The Daily Hailey

I’m still reeling a bit from today. Nothing went like usual. A lot of it was awesome, with just a few “challenges” thrown into the mix.

Our day, like any other proud Canadian’s day, began at 6:00 this morning, in order to catch the men’s hockey finals in the Sochi 2014 Olympics. Brady got us coffee while I grabbed our pillows and turned on the Christmas lights in our guest room. We were hoping to cuddle up in our guest bed and watch the game on the iPad so we didn’t wake the house. Once we were all settled, we discovered that our apps didn’t stream the game >:( I was a bit miffed, but we got over it and switched out the comfy bed for the old couch in front of the shockingly quiet tv. I suppose it wasn’t the ideal set up but it worked. As I’m sure you all know, but for my records sake, Canada whooped Sweden 3-0. I was feeling fairly patriotic this morning 🙂 Still am.

The kids were in good spirits when we got them up. Yes, it is true. We went to church this morning for the first time in a while. We didn’t go last week mostly because Dekker’s surgery was less than a week old, and he tends to get pretty overwhelmed with all the people. Really not wanting to push him harder than necessary, we had opted out until he felt more healed. He didn’t eat great this morning, so we packed snacks and figured it would likely be rough, but we’d just roll with it. Church has been hard for Dekker for a long time now.

It was evident that lots of people from our church had been praying for Dekker. There was such an interest in his condition, and how the surgery had gone. As I had predicted/feared, many people approached him and asked how he was. Instead of throwing his head back and getting scared, he smiled at them. All of them. I think I saw him shy away once, and even that was done quietly and calmly. It was a curious response, but one I much preferred to his usual reaction of fear and overwhelm.

I can’t lead up to it, guys. Dekker sat through church. As in the whole service! Singing, sharing, praying, the sermon, everything!! Yes, he was a bit noisy, but it was incredible to hear him be so happy! I stood up at once point and shared with everyone how his surgery had played out, and I mentioned how thrilled I was that he was sooo happy and social this morning. All the while, he’s saying “Oh ya!” and “WOW!” out loud. It was adorable and made me feel incredible. He is sooo different, and much happier. He did awesome in church and afterwards while we sat and visited with friends and doddled getting out the door, like usual.

Once we arrived at my parents place, he was playing like crazy, happy as a clam. We were having soup, and he’s not very good at soup, so I warmed him up some spaghetti from a few days ago. He loves spaghetti. I asked him if he was hungry, and he headed right over to his spot, ready to eat.

And then he wouldn’t. I convinced him to take two bites – our minimum – before offering him what I knew he wanted. Bread. That kid would be thrilled if all he ever ate was bread and butter. He wouldn’t touch it. I cut it in half. Still nothing. A cracker? Nope. Not that either. Just a big cup of milk. I was getting more and more frustrated with him. We don’t really cater to him being picky, and he eats whatever we eat. So when I gave him all these options that he turned down, I finally gave up and let him down from the table. I walked him over to where my mom was feeding Laela in the living room, and asked him to thank grandma for lunch. We got “thank you” and “lunch” but he wouldn’t say “grandma.” I asked him twice with no response at all. And then he vomited. A BIG stream. Into the cream colored shag carpet. He immediately got scared and burst out crying. I was completely shocked! Brady scooped him up and I ran to the kitchen for a rag and a bucket to clean it up as fast as I could. Brady followed me with Dekker. And then Dekker puked again. A bigger stream. All over the (thankfully, tile) kitchen floor, and up the floor cabinets. Vomit everywhere. After that one, my boys took off to the bathroom to at least try and hit the tub if there was more to come. Once they were officially ok, I headed back to get to work. My dad took over the kitchen clean up (thanks, dad!) while I tackled the carpet. It was a huge mess 🙁 But it was cleaned up in pretty great time actually. Dekker didn’t lose anymore, thankfully, but he was quite shaken up. They eventually came back out into the living room to sit with us, and Dekker ventured out after a few minutes. He was back! Feeling great, cracking jokes, throwing  ball, playing away! It was sooo weird!

Once Laela was down for a nap, my mom and I took off for the city to pick up a couple of things, and the boys stayed back. Dekker went down for a nap pretty quick, Laela slept the whole time, and Brady did our taxes. I assume dad napped too 😉 We hit up Costco, the mall, and Walmart, and I think I can safely say we got pretty much everything we needed. We came home to a quiet house, and mom whipped up some amazing poutine for us! We woke Dekker at 7:00 to eat, but he didn’t want to. I mean, he did. I could tell! He had one bite of bun but that was it. I would offer him things, and it was as though he would really want them, but then he’d contemplate them, and not eat them in the end. He sat and stirred Cheerios for a minute before putting the spoon down and announcing “done.” We tried, but he wasn’t hungry. And I was NOT going to push! He drank water, so thats better than nothing. On an empty stomach, he was a trooper!! I couldn’t believe he was so playful and funny and telling jokes, and that he had done sooo well at church for the first time in so long, yet he had this sickness building up. I know he felt it, because he hardly ate. Way to be, Dekker! He sure didn’t wear it on his sleeve that he was feeling ill. Until he was literally wearing it on his sleeve. Gross.

We’re all home now, and I think its fair to say that we are completely, justifiably tired. Dekker has a bit of a fever so we gave him some Tylenol and a good drink before bed, so hopefully he’ll feel better in the morning. Laela is having her milk, and she’ll go down right away. And we are so ready for a bath and a sleep!

Goodnight from these two cuties!!

Don’t you just want to eat them??