The doctor Dekker saw yesterday was very clear that if Dekkers ear infection was actually going to become something, we would be able to tell by his behavior. So I’ve been trying to assess him all day. Maybe I’m just new at the whole ear infection thing but I really can’t tell!

He woke up by himself this morning at 10am, as opposed to me waking him up at 1pm the last few days. He was happy and jumping in his crib when I went to get him, which I saw as a great sign that he was feeling better. He ate a decent breakfast and played downstairs for a couple of hours. A completely normal routine for us, so I was happy. He was a bit more sensitive than usual but he’s been sick so I didn’t read into it. He went back down for a nap at 12:30 and slept until about 4:30! He got up, refused to eat, and was awake for less than an hour before he went back down for a nap. Same story at 7pm. He fought supper and fussed until bedtime.

I’m not sure what to say! I mean, he didn’t fever at all today, so thats a plus! He hasn’t shown any cold symptoms today either. And he seemed to be in great spirits in the morning, but the day got progressively worse and I’m not sure  how to read his behavior. I know he’s teething his 2 year molars right now, so while he’s a great teether, I know its uncomfortable. Plus, he had such a nice break from teething that I’m sure being in pain again is frustrating and new. So I can understand why he might be a bit edgy. But he’s sleeping enough for two children these days and then not eating when he gets up?!

Praying the highways are in better condition tomorrow for our inevitable trip to the walk-in.

Dekker woke up this morning at 5:00. He was wailing. Sometimes he wakes up, fusses for a minute, and falls back to sleep. But he’s been fevering on and off for a couple days now and we hadn’t given him any medicine for quite a while, since he was cool when he went to bed. So we jumped up when he started crying and found him face down in his crib, bawling and miserable and HOT. Brady changed his diaper and tried to give him some milk while I got him some medicine. We left his sleeper open and just sat with him for a few minutes to give him a chance to cool off, but he was just completely exhausted, so back to bed he went.

Like the last couple of days, I woke him up at 1pm from his night. I was feeling like it was time to take him to the doctor. I know a fever often means he’s fighting something off, but it was hanging on a bit longer than I liked. However, as the day went on, Dekker was acting more and more like himself, and the highways were getting worse and worse. I decided to wait until Brady got home from work and we would re-evaluate whether or not we should bring Dekker in to see a doctor. Brady didn’t get home until about 7pm, but against what everyone was saying, he said the highway was ok, so we decided to go in after all.

Turns out that his work van in considerably higher than our Mazda, and all the blowing snow was the height of our headlights. That and not having the benefit or daylight put us at a pretty huge disadvantage. We thought about turning around a few times but pressed on. We figured we could turn our blinkers on and limp home at 20km/hr if need be.  Obviously, we are home now. We survived, but I had to add that bit in there since everyone on Facebook got to bitch about the highways all day. Its my turn.

It was a good day for the walk-in! Apparently the weather kept all the sane people home, so we barely waited 5 minutes before getting in. Our doctor was very compassionate, asked lots of questions, listened to the ramblings of a worried mother, talked to Dekker quite a bit, and did his entire exam with Dekker on my lap. Turns out Dekker has what appears to be the beginnings of his very first ear infection 🙁

He didn’t see any puss or anything too ominous just yet. He said he saw some fluid with a bubble in it behind Dekker’s eardrum, but everything it nice and clear still. I know very little about ear infections, but the doctor said that this early, it could continue to turn into the full infection just as easily as it could clear up on its own. He advised us to give Deks pain relief as is needed tonight and tomorrow, and we’ll know by Friday morning what to do. He said Deks would either be in much better spirits, or much worse and feverish.  Apparently an ear infection isn’t something that really festers secretly. If he has one, we will likely know about it. So I’m holding onto that, and waiting to see what happens. I had my moment of “How did I, his mother, miss this/let this happen?!” but the doctor said ear infections can be brought on by even a light cold, which Deks has had on off the last week or two, which we attributed to his teething. So whether I read it wrong or not, there was really nothing I could have done to have prevented it from coming, or to encourage one! They decide all on their own.

