Dekker OFFICIALLY turned two today! I remember two years ago very vividly. He was fresh and new, bright red still, big bruised forehead, enormous cheeks, and a funny little curl right in the front of his hair. He was the talk of the hospital that weekend. Our room was visited by people from other floors who had heard about him, and they’d come stare at him, like a sideshow almost. However, I only ever viewed it with pride. I could not have been more thrilled with our son.

I love you, Dekker.

We spent the morning getting some maternity pictures taken. My mom photographed us in a few different places that we had chosen earlier, and I think we got some really good stuff. However, Dekker was off as soon as he woke up. He would not cooperate. We have almost no pictures of all of us together, which is sad to me. But he is little, and he rather wanted to be running around or sitting on grandma. We did ok,  but I was tired by the time it was over. We drove to Dalmeny to spend the afternoon with my mom. Dekker is happy to sleep there, and Brady had offered to help my parents with their computer. Plus, we were going to have a family birthday party for Deks there this evening. However, little boy was unimpressed most of the drive home, during his diaper change, and about ten minutes after he was down for his nap. Screaming. When he finally gave up on that and fell asleep, I did too. Accidental nap. It was short but amazing and completely necessary. The rest of the afternoon was quiet and lazy.

When it was time to eat supper, Dekker was up and ready and hungry. My mom had made him one of his favorites – spaghetti and meat sauce. With cucumbers and fruit salad. Super delicious. I ate TONS! So did Dekker. His cake was hard to explain but it was ridiculously delicious! It tasted like ice cream cake but it was made of cream cheese and lots of frozen cool whip. And Skor chips!!! It was incredible. Dekker wanted the whole cake on his tray, so we let him. He just poked around the top of it with a spoon and ate off some Skor chips. It was adorable 🙂 Its nice to have a family that isn’t too worried about germs.

There was a lot of work to do on the computer so while we visited and Brady worked on it, Dekker raced around the house, playing toys, shrieking, and falling all over the place. He was sooo hyper! It actually worked to our advantage, since we stayed quite a bit past his bedtime. He was in his glory though. It was wonderful. He was quite sad to leave but thankfully, didn’t cry the entire drive home! He is now safely in his bed, quiet. Hopefully all night. Until we’ll inevitably have to wake him at 9:30 to take him into the city yet again tomorrow, this time for his two year check up. Looking forward to it!

Brady and I are both fairly whooped but we’re still putting the diaper laundry through, and then even though its so late, we’re gonna run a bath. My body hurts pretty badly. But then BEDTIME! So ready.

One last milestone of today for you folks. Baby girl is due Sept 21st. Exactly one month from today. I’m not suggesting she’ll be early or exactly on the date or anything. But our focal point is one month from today. That puts me at 8 months pregnant!!! While I’m sort of hating that summer has flown by so fast, I’m super excited for our baby girl to come, and she is due on the very last day of summer, so I suppose I can sacrifice one for the other 🙂 Worth it.

I love my family. Today is a day to celebrate them.

I wonder how many productive days I’ll have leading up to the birth of baby #2. Today felt very productive, even though I suppose we didn’t accomplish a ton. But it still counts!

It was going to be a home day until we decided yesterday that I needed to see my chiropractor sooner than later. So Brady and I both booked appointments back to back and decided to go in for the afternoon. Brady wasn’t particularly broken-feeling, but he can always use an adjustment. However, Dekker woke up at a decent time, and we were all fairly rested and feeling good, so we decided to add a few things to the list. And from there, it turned into something of a full-fledged errand day!

On the way into the city, I picked up a massive bag of cloth diapers that my auntie made when her daughters were having kids, that she was now offering me! All flannel fitted diapers with extra inserts and even some store bought waterproof covers 🙂 MUCH appreciated! We grocery shopped right after that and were VERY good if I do say so my myself, and only got things off of our list. We kept having more time than we bargained for, so we hit up Babies ‘r’ Us afterwards to look for a soother for baby girl. Dekker never took one very well, but I wanted to have one on hand in case our next baby wants one. And I really like the Wubbanub. For those who don’t know, they’re those newborn soothers that make your kid look like one of those algae sucker fish. You know what I mean? Except they have a cute little stuffed animal on the end to tuck into their blanket or lay on their chest so it doesn’t just fall away so fast. They’re basically just super adorable. There are TONS of different animals but they sadly only had a few. I was hoping for a bird but came out with a cute little lamb, which is very adorable as well. I’d call it a success.

