I hope I can get todays events in order! It was sooo busy and honestly, I’m really, really sore. It was a great day, which I feel like I can’t always say about the busy ones these days, but it truly went as smoothly as possible! Dekker hardly slept at all and had very few meltdowns. It was uneventful that way, but super eventful in every other way.

Our first stop of the day was getting my hair done. My appointment was for 11am so we knew we had to be out the door by 10am. An hour is a lot, given that my hair place is on the north end of Saskatoon, but there is sporadic construction everywhere right now, including on the highway, so you never know how long things will take. I did, however, get to my hair appointment about twenty minutes early and she was ready and waiting! So I got in early and discussed with her my thoughts of changes I might like to make. While I actually really like the straight up white blonde, I have to wear make up with it. Otherwise I look super white, and not always in a pretty way. I don’t mind this, as I almost always have a bit of makeup on, but I thought instead of looking ill in all the new baby photos (or instead of looking more ill and tired than a new mother should look) I would add a bit of something extra to my hair to give me something different. I don’t know if that makes sense but its also just fun to try new things 🙂 Voila!

I think its fun anyway. Plus it will give me some extra time to grow my roots out before I go back in for a touch up. Seems like the perfect time for a change like this.

We hit up the chiropractors office afterwards, and I got in trouble. I have been feeling AMAZING recently, virtually pain-free! Until yesterday. I don’t know what happened, as it was my first day at home with almost nothing to do, but I did something and my pubic bone was HORRIBLE! My legs wanted to tear off and my lower back sucked. It was sooo painful, and it carried on overnight and into the day. So I was pretty pumped I made my appointment for today instead of Thursday. I got in trouble for not wearing my belt. I just thought that I was feeling well enough to let it sit for a while, but I guess I should have been using it preventatively. My bad. So I got heck, and I definitely paid for it. I am sore. The treatment was one of the more painful ones I’ve had, but I know its working already and for that I’m so thankful!

I had three things to look for at Walmart so we headed to one that we don’t usually go to. I knew for a fact that one of things we were looking for was not at our regular location. And we struck out. Not one of the things on our list could we find. We bought a ball of yarn and a funny red chair for Dekker. Didn’t exactly think that one through…

(* Happy to report that he loves it though!)

We went back to our familiar Walmart to look for the other items at least and struck out again. Lame. Oh well, none of them were “must haves” so I guess its ok. While at the second Walmart, we jogged over to Old Navy and bought Halloween costumes for Dekker and baby girl. I know, its not like she’ll be anywhere near enjoying candy, but we’re going to take Dekker out and who doesn’t want to dress a one month old up in something soft and bring her along?!?! My kids are going to be sooo cute in their costumes! And I know its really early to purchase costumes, but they were already on sale for 40% off and there was almost nothing in a baby size, so I’m glad we went when we did.

Finally finished in that section of the city, we headed downtown to meet up with our goldsmith. If you remember, Brady designed a beautiful family ring for me last year. We can’t do the birthstone concept because even just Brady and I together have non-matching birthstones, and Dekker makes them even worse. So instead, with every child we have, we’re building the ring up with thing pieces of gold. Its hard to explain. I’ll take a picture once its finished with its upgrade this time around. Anyway, our guy has a crazy busy month so he’s asked us to call and bring in the ring at the end of the month and we’d get it back within the week likely, as opposed to him taking it today and not giving it to us for weeks. So the ring currently has a strand of yellow gold for Dekker and will soon have a strand of rose gold for baby girl. I cannot WAIT to get it all done and wear it proudly to celebrate her life!

Our last stop was to pick up a mouse for my parents. Weirdly, their computer mouse wore out in the spot where my mom clicks it the most! So we stopped at OTV and bought an $8 mouse, quickly stopped in at my parents to set it up for them, and then headed home.

It is sooo good to be home! Dekker ate and played and is now in bed. He was surprisingly energetic this evening for having barely napped at all in the day, but he was also pretty touchy and had a bit of an attitude, so we know he was feeling it. He would just rather have stayed playing than having to go to bed. I know that feeling too. Can’t blame him. But he is now in bed and supper is in the making! Its going to be a nice quiet evening around here (I hope) and then not a whole lot is planned for tomorrow. A home day for the family. Hopefully packing for babys birth. Yay us!

 

 

I can’t remember the last day I had like this. I LOVE having company over, and I LOVE going out. I especially like these things because I know they won’t be on my schedule right away after baby girl comes. Get my kicks in now, right?

But of course, a quiet day at home is a nice change, and with the way I’m tiring out so fast these days, perhaps a much-needed change of pace. I spent the morning catching up on some YouTube channels that I follow, and chatting with one of my girlfriends on the phone. I ate a chocolate muffin in my bed and relaxed. I WOKE Dekker at about 1:45pm when I decided he was just nuts. He was definitely asleep but rested and happy to be awake. Since it was already past lunchtime, I fed him as much food as I could stuff into him and threw all the laundry downstairs while I had him strapped in at the table. His diaper pail smelled like toxic waste so I opted to do that load of laundry first and follow it up with our clothes, Brady’s work clothes, and baby clothes. Not much laundry to do, but still nice to have it done.

