed to lift his spirits slightly. So we all sat on the floor of the living room and opened presents by the tree for a little while. it was so much fun! He could really revel in his gifts this year, and he LOVED them all! Laela also seemed incredibly happy with her new stuff, but of course, enjoyed the ribbons and boxes almost as much as the toys themselves. They also had a gift to share. Lastly, the kids bought Brady and I gifts! Ok, it was maybe a little bit sneaky on my part, since I picked out and wrapped everything, but it was still fun, and they bought us awesome gifts!!

Once gifts were done, Dekker decided to go downstairs. He didn’t wait for everyone or anything, he just went on his own. He turned on the tv, curled up on a chair, and played with a car in his lap. Sooo tired and sick. We got the upstairs tidied and Laela entertained so he could have his quiet time for a bit, but eventually I went down with the kids while Brady made us a yummy brunch. We all watched a movie together while the kids got to run around and eat and play and enjoy their afternoon.

Both kids went down pretty much seamlessly for nap time, and slept over three hours. We actually had to go lull them and get them up. Unfortunately, having just got home from a trip, we haven’t had a chance to stock up on groceries, so while we were just planning a totally lame but necessary supper of toast and soup, having no bread made it impossible. So we opted for just another laid back snacky meal downstairs. We had crackers and cheese, and apples. We made sure to pump the kids full of fluids and they seemed pretty happy with the day of no plans/obligations.

While the evening played on and we finished up the movie from earlier, I built my special Ikea chest of drawers!!! I’m sooo pleased with the result, and I did almost the entire thing by myself! Brady helped me manoeuvre the heavy pieces together, and he did the final step of drawer slides, since my back was feeling pretty tired. But its done and beautiful and I can’t wait to fill it with all my fun things!

The kids are tucked away now, the bath is running, and Brady and I are making supper. We missed the memo that everyone indulges in appetizers on Christmas Eve, so we’re getting in on it now. Of course, we have very few on hand so we’re makeshifting but I think it’ll be delicious. Its probably good we didn’t try to have them yesterday, since we were all so sick and wiped out after the church service in the evening. Hopefully today is a better day for it.

Lastly, I just want to touch on a post I wrote a while back about mourning the Christmas I was hoping for, and having to let go of plans I had wanted to make but hadn’t gotten to. Funny how we are all sick, and even if I had successfully scheduled everything and done all of it right, we still likely wouldn’t have gotten to everything, or anything! Clearly, this year, we’re just supposed to lay low and be together in the comfort of our own home. And that is wonderful 🙂 I’ve totally enjoyed our home time so far. We had plans to be out tomorrow but it seems that we can’t know if any plans will work out until the morning anyway, so we’ll just go with the flow. Its Christmas, after all. Whats the rush?

Merry Christmas, from ours to yours.

We spent the afternoon at my parents house, playing toys and getting reacquainted. Its been a pretty long time since the kids have been there so it was really really good to get accustomed again. And Laela is suddenly the master at turning around to go down the stairs properly, so yay!!! Nice to not have to worry too much about that anymore. For the two stairs anyway. I also did our laundry in the afternoon, since we didn’t have a chance this morning and I am NOT going to do laundry tomorrow!

When the kids went down for their nap, Brady and I rushed to the church to meet up with the group we were singing with this evening. We ran through and practiced for a solid two hours before heading back to my parents and a yummy supper. We ate together and then the part that I find the most fun came – getting ready! I so rarely get to be all dressed up and made up, so I really enjoy it when the times do come. I played in my makeup and picked between a couple of dresses and jewelry options. Once I was comfy, I rooted through the options I had brought for the kids and picked their clothes as well. Dekker was getting pretty snotty for some reason at this point so he wouldn’t cooperate for pictures too much, but look at my darling Laela!!

So in case you can’t see, she’s rocking a little red clip in her hair, an adorable white and red floral dress, an undershirt and tights, and little white shoes. The dress I actually bought months ago from Value Village for less than five dollars, I’m pretty sure. I thought maybe it would be cute for Christmas, and a bit non-traditional, but I didn’t recognize the brand and the size was a bit small. However, she rocked it!! And she could definitely rock it again with the wiggle room she had.

