Yesterday I was completely zonked. And I shouldn’t have been. But I couldn’t shake it!

Dekker woke up at 1:00pm for “breakfast” and by 2:30 was clawing at my legs, crying for bed. I lay him down in his crib, and he didn’t move. So I covered him up with his blanket and left the room. He was silent for about ten minutes before he started talking. I didn’t go to get him, because I knew he was tired. He chatted quietly for probably about a half hour or maybe more, and then was quiet. He woke up at 7:10pm. So I very literally saw him for less than four hours yesterday. What did I have to feel so tired about?

Besides getting to be around 2am two nights in a row, I have to legit excuse. And even that one was my own fault. I tried to crochet little boots for Deks yesterday, which was a mad failure. It is not the first time a crochet project hasn’t worked out, so it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it deflated me completely. I wasted my day in bed watching youtube videos. Yup, its true. A completely wasted day. I don’t feel too guilty about it. I would, but I baked in the evening. A brownie and ginger snaps. So I figure that counts for something, right?

I was nice and tired before bed. We had a really hot bubble bath, which was nice actually since Brady had been chilled all day, and since we hadn’t had a bubble bath in two days and I was feeling withdrawal. I know, I know, bubble baths aren’t a must to anyone but us. Then we watched a few videos I had left up on the computer for Brady to see. I found an episode of this show called “Born to Be” which I think is similar to “Behind the Music.” It picks a star or a band and then sort of recounts their history and what they’re doing now. Well, I found one based on Marianas Trench, and found it quite interesting, so I watched it again with Brady. I would link it here, but I don’t think any of my readers are that interested in Marianas Trench. I can take it. But it was interesting, and I really enjoyed it.

An accomplishment before bed, a bubble bath, and good tv. I was asleep before midnight, which hasn’t happened in a very long time. With that, I woke up by myself at about 9:40am to silence. It is currently 10:25 and Deks is just starting to talk. I already feel sooo much better than yesterday! I’m looking forward to taking Dekker trick or treating at a few houses tonight 🙂 He will be the cutest little guy out there! And hopefully, a the cutest rested little guy!

So while I had lots of baking to do this week, I also realized that I need to crochet some boot-ish type things for Dekker for trick or treating. I find boots/mittens/pairs of things intimidating to crochet, since I always fear they will come out completely different sizes. I figure there is less of a chance of that happening if I buckle and use a pattern. So I have one picked out. It has two sizes Infant and size 4-ish. So I opted for the bigger pattern. I’m finished the shoe part of the first one and seriously, I could wear these. And my feet are around a 7.5 – 8! So…I don’t know. Sigh. I guess I should just modify it the way I do with lots of patterns, but soles or shoes are tricky. I haven’t had much experience with them, and I have a deadline.

Short crochet rant for the day. I’m done. Silver lining? Um…I could modify them just a touch longer and have super cute boots for myself! Perfect.

At least this Monday. Not all Mondays in general, just for the record.

This morning, I woke up and got ready for a trip to Saskatoon with my mom and Deks. Dekker woke up just as I was finished getting ready so he had a quick breakfast and we left from there. It was a little snowy and I was significantly scared of the highway, but it was way clearer than I expected, which was nice. We picked up my mom around 11:30am and were off!

Sometimes shopping for clothes sucks. However, my mom found pants and a top at our first stop! I was wearing a chunky (fake) real necklace and found a fun chunky chain necklace that would look nice with it at the same store, so she bought me that too! Which was convenient, as my original necklace broke partway through the day…

From there we hit a couple malls, but didn’t accomplish a whole lot more than eating lunch and almost falling down as escalator. For the record, I am not coordinated. We hit Michael’s next, where I had great success. Today was the only day that there was a valid 40% off coupon, as well as a 50% off coupon! So while Dekker slept in the car, I ran in and bought two things, using a coupon for each, and then mom ran in next with two more print outs of the coupons to buy two more things I had set out for her. All in all, I’m stocked up for assorted buttons to adorn my hats and slippers with!