Dekker and I played downstairs and did laundry for the rest of the afternoon. I had a pretty hard time with him this afternoon, actually. He is taking more and more spills and really, really hurting himself. I’m having to decide whether I even want to patch him! I called the specialists office that I’m hoping to go to for a second opinion, and the doctor hasn’t gotten to my referral yet, which I totally understand! It was just send through at the end of last week, and she has to read it and decide whether to squeeze him in sometime soon or just book him into the next open slot, which would be in the new year. I’m really struggling with what to do next while I wait for the decision, but after talking to my mom on the phone this evening, we put together a few ideas of things to try over the next week or two that might give some insight. I feel better having those ideas on hand. She also pointed out to me that Dekker maybe isn’t as scared as I feel he might be. He is always with us. He is never left. If he trips, we comfort him. If he’s unsure, we carry him. if he’s hungry, we feed him. He doesn’t have to be constantly afraid or uncertain because he is cuddled, held, hugged, and kissed more than the average adult is in a day. Hopefully we’re right, and he does feel safe. That really made me feel calm about how our afternoon played out.

Deks went back down for a nap around 5pm and Brady brought subs home for supper. We watched a bit of TV before waking baby son up again for food and the evening. He ate the last quarter of my sub that was leftover and then raced around the house with us while we installed the video monitor we got from Costco, continued with the laundry, and switched out his mattress. Ready to see what morning workouts did to his old mattress?

Yup, those are the springs sticking out the sides!!! Sooo thankful to the lovely lady at church who was giving a crib mattress away. That one is in almost new condition 🙂 Thank you!!

Tomorrow is a FULL city day. Getting my hair redone, chiropractor appointment, going to our jeweller to possibly put more gold into my family ring to represent our baby girl, looking at Halloween costumes, buying another big storage tub, aaaaand…I think thats it! I hope thats it anyway. Thursday is a big day too, filled with my prenatal appointment, leg waxing appointment, a stop at Cravings, Dollarama, Superstore, and Extra foods, with an evening spent at the church at a music committee meeting. Perhaps one day my baby will come and then I will be happily “stuck” at home for a little while 🙂

Now Dekker is in bed (however, not at all asleep! This video monitor is going to be entertaining…) and we are running a bath and anticipating a snack. This last batch of nectarines sucked 🙁 I’m kind of grumpy about that but maybe they’re still ripening. We’ll have to see. Definitely craving chocolate milk today.

 

Today was nuts. Or bananas. Huh. A Sunday with bananas and nuts. Sounds suspiciously like a different kind of Sunday.

Brady and I were up for worship leading in the morning, and as always, practice was set for 9am so we could level it all out with the sound guy. Being that we live a decent ways away, we have to leave home around 8:30 to make it to church by 9:00. Aaaaand either we slept through the alarms or turned them off while sleeping, but I woke up and groggily looked at the clock at 8:15. Panic ensued. Brady and I bolted out of bed and raced around like crazy people!! Nineteen minutes later, Brady, Dekker and I were all dressed and in the car. I even got some makeup on before we left. We brought all our ice cream and toppings for our lunch gathering with friends, as well as breakfast for Dekker. We even remembered things like a fresh wet bag and an extra patch for when Dekker got up from his afternoon nap. We brought everything!! But it was chaos.

Practice did not go smoothly. Dekker took one biff and would not go down for the rest of it, so Brady barely got to play guitar. It wasn’t devastating, since we practiced together Saturday night, but it would have been nice to work out the sound in advance anyway. It felt very haphazard to me, which is always ominous when you know that in a short time you’ll be playing and singing in front of a crowd, even though they are all wonderful people.

Between practice and the actual service is about 45 minutes. We headed to my moms house for a quick breakfast and reprieve so we could take a breath before heading back out. We had some raisin toast and tried to rest a little but in no time at all, we had to head back to church. We got back in plenty of time, and Brady put Dekker down for a nap. I know, it seems nuts but Dekker will still sleep through church on the Sundays that we lead, since we have to wake him up so early. When he was quiet, Brady and I played some music just to bring people into the seats, and then we started.

God is good, and calmed our flustered nerves, and I think I can safely say the music sounded good. Technically, and spiritually. It was nice to see such a good response, and to not make as many mistakes as I thought we might. It wasn’t the smoothest worship set we’ve done but I think it hit home to a few people anyway.

As the music tends to work at our church, we were up three different times throughout the service, plus Brady played a song during offertory. As soon as the service was done, and we played everyone out, I was rushed up so a large group of men could move the huge piano from the ground level back up onto the stage. From there, I chatted with a whole bunch of people about Dekker, since this was the first time he had been in church with a patch. So I recounted the last two weeks a few times over while buying a carseat canopy off a friend of mine and accepting a crib mattress one lovely woman in our church was giving away. Dekker’s morning workouts have destroyed his mattress and I’m scared the springs are going to poke out and attack him one night, so this was sooo perfect and super generous! If you haven’t caught the theme of the day, it was “nonstop.”

