Honestly, I try not to think too far ahead. I don’t want to wish time away, as anyone with kids especially will tell you, it flies. But I like to think this is a positive way of thinking ahead.

I’ve said a few times that I planned to bounce back from my pregnancy with Laela better than I did with Dekker. Quite a large expectation to lay on ones self before baby has even arrived, but it was a “goal” of mine. And I’ve done ok. Even in the hospital, I was walking around more and feeling better faster. Stitches heal and stretch marks fade. I’m a bit annoyed at the amount of baby weight I’m still carrying, but as my mom says to me so often, its much too early to be thinking about that too much. I know I carried an extra fifteen pounds of baby weight after Dekker and then at about six months postpartum it just disappeared. So I have time. Most importantly, I want my mental and emotional health to be back where it needs to be. All of these things, I am working on. Being the season it is, I am much busier than I’d be in other months of the year. So that brings me to the new year. Resolutions.

I’ve said for two Januarys of blogging now that I hate New Years resolutions. Because they suck. And I don’t keep them. My “resolutions” for the last two years have just been blanket goals to try harder to be a better steward of what I’ve been given, and to generally TRY HARDER. I did great in 2012! I tried lots of new meals, finished projects, got outside more, planned Dekker’s first birthday party, and felt motivated. 2013 wasn’t so hot for me. Granted, I was pregnant most of the year, and felt awful the whole time, physically and emotionally. And it hasn’t been an easy ride since then either. It doesn’t feel like I met my goal, however widespread it was. So I’m going to go a bit more specific this coming year. Not specific enough that it comes with consequences but not vague enough that I have no reminders or deadlines. I need some, I think. Some guideline anyway. So. Ideas.

I want to get in better shape. I love the ideas of the monthly challenges, like squats, planking, wall sit, etc. I know I said this a while ago, and obviously it hasn’t happened yet. But I’d like to try one of those every month. My mom reminded me that I have a Just Dance Wii game. I’m horrible at it, but the few times I’ve played it I work up a good sweat anyway. Maybe I’d do a monthly challenge, and then a month of dancing, and then another challenge, and so on. I just want to keep moving. I currently am holding eighteen pounds of baby weight. No, I don’t look at myself and see a large person. I look at my pre-pregnant body and think maybe I could stand to have a bit more on me. But not eighteen I don’t think. So I don’t plan to lose it all, or to eat any less at all, but I’d like to try and burn of ten pounds maybe.

Food. Just browsing Pinterest today, I realized how many great recipes out there consist of things I actually already have in my house! I love that! I’m trying to decide what my “challenge” regarding food should be. One new meal a week? That was my first idea, but what if we like the new meal and want it more often? 52 new meals in one year is a lot, and seems like overkill. So I’m tossing around the idea of new meals regularly, or one big crock pot cook day every couple of months, or even just the concept of meal planning. Do any of you do that? I feel like it would be a HUGE undertaking, but I would only want to do it once a month. Yet we’d still end up grocery shopping, for fresh things and milk at least. So is it worth it? What do you guys think? A few new meals every month, big cook every two months-ish, or meal planning?

Lastly, money. I saw this 52 week money saving challenge on Facebook a while ago and was intrigued. There are 52 weeks in a year, so the first week, save $1. Second week save $2. $3 in your jar. At the end of the year, you’d have saved around $1,300! Its not huge but what a treat! However, I’d likely move it around a bit so the $50/week part doesn’t hit at Christmas. Some people even suggest doing it backwards, so its expensive right in January and then easy peasy at Christmas. I think that would be so smart, since we’d be so used to putting in larger amounts, we might just throw in extra when we had it. This all averages our to around $25/weeks, which one challenge also suggested. Every Monday, go to the bank and ask for a roll of loonies. Drop it in a jar/coffee can/whatever you want and watch it grow. Once you get used to it there, throw your other change in there anytime you have it. Apparently it gets easier and easier to part with your change. One money saving challenge I liked was one that the writer said he had started out of high school. He chose a certain monetary denomination (in his case, five dollar bills) and every single time he came into possession of one, he was compelled to put it in his jar. Every single one. If he had to pay cash for something small, and all he had was a $20, he would have to take the three $5 bills and save them. No asking for specific change either! SUCH cool ideas! I’m just not sure which ones would be best for us. Have any of you tried these out?

