The Daily Hailey

Last week, I complained about briefly mentioned that I was starting to feel a bit crazy and like I needed a bit of space from my kids and my home. I was hoping our trip to Fairmont would wear some of that off, but sadly, it didn’t. A trip is wonderful, but it is work, and the kids were hands-on. Being home has been a nice time of quiet and getting back to our normal. This includes jammie days, breakfast for supper, as well as tantrums and screaming. And screaming. And screaming.

The kids have been great today, napping for long stretches. Brady mowed the lawn, and I went to pick up our mail downtown. Goooood mail that I’ll talk more about another day. We checked out the garden that my parents so lovingly put in while we were away (thank you sooooo much!!) and may have already found a sprout of some kind! Could be a weed, but I’m thinking not. It really has been a good day.

But the evening brought the screams of bath time again, and while it wasn’t even me doing the bathing, it just about sent me over. I think being sick makes it even harder to handle that type of thing, but I just need out.

So I’m taking it. Tomorrow. I was hoping to go away for a day when I was feeling a little better, but the week is already half over and Brady is back to work on Monday. So this is what I’ve got and I’ll take it! It won’t be an exciting day at all. Chiropractic, Superstore, Costco, and reaming out Telus for the debacle they put us through in BC. But its a few hours away with some loud music, food and drink whenever and wherever I want, and considerably less screaming. I. Cannot. Wait. I’m just praying that my cold will be almost gone by then so I can feel a bit more human than I have recently. I’m on the upswing at least!

I slept like a log last night. I woke up in the exact same position I fell asleep in. Brady was good enough to wake up with the kids and let me sleep in a bit. I finally surfaced around the time Laela went down for her morning nap.

I mentioned yesterday what I hoped today would look like, and I got exactly that! A day spent in jammies, watching movies, and doing laundry. Sooo much laundry. It doesn’t seem to matter if we wear every article of clothing we own, or the same thing every day, but after a trip, we basically just dump our suitcases and wash everything. Why not? At best, everything will be super wrinkly.

We watched Frozen, which we had done while on vacation, but while the kids were napping. I know, it seems silly. The others were up though, so it made sense. Its a really great movie actually, and we caught way more this time around. Anyone else thing that snow monster guy is scary though?? Crazy! He was frightening when he was mad!

So today was nice and comfy, and as per our usual, the evening was trying and frustrating. Along with the rest of the world, I find life in general more challenging when I’m sick. I’m less stuffed up today, but my cough is horrible and dry and I still feel pretty miserable and achy. And this stupid eye twitch!!! Lately, my screwed up body has chosen to present itself in the form of an eye twitch and it is back. Apparently my back didn’t appreciate 25 hours in the van last weekend. Hopefully I feel well enough to go into the city on Thursday for some chiro and a bit of fresh air. Dr. Mike can always fix these weirdy problems I have.

Thursday can’t come soon enough!

We are home. I feel like we may never, ever leave again. Haha! I’m not a hater, the trip was lovely. But today was the worst for my sickness so far, which made for a pretty lame day for me. The kids, on the other hand, did AMAZING! Only the last 1.5 hours were rough-ish. The rest, they surprised us by listening well and being easily entertained. We drove through the mountains the Dekker just stared at the scenery and all the vehicles we passed on the tight road. We saw bits and pieces of wildlife that we don’t commonly see around home too.

One little black bear on the way there and on the way back.

Long horned sheep?? We saw a group of six of them just strolled along the shoulder around Radium.

I’m just gonna add a few more pictures from the trip, as the details get a bit fuzzy (and boring) without them. As I mentioned before, it was a looooong drive. Over twelve hours on the road.

First thing in the morning (as in before 7am) Dekker rocked Laela’s car seat in an effort to keep her content while we grabbed the last of our stuff.

Anyone else have this pet peeve?!?! A very literal nine times out of ten, when I order my tea at Tim Hortons, the strings from the bag are right where a person drinks from!! Who plans that?!

