The Daily Hailey

While there are parts of our life that are really busy these days, a few nice simple pleasures have surfaced that are worthy of remembering.

During Covid, two different people gave us a bag of dress-up clothes. What immense gifts! Our kids made great use of them, and they resurface from time to time. One of those times is now. Waverly is regularly in costume. Its her first move once breakfast is over. And if you know her at all, or have even regularly observed here through the blog, you know this girl has presence!

Oh ya. She owns the room, and she knows it.

Another real win is crafts. I am not awesome at crafting with the kids, but they have a ton of craft stuff and go through stages of what they like to work on. While most are working on leprechaun traps, Dekker snagged the colouring book I bought at Value Village recently that depicts intricate food pictures. In true Dekker fashion, he chose the “Just roll with it” picture that he could twist into a wheelchair joke, lol!

He’s a weird dude but I like him a lot.

I know it’s Friday, but it doesn’t necessarily feel as such. Tomorrow is a VERY full day, but I’m thankful for all the opportunities on our plate right now, and our ability to address each one, manage the time and energy, and come out well. That is ALL God, and we are overwhelmed with gratefulness!

I thought February was loaded with appointments, but March is proving to be wildly busy as well. Possibly busier than previous month, even. That being said, this level of busyness won’t last forever, and its a season we’re excited to be in.

It honestly feels really good to be able to add things into our life, and manage the extra activity. The kids are also falling into it beautifully, and they pitch in when asked. Some of them are extra observant, and offer to help without being asked! I SO appreciate our willing, hard working children 💜

As I type this, I have a kid reading to be, and two kids doing dishes. One kid looking at books, and one kid at Frozen Jr practice. And the big kid is at work, but still nearby 😘

Its one day at a time over here, but God’s hand is in our life and it is evident in every step we take. I will say it again – glory strength! Strength that comes from GOD, not ourselves, is the strength to pull us through big things!

I took Rowan to the eye doctor on Monday for a check-up to see how he is doing with his contacts, as well as how the patching is going. We got to go just the two of us, which was nice. We got there in good time and only waited a few minutes before we got to head back for the initial tests.

Rowan knows the ropes pretty well already. He cooperated really well with the tests, and sat still while his eyes were scanned. Then we waited in a second waiting room for a little while, and practiced reading new words on the tv that promotes glasses brands. Riveting entertainment, lol! At one point, someone came to retrieve some other patients, and it happened to be the doctor we had seen the day we got Rowan’s contact fitted. Our usual eye doctor had to call in sick that day, so we were paired off with someone else that time, and he immediately recognized us and asked how Rowan was doing with his contact. I appreciated that he cared enough to even inquire. Shortly after he left with his patient, our eye doctor showed up and brought us back with her.

Vision lesson alert! 🚨

You know how people say vision should be 20/20? Do you know what that means? I didn’t, but I do now, so now you can know, too!

The concept of 20/20 means that your eye can see something 20 feet away, healthily, the way that other people with strong vision can from the same distance. That feels a little jumbled, I know, so I’ll make it more personal.

At Rowan’s initial eye appointment, his left eye was at 20/200. 200!!! So that means that things people should be able to see from 200ft away, Rowan can only see at 20ft away. Does that make sense?

Also, for information’s sake, if your vision can not be corrected to better than 20/200, you would be considered legally blind! Ack!

With glasses, the best our eye doctor could get Rowan seeing was 20/70, which is a HUGE improvement over 20/200 but not as close as we’d all like to 20/20. Hence the patching and regular checkups.

Does that all make sense? Whew!

Ok, back to Monday!

I hadn’t been in Rowan’s initial eye appointment, but Brady had. Our doctor showed me the sizes of letters that Rowan could read the first time around, and then she began testing him to see how he was doing since everything began. And I do mean everything. Multiple appointments. Glasses. Two different types of patches. Contacts. Drops. And all the fuss that came with it. Dizziness. Headaches. Irritation. Disorientation. The list really goes on. He has handled these adjustments like a ROCKSTAR.

Finally our eye doctor turned to me with literal tears in her eyes, and she told me, while wearing a contact, his left eye could see 20/40!! 40!!!! Not 200, and not 70, but 40!!! That is SO much better!!! To refresh you, what healthy vision can see in 20ft, he can see in 40ft. And we started at 200!!

And would you believe me if I told you that wasn’t even the best news??