Now that I’ve spouted that all off, I have to say that my “resolution” is to try really hard. If I live out a week and forget to cook a new meal, big deal. If my body hurts too much doing the challenge I’ve chosen, I won’t work out that way, or that week. And if the money isn’t there to save, it simply isn’t. This is a seriously no pressure type of challenge. But I think its really good to have ideas and goals. Support sure helps too 😉

So thats a lot to take in, and they’re all just ideas. I’d love your input! Does it sound like too much? I feel like it should be attainable to work out, save money, and cook food all at the same time! Which ideas do you guys like best? Anyone want to join me???

I wonder when the last Sunday I went to church was… We love our church and the people in it, and we’ve actually missed going. We had decided yesterday that we would for sure go this Sunday, despite the freezing cold weather and the strong desire to just stay cuddled up in comfy clothes and sip hot drinks all day. But that plan changed.

Brady and I used to take a soak together every evening before bed. After Laela was born it was very important for me to continue those baths for the sake of healing for my body, but Brady would stay out to hold her and to give me space to stretch out. Our baby girl is definitely still one who is late to get to bed, so Brady hasn’t had the chance to join me yet. Until yesterday evening. Laela went to bed and stayed asleep a bit earlier in the evening, so Brady jumped in the tub with me and we just chatted for over an hour!! We completely lost track of time! It was so nice to finally just talk to each other. We so often put Laela to bed and fall asleep watching an episode of something, which makes sense for the place we’re in at this point in our lives, but I miss talking just the two of us! We had such a nice time, and we both felt nice and wakeful for a while. So we got to bed fairly late (or early in the morning, if you prefer) and Laela had a slightly choppier night than usual. Therefore, we decided to stick with our comfy option and miss church.

We got up for the day around 9:30 and had hot drinks in bed. I’m loving that we have earl grey Kcups in bulk now. No limits. We got the kids up, left Laela in her jammies, and drove out to my parents for the afternoon and evening. We had a DELICIOUS lunch of sausage, rice, and green bean casserole, and then my mom and I wasted the afternoon away playing cards and talking about my counselling session and how well I’ve been feeling. It was a really nice afternoon. Dekker slept through most of it but Laela was fairly awake. Can’t wait for some of those pictures, mom! The boys chopped and stacked firewood for a few hours and then came in for supper. Pizza! I love food.

We eventually peeled ourselves (our son) away from my parents around 8:15pm, and he dozed off a couple minutes from home, which was perfect. He’s now in his room, a tub is running, Laela is starving so she’ll hopefully sleep right after she eats, and I am ready for some Glee-runs and a snack. Brady is doing a private job over the next couple of days, and I’m mainly looking forward to it because he can’t exactly aim to be at work at 6:00am when its at a house that is actually currently lived in. Yay for “sleeping in!”

 

* Lastly, Brady and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary early February, and my parents have offered to care for the kids over Valentines Day weekend! Where should we go?! Nowhere super far, but somewhere nice and affordable. Ideas?

This post will be mildly mixed up and about unrelated things, but I can’t always just talk about one thing! That is life.

Probably the most exciting part of the post is that I did a Pinteresty thing today! Maybe it doesn’t sound too riveting but I dipped fat pretzels in chocolate for a dessert I made for a family gathering we went to this evening. Instead of going traditional Christmas themed with red, white, and green, I opted for more wintery and fun with white, blue, and a little silver. They may have turned out a bit more “Dr. Suess” than I was hoping but they worked, nonetheless. And if I do say so myself, they were delicious. I’m somewhat sad that not many were eaten but I’m also thrilled to be able to bring them home to enjoy.

I guess to be fair, I should attach the pin that inspired the blue Christmas pretzels but, I dunno, its not like dipping things in chocolate in one specific person’s idea. Feel free to follow me on Pinterest if you’d like to.

Another thing I’ve been looking at on Pinterest is hairstyles. Now that I’ve found a new hair girl that I’m really happy with, I feel more freedom to play with my hair again. If I can be honest with you guys, I’m really not a fan of having the dark in the front. I have never liked it much. I know some of you don’t like my bright blonde, and liked it better with the dark, and I respect that. It certainly served its purpose of letting me go a bit longer between colorings. But I’m just not pumped about it. I miss the white, white blonde. Also, I’m debating – wait for it – growing it back out. No, not all the way. I have never had the nice side swoopy bangs until the cut, and I LOVE them! I wonder if I’d enjoy my hair a bit longer if I had cute bangs to go with it. I was never aware that a person could go in for a couple bucks just to get their bangs trimmed! So I’m thinking maybe something this length?