By then, it was getting close to our appointment time, so we headed over to 8th St. But then we got their too fast! Like, a half hour early! So we drove a little further down the road and jumped into the mall to change Dekker’s diaper and visit Jerilee at work. PS: Bath&BodyWorks got all their pumpkin stuff in early!!! Sadly, I didn’t have my wallet on me. Jerilee gave me a gift card for my birthday specifically to pick up all the pumpkin stuff. So perhaps I’ll be back soon and snatch a bunch of it up. Pumpkin Caramel Latte everything!!!

After a very brief visit, we took off and hit every single red light on 8th St, making us one minute late. Thats always a bit of a piss-off, but mostly just the principle of the thing. No one cared that we were one minute late. Just me.

Turns out booking Brady an appointment was a really good judgement call on our part. Brady said he felt incredible after his treatment. Every time Dr. Mike would walk around to a different side of Brady, he would tickle Dekker or give him a little squeeze, and Dekkers smile just got bigger and bigger each time. There is something very special about a person who continually makes that effort I think. Seriously, I brag his up a lot, but if you guys need a chiropractor, he’s the guy to go to! We love him. I also felt much better after my treatment. Yay for me! Hopefully it’ll last for a while. But he did warn me that I would need to see him more the further I got in my pregnancy. A piece of good(?) news he told us today is that it can take anywhere from 5-8 months for my pelvis to go back to the way it was pre-pregnancy. It sounds ominous to me, but that also means I don’t have to rush right back in to his office as soon as baby pops out. I asked when I should come in and he said as soon as I feel human. Clearly he understands the process as much as a man can.

We left the chiro clinic and headed to pick up a Kijiji purchase I had found. We have a second change table going in preparation for baby girl. And I found someone selling a change pad with three covers for $30. The change pad I purchased when Dekker was born was $40 on its own, without any covers, and its pretty destroyed. So I was pretty happy with the find. The transaction worked out, and it looks virtually brand new. Just gotta wash it up and we’ll be good to go on that!

That was our last stop of the day. The original plan had been to go in, get chiro treatments, grab iced coffee, and drive home. Plans changed, and I’m glad they did. We had a lot of success! And tomorrow is maternity photo day!!! Now we don’t have to try and run all those errands tomorrow after pictures. And probably the best part of all – I don’t ache! Yet.

It was a good day. And tomorrow will be great too. Tomorrow Dekker will officially be two years old. I will likely go over his birth in my head (and out loud, I’m sure) over and over again. We will celebrate him with my parents over dinner.

And in the day, we will also celebrate the new baby that will soon come into the world and show us her beautiful face.

The anticipation is so sweet, I can taste it.

“Chill” seems like a bad title in all this heat. However, today was a recovery day from yesterday and I didn’t set foot outside once. And it felt amazing. Not in the beginning though.

I’ve begun the phase of peeing twice every night. I think I’ve been lucky up until this point, honestly, only peeing once in the night for the first couple months, and now only the last few. I know you all wanted to know. However, I’m up to two pee breaks and while that should be all fine and good, my pelvis hurts SO badly by the second pee break that trying to get out of bed wakes me right up, and I’m done for the night. This morning it was around 5:00. I was up until 8:00. At that point I was feeling sooo heat strokey and nauseous that I attempted sleep again. It took until around 8:45 I’m guessing, but we got a phone call at 9:15 and the night was then officially over. I shouldn’t complain. 9:15 is a perfectly respectable time to call someone! But it sucked this morning.

Lucky for me, Dekker slept in super late, thanks to his amazing day yesterday! So Brady ran out and did a few errands in the morning while I lay in bed in a certain amount of pain, watching YouTube videos. When he came back, we had bagels for breakfast before getting Dekker. We spent the day in the cool basement, playing toys. I know, it seems like a shame after having so much fun outside yesterday. But I figured if I was feeling heat stroke, everyone likely had some as well, and we could use a day off. So we played toys and watched a movie and snacked all day long. Since absolutely everything we wore yesterday was covered in sweat and food, I did a load of our laundry, a load of Dekker’s laundry, and did the cover on the vibrating bouncy chair for baby girl.