It sounds terrible, but the one good thing about him feeling so crappy is that he is sooo cuddly right now! Our bedtime cuddles were great and playful and smiley and full of big eye rubs and kisses.

I’m sure this is routine for some people, and maybe you guys are laughing at me for being so worried and frankly, a little ticked. But its new to us! Prayers would be warmly welcomed 🙂

Ok, so this is my third post in less than a week thats come up after midnight 🙂 Please forgive me! Take it as a sign that my life is good and full of love and friends, and that I am truly happy.

My other half, Hailey, and I decided a while ago that we needed to finally spend some quality time together, instead of running into each other by accident. So she and her husband and two boys came over for dinner tonight. I was so excited! I think I’ve laid out our history on here before, but the brief rundown is that I added her on Facebook 6 years ago because we had the same name and we’ve gotten frightfully close since then. We are shockingly similar, and tonight was a little twilight zoney even!

Brady and I prepped for the visit pretty much all day, haha! I honestly have dropped the practice of cleaning my house like crazy when people are coming over, because I really feel like people who are going to judge me based on the cleanliness of my house can eat my shorts, but the layer of dust in the corners of our rooms, and the week worth of dishes in the kitchen, and the suitcases still packed from the weekend, we figured we needed a tidy. So we got up and put the corn chowder in the crock pot first thing, and then tackled everything else. We sure didn’t get everything done, but it looked better than before, thats for sure! One little product endorsement is for those Scrubbing Bubble Toilet Cleaning gel pump things. They are amazing and everyone should use them. That is all.

I made my chocolate dipped, cheesecake filled strawberries in the afternoon and ran a few over to the neighbours. Felt very “Suzy Homemaker” 🙂 I even snuck in a shower before our company came.

What a great evening we had! We had soup and biscuits for dinner, and then moved downstairs so their four year old could blow off some steam in a bigger space with better toys. When the boys went upstairs to get dessert, we decided they were banished for a while, and Hailey and I got in some solid girl talk. Both of us have had similar experiences with friends coming and going, and for that reason, neither of us ever grew up with many girl friends, but turns out we click surprisingly well! And while we were having a great chat (which has been a loooo0ong time coming!) we could hear our husbands bantering about work and such upstairs, as if they’d known each other longer than a few hours as well. It was perfect. Felt like we’ve known each other forever!

When the boys were starting to really fade, we realized it was about 11:30! Time never dragged once, it whipped by in my opinion anyway. We had such a fabulous time! And if you’re reading and you don’t really care about my evening date with my friends, thats fine, but take this tidbit if you will:

Whether you’re married single, with kids or not, whatever life situation you find yourself in, find a few people that are in your same boat, and make relationships. Seriously! I’m not saying to leave out the people who don’t fit your mould, but I think its super important to nurture relationships with people in your same stage of life. You won’t realize its value until you have it, I promise! It is such a gift to have people you can relate to on so many levels! We are so lucky to have the friends that we have.

Hope our friends make it home safe, without any wildlife smeared across the front of their SUV. Rooting for you guy!!

Today was our first full day back home, and we had plans. Our house is atrocious and we’re having company tomorrow so the plan was to tidy and prep and unpack from the weekend and do all those things that normal people do. However, Dekker slept until noon, so instead of doing things, we lounged, ate breakfast, and watched Friends. Brady put a load of dishes through the dishwasher, so I guess at least he accomplished something, but needless to say, the house is NOT ready yet!

We also met with our small group this evening. Before that, Brady and I made a quick trip to the city to pick up groceries for dinner tomorrow, which went really well. Very rarely do we leave Superstore having spent $40, and $15 of that was on a basket for Dekker’s toys. Felt good.