She is the cutest little hambone that I ever did see!

This was the best we could get for a family picture, as Dekker wasn’t feeling awesome, but I wanted to put one up! Laela and I were rocking the traditional Christmas colors to a degree, and the boys were keeping with the blues and greys. If you can see, Dekker is wearing bright blue pants, a grey v neck, and a dressy vest. I think those boys are just smokin’ hot.

At the church, the kids were pretty twitchy and didn’t sit especially well. But when a service starts at bedtime, there’s only so much one can do, and thats ok. No one seemed to mind. The service was beautifully laid out and organized, with readings and carols and special music spread throughout. We did our more upbeat song first, and if I’m totally honest, I felt like no one really cared for it 🙁 Maybe its just my attitude, but its SUCH a fun song and I felt like we got very little response. But hey, we had fun! Towards the end of the service, we sang a beautiful a cappella version of Silent Night and that seemed to really please the masses, which felt nice. It was by far the more complicated piece, and at a more important part of the service. It was good.

As for the kids, Dekker’s runny nose was in full swing the entire time, progressively getting worse. Brady then pointed out how warm he was. Perfect time for a fever. So he wouldn’t play or occupy himself too much. He just wanted to sit on laps and heat everyone up. Laela, on the other hand, was ticked about most things, and needed to be held and carried at the back. She was getting rosier by the minute as well, but not actually warm, so I blame hers on teeth and fatigue.

The fun came after the service. While we all visited before making our way out of the church, people came by to speak to the kids, and Dekker responded beautifully to everyone!!! He smiled and was charming and didn’t get upset once! Then, Brady went to go get some stuff together on the stage, and once he was already way at the front of the church, Dekker decided to go after him. He trucked on up there all on his own and sort of oversaw the whole operation. He drummed a bit afterwards, which didn’t put anyone off thankfully, and hung out by himself away from us! Laela eventually noticed and toddled off in Dekker’s direction, again, totally unaware that she was leaving her safe haven of her mom. They squealed and chased each other around a bit up front before we had to start making our way out of the sanctuary.

In the main lobby, we were getting everyone into their jackets, while still visiting with friends, when Laela went missing. Yup. Found her wandering the sanctuary on her own, in her cute little dress and bright pink parka. She was just all mischievous smiles as she walked back to me. Such a ham. I love her.

The drive home was a little sad, but Dekker is feeling considerably worse. I’m very sad to say that I think we’re calling off our Christmas party plans tomorrow :*( I know the kids won’t be up to socializing, and I don’t think its fair to bring them into settings with lots of people to spread their love/germs. So Brady and I are feeling pretty discouraged, but neither of us are feeling on top of the world either so I guess it’ll be good. Just lonely.

Both kids are tucked in and quiet, minus the occasional hacking cough. I’m anticipating a hot soak and some tv tonight still, but hopefully another deep sleep and late morning like yesterday. We’re planning a really delicious breakfast that I’m already hungry for 🙂

So! To all of you who read, I wish you the merriest of Christmas!!

<3

Tis true! We are home after many, many hours on the road. Good hours, hours well spent, but many nonetheless. The kids did great! Better than I expected, actually. We got started a bit later than we had originally hoped for, but waking them up from a dead sleep is always sad, and it seems to take a bit longer to get things going on those mornings, even though the intention is there. We all had a good breakfast together and were on the road by 9:00. However, considering its a ten hour trip, and we lost an hour going home, that set us on course to be home at 8:00pm, which is actually already past their bedtime, and thats assuming we didn’t do any doddling. Which we did. At Ikea in Edmonton.