Lastly, I got my nails done at one of those weird sweatshop-looking places in the mall. $28 later, I have a beautiful Shellac french manicure. I don’t know how it works for fills, or if they’re just redone eventually, but I LOVE them! My hands look so much prettier.

We spent the evening catching up with good friends over food. We were part of a care group last year at our church and we’re starting things back up this year with a few new couples added to the mix. I love our group, and am really looking forward to doing another study or two this year.

This week is one of those that I’m looking at with a little bit of nervousness. I have to come across about ten dozen baked goods by Friday and since I didn’t really get on recruiting people, my mom and I are going to bake everything. So there’s that. Plus a few plans on Wednesday pertaining to Halloween and Deks. Then the weekend is the whole hair show thing I talked about a while ago. I’m getting kind of uncomfortably nervous about that actually. It was explained to me originally that all models would be assigned to certain stylists and we would meet them the night before, or something along those lines. Turns out that we all have to show up on Saturday and get picked over! Like gym class, all over again. I’m really not looking forward to that. I was NOT picked first in gym class, for the record. So I’m not loving that, even though deep down, I am relatively certain that my hair will be chosen by someone. We’ll see.

It is late. After 11pm. Got home too late for a bubble bath 🙁 I guess I’ll just sulk a little, watch Degrassi, and fall asleep next to my curly man. Good night!

I thoroughly enjoyed this Sunday. Sometimes Sundays are hard for us. Dekker usually has to wake up much earlier than usual, so he’s more fussy than an average day. Not only him, but I’m up much earlier than I prefer to be as well, and I can fuss too. Today was the same that way, as we needed to be out the door by 8:30am.

I played piano for the worship team today. I’d have to say that the music went very well this morning. At least I was happy with it! And then, instead of a regular service, we had special guests leading and speaking. I have nothing against our usual order of service, or the general way things go, but I really appreciate testimonies, and that is what we got today. A few guys from Teen Challenge lead some songs and a few told their stories of where they came from and how they’ve gotten to be where they are. For those that don’t know, Teen Challenge is a type of rehab program. Its a full year program, and instead of just training their members to get over their addictions, it encourages them to replace them with other things – God. Some of it was quite heartbreaking, while some of it was quite candid and humorous. Sometimes you need to laugh or you’ll cry, I think. Dekker slept through the entire service, but when he woke up, he seemed to be quite a hit with the Teen Challenge guys. They kept talking to him, and poking his belly, tickling him, while he played shy, and that turned more into a really enthusiastic game of neck nuzzles. My heart is always warmed when people who have no kids take interest in mine. I really enjoyed their company, and as often happens, we were among the last handful of people to leave church.

We spent the afternoon at my parents house, playing cards and watching “Monk.” In the evening, Dekker was crawling around like crazy. He’s getting very good at going down stairs backwards, and communicating what he wants. I feel like he’s absorbing a lot these days. I mean, I know kids his age learn at a crazy rapid rate, but I feel like he’s gone from completely relaxed to learning in a big way. He is more determined than he’s ever been.

Dekker has started standing today. :,) I am so proud. I know lots of babies are running by this age, but I don’t care. He has spent a lot of time just playing contentedly I think, and now he’s getting more antsy to move around and explore. He is growing up. I’m not quite ready for “Baby Deks” to turn into “Big Boy Deks.”

Those strong little legs are all packed into their new polar bear sleeper for the night. They are extra special to me tonight. Hey, not everyone’s feet have ears!

I didn’t end up taking Dekker to the doctor yesterday. By the time he finally woke up, I was expecting his rash to be in the worst shape from having been in the same diaper for so long. Yet, all the little white bumps were gone! He’s still quite red, but it is improving quickly. He’s still not awake yet this morning but when he is, we’ll give him a good check and see if he needs to go see a doctor today. It is so much nicer all going in together.