Thoughts? I’ll take all the input I can get. I may still choose something others don’t like but I’m basically just saying I want to play with my hair a bit and am curious what you guys think. Let me have it!

The last thing I want to put on here today is COMPLETELY unrelated to anything. I was putting up the new header picture the other day (See Dekker’s beautiful eyes?!) and I noticed in my dashboard that apparently I have 3,072 MBs of space available to me on this blog. And you know how much I’ve used? 1,996! Almost two thirds!! I had no idea I had a space limit! I mean, it makes sense, but I guess I never considered I would ever come close to reaching the point of running out of space! What happens then? I have no idea! But I’m a bit nervous to find out.

Thats all I have. My back is killing me and I’m still wound up from the evening. Time to soak in the tub and watch some tv before bed. All I want to do is crochet and zone out but that tends to actually keep my mind going so I’ll have to save it for tomorrow.

I hope this weather warms up soon. I hate hating leaving my house.

 

 

Dekker has a few words that he says completely clearly. Mum. Fries. Shoes. Scoop. And shopping. He comes by that honestly. We have done a lot of shopping in the last little while, whether its been for groceries, stuff for Laela, or Christmas. Today was Christmas shopping.

We slept through Brady’s alarm and he and I woke up in a bit of a panic at 8:45. I know, hate on. We got up and got ready pretty quickly before getting the kids. Dekker had started to wake up so that was good, but we had to wake Laela. Because of that, she wouldn’t eat. She, like Dekker, is the BEST in the morning! She is so smiley and refreshed, and would rather enjoy her surroundings than have her head be stationary while sucking on a bottle. So I took the opportunity to take pictures of her. These are my favorites.

We took her cute face and bundled her all up in her car seat. This was our first time using the cover and I’m sooo glad we had it!

For the record, today was -41C with wind. I know that tomorrow is supposed to be -49C but todays weather was still cold. Very cold. The kids were bundled like crazy, and Brady and I were both in parkas and hats all day long. I even wore my ridiculously bright pink snow boots. We were so ready for the cold.

On our way out of town, we stopped at the post office to pick up a parcel. We had received the card just a day or two and I knew it was my 96 count box of Twinings Early Grey Kcups. When I turned it in, the lady behind the counter said that another parcel had arrived for us this morning, so she grabbed the card and handed me the big box that contained our new printer! I’m so excited about it! Our old printer works fine but this one is wireless. Its a Canon, and we’ll be able to print to it straight from our phones or Bradys’ iPad. We got an amazing deal on it on Cyber Monday, which I never knew existed until this year. Yay Walmart! The only downfall of receiving both of these parcels was that we have very limited space in our car, and we were running a bit late and couldn’t afford the few minutes to turn around if we wanted to make it to chiro on time. So we just laughed about it and moved on.

We got to our appointment on time. Brady, Laela, and I all got treatments, and we all needed them. Well, Laela’s treatment was shorter this time so she’s clearly doing better, but Brady and I were in rough shape. I am so thankful for Dr. Mike. He attacked Dekker with his clicky pen, poking him with the clicky part over and over. Dekker just laughed and laughed, rolling all over the place in my arms. They certainly made strides in their friendship today 🙂

We did quite a bit 0f running around after that. We ducked into Home Depot briefly, and then to Walmart for a few things. We didn’t find a couple things we were looking for but we did great for the most part. I’ll admit that we were horrible parents for forgetting Laela’s soother at home, and that we are worse parents for buying one at Walmart and giving it to her straight out of the package. But we all survived the day. Worth it. We stopped for lunch at the McDonalds in the Walmart and sat beside a table of two women who just drooled over our kids the entire time. They even told us they thought we were a lovely family 🙂 I thought that was sweet. I really like our family too. That was probably one of my highest points of the day. Dekker liked his Zamboni more I think.

We went to two different malls after that and, I admit, I bought a shirt for myself even though it was a day to shop for others, but I couldn’t resist! I didn’t even get to try it on because I wore Laela for the first time around the mall. She was sooo cozy in there and I didn’t expect to get as much attention as we got, but it was adorable to have people fawn over her. Something about wearing her made me feel like supermom. In my boots that make me look like a teenager.