Laela napped for maybe a half hour coming into Edmonton but was an adorable little soul upon arrival, and was cute as a button through Ikea. Dekker was roaring to go, and enjoyed himself immensely being out of the van and shopping. He loves shopping. We went to Ikea specifically to splurge on something I’ve had my eye on for a while, plus a duvet cover or two for Dekker’s big new blanket. I’m proud that after those specific things we went in for, we only spent an extra maybe $40!! We are so bad for overspending there, but we rocked it this time around and didn’t maybe any bad/crazy/impulsive purchases. Go us! Afterwards, we grabbed some food and fled the city. Dekker was asleep before we out of the city limits. He also only slept maybe a half hour but its better than nothing. The kids are such goobers, and make big efforts to wake each other up in situations like that!

The day went on with lots of Christmas music, dropping of toys, and gnashing of teeth, but it was actually pretty smooth. We haven’t done this trip since having kids, so the layout of places to stop along the way wasn’t really what we had accounted for, and by the time we could stop for supper somewhere, it had been quite a while and the kids were super hungry. Instead of fast food yet again, I ducked into a Safeway and bought a couple scoops of broccoli pasta salad, two packs of raspberries, a box of ritz bits, and a gatorade for my sick hubby. And it was GONE. The kids alone ate the crackers and both packs of raspberries.

And all of the sugar from those berries went straight into my sons bloodstream and he was WIRED. He talked incomprehensibly for the entire last hour or two of the drive, no lie. Just on and on and on. It was both hysterical and exhausting.

Upon arriving home, the kids were so relieved. Dekker was thrilled and was bouncing off the walls, while Laela just wanted to drink milk on the floor of her bedroom. It was actually really hard to put them down, because they just wanted to be up and around their own house, but it needed to be done. Once they were safely tucked away, we hauled stuff in from the van. Yes, I said WE. I brought in all the little annoying stuff that wasn’t appropriately bagged, like the Ikea purchases, and some of our winter gear.  I got it all organized and put away all of our toiletries and a few other things while Brady hauled in the big stuff. Not everything is put away yet, but the suitcases will likely get dumped into the laundry tomorrow, so thats not something I’m too concerned about. I don’t think the cleanup of coming home will be too ugly tomorrow at all. We are so bad at leaving our suitcases out for weeks at a time, but I think we’re organized enough that we’ll easily tidy it all up soon.

Its good to be home. Brady and I are anticipating some Netflix and a hot soak in the tub!!! Its been a while.

We had a really quirt, relaxed day today. It was actually pretty awesome. The kids settled in beautifully. We ate good food and snacks all day, they played with their new toys (still the ambulance and the dolly), and we all took a nap in the afternoon. Fun days are a little bit hard because naps and bedtime are sooo much worse, but we all know its because the kids are happy, and therefore sad for the fun to end.

But all in all, it was worth the drama at sleep times. The kids were super endearing. Dekker played with the train set downstairs like it was the most riveting toy in the world, while Laela not-so-secretly stole ornaments off the tree and hoarded them in a gift bag. They were both 100% comfortable and happy. Grandma Born even made them macaroni for supper, which was a HUGE win! Dekker didn’t eat as much as usual, but not surprisingly, he was just eager to get back to his toys. Laela ate a ton, though. Mac and cheese is always a crowd pleaser.

Once the kids went to bed, the four of us played tile rummy and ate treats for a couple of hours. It was nice to have some kid-free time, just the adults together. We adore the kids, but we could get in some good discussion and catch up for real.

Tomorrow is travel day, and we play to start out pretty early, so wish us luck! Getting up at 7:00 is not my favorite idea we’ve ever had, but we’ll lose an hour going home, and we have lots going on over the next couple of days. We’ve gotta give them kids (and ourselves) the best chance to be the least grumpy!

So last night was kind of crazy with the kids. Dekker calmed down once we were in the room and fell asleep decently soon after, but Laela knew she had a captive audience. That, and her unbelievable fatigue, kept all of us up until 1:00am ish, which is our 2:00am. So we were kinda pooped. But so was she, after being up since 8:00 that morning, and only napping for about ten minutes in the van. For literally the first time since she was born, we worked to intentionally rock her to sleep. When she was finally asleep, Brady successfully laid her down in her playpen and she slept until morning, or I guess later that morning.