Every second that I wasn’t sitting or laying perfectly still, I was in pain. And pretty solid pain too! So we did the inevitable and booked a chiropractic appointment tomorrow to try and get some relief. Having no health insurance kind of sucks, but after adding it all up, we likely would spend more on the plan than we would on the services. However, dropping $40 every time starts to feel a little expensive. But hey, five more weeks!!! Really hoping not to carry overdue. Hopefully once she comes, I’ll get a little repair or two, and then I’ll be good to go!

Not much to report for today, except that we’re all a little faded out and ready for bed. So thats where we’ll be! Or in the bath. Either way, we’ll be snacking and dozing for the next couple of hours, I have no doubt.

Sleep in peace. I sure hope to!

Today was a complete whirlwind! And in the BEST possible way! We celebrated Dekker today. We have been blessed to have him in our lives for the last two years, and Lord willing, many many more. We celebrated in the hot sun, all of us sweating bullets. We celebrated as us old mennonite folk do – with food and hospitality. However, there was no sausage or potatoes in sight. Ice cream, my friends. Ice cream, toppings coming out the wazoo, fruit, and thats about it! Drinks. Lemon water and juice boxes only, but what else does a person need on an insanely hot day?? I know. Beer. Sorry, too many kids. Our guests totalled over 30, which was an incredible turnout! Ten of those guests were kids.

I’m thinking that the fact that I’m putting up the birthday party post on the actual birthday party day, before I’ve eaten supper, is pretty great. Therefore, I’m cheating and the rest of this post will be photos and captions. As I mentioned on my Facebook page, there may be an excessive amount of pictures. But I chose from like 300!!! Mom, I LOVE you for taking so many! I know you seem to think it should annoy me somehow, but I love it 🙂 Thank you for making it so I never have to worry about moments missed.

Let the photo post begin!!!

So needless to say, today was an amazing success on all levels. Dekker had a short nap right before his party and lasted the entire rest of the time. He was in great spirits, and loved the crowd of people. He wasn’t unhappy in the heat either. It was actually super refreshing to see him get sooo messy! I never thought I’d say something like that, but he is so very careful all the time, I was happy to see him get completely filthy and not care.

Once most of the guests had left, my parents stuck around and helped clean up. And a whopping 20 minutes later, everything was spotless. Yay for disposable everything!!! It was incredible. We chucked Dekker in the bath and cooled him off for a while, and he actually lasted until his regular bedtime, which I would never have expected. Our only challenge this evening was trying to keep him inside. He wanted to go back out sooo bad, but he was all fresh and clean and its still unbelievably hot out there. Maybe tomorrow 🙂

I am overwhelmed. In the best way. I love him.

We had SUCH an incredible day! I owe a million thankyous to my parents and husband. But that would be a super boring post. So instead, I’ll hand out a few more details.

My parents made the drive out late this morning and we all jumped on my list of chores. It wasn’t a horrible list, but just enough that I knew we needed help with it. The biggest tasks I wanted done were the boys chores. My dad mowed the lawn and tilled the garden while Brady sealed the deck and picnic table. That job is way overdue and I was so relieved that it was finally being done! With the crazy heat, everything dried at warp speed and it seemed like the product was pretty user friendly so it went nice and quick. Another really good thing about the boys chores was that Brady discovered another big hornets nest. Under the deck. Inhabiting hornets who wanted to eat our guests tomorrow. So Brady and dad took care of business right away. I guess the general rule is to deal with the nest in the morning or the night, since things are bit cooler and the hornets are less likely to be out and about. Lucky for us it was stupid degrees outside and the hornets were sluggish anyway. So, done and done. Sooo relieved they found it! Thanks boys!