Our small group meeting was really nice. Dekker came and slept all through the meal and the first chunk of the devotional we did. When he did finally have to wake up, he was hot. As in fevering. He’s currently working on his two year molars and being that he is out of practice in the teething world, he isn’t much of a fan of it. He’s pretty sensitive these days, and now a fever. We stripped him down to jeans and he just kind of sat motionless with Brady. I pulled out the Advil and he cooled a little. He was silent the entire drive home, wide awake but unmoving. When we finally unloaded him, I was cuddling him and taking him out of his coat really gently when he lunged and squirmed to be free. So I put him on the floor and he rushed the living room for toys. And played and played. He laughed and waved and babbled and was sooo happy! We checked his temperature and he was down to 97.7, which is great! But his head and hands still felt so hot. After his bottle, I was cuddling with him and just couldn’t get over the heat hat was radiating from him! I called the health people, just to ask if he could actually be having some kind of hot flash. While I was on the phone, Brady came in and lay beside me. This is usually the time when we laugh at Dekker while he drags himself over and tries to climb on top of Brady, but its usually a pretty lame effort and he flops all over the place. This time, he just stared and lay still on me. I like to feel like maybe he just needed his mommy, but the second I hung up the phone, he was on Brady. Little guy just wanted to hear the answer I guess 🙂

So all in all, it really was a good day. Lazy morning at home, success in the city, good time of food and discussion with friends, and a playful, cuddly baby boy at home.

I cannot wait to have another soft little body to comfort when they get sick, or just to watch them breathe.

We had SUCH a great time away, catching up with my brother, sister in law, and their two boys. Today was probably our fullest day, but it was great. We all got up at our own speeds and had baked oatmeal for breakfast. I have to say, Gracey, the entire house, upstairs and downstairs, smelled amazing the entire time we were there! Thank you for treating us so well!

Once the littlest one was up from his morning nap, we headed out to Tims, and then to Edmonton. We can’t seem to be near Edmonton without hitting up our stores. We did awesome at Ikea! We often struggle to find the balance between buying one thing or spending over $200 on…I’m not even sure. But today, we stocked up on Dekker-safe dishes, some great new toys for him, bag clips (since he’s hidden all of ours), some garbage cans to replace the tiny Dollarama ones that are in every room, a great little serving tray that I’ve been looking for, and several hundred tea lights. It was a great haul, and very few of the things we bought would be considered frivolous. I suppose I didn’t need the apron, but I don’t have one, so I think that justifies it right there. Whether I bake or not is irrelevant! Either way, the kids were super patient the entire time we moseyed through Ikea. Then they toughed out being packed back up, and removed from their seats just a few short minutes later at Bath and Body Works. The deal today was “Buy 2 Get 2 Free” which is amazing! We usually come and get their hand soaps, and often the deal is 6/$25 or something along those lines, since each soap technically costs $5.50 on its own. So today, we walked away with 7 hand soaps and one dish soap (new product!!) for less than $24! VERY pumped about that.

We haven’t even unpacked our suitcases yet, and all of the soaps are neatly arranged under the bathroom sink waiting to be used. Most of the Ikea stuff is dispersed as well, minus the toys that – of course – need to be assembled still. But I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I LOVE putting away new stuff and getting my house in order around my new things. Even when they’re little and no one would notice them, I love a bargain and a new treat.

Our drive home felt long, and sadly, Dekker didn’t sleep much at all. He was exhausted by the end, but not in the beginning 🙂

If anyone was going to share the backseat with him, today would have been the day! He was SOOO friendly!

Something about this expression reminds me of me, maybe making fun of someone? Just that eyebrow, its somehow saying “um…did you just say that?!”

Ok, I recognize this picture doesn’t look like much, but this was the part where Deks was looking at himself in the mirror in this book and giggling at himself. Over and over and over again. By the time I thought to take a video, it was over. Sad.

And this is the part where Dekker stuck his foot through the hole in the book that you see in the last picture. Someone was getting bored I guess.

But he was a total champ. He was pretty quiet besides a few teary moments that were cleared up on the spot with some Marianas Trench. He started talking like mad as soon as we started driving through our town. He must have recognized the houses and trees because he was a crazy little chatterbox from then until he fell asleep. Sooo happy to be home it seems.

And I’m sure everyone can understand that sentiment. While visiting and being away is so fun, and sometimes really necessary (sure was for us this time!) it is also really nice to be home.

One last picture of my shockingly gorgeous son…

Good night everybody.