I was late getting downstairs after church, where my small group was meeting for the first time since June. We took the summer off form meeting every two weeks and now we’re back! We just did a nice meal together to set up times and dates, but mostly just to catch up with each other. It was really nice to see everyone together again, with sooo many kids between all of us! I like our group a lot 🙂 We at e a ton, and everyone did a solid number on the ice cream we brought! We have lots left over from Dekker’s party and we did some serious damage on it today, which i’m actually thrilled about. Losing baby weight will be easier if I have less than 23L of ice cream in my house…

After lunch, Dekker was furious. I wonder if he actually slept at all this morning or just lay there listening. But he was exhausted. Sweating, acting out, screeching, etc. So we brought him to my moms and put him down. Instead of everyone taking a load off finally, Brady drove to Costco. We discovered a day or two ago that my front passenger tire is slowly leaking. Thankfully, we got our tires at Costco and those repairs and patch jobs are free! So Brady went to go get that fixed, and to pick up the groceries that are on our list to buy this week that aren’t found at Superstore. One less thing to accomplish on Tuesday and Thursday, our designated errand days! However, while Brady was still going strong, I was not. I lay on the couch and watched a bit of TV with my mom before we decided to play cards. I didn’t even wear my bra this afternoon. I was too uncomfortable for it, and I just wanted to relax finally! So I did, and it was awesome.

Dekker slept the afternoon away and Brady came home in good time! We had a quiet supper all together before getting Dekker up. Luckily, he loved supper and ate really well, and then played toys like crazy until we left. Now, we are home and sooo ready for a bath! I’ve eaten so much today, I’m not sure if we’ll even snack. Maybe we’ll check to see if the nectarines are good yet.

On a final note, for the last couple of nights, my throat has been a bit sore. Definitely not the time to get sick. So I will first snack on some vitamin C and gargle mouthwash, and then assess the other snack situation. Prayers against illness would be greatly appreciated!

It is SO good to be home!

As I said in yesterdays post, my Hailey was over for the night. We ate like royalty (royalty who eats pulled pork on buns, anyway) and slept like logs. I woke up after 9am and, being that it was me that had company, I went out to play on my phone in the living room in case she surfaced. Not that I was put together or anything, unless being in sweats and a sports bra counts as being ‘together.” I was completely thrilled when she slept in like crazy and didn’t arrive upstairs until after 10am! We all needed to sleep in, clearly. Except, of course, the lovely Brady, who left early in the morning to drive to Saskatoon for Tims and croissants. It was such a treat to have a yummy brunch, and I’m pretty confident Brady actually enjoyed the morning drive in the nice car with the loud music. I know I love those quick trips by myself. So when we were all together in comfy wear, we got Dekker up and had brunch. It was super delicious. Dekker at 3.5 croissants and a banana, which is a lot! However, he was struggling from pretty well right when he got up until naptime. Needless to say, he wasn’t up too long. When he went down, we all opted for a quick lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup. I LOVE that meal. We just sat around the table and visited once we were done eating, and all of a sudden it was 5pm!!! So hilarious how that tends to happen to us 🙂 At least we think its funny! We all quickly rushed off to get dressed in normal clothes and get somewhat “ready for the day”, which seemed a little silly at that point. But Hailey and had to get home and we had to head to my parents to practice music for Sunday and have dinner. So we all had hugs and went our separate ways for the rest of the evening.

We enjoyed a CRAZY chicken stew with my mom and dad, along with super yummy biscuits and garden fresh cucumbers. I love garden things, and cannot WAIT until our corn is ready! Not just yet though. But soon enough, we’ll have an absurd amount of it. After dinner, we practiced, and Dekked played sooo well! I’m discouraged to see him so clumsy these days, and I hate feeling like his eyes are getting worse as opposed to better, but what can I do? I think I might actually call the specialist that we were referred to and basically tell them I’m due in two weeks and could they squeeze us in somewhere this next week. Its gonna be a huge week either way. So much to do!

Let’s back up. Two weeks, guys. Add with me, would you? Today is the 7th. In exactly two weeks, it will be the 21st. That is our due date. And the 7th is almost over! Meaning in about a half hour I’ll be less than two weeks from my due date!!!!! I know, there is a decent possibility that I will go over, and that is something I’ve accepted and can face. But its nice to be approaching that milestone date anyway. If she is going to stay in overdue, the longest it can be before I’m in labor is 24 days. I could make that work. But I”m also really hoping I don’t have to.

As I say to her and everyone else so often, little one, you are welcome any time!!

I can’t remember the last time we had an overnight guest 🙂 We LOVE having people over, and we were really excited at the idea of my girlfriend, Hailey, taking a night off and spending time with us! And clearly its worked out, considering its 1am Saturday morning and this is supposed to be Fridays post. I blame…friendship.

While Brady was at work, I spent the morning comfy in bed, as I do as often as I can, before getting Dekker up and fed. He’s struggling with his patch more and more these days, which breaks my heart. He still lets us put it on just fine, and doesn’t fuss too hard when it comes off, but as soon as its on, he has a BIG cry 🙁 Every time. I’ve also been noticing that certain things that I expected would happen in the beginning of him wearing the patch are progressively getting worse. He runs into stuff and falls a LOT. More than he did the first or second day. And his perception is off. If I’m helping him finish his food and I give him a bite of something, he’s leans way off to the side. He was more centered before. I feel like the patch so far has only made things worse. I know, its only been two weeks, but c’mon, its been two whole weeks!!! Sigh.