Mom and I stayed in and tried our best to take turns with Dekker while the other was working. Between the two of us, we did all the dishes, which included over 30 mason jars done by hand, tidying up the upstairs, one load of laundry, laying out all the toppings, sweeping, cleaning out the entrance, and I’m sure more that I can’t think of just yet. They also brought a bunch of lawn chairs, and are signed up to bring a few other things I didn’t think of earlier. We had a brief lunch break in the middle but other than that, we all just worked our butts off. They left around 3pm and I’ll admit. The first thing I did was go downstairs and sit in the cooler temperature for a few minutes. Until I noticed I could stuff a few diapers while I was there. So I did that, and then brought up everything needed for wrapping Dekker’s present. I took care of that while Brady went out and bought ice for the coolers. And honestly, you guys, that was it! Everything is pretty much ready! There are a few small jobs to do tomorrow but nothing crazy AT ALL! If all of a sudden I had to host everyone inside, I think I would be ok with it. Its nice to feel somewhat put together, even if the idea is to be outside 98% of the time, right? Just in case.

Dekker slept all afternoon. We actually woke him at 6:30, which is nuts. We never wake him. But he was good and wiped out by bedtime so we had the BEST cuddle time ever (see my videos on Facebook?) and now he’s in bed. Diapers are in, garden is getting a drink, and I’m really anticipating a bath tonight!!! Maybe a freezie…

Can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow afternoon!!!

Today felt sooooo long! I was so worried halfway through that we wouldn’t get done what we set out to do. I was saying to Brady quite early that maybe we’d have to come back in tomorrow. But instead, we were total machines and did more than what we set out to do. I know you guys maybe don’t care about the exact events of my day but I’m proud of all we accomplished so I’m writing it out anyway.

We started with visiting my girlfriend Hailey. We brought her morning coffee and visited while our kids played toys together downstairs. Dekker was less afraid of the dog than he’d ever been! He would point and squeal at her in pure joy 🙂 Gives me hope that one day, he’ll love puppies as much as I do. We all had a really nice visit before we had to head out to make it to our ultrasound.

It was great. Our baby girl is absolutely beautiful. She felt so real to me as the tech checked her over and said things like “I’m just going to measure her femur.” She has femurs!!! She is at a healthy weight and could easily be a “healthy” size or a more-than healthy size. I guess there’s no general rule of how fast they grow now. I’ve heard anything from a pound a week to an ounce a day. Who knows. I’ll take her either way. My favorite picture we got from the scan is actually of her little nose and mouth. I love her.

We grabbed a quick lunch afterwards, and then drove around downtown trying to find cool places for maternity photos. We actually had good success and found lots of spots. Now to choose between them! They’re all fairly close to each other but theres only so much time in a day and only so much energy in my son. So we’ll see. While we were downtown, I lamented again to Brady how all my cute clothes were fairly worn looking. Not super bad, but not nice and sharp and photo-worthy. So he offered to drop me at the mall for a few minutes to duck my head into a few stores and try to find something new that I felt super pretty in. Three stores later, I found a super cute little dress that I purchased for nice and cheap. Its a bit dressier than we tend to opt for when it comes to family photos but I think it’ll be a fun change. I’m so excited for picture day next week!

At this point, it was 3pm! Our entire purpose for going to Saskatoon today was to pick up everything for Dekker’s birthday party on Sunday, and we hadn’t even touched it. I felt awful and overwhelmed and again said that maybe we should come in again on Saturday. But we pressed on. Not without making another non-Dekker stop!  White paint for the new baby’s crib. While we weren’t impressed with the price and debated going elsewhere, we bit the bullet in an effort to get the paint to our home so we can at least pretend the crib will be painted in time for her delivery.

FINALLY we started on Dekker jobs! I ran into Dollarama for more disposable bowls, as well as spoons, wrapping paper, tissue paper, and more things that I am confident I’m forgetting. After that, Brady dropped me off at Superstore and drove himself and Dekker to the house of another mother who sold us a gorgeous eyelet bumper pad for $5! Perfect condition!

The reason we had to keep splitting up was that a certain someone was exhausted and not in the friendliest frame of mind. Also, another certain someone forgot his shoes at home.

At Superstore I purchased all sorts of toppings for our much anticipated ice cream sundaes! Cherries, Skor chips, gummy bears, peanuts, oreos, sprinkles, and more. As if I remember everything. As if you care that much about every grocery item I purchased. I left Superstore and went to the Wholesale Club. I never shop there. I find their “wholesale” prices are a lot more expensive than Superstore, but I could not resist. Ready?