Our last place to visit was Costco and yay for me, I hit it at a lull. Suppertime I guess. 🙂 Parking was a bit of a nightmare but the line ups weren’t bad at all! I just bought some fruit and veggies, a blanket for Laela, and printer ink that we had ordered for our old printer before we bought our new one :s if anyone wants to buy our old printer with FULL INK CARTRiDGES, let me know. We have no real use for it anymore.

The kids slept on the drive.

I can’t believe that we got home around 6:30! There really is something to be said for being organized. I know its corny and maybe overboard sometimes, but it works! We went everywhere that we had planned on, and got almost everything we needed, and were home at a good time. Plus, we avoided that horrible eighteen car pile up on Idylwyld around 4:30. Luckily, no injuries from what I’ve heard.

We had a delicious supper together, and I’m still full. And tired. Maybe we’ll actually fall asleep earlier this evening and finish building the dresser before going out for the evening tomorrow. Or maybe we’ll just sleep in and waste the day away in our jammies. Both sound good to me!

I have a post in my head that I really want to put up soon but it’ll take more time to write out than I’m willing to give tonight. So as per usual, I’ll just share my day with you guys 🙂

I’m actually pretty proud of me. I had a good day today, and accomplished more than just keeping my kids alive. We all slept in nice and late, and when we did wake up, it was to gentle cooing instead of crying. I loved that.

While Dekker ate, I did some dishes until he invited me to sit with him. So I did. We sat and had breakfast together before moving downstairs. Once everyone was situated downstairs, I snuck back upstairs to gather up the laundry. Not to be completely lame, but we recently bought two brand new hampers, and something about them makes doing laundry so much better! Before, we had one bendy/broken/decrepit one, and we now have two new, sturdy, side-carry ones. So I grabbed them and all the laundry I could find before heading back downstairs. I sat on the floor and separated it out while Dekker chanted in his little sing-songy voice “Sort sort sort…” Once it was all sorted, I put the first load into one of the hampers to carry to the machines, but decided to ask Dekker for help. He quickly dropped what he was doing and obediently pushed the hamper all the way to the washer. I continued the process every single time I needed to go back there. He would push the hamper to the washer and push the hamper filled with dry clothes over to where I was folding things. He did great!

As I was doing laundry, I was feeling more and more energized. I had been decently overwhelmed in the morning with the amount of things that need doing ideally before Christmas, and I had finally made a list. I figured, with all my newfound energy, I should try to cross something off that list!. Chore chosen? The new dresser. We ordered a dresser for the kids room and the assembly was actually a bit more daunting than we were expecting. Not like we couldn’t figure out how, but it wasn’t something we could just whip together in a half hour either. So once Dekker was down for his nap, I started bringing down the pieces. Over the course of an hour or two, I assembled all five drawers. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I had to fiddle with all the sliding pieces and get everything just right. Plus, I came pretty close to stripping a few screws so that delayed me here and there. But I did pretty good, I’d say! I started to put together the actual dresser but everything is so heavy, I wondered how easily we would actually get it back upstairs! I know the weight isn’t so much the issue as the awkwardness of its size. So we’ll put the last bit together this weekend probably and then I can have my own fun rearranging the kids clothes and FINALLY have a spot for my cloth diapers again!

Brady worked a pretty long day, so I got Dekker up and fed him supper on my own. He had some leftover pizza, which was super easy for me and yummy for him. Then we all played a bit more downstairs. Laela had a pretty rough day, crying most of the time she was awake, but my newly discovered helper was quick to bring me anything I asked him for. I got set up on the recliner and Dekker brought me Laela’s bottle, soother, and burp cloth from various places throughout the room. I discovered at one point that I had left my phone in the middle of the room so I asked him for it. He picked it up with both hands and very carefully brought it to me. When he passed it to me, he burst into tears! Poor boy! He is sooo good, and never goes near my phone. I never had to specifically ask him not to, he just seemed to know it wasn’t a toy for him. So he bawled after carrying it, which I actually thought was a little bit adorable 🙂 He put his head down on the chair and I rubbed his back until he felt better. What a sweetheart.

Brady came home about fifteen minutes after Dekker’s usual bedtime, so we let him play for a few more before he had to go to bed. Now both kids are sleeping, and both parents are feeling pretty wiped. Hopefully we get to sleep early because we have a BIG day tomorrow!

The plan for today was to drive to the city for 12:45, for Laela to have her first set of vaccines, and to drive home right after, arriving around 2:30 at the latest. Both kids were fed and dressed and ready to go at a good time. We left with not a whole lot packed. A couple of diapers for each kid, one prepared bottle, and an extra sleeper.