It was a short night, but the kids were ready to get up and have breakfast with the family. Sadly, they were both still completely shot, and didn’t play especially well or cooperate. I’m pretty sure all Dekker ate all day was buns and grapes. I’m thankful for family who gets it, and loves the kids despite their screams and discontent. We put them down for naps a bit early, which was momentarily devastating for them, until they fell asleep moments later. They were so ready! It was sad to miss some cousin time but they definitely needed more sleep, and we all needed a break from the volume they produced.

I think I can safely say they felt decently better in the evening. Not all the way better, but less screaming and more cuddling, which I can definitely handle! We ate Christmas dinner, took pictures, and opened presents. Gifts actually went over great! Dekkers favorites were a wooden ambulance and a pair of slippers, and Laela loves her new baby doll, who appears to give great hugs and kisses. It was a really good, loaded, day. The kids went down at a pretty normal time, and we’re in bed nice and early as well. Hopefully we’ll get good and rested and feel 100% tomorrow!

I hope everyone else is enjoying their holiday so far as well!

We are safe and sound at Brady’s parents for next few days, and have been for a while now. Tho we were an hour or two later than expected, we were warmly received into a cowboy birthday party with sweets and lots of snacky foods. It was yummy and relaxed. The best part was that Dekker was unnaturally comfortable with the group, and fit in immediately. He was shy for literally moments. He got into some cake pops and fruit and was good to go. Laela also was totally comfortable and took her time exploring the whole house, poking at the puppy, and finding treats. Everyone settled in nicely.
The kids did, however, stay up a solid 3.5 hours past their bedtime and are still awake and brutally overtired, bawling in our room with us. So it could be a bit of an interesting night! But I’m sure there could be worse things 🙂 at least they had a great evening with their cousins, grandparents, and auntie and uncle.
Sorry for the shorty post, but it’s been a long day of driving, and while lots of adorable things happened throughout it, we are still a bit tired, and getting these kids down takes priority. Hopefully I’ll be a better blogger tomorrow. But until then, goodnight from northern Alberta!

I wanted to talk frank about Christmas with you guys. I’m confident I’ll come out of this post sounding shallow or trivial or whatever you want to call it, but this season has looked very different for me and I kind of want to let you in on it.

We did the weekly savings this year, as I’m sure you’ve all heard about by now. We saved with a plan all year, and even sped up the ending a bit so we would have the full years worth of money saved by November 1st. Our plan was to use this as our Christmas money. All gifts/seasonal treats/travel money would be taken from this jar, and we wouldn’t go broke over Christmas. I recommend this to all! It has been incredibly to not have to be too terribly careful with gifts for people this year, since we don’t even have to look at our finances, just into this jar of cash that we’ve saved. Its been freeing, to say the least. In mid-October, I apparently just couldn’t keep my pants on any longer, and I put the last two weeks worth of money into the jar so we could officially be Christmas ready! I was sooo excited!

And then this funny thing happened. I was kind of on my own with the whole thing! No biggie, though. I knew it was super early. So I waited and dreamed a bit on my own. By the time it was into November, I wanted to go Christmas shopping! Early again, I know, but I had anticipated Christmas all year and was ready for it to begin. But no one else seemed to be. Again, no hard feelings against anyone, but it seemed strange to me, and I felt lonely. In the past few years, Brady and I have always scheduled out a day where he would book off work and we would do our big family Christmas shop, which is a tradition that dates back in my family since birth, and we’ve loved carrying it on with our kids. But his schedule kept filling and a date was never chosen. I know, I should have pushed and picked one, but I didn’t. I so badly wanted him to be as thrilled as I was, but the fact is, I have a lot more time to think about these things in a day, where he works his butt off, and then comes home to be a dad, and our time is just filled! Not everything that I see as a priority is everyone elses priority.