Can you hear the angels singing?? ICE CREAM! We are now the proud owners of an unreasonable amount of ice cream. Seriously guys, invite your friends.

We finally began the drive home, all of us whooped completely. Our trunk was full of sweet things and the car was full of music to try and calm the frustrated toddler in the backseat. However, we couldn’t resist stopping in Dalmeny to pick up gifts from my mom. She has made baby girl (and Dekker, in the past) beautiful receiving blankets and burp cloths. She wasn’t home today, but left out a bag of the rest of the burp cloths that she completed, and the cloth wipes we had been talking about. She offered a couple of days ago to take the old sketchy blankets I bought second hand home and make them into wipes for us. A couple of days ago. They’re done. Over a hundred wipes.

They’re so pretty, I almost don’t want to wipe bums with them!

When we arrived home, Dekker went straight down for a nap, Brady carried everything in from the car, and I sorted out all the birthday stuff.

BIRTHDAY BOX!!! I’m really looking forward to laying everything out and getting it ready. Tomorrow is likely going to be a big day of jobs around the house. I’m not loving the thunderstorm warning for Sunday 🙁 Prayers against that would be greatly appreciated!

Just discovered our water heater glitched and turned off. No hot water for us for a couple of hours. Therefore, no soak in the tub 🙁 My legs are unimpressed with this verdict. Out to the deck for coffee, I suppose.

I can’t remember the last time I went shopping without Dekker. I have had brief outings where he isn’t with me, and those always feel like a bit of a treat, but never a shopping day with a girlfriend! I feel the need to say (yet I’m sure lots of mothers can relate) that I am completely head over heels for my son! But its different. Not having to think about what he needs in that very moment, or having to haul him out of a store, or chase him around. Its a nice break.

My friend was in Saskatoon for one day, so I drove into the city to meet her and her brand new baby boy at the mall. I beat her there, so I picked up some Starbucks and leisurely wandered the mall, popping in wherever I desired. Bought baby girl a sleeper. Kept walking. It was so relaxing to just saunter on without a responsibility really. However, the real shopping began when my Jeana arrived. Its nice to shop with someone and bounce ideas and styles off of them.

One of the fun things about shopping with Jeana is that our styles are polar opposite! We gravitate towards wildly different things. Yet we know this about each other, and its actually nice to be able to be honest, to disagree, and then still buy what we like. No judging. We still manage to successfully purchase things, despite the other persons delicate “Well, I wouldn’t wear it, but it looks nice on you!”

I have some birthday money to spend, and I’ve been trying to decide what to spend it on. Clothes seems a little silly right now, and the main things I want is mukluks, but they’re a good couple hundred dollars and I do not have that much birthday money! I was keeping my eye open for things that jumped out at me that I wouldn’t normally purchase. And then I found my new shoes!

I’ve been wanting to get on the Toms bandwagon for a while but being exactly who I am, I have trouble justifying spending much money on clothes or shoes. When I saw these, they looked so comfy. So I checked them out and the insides were so soft! They fit beautifully and at full price, they were only $30!! Some other colors were on an amazing sale. I’m debating going back for another pair. However, that was done and we kept shopping. I picked up a sweater for $6 from Smart Set which I was also really pumped about!

I know buying clothes is probably not the smartest idea, but it fits me shoulders like everything else I own, so I’m fairly confident that it will fit post-baby, in fall, when a sweater/long sleeved shirt makes sense. Plus, six dollars. C’mon. Worth the risk.

We all had lunch and then headed to Walmart to pick up a few things. I kind of have to laugh, because I ended up forgetting half the stuff I was going to buy, but I did ok. Some groceries, deck sealant, insoles, mason jars, and crayons. Jeana did a bit more shopping too, but then it was time to part ways so she could drive home to be with her husband and other kids. It was sad. We so rarely see each other. But it was a really nice date 🙂

I came home to a productive husband. Completely out of the blue, he was laundering our entire bed. As in pillows and everything. Not to be gross, but I had no idea people washed their pillows! Our bed is completely puffy and I’m sooo excited to sleep in it tonight!!! He also started the process of washing the car seat cover and all the covers of things our baby girl will use when she finally surfaces. Since he was on such a roll with laundry, I grabbed all of baby girls sleepers that I’ve been trying to acquire in the last couple of weeks and ran them through a load, along with a couple gorgeous muslin blankets my mom bought for her while visiting family in Ontario. Yes, I’m photo happy.