First nap on the drive. I LOVE when he hangs his lip out like that. When he’s sleeping, anyway. Just in day to day, I find it considerably less cute.

Wuzzy. I dunno, wuzzy??

This made me giggle. I have to give Wetaskiwin a shoutout for their Walmart. The fact that this sign even had to be there was humor enough. I also saw a woman put her child up in a car seat on a high shelf, only to become furious at her for peeing in the car seat. Awesome, right?

Nap number two. The little boy was bushed and hadn’t napped when Laela did, so this was not an especially restful sleep.

This is his “Laela, pleeeaaase shut up!” face 🙂

Feeling better after stopping for some food only 45 minutes away from home. There was just no way they were going to last. It was a good decision to stop. Happier kids anyway.

SOOO HAPPY TO BE HOME! Easily the cutest little girl that has ever existed. Hands down.

Mommy!!! Play toys!!!!!

One in bed, one to go. What a day its been. And check us out – still smiling!! 😀

It is so very good to be home. I am thoroughly looking forward to tomorrow. It will consist of three things.

Laundry.
Movies.
Jammies.

Sleep deep, guys.

As the not so witty title would suggest, tonight is out last night at our beautiful resort here in BC. Sadly, the kids naps didn’t coordinate well with the family’s events, and I ended up missing quite a few things. Dang monitors only reach so far. But I welcomed the rest and the peace, and just hung out in our room with the a/c cranked.

Dekker warmed up finally, towards the end of the evening. The group was down to twelve and he got quite a bit braver and more comfortable. Laela was full of joy and she and her new little girl cousin even shared a smile or two. It was endearing to say the least. The main thing I was part of today was the family pictures we took. It was quite dramatic to get everyone together, and sometimes I actually feel pretty bummed that the drama pretty much always lies with our family. But we got photos with Bradys parents, just our family of four, the whole group of seventeen, and even a picture of grandma and grandpa with just the grandkids. Thats right! Dekker was smiling and beside his cousins, watching uncle Keith blow bubbles. I can’t wait to see how they turn out 🙂 Other than that though, the day was quite low key for me. Our kiddies were spent and napped together for three whole hours!! They never last that long together at home, so it was obviously a big day.

We ended off the day together by having some snacks and watching Frozen, FINALLY! We are among the handful of families in the world who hadn’t seen it yet, but we will now join the enormous demographic of people who bought it. We loved it 🙂 The music was fabulous. A true classic, in my opinion.

Now, everything that can be packed in advance is packed, and the kids are being tucked in. Bradys gonna haul a bunch of the luggage down to the van tonight while I run a tub. Gearing up for a super early morning tomorrow and a looooong day in the car. All four of us are sick, so prayers would be appreciated. Our trip could either be super sleepy, or very tearful. Voting for option A!

It’s hard being sick on vacation. I’m sure we’ve all been there. And I really just have a cold. I know I shouldn’t complain. But it’s hard being sick.
Brady’s been great. He made it possible for me to take two naps today! We swam at the pool nearby and played at the park. As usual, Dekker went down that slide over and over again, with one of his doting cousins at the bottom to make sure he made it down ok. Just the coolest kids in the world.
The fun sort of quit at supper. We went out for pizza and both kids were pretty on edge. We had considered not going but didn’t want to miss out! So we went and ended up leaving early 🙁 So. Much. Screaming. We came back to our suite and Dekker had a time out. We got them both comfortable and back down to earth and killed about an hour before there was no more holding them off.
Deks is tucked in and Laela is eating her last bottle. And of course, Dekker is chatting about his day all to himself, laughing away from his bed 🙂 I’m glad he’s feeling better! Hopefully the rest of us feel better soon too!

We have officially arrived at our destination, along with most of Bradys family. Sadly, not everyone could make it this time, but there is still a good group of us.