Hailey came in the early afternoon with my tea and her overnight stuff. We spent the afternoon catching up on current life, as well as reminiscing about the past, having kids, high school, etc. Its weird how awkwardly similar we are sometimes, but I think I can safely say we like it.

So, go me, I put supper int he crock pot at 9am! I threw a chunk of a pork loin into the slow cooker, added a can of root beer, and turned it on. I drained it, pulled it, and added barbecue sauce around 5:30 or 6:00 and it was PERFECT! Brady brought buns home and we whipped up a cucumber salad. And you guys, we DESTROYED it! The flavor was actually pretty incredible and there is almost none left. If you’ve ever bought those huge pork bats/weapons from Costco, we demolished about a third of one in one sitting. But it was really yummy and I was so happy that we ate so much 🙂 After supper, we went outside with Dekker and blew bubbles, played with the soccer ball a bit, and then Brady and Dekker took a long walk around our yard. Dekker hates walking on the grass and always has. As in he almost won’t even do it in shoes. Today, he was barefoot, and just decided to roll with it. At first he marched a little, but then he got into it, and he and Brady held hands and walked and walked and walked. When Brady finally carried him back to the deck, it wasn’t because Deks tired out. He wanted to keep going! He was pretty sad when we brought him inside when was full of eye rubs when he came out to say goodnight. And he didn’t make a sound the rest of the evening. I love him.

I’m pretty sure Brady, Hailey, and I could have talked all night, but calling it shortly before 1:00 was probably smart. I realized that I still hadn’t stuffed diapers and Dekker is completely out! So I ran downstairs to stuff them off the drying rack, and Hailey and Brady both came to help, which I thoroughly enjoyed! Plus it made stuffing 20 diapers go sooo much faster! But now we’ve officially gone our separate ways for night.

Lucky for us, Brady has promised to drive to Saskatoon in the morning so we can have Tims coffee for breakfast, as well as croissants that we forgot to buy during the week (oops). I am definitely looking forward to brunch tomorrow!

But more so looking forward to my sleep tonight. So cozy.

I had a doctors appointment this afternoon so I got Dekker up in good time to get ready and fed and leave a little early. Let’s be honest. Every time we aim for a time, we’re often at least five minutes later getting out the door than we originally had planned. Five minutes really isn’t bad at all, but I hate the stereotype that moms are always late and I have always been a punctual person, so I fight that pretty hard. Poor boy did great getting his diaper changed and his clothes on, but had a BIG cry after his patch for some reason 🙁 Broke my heart. He’s being so strong but he clearly still struggles with it.

Dekker finished his breakfast at a good speed and there wasn’t really enough time to go play for too long, but it was too early to leave. So I ran around the house getting a few last minute things, like a wet bag, some socks for him, a water bottle for me, etc. and he raced around after me like a little shadow. We killed ten minutes that way and then another five getting him out into the car. So we were still leaving fifteen minutes earlier than needed but since there is sooo much construction right now, I figured a little extra time wouldn’t hurt.

I was right. I mean, we got to the doctors office early but that never bothers me. I’d rather be early than late, always. Brady showed up in good time and we played with Dekker and fed him snacks until we were called in. I was surprised when my doctor stuck her head out the door and called us herself. They were short staffed today and she had said she had no problem calling her own patients. I mean, it shouldn’t be a big deal, but some doctors are super high and mighty I think, and she is not 🙂 I like that.

I really enjoyed todays appointment. I went in with a few questions, as usual, and my “birth plan” of about five points. I asked her if it was something I needed to write down, or could she just jot it down in my info that they would get. She said she’d rather we just went over it and if there were any really crazy requests, she would write them out for me. Luckily, she approved the few things on my list with no issue, and was pretty blunt about the fact that we’re second time parents and will likely only be “bothered” about things if we ask for help. The more likely scenario is that the nurses will mostly leave us alone. I don’t claim to know everything AT ALL, but its nice that I won’t have people breathing down my neck at every corner.

She also was very clear with me that my body is in fact mine and, even if it made me unpopular amongst a few, I get to make final decisions. She was very honest and used the term “twitchy fingers” when describing some of the staff in labor and delivery or antepartum who might try to convince me to get an induction of some kind, or something along those lines, when it truly isn’t necessary. I loved her honesty. It was good to talk to her about all these things and have her support all the things on my list.

I even got to ask her about Dekker, which I was super thankful for! I felt bad asking about my son on a day when they were understaffed and super busy, but she was more than happy to talk about him. I told her I was nervous about my last appointment regarding Dekker’s eyes and was hoping for another opinion. She asked what had happened (since the ophthalmologist still hasn’t sent her the info on his last appointment) and I told her the main rundown. Patching and likely surgery. I told her more than once that, if this is what he needs, I’m 100% on board, but just that her opinion had changed so quickly and SO drastically. She told me I had to be confident in the decision I’m going to have to make and of course we can ask for another opinion. So I requested the one that like three or four of you recommended, and the referral is in, no problem! Looking forward to that 🙂 I was so thankful that she had no issue with it. I tried to figure out how to ask in my head the whole drive over, and it always ended up too wordy or insulting. I didn’t want to say anything disrespectful about a doctor she trusted, and thankfully I didn’t have to go there at all. She just rolled with it.

