The Daily Hailey

Wow did I sleep last night! So did the boys. We got Dekker out of bed around 12:30pm and he is currently having some breakfast with his Daddy while I am relaxing and blogging in bed. So. Photos. Oh, and no, its not your eyes. They’re all a little blurry. There was a lot of movement!!!

Dekker didn’t sleep on either drive. As you can see, he was exhausted, but there was too much to see! Or he was excited at the idea of seeing all his cousins, aunties, uncles, and grandparents. Who knows!

We were ten adults and 9 kids. It was loud and busy and Dekker was pretty cautious at first. However, it didn’t take long for him to start to get in there a little.

Sometimes, if he’s not expecting it and another kid gets too close, Dekker starts to fuss a little and crawl away. As you can see here, he didn’t even seem to notice all the action around him. Until he started to seek it out.

He would walk behind couches and make his way over to wherever the sound was coming from. All of a sudden, he seemed unaffected by little falls he would take or dropping toys. He was sooo interested in the cousins! We don’t see Brady’s family all too often, but I am always so touched that the kids know who Dekker is and take SUCH an interest in him! Even in the beginning of the visit when Dekker was more nervous around them all, and would cry more readily, they kept coming back. And it paid off!! He loved them!

Those kids peek-a-booed and tickled and hugged and kissed and talked and taught and chased and gave it their all with Dekker. And best of all, they were quick to forgive when Dekker would cry or fall or basically just be a baby and not react the way they had hoped. They even waited patiently for Dekker to open all of his gifts before they opened any, just so he could go to sleep sooner.

Such an amazing bunch of kids! And aunties and uncles and grandparents, of course! Love just radiated this weekend!

Our second night was a rough one, unfortunately. Dekker had been so thrilled with all the busyness of the day that he had been too distracted to eat. It made me uncomfortable, but figuring that he wouldn’t waste away overnight, I let him have his way. But my gut had been right. He woke up in the middle of the night, bawling. No amount of cuddles, bounces, or songs could calm him. We changed his diaper, checked his teeth, gave him a drink, etc. and he just wouldn’t stop. Never have I seen him cry like that. Just as we were about to just try and lay him back down and see if he’d just cry himself to sleep, I had a lightbulb moment and opened his crackers. He RAVAGED them! He was completely starving! So we cuddled him in our bed with us and fed him crackers and water while we watched some Glee. His head was bobbing, since he was completely exhausted, and he was shrucking pretty hard from crying so long. It was fairly dramatic for a while, but we recovered.

Sadly, I don’t have any pictures from Sunday. We helped Bradys sister lead worship in the morning at the church Brady grew up going to. I got to meet a couple of his friends from high school, which I have never had the opportunity to do! Dekker didn’t sit too well through the service so I ended up bringing him to the back nursery area to play with kids. Normally, he would shyly sit at my feet for ten seconds before starting to cry and reach up. Not this time. He squirmed to get away, and just went right for the toys and other kids. It would appear that baby stage is over and toddling stage has genuinely begun. I think most of that happened a while ago, but I’m not ready for him to be big yet. Well, not any bigger than he already is anyway.

We had a quick lunch at Brady’s sister and brother in laws place. Leftover Christmas dinner. Having felt sick all weekend, I opted for ham on a bun. I have to say, the BEST ham sandwich I have ever had! I love honey mustard, but honey pineapple mustard is amazing! From there, we quickly met his other sister and brother in law at the local coffee shop to grab something to go and say goodbye.

Everyone gave us such a nice sendoff. We had a great time with family, but are thrilled to be back. My stomach doesn’t hurt today. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have a stomach ache! Probably a couple of weeks ago.

My body knows I’m home. How shall I celebrate? I think I’ll learn some ukulele.