So I got a little bitter. Some of you probably know that by now. Christmas, to me, then became lists of things that had to get done, and things I had to drag people through with me. It really shouldn’t have been that way, and probably would have looked a lot brighter had I checked my attitude at the door. But I didn’t, and I think I screwed everything up.

Its the 19th. We bought a sled, but have yet to break it out and take the kids for a walk. Not once have we all cuddled up with hot chocolate, popcorn, and a holiday movie. We haven’t baked with the kids. Nothing. I feel like, for all the anticipation I had for Christmas, I have thoroughly dropped the ball. And the worst part is that its all on me. How desperately I want to point fingers and say someone else screwed it all up. But its just me.

However!! There is a light at the end of this tunnel! I have discovered that people cannot read minds. While I do truly wish that everyone knew exactly what I want when I want it (don’t we all?) its not reality. So in the last weekish I’ve started to be a bit more direct and decisive. I’m not great at this, as I HATE putting people out and asking for things, but I do need help. OR sometimes I just ask Brady to be excited about something with me, and he will! He’ll immediately make an effort to take more of an interest in what I’m interested in. What a gift! I just need to ask something. I’m also very mildly proud to say that I am successfully not looking back. Its a bummer that I put so much into a list of jobs and less on fun and family time. But Christmas isn’t over! It can begin now, and if I want it to, it can carry on into mid-January 😉 I always leave my tree up waaay past its death anyway. We’ve all been (and continue to be) sick as dogs, so we’re having our rest and a slow start into the fun, but its fast approaching. There is lots of time left with the snow, so we can still go outside a lot. Snacks and cuddles will be in abundance. We likely won’t bake, but we have all the right sprinkles and supplies for chocolate covered pretzels, which are easier for little fingers to eat anyway. There is so much to look forward to!

Thats the end of my rant. I know a lot of it sounds petty and unreasonable, and I’m sure many of you can see that I backpedalled my way though a lot of my points. No one did anything wrong but me, and I think I’ve figured most of it out. I just want to be straight up with you guys about whats going on in my crazy head, and that is this. All done! We have a busy evening ahead of us, filled with packing for our visit with Bradys parents in the far, far off northern Alberta, and doing a few chores around the house so we don’t come home to chaos. And we really need to wash our children. Badly. Poor kids’ eyebrows are just crusted with boogers.

The kids (and I) slept in beautifully this morning and it shows. There was less than half the amount of snot flowing in our house, which was huge relief! Maybe we won’t infect everyone we encounter over the holidays!!

Our day was relaxed and calm for the most part. We played downstairs, ate yummy snacks for lunch, and the kids went down for their nap quite nicely. Its funny, because while they appear to be considerably healthier, and they really are considerably healthier, they are still under the weather to a degree. While the napped, I wrapped the last two presents I had. One for our nephews birthday party this weekend, and one for our doctor. Is that strange? Does anyone else give their doctor a Christmas gift, or are we just awkward? Anyway, I enjoyed that quite a bit actually. Taking my time, curling ribbon, and not having a whole pile of things in front of me, but just a couple. It was soon closing in on the time when we had somewhere to be, so I finished up the gifts and got myself ready to be seen in public.

I ended up having to wake the kids from a dead sleep to get them dressed and out the door in time. Didn’t expect that. They were both pretty unimpressed. Even with promises of going to Grandmas house, they weren’t convinced it was good that I had woken them. Dekker lay lifeless on the floor and I got him ready, saying he didn’t feel well. Laela lay in her crib, still completely wrapped, and stared at us, moaning her sad sick moan. Her “why are you doing this to us?” moan. So they both dragged their feet and whined their way from their bedroom to the entrance to the van, where they mourned being strapped into their carseats. I turned on some peppy Christmas music and tried to make it fun for them. Halfway through the drive to Grandmas, I said to them “This is fun, right guys?” One “no” and one head shake was enough to shut me up, except for the laughing I did under my breath.