General info is that baby is moving great, still fully engaged, great heart rate, and she’s welcome anytime!

Pictures of the kids room, you ask? I’ll post those momentarily. Don’t expect anything riveting. It isn’t repainted or anything. Its still green and brown with one more crib and one less recliner. The change table is different as well. But really, I just had fun organizing all the clothes and stuff, so thats really the novelty for me 🙂 Hope you guys like it too! (Its gonna be even better when there are two kids in it!)

Technically I have pictures of the top two drawers that are filled with our cloth diapers but like half the stash was gone when we took these photos so maybe I’ll post about those another day…

I personally couldn’t be happier with the outcome of this room. Well, I suppose a nicer window treatment would help, and some kind of photo above the new baby’s crib, but that will come. Dekker didn’t get his sign until…his first birthday maybe? Maybe even Christmas actually! So whats the rush? She’ll get something eventually.

I’m just still hoping that there will come a day when they’ll both sleep soundly in the same room. I hear it happens at some point. Sooner than later??!

Today was a completely and utterly lazy day. Dekker got up right before noon and to be honest, I stayed in bed until about 11:30. I had a few solid moments of guilt, thinking that Dekker was probably actually awake but just hanging out, and maybe I should go to him. But then I countered with “How much longer is this going to be an option? Not much longer at all.” So I stayed in bed. It was awesome. When Deks got up, I fed him and he raced to the stairs, so we went to play toys. I figured since he slept in so long, I’d keep him awake longer than usual so he could be good and tired for his nap. We don’t run a tight schedule at all but he is often tuckered out by 2:00, so I was thinking 3:00 would be nice. But by 2:15 he was just plain ticked. I asked if he’d like a snack and he ran over to the stairs and pointed up. So we went upstairs and he waited patiently next to his high chair for me to catch up with him and help him into it. I gave him some crackers, cheese, milk, and a bunch of carrots. I stalled him and read to him the best I could but he was pretty furious only fifteen minutes later. So I changed his bum, took his patch off, and gave him his blanket to hold. Usually, he hugs me and sort of sits on top of my belly if you can picture it, and we have a little cuddle before naptime. But he was just gunning for his bed! So bedtime it was. I went to have a snack myself and watch a few YouTube videos in bed, and dozed off. I love accidental naps 🙂 So I felt nice and refreshed when Brady arrived home with subs. Anyway, this is a very long way of describing a very lazy day. So I thought, since its not much of a story at all, I’d make it a “random fact” post. I should probably let other people decide if they qualify as fun facts…

1. Jerilee was over the other day and uses the word “balls” as an exclamation. Dekker is in a funny mimicking stage and repeated “balls” after her once. We just about died laughing! I forgot about it until today and tried to recreate the fun for Brady. But no. Dekker, when asked to say balls, will only say butts. Weird boy.

2. This pregnancy, I realized that not once did I take advantage of the Starbucks in the hospital I gave birth in. How did I miss that?! With people constantly asking what I needed or wanted, I never thought of Starbucks. However, this time it is on my radar, and not only am I amped about having good coffee at my disposal, but the Pumpkin Spice Latte is in season! Sooo ready to take advantage of that and not feel guilty about it!

3. We’ve been trying to tell Dekker more and more about his baby sister. Lately, when we try and ask him questions about her, he ignores us. And thats fine, I think. Every kid will respond in their own way, and we don’t want to push it. I’m confident he’ll be an amazing big brother once he figures it out. But we know that he knows the answers to our questions. He knows the baby is the same as his sister, and that her name is also the same. Baby is in my tummy, and he comes and gives her kisses. However, this evening, when we asked him where his baby sister is, he rooted through his toys and brought us a phone. I’m sure hoping she doesn’t have a phone in there!!!

4. Mango pop. Guys, this is serious. I was at Superstore the other day and wanted to buy some cans of pop. We don’t drink tons of pop at all but its nice to have on hand for company, Subway date night, and the occasional urge to have some pop! We often get no name or PC pop because its cheaper but real brands were on a nice sale, so I bought our normals – Coke, A&W Root Beer, and Sprite. And then as I was leaving the pop aisle, since three kinds is MORE than enough, I saw PC Mango. And I couldn’t resist!!! I love things like that, and I had definitely never tasted it before. Finally tried it tonight. Nailed it! Its delicious 🙂

5. Lastly and possibly most importantly (although I’m stoked about the mango pop) is that Dekker wanted to be in pictures again today!!! 😀 I’ve been feeling sad that he hasn’t wanted to see himself recently. I talked to my mom about it and she assured me its likely because he sees that he looks a little different than he used to and he’s trying to figure it out. And of course my heart is aching that my little boy thinks he looks funny :'( How could he know that some kids might think that?! He couldn’t, but it would break my heart if he could. Anyway, these are not good quality photos at all, but they count 🙂 And they represent my son being pretty close to back to his old self. Yay Dekker!