On the way out of town, I received a call. I have a counselling appointment booked for December 23rd, and had been put on a cancellation list. Someone had cancelled for today at 4:30pm, and I was offered first dibs. I called Brady and he agreed to leave work early and occupy the kidlets while I went in. So I took the appointment. While I was relieved, and a little nervous, I was also completely unprepared when it came to my kids needs. So I made it up as I went.

First we went to the south east public health centre for Laela’s shots. I got solid flack from the nurse for using formula and for the amber necklace but other than that, she seemed to like us. Laela is weighing 12 lbs 4 oz which is a nice jump in the last three weeks but he’s still in a lower percentile. I’m sure she’s fine, but I know there are standards she is expected to meet so we’ll see what Dr. Guselle says on the 19th. But she handled the shots like a champ and we were out of there nice and quick. From there, I went to Costco to buy a can of formula so I could actually feed Laela more than once all afternoon. While there, we picked up some milk and those great Rubbermaid cereal containers.Deks was not happy to be in the cart on one side of the till while I was on the other, but I just kept eye contact with him and talked to him. When the bagger pulled him through and talked to him, he warmed up and charmed her a little. Its nice to see him become slightly less shy these days. We made it through the line and headed back to the car. I loaded them all back up and drove back out towards Saskatoon, not totally sure where to go yet. I decided my kids needed to eat so we hit McDonalds. Yes, I know, judge away. But its called “survival.” Dekker and I split a pack of chicken nuggets…

and Laela had her bottle. Lately, holding her and feeding her anywhere where my arm isn’t supported is giving me horrible neck aches, so I figured out a new way…

Don’t worry, I don’t drive like this! Once all were fed and watered, I tucked Laela back in the car and headed to the closest place I could think of. Lawson mall. It actually worked out better than I thought it would. I put both kids in a cart and just slowly did a lap around the mall. All of the stores I used to like have been phased out for ones I care for considerably less, so that was kind of disappointing, but we did find the lego table in the food court. Dekker appears to be learning color matching these days. Also, he built a car that he was pretty excited about.

When it was time to go, he started to put up a big fuss. If I held out my hand for him, he would push it away. When he started to get loud I asked if he would rather stay there by himself. He contemplated it, and finally settled on “Ummmm…up.” So I loaded him into the cart and we left happily together. Considering how long everything took with two kids (not that I was rushing at all!) I drove us over to the counselling office and parked out front to wait for Brady. He arrived at the perfect time for me to run in and fill out some forms before my appointment.

I’m not sure how much to really share on here about my counselling appointment but I’ll say this – I am confident I picked the right person to speak to. I liked her approach and her way of asking questions without that whole stereotypical “and how does that make you feeeeel?’ spin. She pointed out a few things that I didn’t completely realize I was feeling. One example is that I said that I hated who I was in those moments that Laela was delivered. Her response pointed out that self-hatred is a really difficult thing to overcome, as God hasn’t created us to feel those things. I LOVE that perspective. Just one of the things that resonated with me. The appointment was great, and she kept my original appointment date as well, so I will see her one more time before Christmas, which is really what I wanted.

I am now completely and officially drained. We ate a lazy supper and Dekker is now in bed. I’m so ready for a bubble bath and a sleep. Pray that Laela goes down well after sleeping so much in the day!

It is December. As soon as Halloween is over, I start to get excited for Christmas. Yet, I feel the need to stifle it. There are those who take offence to early Christmas spirit, feeling that its rude to overshadow Remembrance Day. That has now passed, and American Thanksgiving is done as well, so I can safely celebrate the season without pissing anyone off. YAY!!!