 

I’m quite happy with them 🙂 I also had a very generous friend hand over a large bag of newborn baby girl things for us to use. Sleepers, diaper shirts, shoes, etc. I feel so blessed to have the friends that I have!

Being that its 9:30pm, I think its time for supper! Then off to bed to rest up for a big day tomorrow! The most exciting event of tomorrow will be our ultrasound! We have never had the pleasure of seeing our baby on screen so late in the game and we couldn’t be happier 🙂 After that, we plan to purchase EVERYTHING we need for Dekker’s birthday party on Sunday! Ice cream, toppings, sauces, fruit, etc. Every part of me wants to add all the baby things to the shopping list, but I will resist!!! Baby shopping day will have to be another time. Tomorrow is prep for Dekker Day!

Hoping my list of toppings is delicious enough for everyone. Anyone have any sundae toppings they can’t live without??

My mom came over to play today! She has been away quite a bit the last little while and has been experience Dekker withdrawal. Can’t blame her really. So she came over and Dekker was playing chase from her arrival basically until she left, with only a few breaks in between. For snacks and photo ops.

 

We played hard until Dekker got surprise when he slapped a metal shelf and the noise scared him. He was sooo worked up after that! So we brought him upstairs and had a quick bum change, and he was out. Once he was sleeping, my mom and I got some egg salad on the go for lunch. We had that with milk, and watermelon. It was sooo delicious! After lunch, we took just a few steps over to the living room and plunked down on the couches. I’ll be honest. With my pelvis giving me this much trouble, I do a lot of sitting when I can so that I’m able to get up and run around when I need to. So we sat comfy in the living room and talked about all the things on my lists for before Dekker’s party and for before baby girl arrives. I know, I’ve talked about these lists a lot, but my mom hasn’t been home to dissect them with me until today! So we hashed them out and I realized that they all actually quite doable. If Brady and I ran into the city for one full day, we could probably accomplish everything we need to do, minus painting the crib and change table I suppose. But everything we need to buy could be done in one day, and probably the home stuff in one more day. Its just different with a toddler around. We discussed the possibility of my mom taking Dekker for a day while Brady and I spent a day in Saskatoon getting ready for baby girl. We also talked about maternity pictures, when and where, and what the action plan will be when I go into labor. It was nice to talk about all of this, to really bring it to a point of reality! Guys, Dekker’s birthday is in exactly one week, and one month from that is our baby girls due date!!! Sooo soon!

After she left I continued to play with my lists and plan more for Dekkers party. I’m excited to say that we’re expecting a bigger turnout than last year! Not that it has to be something huge, but I’m thrilled that our family has more friends this year, and that there will be more people around to celebrate Dekker’s life, even if he sleeps through the whole party, hahaha! Sooo looking forward to it!

I also did dishes, which really just resulted in soaking my belly. As per usual.

And I slugged back a Jones Soda, which had by far the lamest “fortune” I’ve ever read in a Jones cap. I thought they were better than that.

Brady got home quite late, so we didn’t actually all have supper together. But we got in solid play time with Dekker and then he came for bedtime cuddles, which as I mentioned in an earlier post, have turned into more of a playtime on our bed. I couldn’t capture it to its full extent, but Dekker was completely gorgeous tonight and it blew my mind. I know he’s beautiful, but his eyes were sparkly like I have never seen them. His hair was all fluffy and swept up from rigorous playing. His cheeks were rosy, likely from the heat and from running around, and his smile was HUGE! He is sooo beautiful!

 

(* You make think they all look the same, but I can’t stop staring at him! At least I only chose four, because that was a looong photo shoot!)

He’s now in bed, and Brady and I are trying to figure out what to eat for supper at 9pm. C’mon, we all know its going to be something guilty pleasure. But super delicious I hope. Because I am so hungry!!!

Tomorrow, spending the day with a friend I haven’t seen in years! Really looking forward to catching up and meeting her latest bundle.