I love him. Sooo very much.

Tomorrow is a doctors appointment, so I’ll likely chat about that, and I also have pictures of the finished kids room that I wanted to throw in todays! But c’mon, this post already comes with lovely pictures 🙂 Save some excitement for tomorrow!

Our cookie dough ran out 🙁 What will I snack on in the bath?!?!

Brady was off back to work this morning, and I spent the day with Jerilee. Brady worked his butt off, as usual, and also picked up parts for our washer! He got a mew motor and a new pulley system for $200 which is actually pretty decent. I know that putting a couple hundred dollars into an older machine seems silly, and we did consider getting a new washer instead, but it really came down to the fact that we don’t have tons of money to burn right now, and $200 is less than a hypothetical $700. Plus, our washer is great when its running, so I have hope.

Having Jerilee over got me really excited about a few things, so I thought I’d share.

The first one is a stranger kind of “excited” so I’ll start there. I’ve started to have a few reservations about Dekker’s eyes. The other day I was looking up my doctor on ratemds.com and I started to look up all the other health care professionals that I deal with. I have to throw in a plug though. My doctor, Dr. Guselle, who I rave about constantly has a solid 5/5! What did I tell you? 😉 When I looked up Dekker’s ophthalmologist, she had a 3.8/5. Considering that one or two bad experiences can bring a score down fast, 3.8 is still quite good. However, some of the comments made me nervous. Not only were there a few that said as children got a little bit older, she gets very annoyed and impatient when they can’t understand her through her thick accent, but there were a couple that indicated that she was very quick to jump into surgery. I’m not afraid of the surgery, don’t get me wrong. If Dekker needs it, I will haul him into the OR myself. But a couple of people said their child was brought into surgery that either didn’t correct the problem or had to be redone just a few months after. At our first appointment, she was confident a prescription was all Deks would need. At our second, she barely tested him before saying he would likely need surgery. At his first, she said patching wouldn’t make any sense, but at his second she said we HAD to patch him constantly for two months, and even then he’d still need surgery. I spoke to Jerilee about this and she agreed that I’m not out of my mind to look for another opinion. He’s gone two years without a surgery, he can go another month or two while we wait for another referral. However, I think we’ll need to keep patching during that time. I wish I could just speak to his eye doctor about it, but she was the one who gave him SUCH a high prescription and the specialist was the second opinion I asked for off of her. So I think she might just sort of throw that back at us. I’m at a bit of a loss but we’ll see Dr. Guselle on Thursday so hopefully she will help us somehow. I just got nice and revved up having spoken to someone about it. I still have time to decide things. Dekker’s next appointment with his ophthalmologist is on Halloween.

Halloween!!!!! We talked today about trick or treating with my kids 🙂 I’ll have two out and in my arms at that point, Lord willing. I spent a chunk of this morning looking at costumes online today, and it got me all excited! Dekker will likely either be a fireman or a raccoon, and baby girl could be an owl or a strawberry. I think the owl is a bit more user friendly, since its a hoodie and pants, but the strawberry is sooo cute! Tough call, but I’m excited either way. I’m leaning towards the fireman and the strawberry.

Another thing to be excited for is getting my hair redone this coming week. I know, some of you have been VERY clear that you don’t care about my hair, and thats fine. Skip this paragraph then. But anyway, my roots are crazy and I’d like to look somewhat put together for having the baby since I won’t exactly get back out to get root touch ups too soon after delivery. However, I know that my hair being as light as it is brings on a bit of a challenge. I need to wear a bit of make up at all times in an effort to not look too white. I hope that makes sense? Just a little blush and mascara and I’m good! But in the days following babys birth, I just won’t likely be made up at all. So I’m thinking about adding maybe a few lowlights this time, just to help me out that way. Thoughts? Maybe caramel ones. Maybe really dark? Hard to say, and I may just end up running it all by my hair girl, but I’d love input if someone has ideas 🙂

Speaking of hair, Jerilee made baby girl a whole bunch of BEAUTIFUL headbands that I am sooo excited to put on her! I didn’t take pictures yet, because I would rather photograph them on my daughter 🙂 But they are GORGEOUS! Burlap, buttons, pearls, bling, feathers, etc. Everything I love! Super excited about that! My artsy fartsy friends 😉

Lastly, I brought her into the kids room to see the progress. Yes, I forgot to take a picture, but if baby girl came today, I would be proud to bring her into the room. Its gorgeous, and I’m thrilled with it! However, something is missing! Above Dekker’s crib is a photograph that my sister and brother in law took last summer while vacationing in PEI. Its a street sign that says “DEKKER ROAD” and it is the perfect piece to have on the wall. However, there is no picture or sign about baby’s bed! Its not something I’m hoping to get together before she comes necessarily, I’m sure it’ll come, but there is definitely a spot for it. I’m pumped to do some research and see if I can find something creative like a street sign or a place in the world that has the same name as her. For those wondering, yes, her name is picked 🙂

So there was a lot to think about today and get excited about! As if I’m not already excited, lol! I totally enjoyed NOT doing jobs and pouring over lists today. And unfortunately, the thing that doesn’t excite me is the fact that all the parts are replaced on the washer and its squealing like crazy. Sigh. Awesome. It seems to be improving a little, so we’re hoping it just working in the new parts. Gonna go run a load through right now and sit with the machines until its done. We would rather wait until tomorrow night, but Dekker fed himself lasagna tonight. Needless to say, some stuff needs washing or its gonna be stained. Yay tomato sauce!