I know, I know, late again. But seriously, I get maybe half the views I get on weekdays on my weekend posts so only half my readers may be affected 😉

Today was SUCH a comfy day! We all just relaxed and ate and watched movies and talked. It was awesome. I watched my first Bond movie, and even though Bond fans aren’t super fond of it from what I’ve heard, I think Skyfall was a good one to break into Bond. I actually really enjoyed it; it reminded me of the first Mission Impossible, but without the masks.

We attended Simon and Grace’s church in the evening. Dekker was so friendly, even though he was completely exhausted after his shorty nap right before we went to church. He giggled and snacked and sat on Brady almost the whole time.

Once the boys were all in bed, we invited Grace’s mom over and we all watched Pitch Perfect and had popcorn and other snacks. It was a great end to a fabulous day, and that is why my post is late again. So again, I’m sorry.

Tomorrow will hopefully include a quick run into Edmonton for some Ikea and Bath&Body Works. I can’t come to Alberta without stocking up on hand soap and tea lights!

I am SO late getting this post up! But family comes first.

Brady and I left at exactly noon. Yet we only got up to pack at 10. And by we, I mean Brady. I got up and got all my stuff together, but when my head decided not to cooperate, I sat with Dekker during his breakfast for a while.

We were nervous for the drive but it was pretty uneventful.

Dekker looked this most of the drive. He was wiped out but wouldn’t sleep. So he either just sat with his mouth hanging open, or he whimpered.

He did learn how to put his toque on by himself though! I guess that counts as an “event.”

And Brady drove in dangerous poses. Pretty riveting, I know. We stopped a few times to save my back and neck, and lost both of our roll ups. I haven’t won once 🙁

The roads were sooo much clearer than the forecasts let on, and we didn’t run into any ice until we were about a half hour outside of our destination, which was no match for Stella.

We successfully arrived at our destination in time for a dinner of quesadillas. Dekker went down awesome, then did the other boys, and then the grown ups got frozen yogurt and didn’t watch the movie they rented. It was nice though. Talking in person is always so much nicer than the phone. It seems like there is just more to talk about and catch up on.

So yes, my blog is technically a day late, but you’ve forgiven me before and I’m hoping you will again. We’re so happy to be visiting family and are looking forward to tomorrow. Perhaps an Ikea trip is in order, if we’re not snowed in. Dang you, winter!

Today, the plan was to drive to Dalmeny and check out a sit and stand stroller. I’ve looked around for double strollers, thinking I would consider one but would more likely haul my kids around in carts, with Dekker in the front and the baby in the bucket. However, Dekker grew out of his bucket early on, as ion before he was four months old, if I remember correctly, so if baby #2 is similar at all, I figured a double stroller might be worth looking at anyway. Turns out Brady didn’t have to work today so we filled it up!

We went and look at/purchased a great second-hand double stroller around 1pm. Its in great shape, matches our carseat, and folds smallers than our original stroller!!! Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know, but its awesome!

We headed to the city from there and went to Dollarama. I’ve been meaning to get there for months now and just keep not making it! I like to kill a lot of time there, so I figured today would be the day. However, I had scheduled a leg wax too close and we were in and out of Dollarama within 15 minutes. However, we got everything we went in for, plus some candy 🙂

Some people think waxing is torture and awful and only crazies do it willingly, but I LOVE it! I’ve been waxing my legs since…I think I actually started in high school, so for a solid six years anyway. Feels like magic. I love the girl that waxes my legs. She is such a sweetie, and has complete and total baby fever. She has been living vicarious through me now for both pregnancies. I feel so special when I see that she’s marked how many weeks along I am on my chart. She’s super adorable. I love my wax appointments.

After that, we headed over to the last minute chiropractor appointment I made today. I was so happy Dr. Mike had openings! I was pretty messed up in my back and neck, so he straightened me up good and proper and gave me instructions on how NOT to travel this weekend. We’re going to spend a couple days with my brother and sister in law, and their two kids, which I’m really looking forward to! But not so much the drive. I guess sitting for a couple hours of end is going to do me in, so the drive may turn out to be longer than expected. Totally worth it!!!