The first little test where they scanned Rowans eyes showed that he is using them EQUALLY!!! This is YUGE!!!! 🙌 It was one month ago that his brain did not ask his left eye to work. He never ever ever used it. And because of Rowan’s hard work, our determination, and the power of God, he is using BOTH of us eyes the SAME!!! It was a teary exam room 💜

What a victory. Praise the Lord!

We’ll be back in a month to keep watching his progress, but back before then to pick up six months worth of contacts. And back next week for Laela and Solly. Whew!! Lots of catching up to do around here!

My goodness, guys! The day has wailed by!!! I cannot believe its already 3:00!! I won’t go into every detail but I can tell you the day has been an absolute whirlwind and I am POOPED! But in a good way, I promise. Nothing bad. Just busy. And I’m not afraid of busy.

A few small but cute wins!

Solly lost yet another front tooth last night!!! Forgive his bloody, messy mouth, but he was stoked!

This morning, I found Wavy cleaning excess toothpaste out of the sink long after teeth had been brushed, rather than just leaving it there to solidify!

Aaaaand I discovered Rowan’s bed fully made, without any prompting from me, or even acknowledgement, as I didn’t notice at the time. He just did it on his own.

They may be small things, but they count and are worth celebrating!! Good job, little ones!

Now if you’ll excuse me, the kids will be home shortly and there are things to dooooo! Where has the day gone?!

Today is a different kind of day! There is no school, but it was still an earlier-than-the-weekend kind of start, because its a Frozen kind of day!!!

Laela’s schedule is full of Frozen these days, but Dekker only just received his official part in the play! He is part of a group of seven kids who make up the stage crew!! I’ll be honest and tell you he is a little disappointed in his role. He really wanted to be part of the lighting crew. He did the spotlight for the Christmas concert, so we all kind of thought he’d be an obvious choice for more lighting, and for some reason, he didn’t get it. He’s bummed, for sure, and I kind of am, too. That being said, he is ready and willing to do his part as the stage crew, and I think he will do a really good job of it! He is very responsible, almost to a fault sometimes, so I know he will work hard to get the job done 💜

Today is the first day they are BOTH going to rehearsal! They are SUCH a good pair, and they do really well together as friends when they spend this kind of time together.

This is from earlier this season, but it definitely still needs to be shared 💜 Thanks, Cher, for taking it.

I am really really glad they get this opportunity to do something special together!

This morning, the entire company will be together for the first time! Ack! I wish I could be a fly on the wall for it! 😍

Today also holds a progress check for Rowan, to see how his vision is doing with all the changes.

I will update everyone on those details tomorrow as I can. But we are eager to know, and hopeful for positive change!

Everyone had baths yesterday. All the kids anyway. Its become a nice, independent process where most things are done by the kids themselves, except for the occasional head check, or help getting the water right. Wavy is really the only one who still needs hair help, and she’s so easy in the bath. She likes to play and isn’t afraid to get her face wet. She’s a peach 🍑

Yesterday, Wavy opted to play in the tub for a while after her bath. When she was done, she got out on her own, and called to us that she was finished. And it was within ten seconds I could hear her whimpering. I went to go check on her, and she was standing in the hallway, stark naked, dripping, her arms wrapped around herself, positively shivering. She saw me and shook out the words “Can you help me get a towel please?” Poor little sweetie couldn’t reach her towel! Hahaha!

So I had the pleasure of wrapping her up in a burrito and snuggling her to safety and warmth! I kept her until she was cozy and playful again!

I know my little pruney snuggles are likely numbered, but I sure enjoy them when given the opportunity 💜

Not too many days are both really busy and also really quiet. But thats how I’m feeling in this moment. On this Saturday.

Brady and I spent the morning on a Teams meeting online, which was good, and informative, and low pressure. Meanwhile, my mom watched the kids. They colored and read and played and chatted, and then she got them lunch. Thank you SO MUCH mom!! 💜 That was just an incredible help to us today!

And thank you, Tom, for clearing our snow! What a gift! That helps us SO much!!!

When the class was over, Brady and I found our own lunch, and then I took Wavy to a birthday party that she was invited to! She was so so excited!