I had a great morning. Laela slept until 5:45am, and then again until 9:30. So the house was quiet and the family was well rested. When Dekker was ready to get up, I dressed him and started him on his breakfast. While he ate, I changed Laela into a new sleeper (who wears real clothes if they don’t have to?) and packed the diaper bag. I dressed and brushed myself, and threw my makeup bag in the diaper bag. I started the car. I bought a song on iTunes. I was racing around until Dekker caught my attention by pointing to a chair and quietly asking “Sit?” What was the rush? Of course I sat with him, but noticed right away that he was out of milk. I asked if he wanted more. He tilted his head, looking at his cup before responding “Um….dease.” Thats “please” for those who don’t know. I got up and pulled the milk out of the fridge. As I was pouring it, I glanced over at him, and he screeched “Love love love!” I love you too, babe. Once he had finished his cereal and banana, he pointed at something and said “dease.” And for the life of me, I had NO idea what he wanted. Usually if I asked him more than two or three times, he gets super frustrated. Or he just keeps saying please. But he very patiently kept pointing in the same place and more and more clearly saying “pe.” I offered him some toast and he smiled and seemed interested, but often he just agrees with my first offer, and then it turns out that wasn’t what he wanted at all. So I tried a few more things. When he actually shook his head at the offer of grapes, I went back to toast. Again, interest, but not quite right. Bread? Squeals of joy!! Dekker, can you say bread? “Ped!” Got it. So I made him a peanut butter sandwich and he was good to go. Not one tear or frustrated sound. 

I loaded both kids into the car around 11:30 and headed to my moms to spend the afternoon. On the drive, I listened to my new song on repeat. I’m bad for that, but the kids don’t complain anyway. I confess, I’ve always hated “The Little Drummer Boy.” Worst. Song. Ever. Who wants to sing the “pa rum pum pum pum” part?! But I LOVE it now. I have three versions that I can’t get enough of. Two of them have been viral internet videos in the past or present but I’ll attach them all at the bottom of this post in case anyone wants to partake of the drumming.

We got to my moms around noon and had lunch. Dekker was playing so well! He has grown so much since spending some time with his cousins. He suddenly has lots of new words and is trying new games and including us in them, seeking praise. It was beautiful, and sooo sad to put him down for a nap. But the evening was going to be busy so we needed him rested.

He woke up raring to go! Normally, he wakes up and expects to eat immediately. But I woke him and changed him, and then my mom and I started to get both kids dressed for outside. The whole time, I hear Dekker listing off his items. “Coat. Shoes. Hat.” Laela was not impressed with being put into her little fleece snowsuit, or having a hat tied atop her head, but as soon as she was all warm and cozy she fell asleep, so I’m thinking she got over it. We loaded everyone into the car, my mom included, and we headed to Saskatoon to buy Christmas trees with the boys!

We go to the same place every year. This is our fourth year, and honestly, it may be the last. I hate waiting so long to put my tree up. For the sake of convenience and Christmas spirit, both of our families are debating going artificial. I would be sad to lose the tradition and the smell, but life goes on. I’m sure we’ll find other ways to bond 🙂

I won’t sugar coat. It was frozen out there. The kids were troopers though. Dekker was loving the cold air and the wind, and Laela fell asleep. Behold – our mini-mes.

Once we had picked our trees and paid up, we drove to a nearby Wendy’s for supper together. Burgers and fries later, we were all comfy and happy and visiting. It was fairly quiet in the restaurant but both tables beside ours were full and Dekker was quite a hit, charming all the ladies. He was truly in his element, with french fries and an audience all in one place! It was almost sad to leave. But we did. Brady and I crossed the city to the walk-in clinic. I’ve mentioned recently that I have an upcoming procedure to cut away some of my toenail to cure an ingrown. I had strict instructions to leave it alone. But I didn’t. I messed with it and picked at it. And weirdly enough, now its getting better! My procedure date is one week away, and if I’m going to cancel, it needs to be soon. So I got it checked this evening and the doctor confirmed that it certainly is on the mend. Yay! I’m glad we went. No slicey-dicey for me! We left in good time. I took the kids home and Brady brought his work van to my parents’ house to drop off their tree.

I felt pretty proud of myself. I hadn’t yet had to get the kids out the door on my own, and I did it successfully this morning! And then, upon getting home, I needed to get them in and settled on my own. And guess what! I did it! I got them both in at once, which was a relief, as no one had to bawl in the backseat while the other was brought in first. We hung out in the entrance while Dekker asked to have his winter clothes removed in a specific order. Then I changed Laela’s diaper, and then Dekkers, and put him in jammies. He didn’t like that very much but he tolerated it. Then I brought him to my room and figured we’d play on the bed until Brady got home. And we had a BLAST!

Best of all, he went down well and is most definitely asleep. A bath is run, Laela is fed, the tree is up and starting to spread out, and I’m anticipating a snack that is both delicious and terrible for me. Perhaps these snacks are what is keeping that extra eighteen pounds of “pregnancy weight” on me…

Merry December 3rd!