I don’t want to sugarcoat though. What we hoped would be a 5.5 hr drive turned into 8, and I was completely worn down by the end of it. The kids were actually pretty amazing, but the meltdowns they did have were big and dramatic and sad. We had a pretty short and broken up night last night, and I’ve picked up Bradys awful cold. So he and I are feeling under the weather, and the kids are overtired. I don’t want to complain, as I’m thrilled to be here with everyone! But I feel tired. Its ok. I only had one or two cries in the car.

That being said, though, the drive was beautiful. I haven’t seen the mountains up close in years and years, so I got a good fill of that. We listened to good music and watched the big bright skies as we weaved through the mountains. Dekker was thrilled with the landscapes and, more importantly, all the motorbikes. “Dekker likes bites. Bites come back!”

We got here around 6:30 or 7:00, I honestly don’t completely remember. We ate and visited a bit before putting the kids to bed. Dekker said he was tired and requested his jammies. That is pretty much unheard of around our house, so we took him up on it, and he happily cuddled into his hide-a-bed. Laela, on the other hand, doesn’t appreciate her playpen as much as we wish she did, so she had a good cry first. But they both went down, and we are now running a hot bath in our big soaker jacuzzi tub, anticipating our sleep in the big king bed. We have a beautiful suite, and lots of good plans for tomorrow.

Hopefully we’ll all wake feeling refreshed and ready to paint the town red!

I did a lot of that today. After my hair and chiropractic appointments this morning, I picked up the family and drove us halfway to our destination for this weekend. Five hours. Not so bad. It was a relatively meltdown free drive, which is something I am very thankful for! After a morning away, the quiet and uneventful trip was just what I needed for my sanity.
The morning was great, tho. I sat at the salon for two hours and came out with another new look. I feel like this one might be less popular than others I’ve come out with, but it feels amazing and I’m so happy that I’ll have it during summer 🙂

I often don’t take the full two hours allotted for a cut and color but today, for some reason, I did. So while I had planned to do a bit of shopping I between appointments, instead I rushed across the city, ducked into superstore for a few necessities for this weekend (children’s Tylenol, swim diapers, etc) and then made it to the chiropractor just in time. Dr mike always leaves me feeling better in my body and mind. As usual, his treatment was exactly what I needed, and he showered me with compliments on my new hair and glasses most of our visit. He also asked a bit about my history with brady and how we met. He really backed us up as a couple, saying we were both wonderful people who were obviously willing to put in the work that is needed to make a relationship function. I don’t know why, but I felt very encouraged by that. He doesn’t know us, and wouldn’t have to say anything like that, but it also doesn’t sound like something he’d say to everyone. It was really sweet.
After my appointment, I hit up old navy for some skinny long denim shorts, and then headed back home. Those few hours to myself were sooo nice and most definitely needed. They were healing.
Of course, having Dekker wail for a half hour before bedtime didn’t help with that one bit but he calmed right before it was time to go down and we could give hugs and kisses and loves. No one likes to go to bed with bad feelings.
We’re settled in with my brother and sister in law and their two boys now, just getting all the kidlets off to bed. Hopefully we get in a little bit of visiting before it’s time for us to hit the hay as well!
On that note, I am off! Sleep sweet.

I’ve said a few times over the last little while that I’m feeling the need to get away for a little while. As in, a few hours. Maybe a day. I’m feeling overwhelmed in my home. Going from having Brady home a lot to almost never is a big change for me, and is proving to be a bigger challenge than either of us thought it would be.

It would appear that I am not earning the mother of the day award. While I don’t earn it any day, really, today is a day I would be booed off the stage.

I am struggling.

I have yelled at both of my children today. I have punished Dekker more than I probably normally would. I cried when Dekker cried, in turn making Laela cry. So. Much. Whining. I feel like I’m going to scream at them. And I did. I never yell at my kids. Its a terrible feeling.