Our last thing to accomplish was a little bit of Superstore. It went really fast and we even found something we thought we may have to duck into Walmart for. Win! Of course, Superstore was the last thing on the list, but we remembered going by Costco that we were out of regular coffee. If you don’t already drink Kirkland coffee in your house, its time to start. Going from Maxwell House to Kirkland was CRAZY! So much more flavor! And then going from Kirkland to Folgers (which I bought because it was on sale) was so disappointing. Seriously guys, Kirkland. So yes, we hit Costco. I ran in for coffee and came out with coffee, pizza, and a sleeper. So sue me.

Dekker is down for the night, our bath is running, and laundry is drying. It was a great, successful day! And I’m sooo looking forward to tomorrow!

You guys were all super helpful on Facebook last night, supporting me and giving me suggestions on how to feel better. For those who missed it, I’ve been experiencing serious lightheadedness and dizziness that turned into a crazy headache yesterday that I couldn’t shake. But the evening helped so much!

We had our soak in the tub, as usual. This is our routine from way back, but it has changed since I got pregnant. If I’m really too dizzy, Brady sometimes dries my legs for me when we get out of the tub, so I don’t have to try and bend down. I know, it sounds strange, but if I’m dizzy and tub is just a little bit too hot, I get sooo dizzy and off-balance. With that, I’ve also been crazy itchy all over since getting pregnant, so Brady lotions up my legs with body butter, and then my belly with cocoa butter lotion, even though I fully expect stretch marks. Then he has a little chat with the baby bump and we usually watch a show or two and hit the sack. So I get pampered pretty well these days. Last night, I had the nerve to ask for a shoulder rub too. I know, seems like overkill, but someone suggested all my head stuff could be tied to a stiff neck. I gave it a little stretch and realized that I could barely touch my chin to my chest. I either had to open my mouth or puff out my chest. So I figured I was pretty tight. Brady gave me a really gentle shoulder/neck rub and I took a coule Tylenol so my muscles would super relax overnight. I slept like a log! I dont even know if I got up to pee. If I did, it was in my sleep. Which is kind of nervey now that I think about it… I hope I didn’t pee in my sleep…

I woke up feeling awesome! I had a few weird dreams in the night so it wasn’t ideal, but I felt rested. And best of all, no headache or dizziness! I could just get up! My mom called and we decided we needed a visit so I did some dishes and fed Dekker until she arrived. We had just a short but long overdue visit. Lunch was boiled eggs and watermelon, which maybe doesn’t sound delicious to you guys, but it was quick and delicious, and the watermelon was the best I’ve picked out in a while! Dekker snacked off our plates the whole time.

Honestly, after she left, I accomplished a whole lot of nothing. Dekker went down for a nap and I watched some YouTube. Even though I felt sooo much better today than I have recently, I still lose my breath sometimes and relaxing is so nice if you can get it! And I can, so I do.

Another happy thing about today was that I realized I have at least one really exciting thing to look forward to every month until our second baby comes! From concerts to trips to birthdays, I’m sooo excited! I know I’m not supposed to wish time away, and I don’t plan to, but this will ensure that my time doesn’t drag, which I really like.

Sooo ready for 2013 to be better than 2012!!!!!

I’ve been having a bit of lightheadedness the last little while, struggling pretty hard to get up and move around. With that, the last few days I’ve felt a headache brewing. I am NOT a headache person so when they come, I am pretty much useless. Today, it hit. My eyes are burning from behind and have been all day. If you’ve ever spent any time with Dekker, as soon as he’s awake and around the house, he points to every single light fixture, begging me to turn it on. He does not appreciate natural light yet at all, and loves having all the lights on. So my eyes throbbed all day and my head is in such pain. I finally buckled and took a Tylenol. I have a pretty crummy attitude towards Tylenol, since Advil is always my go-to and I’m not allowed to take it right now. So I took an extra strength Tylenol and it seems to have helped some. However, not enough to make me want to sit into front of this qhite screen longer than I have to. Sorry for the shorty tonight, folks. I’m about 12.5 weeks pregnant and I’m hoping to get that renewed feeling of health and energy in a few short days when my second trimester begins. Cheers!