The end. I’m out to go hang out with the laundry. Any input on the issue with Dekker’s eye specialist, Halloween costume favorites, my hair dilemna, etc. would be welcomed with open arms 🙂 Sleep tight!

Brady and I have completely missed the last two long weekends. One of the joys of being self employed, I suppose. We just never know about them! Well, ok, forgetting Canada Day was a little silly, but seriously, we just lose track of the days and he often ends up working the day that most people take as a a stat. This time around, Brady opted to take the holiday Monday off and be home. I actually feel pretty guilty that he’s spent three solid days working so hard around the house, but he’s assured me all along the way how happy he is with what we’re all accomplishing and that he’s happy he can be around doing so much. So I’m just going to take him at his word!

Our plan for today was to finish up the kids room and not do a whole lot else. Still getting something big accomplished, but also being a bit more relaxed than the last couple of days. By this morning, the furniture should have been finished drying, I’d be able to see if all the baskets and boxes I bought yesterday fit the things they were chosen for, and then just a quick clean should have done it! As I mentioned in yesterdays post, we were discouraged to find out that the crib and change table both needed another coat of paint 🙁 Knowing we wouldn’t get to the painting until the afternoon, I was pretty ripped to find out that we couldn’t put the room together today. However, we kept positive attitudes, and once Dekker was up and fed, we got to work on the room, organizing and cleaning and deciding what went where. I was so relieved to find out that the baskets I purchased were the perfect sizes! I want one more though, for baby girls headbands, hats, etc. Hadn’t thought of that yesterday, but no big deal. I just have to get myself to a Dollarama soon.

Something nerve wracking happened today though. As we got things set up, our list grew again! Mostly of a few things we have to buy still. And honestly, a lot of it wouldn’t have to happen before baby came. But I’m scared to let it go by the wayside, and I want to get everything possible done while we’re on a roll. Hopefully that makes sense anyway. So the rest of my “before baby comes” list is as follows:

-buy headband basket
-buy monitor from Costco
-buy large green tub (to match the others in our room)
-pack hospital bags and Dekker’s overnight bag (Help!! What am I supposed to wear home from the hospital?!?!)
-book hair appointment
-book wax appointment
-finish change table (I’ll get to that in a second)
-paint toes (Or book pedicure, either way…lol)
-sterilize bottles
-FIX WASHER!

Could be worse, right? I guess it didn’t grow as much as I thought…

I was thrilled in the evening to learn that the paint job from this afternoon looked AMAZING! Everything looks perfect 😀 So when Dekker woke up from his nap, we started hauling everything in, putting together the crib, and placing things where we wanted them to go. The only flaw in the plan was that the drawer pulls were wood grain and still need another coat of paint on them. Grrr! So those would have to wait, but everything else could be set up tonight.

And then we realized we forgot to paint the door on the change table. Just ridiculous!!! Such tiny little things that we kept missing. I feel mildly annoyed, because if not for these things, I would take a finished picture for you guys! But alas, its just a little too imperfect just yet. Too man “we’ll add that later”s. Can’t have everything.

Tomorrow Brady is back to work, in the city, that is. I’m home with my beautiful son and am FINALLY seeing Jerilee again! It feels like we haven’t spent any time together in months, so I’m really looking forward to it. When Brady gets home, hopefully he’ll have a new motor for our washing machine so I can do laundry again, and maybe we’ll be able to finish all the little touches in the kids room. But during the day, I’m hoping to spend time with my girlfriend, drink the pumpkin spice latte she’d better bring me, play toys with Dekker, and put my feet up! I felt invincible this weekend. I feel like God had His hand over me and my aching body, because I felt completely normal yesterday. No pain in my pelvis at all. But my lower back is suffering after three solid days of bending my back, so tomorrow, I will take a load off and relax.

Unless I go into labor tomorrow. I know, its early. I’m not counting on it. But seriously, how much bigger can one person get?!?!

As I blog this, Brady is painting the pulls and the door. Then we’ll water the garden (oops, could be doing that now!) and eventually have a bath, in which we’ll likely eat cookie dough and drink milk. That is probably my favourite way to have a bath right now 🙂 I know you’re all jealous.

As I mentioned in yesterdays post, our washer started to smell like fire. Brady pointed out that it was generous of the washer to give us the full day of laundry before dying. I wasn’t feeling so grateful, personally. Doesn’t the washer know we’re having another baby soon??!

We emailed my parents. My dad has repaired their laundry machines many times in the past, and we have never needed to really fix on ours yet. Better yet, our washer used to be their washer! So if anyone knew about it, it would be them. We tried to make plans about going to church, and then the boys maybe going to Radisson to work on our washer while mom and I both hit up Saskatoon to get some much-needed grocery shopping done, and possibly a bit more shopping for things I wanted to get to before baby comes. However, the plan just got too cramped and we decided to miss church and get together in the morning already and really get some exciting stuff accomplished!