After I’ve yelled at Dekker and made him shake in fear and cry harder, he comes running at me and just hugs me. Poor boy has nowhere else to go for comfort. But it helps, because I feel sick to my stomach because of how I’ve shouted at him so loudly in his little soaked, snotty face.

Moments after a big explosion…

True love right here. I adore my kids. Please don’t judge me. I’m trying to be honest, and some days are really, really ugly. I’ve apologized to my children and put them down for a nap.

Now to breathe…

I’m feeling so very bored with myself recently. I know that I am further down my list than the other three in my family, as it should be, but I’m so boring!! I know its going to sound dumb or conceited or whatever, but I feel like I’m kind of at the top of my crocheting game. No, I can’t just sit down and make flawless sweaters or slippers off the top of my head. I can do a lot off the top of my head, I can understand patterns well, I know all the lingo and all the different versions of lingo. I’ve got it. And for the things I don’t know perfectly yet, there is YouTube. I feel sort of done with crocheting. Plus, its not as exciting anymore! SO many people crochet. Again, no, I certainly don’t take credit for the craze, but I’ve been crocheting for about fourteen years. So while I won’t stop crocheting or anything, I need something new.

I’ve had a lot of fun with makeup recently, and while I feel that is an especially fun outlet for me to learn something new and play with it, its an expensive “hobby.” My stash of products is building, slowly but surely, but I don’t think that can be my main thing. I’m thinking more along the lines of baking, or sewing (if I had a sewing machine…). Its hard to know!! I welcome ideas. Aaaaall ideas. Anything without a painfully expensive startup cost would be given extra points, as I’m bad for getting revved up about something and then not delivering. Help?

It would appear I’ll just continue being creative with my hair. Possibly changing it up again on Thursday… Yikes!

My mom came over this afternoon! Dekker raced upstairs to meet her and didn’t let her come downstairs to see Laela and I for a good long while. When I was finished feeding Miss L, we ventured upstairs to find them, where Dekker clearly wanted her to himself for a while. We made our way downstairs eventually and my kids pretty much ran my mom ragged until they went to bed a couple of hours later.

It was so nice to have some quiet time once they were down. We talked about work that needs to be done in both of our lives. My parents have a few jobs looming, while our tasks are more like doing big cleaning projects. Our bedroom is atrocious, for one thing. Now that Laela is out of our room, I’m anxious to get her cradle out too. The cradle stayed in our room for probably over a year after Dekker moved out. I don’t want that again. Plus, it is really easy to not nap the kids together if it doesn’t line up perfectly, and I don’t want t get back into that habit. So the cradle has to go. And the change table. And the HUGE mess! Our walk-in closet is also a large mess. I purged my clothes a while back in an effort to get rid of everything I genuinely don’t like or never wear. Apparently my style has changed!! Thats a fun comparison. Ready?

Current first. I bit serious, but I feel weirder smiling for selfies, to be honest.

And before!!! So different hey? And I swear, completely unintentional!!!

But I didn’t tidy anything else in there, and I needed to. Theres even still a big bag of clothes and garbage in the closet. Such a mess. Neeeeeds to be cleaned! I did the kids clothes though! It was heartbreaking to take out sooo much stuff that they’ve outgrown! Yet, they still have more than enough.

All of Laela’s stuff that doesn’t fit anymore…

And Dekkers. Sooo many little boy tshirts!

Yet we clearly aren’t going without! We are way too lucky to have so much.

My mom and I laid out the garden plan that we’ll hopefully put in sooner than later. We’re keeping it really basic so we can tend to it well without too much trouble. I’m glad to at least have it all written out. And I put together the music schedule for the next four months of church. Well, almost. Still trying to get a hold of a couple more people, but the longest part is over. The rest of the info I have to gather won’t make or break what I’ve already done. Yay!

With all of that, I’m tired. Its just about time for the kids to go to bed, and I’m blogging at the table as they play. I like having Laela up in a highchair now so we can all be on the same level. Not sure what took me so long!