I realize that the title suggests that I cuddled with Jerilee at bedtime. Thats not actually what I was going for. Just two significant events of today. It was a really nice day 🙂

I slept in 🙂 After the last two mornings being waaay too early for my taste, this morning I slept in until after 9:00am. It was delightful. I watched a few YouTube videos and putzed around Facebook until Dekker woke up. He had a big breakfast and then we went downstairs for toys. He was in a pretty strange mood most of the day. He would go from giggling and chatting and joking around, to just whipping himself down and throwing a fit. It was really new, but the tantrums weren’t the worst I’ve seen at all so while the behaviour is not what I like to see, it has been worse in the past. Just figuring. Jerilee came in the early afternoon and we caught up. She leads a super busy life and I feel like every time we get together, I’ve missed TONS! So I always enjoy our visits and catching up. Deks went down for a nap partway through her visit so we had some watermelon and grilled cheese and continued our chat until she had to head home. It was minutes after she left that Brady arrived. They had waved on the highway and everything.

Dekker ate a good sized supper with us but was still in a very “zero to sixty” type mood, so we sliced up an apple for him and went back downstairs to play toys and have a bit of tv on in the background. He played pretty well, and it seemed that his little fits could always be solved by one of us holding him on our lap and giving him some apple. I’m not sure what was going on all day. Maybe a tummy ache? I wondered about his temperature once in a while, as his feet and nose were warm, but his cheeks were cool, so who knows. We all have off days I suppose.

The last few nights haven’t been very cuddly. Dekkers been in a foul state when he comes into our room and basically just slaps our faces and fights until we put him to bed. Its an awful way to leave off at the end of the day. Usually Brady brings Deks to me, we have a drink and a good long cuddle, and some singing, and then Brady carries him off to bed, they pray together, and then Dekker goes down without a sound. Not the last few days though. They’ve ended with screaming, and they’ve ended more abruptly, even though Brady is sooo patient with him and we never put him down in anger. So tonight when they came in and Dekker started whipping around and fussing, he threw himself back on the bed, and I chucked his blanket over him. And that became the game. We played and peeked and tickled and talked and sang. He just wanted to lay by himself. Of course, once he was comfy and settled, he didn’t want to be moved. Eventually the playing calmed a little and I just lay beside him and rubbed his belly and chest. He was so content in those moments. Brady came to join the fun a few minutes later, and there was more tickling and Dekker seemed to retell all of his stories. Then Dekker changed the game and just wanted kiss after kiss after kiss, which we were more than happy to give to him. Lots of kisses later, he decided to sit up directly in front of us and tell us stories. We listened intently until he burped and smacked his belly. We just about killed ourselves laughing, while he just sat there very patiently waiting for us to relax, before he finished his story. It was adorable. I love him.

It was sad to see him go. Bedtime cuddles went on waaay longer than usual, and he was so happy to just be in our room, playing with us on our bed. But alas, bedtime is bedtime. So he’s now safely tucked away for the night, and we are doing our regular bedtime routine of putting the diapers through, Bradys making his lunch, and I”m doing this. Soon there will be a bath ran and a snack made, and sadly no more meteor shower. However, I don’t see the star gazing being done for. That has been so nice, to just sit outside in the evening together, enjoying the fresh air. 

Tomorrow I’ll date my mom, which I’m suuuper looking forward to. I’ve just reviewed my next two weeks and oh my gosh, they are super insane. I’m not sure how they’re already booked so solidly or how we’ll add in the things that inevitably come up. And its only Tuesday of this week. Yikes!

Brady was home today. The plan was laundry and movies and just having a family day. As I said, that was the plan. How often do things actually lay out that way?

My mom got home last night! She was visiting family and arrived stupidly late last night, so I called her late this morning to wish her a belated happy birthday and see how her trip had been. She had lots of great memories to tell me about, and seemed happy with the visit and just as happy to be home. Then we talked a bit about the things she missed while she was gone. I told her I had found and swiped her pelvic support belt. I talked about how I tried to wear it and while it was an improvement, it wasn’t all right. She suggested I call Dr. Mike’s office and see if they would just stick me in somewhere in the day to quickly learn how to wear it and ask a question or two. I agreed that it was a smart idea, since I’d like to get it right sooner than later rather than do more damage. So we finished our visit, I went and put on some comfy around the house clothes, dragged some laundry downstairs, and then called the clinic. It was 11:10am.