Mondays suck.

Our company left. I’m stinky. And my neck hurts. Dekker misses his cousins. The weather is crumby. Dekker has a diaper rash. I could go on but that is sooo unnecessary. We had an amazing weekend and its sad to come back to reality.

Laela and I had a morning nap while Deks slept in.Once we had napped for about twenty minutes I decided to lay her back in her bed, and the second her back touched the mattress, her eyes popped open and she started wailing. And it wouldn’t stop. So that was all the motivation I needed to get my lazy butt up and get her another bottle and some coffee for me. Has anyone tasted the
Winter Carnival” coffee from Timothy’s? Its delicious, for the record. Laela’s cries woke Dekker so I got him up and fed and eventually dragged both kids downstairs for a while. I know its a huge parenting fail, but I put the tv on and even had the nerve to place Laela right in front of it while I sat on the recliner, glazed over, for a solid half hour. Technically that was a good thing because I had Laela’s chair placed in a way that forced her to look to her left in an effort to help twist her spine and neck back the way they should be. Parenting win, I’d say.

Going down for a nap was hard for Dekker today, but nighttime was harder. Poor boy. I know how tired he is, and I know that he’s missing all the excitement and fun that came with having his cousins over. I know that he has diaper rash for the first time in a couple months, and that he still has a touch of his cold. But one can only have his misbehaviour and rudeness explained away for so long. Therefore, Dekker went down with lots of compassion and reprimand under his belt tonight. It was hard on us too.

On a high note, we ordered a dresser a week or two ago and have been waiting anxiously for it. Its been in the city for a few days but didn’t come out here due to “mechanical delays.” And of course, today the tracking information said “weather delay” so I was kind of peeved. But it arrived after all!!! I had just had a great visit with my sister in law on the phone for about an hour and a half, and as soon as we hung up, my phone rang again. This time it was the Purolator delivery driver who was waiting outside my house because I wasn’t answering the door. Being on the phone downstairs tends to have that effect. But either way, it is FINALLY here! Meaning there will soon be room for my kids’ clothes in their room. I can’t wait to have it assembled so I can organize it.

Tomorrow my family is meeting up with my parents in the city to pick up Christmas trees together 🙂 We have done this every year since we bought our house and its become a great tradition. I’m so looking forward to it! I think I’m going to go to spend a chunk of the day with my mom and then we’ll drive in together. Can’t wait to have the tree up and decorated, shining out of our living room windows. I’ll take pictures when that day comes.

Sleep well, all. Bath time for this poor neck.

Today was pretty much just as fun as yesterday. Dekker was so excited to see the boys in the morning, boding well for the day. We had a fairly haphazard breakfast but everyone ate anyway. In the afternoon I whipped up my honey chicken and then we went downstairs and watched Wall-E with the kids. It was nice and quiet and all four boys sat and watched pretty well. Dekker went down for a nap later on, which he was pretty sad about, but he fell asleep within minutes and slept a good couple of hours. When he woke up, everyone decided to go for a walk. However, Laela was right at the point of needing to eat so she and I decided to hang back. However, a few minutes after they left I gave up on sulking, put a soother in Laelas mouth, and bundled us up so we wouldn’t miss out. We walked a couple of blocked until the boys tuckered out and the wind got cold, but it was really nice getting out.
For some ridiculous reason, my chicken didn’t cook 🙁 I was using a crock pot that wasn’t mine and maybe I did something wrong, but after 4 hours on high, the chicken was raw. I was so discouraged. But I just went to everyone, fessed up, we laughed about it and ordered in from the Red Bull. It was delicious and no one seemed disappointed. When all the kids went down, we had another one of our long visits in the living room before calling it a night around midnight. I really enjoyed sharing some of my struggles and feelings about Laelas delivery with Char. (Thanks for listening!!) She was so encouraging and let me sort of have my say. Sometimes it’s nice to share to fresh ears. I feel more confident in my current state and my decision to seek counselling. It was a great evening 🙂
Until Dan and Char went downstairs. We had forgotten about the chicken. After the supper time fiasco, I had just decided to let it cook at its own pace and we’d just eat it tomorrow or freeze it. And now, after forgetting about it, it is horribly burnt and smells terrible. It’s somewhat frustrating, as that is like six or seven huge chicken breasts gone to waste, but it’s done and everyone ate and I’m over it.
Time for bed. Laela is restless this evening. Hopefully she has mercy.