Lucky for me, everyone perked up once we arrived at the promised location. We arrived to a delicious supper of chicken and rice, corn, with salad on the side, and an unbelievable cheesy garlic bread. It was delicious. Dekker ate almost nothing, but I think he was frankly just too excited to be there and wanted to go play. So he did, and Laela ate really well. I love that she’ll really eat anything.

After supper, or rather, just before 6:00, Brady and I abandoned everyone and met up with some people at the church to practice music for the Christmas Eve service. Two songs and two hours later, I think it’ll actually sound good! Hopefully just one more practice on the day will be enough to make it great. At the very least, it’ll be a lot of fun!

We got Laela her milk and the kids into their jammies before we left to head home, and got in a bit more visiting. But we inevitably left, and the kids miraculously stayed awake the entire drive home! Now they’re pretty overtired and having trouble falling asleep, but it’ll come. And then a bath for us and off to bed. Brady has been working his butt off, going in early and staying late in an effort to have tomorrow off, but things keep getting casually chucked on his plate that have to be done before Christmas, so thats been a tough one to swallow for me. BUT tomorrow has potential to at least be a shorter day that will leave him room to come home and help me get us organized and packed for our trip. Who knows if we’ll get there though. This week has certainly not panned out how I had expected or hoped, but I don’t think its been bad. Just not as fun as we had originally planned it out to be. Such is life. Lots of fun is still to come in the next two weeks!

Today has been our nosewipiest day thus far. For those who don’t understand me and my humor and therefore, my writing, nose-wipe-ee-est. As in lots and lots of snot and kleenex. The kids are great though. Dekker is definitely in the best shape of all of us, but he’ll come tell me if his nose is runny and he cooperates really well with having it wiped. Laela will follow right behind him, making her funny face that sucks in her bottom lip and pushes out her top lip and nose, waiting for her nose wipe, which is inevitably much, much more necessary. But she also tolerates it well. Very good kids I have.

Last night, after all of my meltdowns, I felt better and more organized. Funny how that happens. After the much anticipated pretzel pizza, the kids went to bed and Brady pitched in a bunch. We got all the gifts ribboned and labelled, and looked at the list together. We decided which things he can fit into his week while being in the city every day, and what I could fit into one last city trip before we leave on Saturday. It feels more doable now. Not ideal still, but better. I discovered that we’ve been focusing too much on what needs to get done, and we have skipped all the fun stuff. It makes me a bit sad, but I’m trying to not look back and to just change my mindset from here on out. It’ll be great.

So this morning I relaxed with the kids and started laundry. This afternoon I’m continuing the laundry, painting my toe nails, and resting up a bit. We’re all still sick, and hope to be well before we leave this weekend, but Brady and I agreed to sing in our church Christmas Eve service, and we have to have voices enough to practice tomorrow. And to learn our parts this evening :/ No judging! Its been insane and we’re behind in everything! But we’re trying. It will all fit in, we’re determined!

Brady is having to work late every evening this week, so I accomplish what I can in the day, we do what we need to do with the kids for the short time we’re all together, and then we do everything else after they go to bed. This evening, we reeeaaally need to bathe the kids, but we also need to practice our songs while the kids are awake so we can use the piano, and we won’t have time for both. So the kids will wallow in their filth for another day or two. Its a shame that will get pushed to Friday, because we’re gone tomorrow evening at the music practice, and Friday evening is packing time!! Bah!!!!! (For those wondering why I don’t just bathe the kids myself, it has been an immense struggle to get to a place where the bath isn’t a wrestling match, and Brady has struck a beautiful balance with bath time, just the three of them. I will NOT ruin this!! One day, yes, but not today.)

I have to add in here that I love our crazy Christmases. I remember speaking to someone last year about what her plans for the holidays were, and she said she was looking forward to a good book and some tea. While I can definitely appreciate the silence and comfort that comes with times like that, I would feel so empty if that was all my Christmas held. I love the lack of sleep that I get, the amount of people we see, and all the activities we do. I anticipate the feeling of needing a holiday after our holiday. I’m good with that. That is the Christmas for me.