We’ve enjoyed a little quiet time, but things will get rolling again here soon. Nothing super taxing needs to be done, per se, but there are still things to do. Everyone needs a bath. I need to finish up some scheduling that I need to dig for. I need to find a little more childcare for the next week-ish. There is homework to do from the meeting. Supper to prepare. Some of these things will be able to wait for another day if need be, but they’re at the top of the to-do list!

I also haven’t crocheted a stitch all day or ALL DAY YESTERDAY!!! What will become of me?! Lol! I have to make room for that!

Also, I’m an ice cube. I cannot shake it. I may or may not try and sneak in my own bath before the day is done.

Oh and I need to go pick Wavy up in a little bit.

I’m very grateful for all of these little things keeping us busy. My body may not be feeling 100%, nor my emotions, but I am thankful for all I have, even busy seasons.

I was up most of the night with a pounding headache. I did everything I could for it before I had to get up and do the morning. It lifted a little, and now it is just so so grossly worse. So, no real blog for today.

There could be worse things than spending lazy time with this little cute thing.

Our Rowan Toby has managed a full week as a contact wearer! Every morning, he brings out his case and the saline solution, just in case. He calls it rescue juice 🙂 Cute, hey? He brings it to the island and waits patiently for me to come help him. It still takes until the second or third try sometimes, but he is SO patient and seems so comfortable. He tries SO hard to be so still, and giggles when it makes the gross squirty sound. Then he blinks it into place for a second or two, and the puts his stuff away. Patch goes onto the right eye, and off he goes! Patch comes off for school, and back on when he gets home. He really doesn’t care for the patch :/ Poor guy. He’s sure had a lot of change recently, and he handling it with very real strength from God! He goes about the rest of his day with a contact and a patch until shortly before bed, when I take his contact out and we switch to glasses and a patch, just to give everything some time to breathe. He is happy to have his contact taken out, even though he was very hesitant about it in the beginning. I often get that first try, and then he likes to fill the case with “rescue juice” and put it all away himself. Rowan taking his patch off is the highlight of his day. I can attest that he reacts the way you might if you were taking your bra off at the end of the day 😅 Complete relief, hahaha!

Rowan will have a follow-up appointment next week to see how his eyes are handling the change, and if his vision is changing at all. The whole point of this is to wake up the parts of his brain that aren’t really working to turn on his left eye, so his brain is working very hard. It always works extra very hard (yes, thats a thing) while he navigates his overstimulation and some symptoms of ADHD. That boy WORKS. And its HARD. Yet he is doing SO WELL!!!

This is not the most impressive picture, but Solly ran and dove into Rowan’s arms, uninvited, and Rowan embraced it and called to me to take a picture. Guys. That counts. I am SO thrilled with his beautiful progress. I appreciate that kids are resilient, but people who are resilient still need lots of care and acknowledgement. We are resilient because we have to be. Because we have struggled. Its not a casual “He can take it, he’s a kid” thing. Not to me.

Aaaaanyway. Brag alert. I am incredibly impressed with Rowan’s attitude towards all of these changes 💜 Beautiful job, Ro! I’m SO proud of your determination!! 💪

Can I be honest? Packing kids lunches is one of my least favorite things. Its just something I find challenging – to find things that everyone likes, or to make them all different to make each kids specifications. But I do it, of course! I do my best, and the kids sometimes do their best, too 😅 Depending on the day or the stage, sometimes most of the lunch comes home. And if I send less, that will be the day the kid eats everything and their teacher sends a message home that they had to give my kid extra food because they were SO hungry. Ugh. Balance is impossible lol! So these days, I lay out lunches while the kids eat breakfast, and I get the chance to say “Is this enough? Would anyone like anything else?” and we go from there.

I often feel like a total drag of a lunch-packing mom. We don’t have all the fun stuff that the kids say their friends get. All the squeezy things. Yogurt tubes. Chips. Juice boxes. I mean NO disrespect to parents who do pack that stuff!!! Truly! I’m just too cheap, hahaha!

Today felt like a win, though, and I just want to remember it.

I was setting out lunches on the island, and the kids were paying attention. They each got a big orange sliced up, some cheese and crackers, yogurt, and a homemade granola bar with a bunch of healthy stuff snuck in. Basic things. And Laela’s eyes grew, and she said

WOW! Our lunch is FULL of junk food!!!

And I laughed out loud, because part of me felt so crappy that she views such normal things as treats, but then I decided to be happy that she’s grateful and enjoys her lunch!

Simple pleasures for the win today 💜