The receptionist said she thought it would be a good idea to come in and ask some questions, free of charge. (YES!) And then it went like this:

His last appointment is at noon so I’ll just stick you in after that.
Noon? Today?
Yes. He has to leave immediately afterwards to make it to a board meeting in Regina. But a few questions will be fine.
Ok, if you’re sure. I gotta get on the road right now!
Oh?
I’m out of town.
Well then yes you do!

I was out the door five minutes later. No deodorant. No makeup. I didn’t even brush my teeth. And I was in ill-fitting clothing. I just grabbed the belt, my wallet, my phone and keys, and was out the door. On the highway at 11:!5.

And at Dr. Mike’s office at 11:59. To put it lightly, I made beautiful time and didn’t see one cop. Which was a relief.

In making great time, I actually waited in the main waiting room for a few minutes. I was pretty relieved I hadn’t held anything up. While I waited, a woman came through to book an appointment and had a very strange attitude. Very dramatic and VERY uncomfortable. She had a long list of demands and needed a very specific appointment time. The receptionists there are frightfully, almost annoyingly polite, and dealt with her seamlessly, but when she was gone they all looked a little relieved. They know me by now, so we all had a little giggle over her behaviour before a room opened up.

Fastest appointment ever. But I rushed it as well, knowing full well Dr. Mike had somewhere to be. He was really happy with the belt I brought and said it was the exact type he was talking about. I learned how and where to wear it, and that thankfully, there’s a little bit of wiggle room, so if I get it sitting a little wrong, its not going to hurt anything. However, there is no wiggle room with the actual room. Nooo wiggling. It needs to be as tight as possible. He put it on me as tight as he could, and then I yanked it over one notch further. I’ll say right now that its sadly NOT a fashion statement. It looks very “medical” in my opinion, but the way it holds me together makes it completely worth it. Done and done in a few minutes, no charge. Loved it.

I ran over to Dollarama afterwards and picked up a few things I had forgotten to get the other day while I was there. A tablecloth for outside, bubbles, sprinkles, things like that. Then to Costco for flowers for my mom. However, its Costco, and you can’t leave without scanning through the sleepers. Being that our baby only has three little sleepers than will fit right away, I felt I could justify buying a few. So I picked out three new ones, two of which are the super soft fuzzy ones. One has cupcakes and one has dots and owls. The other cotton one is grey striped with a little pink fox on it. LOVE them!

I brought my mom the flowers from our family, and we plunked down for a bit more of a visit. Its impossible to drop in on her and not visit for hours. So we had a great chat before I headed back home to my husband, my sleeping son, and lunch.

The rest of the evening has been nice and low key. The laundry was just about finished when I arrived home so I helped finish it off, and other than that, we jumped into our new evening routine of going outside to water the garden and play on the deck. We blew bubbles and played with a soccer ball. Dekker just loves it out there!

However, this particular playtime resulted in a very messy, grey faced little boy. I’m not sure what did it this time specifically, but he was way too dirty. So inside for a bath we went. From his new favorite place to his consistently least favorite place. It was pretty traumatic getting him in the tub but once in, he did a lot better. However, I will never know how people can pour water over their kids heads without them crying. He HATES it and I can’t find another way to rinse him off. So I finally just go for it and he screams bloody murder. Worst ever. But we lived. Barely, apparently.

Brady took a nice long time getting Deks dried off, changed, and dressed for bed. When they came for cuddles, I could already tell that actual cuddles were out of the question. So I pulled out the laptop and played a video of Caity and Stefan reading him a story. He loved it sooo much, so we watched it one more time. Then I asked him if it was nighttime and he got sooo excited!! See, thats just how our weird son operates if we catch him at that perfect window. Not overtired, but just tired enough. He grabbed his blanket and basically dive bombed Brady to carry him to bed. No tears, no fussing. Just eye rubbing. It was perfect.

Now, our bath is run, no diaper laundry today, garden is watered, and watermelon is sliced and ready to be eaten. Sooo ready!