My parents arrived around 10am and we got right on things! The boys headed straight downstairs, ran a few tests on the washer, and confirmed that the washer is in fact pooched. The motor is, anyway. We’re currently weighing our options and deciding whether to buy replacement parts or to buy a new machine. I’m definitely hoping for parts! But I’m getting antsy because its a long weekend and we can’t get straight answers from anyone about prices or availability. Lame. Luckily we have lots of beautiful people around us with their beautiful washing machines, willing to let us use their beautiful water to wash our super stinky diapers.

While Brady and dad worked downstairs, mom and I got Dekker up, changed, dressed, and patched. My mom sat with him while he ate breakfast, and I started bustling around. I didn’t really mean to start such a big job, but I began organizing Dekker’s room to become a room for two. Its actually a massive task! Dekker fills his room up pretty nicely, so I had to come up with a lot of space savers without much planning. The result?

It WILL look better! Or at least it had better.

Its going to be interesting. No longer can Dekker have a sock drawer. He and baby girl will both need a sock box of some kind. What about all his blankets? They’re in a beautiful basket, and he still uses them. But what about baby’s blankets? Where do those go??! So much to figure out! But the wardrobe is cleaned out much nicer, with lots more room to fit a second kids stuff. Shirts and dressy things are hanging, but all the sleepers are now in drawers, pants and hoodies are folded in the top part of the wardrobe. Shoes are on a bookshelf. Towels are hung on hooks. Clothes that are too small are boxed up and packed away, and clothes that are still too big are awaiting use from the back of the wardrobe, out of the way but not to be forgotten. There is definitely potential in this tiny room! That was the main job my mom and I tackled. While we were in the kids room, Dekker wandered between us and the boys, who were onto their next job – the dishwasher. Its not broken, but its not cleaning. Now, its not just a crummy dishwasher. Something has been wrong with it for a while. Our cups. We soak them until they are basically clean enough to go in the cupboard, but instead we run them through the dishwasher, and they come out with PIECES on them! Like, big petrified pieces of shiz stuck to their insides. We have been saying we likely just need to clean out the filter, but we could never figure out how to get everything apart to give it a good cleaning. After watching some YouTube videos, pulling out the racks, and reefing on a couple things, they got the appropriate pieces apart and found free-flowing fittings that were considerably not so free flowing. Not allowing a DROP OF WATER to flow, in fact. They scrubbed the crazy out of them and worked until everything was looking really good on the inside. The test load proved successful 😀  I am sooo excited about that being done. One less thing to think about.

All of a sudden it was the afternoon and Deks was at the end of his rope, so we gave him a snack and put him to bed. Then we ate some lunch ourselves and as soon as it was over, mom and I headed to the city!

The boys painted the crib and change table, and cleaned both of our tubs.

When that was all done, Brady played some Wii golf and my dad took a nap. Meanwhile, my mom and I got tons done!! We grocery shopped, got a sleeper for baby girl, a SWEET fall jacket for Dekker,

and a sports bra for me! I know no one cares about it, but I have been searching for a decent sports bra for a while and can’t find anything that isn’t a training bra or a spandex work out top. BUT – success today 🙂 Finally! Yup, probably the best part of my day. I could live in this thing. I will, I think. We also shopped for some boxes or baskets to store some baby things in the baby room that can’t just be flying around anywhere, like wash clothes, or socks. We had good success in that department as well, and we left the city feeling really accomplished.

On the drive home, we discussed the few lists I have left and how doable and small they are. My mom says I’m organized 🙂 I try, but it definitely doesn’t feel like it right now.

We spent the evening at their place, washing our diapers, eating spaghetti, and playing toys. I, personally, spent the evening anticipating tomorrow! I hate that Brady has spent his weekend working, but it felt good to have accomplished a few things today as well. HOWEVER!!! – we were disappointed to come home and see a few too many runs in the paint on the crib. We decided to try and overlook it, but then realized the change table was now too different whites, and it was too obvious to ignore. So. Painting isn’t done. It was sad to take it off the list and then put it back on 🙁  But hopefully one more coat tomorrow in the sun is all we need and then we can really set up the kids room, exactly how it should be! We can still do most of it tomorrow in the day, but I’m hoping to get the new furniture in there too, and soon. That will be the main goal for tomorrow, and then hopefully taking a bit of a rest. But  also can’t ignore the urge to keep going on the list! Pack hospital bags, make a bunch of appointments, make padsicles, crochet boots, sterilize things, etc. But who knows. Even just having a plan helps. Brady and I will make the decision on the washer by Tuesday, and thats really the biggest things right now. Everything can sit a little bit longer I think. I think…

So the rambling can stop now I think. I’m just relieved to finally be getting a few things accomplished. I was saying to my mom today how I was discouraged after yesterday, having worked so hard and not being able to cross anything off my list. But she pointed out that sometimes we need a whole bunch of ground work first, and then the things will come flying off the list. I think she’s right 🙂 So we’re just going to be thankful for all the help we had today, and keep on going tomorrow!

Can’t wait to meet our daughter. This is aaaaall worth it.