Instead of going in yesterday, we spent the day at home. Melissa came over with her son, who is exactly the same age as Dekker, and the four of us just lay around in the basement. Some days it is nice to be lazy and comfy. However, as silly as it is, it felt so good to be dressed and cleaned up, with makeup on, ready for the day, but just at home. I don’t know. I don’t usually pay attention to these random jokes, but this one is surprisingly accurate to my life.

I like to lay around and be in my jammies. Shoot me.

I’m wondering if getting ready for the day a bit more than just putting on deodorant would help me feel a bit better. It is so easy for me to be lazy and comfy, and while I think that is fine to a degree, I think I do it too much sometimes. It’s so easy when your kid sleeps all day long! For example, it is currently 11:42am and he’s still sleeping. So most days, I stay lazy. But maybe it would be good for me to get up, get ready for the day, and do a few things! I know all the supermoms out there are probably shaking their heads at what I’m saying. I’m sure they’re thinking “I do a full grocery shop before 7am!” or “I sweep the floor five times a day.” or “I do the dishes after every meal.” I don’t do those things. I’m not that spectacular of a housewife yet, but I am truly working on improving in a lot of those areas.

I actually made a new year’s resolution at the beginning of the year. I don’t usually, because so often I fail. So this year, I decided to try to be a better steward of what I’ve been given. Just a general “try harder” kind of resolution. So, to make myself feel a little better, time for a list.

I learned to make three kinds of jam.

I’ve tried lots of new supper and dessert recipes, finding a couple keepers.

I’ve been more involved with my church, joined a committee, and participated in bringing meals, drinks, etc. to events.

I sweep my kitchen every day or so, since it is now covered in Cheerios.

I have my son on SOLID FOOD! Probably my biggest challenge this year.

I’ve tried to keep in touch better with friends and family (sometimes failing miserably, but I try)

I keep my schedule a bit more organized than I did before, so I can have things to look forward to.

I joined another committee to help raise funds to build a spray park. Getting involved with the community!

I blog 😀 I thought this would be more of an outlet for me when I felt like I needed some conversation with someone who doesn’t answer every question with “dadadadadada.” Turns out that I inadvertently made a commitment to write every day, and that discipline has been amazing.

Ok, so that list didn’t actually make me feel that good, haha! I wish I had done more this year, but I did some. I’m trying! My top priority in the day is playing with Dekker, and I think I’m right to feel that way. So if I don’t move mountains in the housekeeping department, big deal. I will raise my son, and that is more important that sweeping the dust off my piano.

This post sort of turned into a tangent. I’ll stop. Its noon and Dekker is still sleeping. Time for a shower, and then its wake up time, whether he likes it or not! Funny sleepy baby.

Remember yesterday? I was so relaxed and squishy and comfy. Halfway through the afternoon, Dekker woke up from a nap with the mother of all diaper rashes. Again.

Around thanksgiving, he got his first yeasty rash. He would wail through diaper changes, baths, everything. It was awful. The wailing hasn’t begun yet but the yeast whitehead bumps are there. I’m not sure what brings this on! I used the prescription cream for the allotted time, and have been using zinc cream ever since, as opposed to our usual vaseline. (Yes, thank you in advance to everyone who will tell me all the natural products that work better.) I called HealthLine and spoke to a nurse about it. She suggested all sorts of things. Apparently I should NEVER use a baby wipe. Apparently everyone has a spray bottle of warm water by their change area, and washes their babys bum at every change. My favorite suggestion was “sleep him diaper-less. It won’t be too messy if you lay him on a towel.” Seriously?!?! So, today I think we’ll go back to the doctor for reinforcements. I still have some of the prescription diaper cream from last time, but I’m wondering what brought on the rash so quickly again. That, and since these rashes have come, he’s developed dry red spots on his face. They don’t bug him, and they fade in and out, but I don’t think they should be there. So to the doctor we go. And to go pick up a few more things. If I’m already in the city, why not?

Here’s to hoping the weather cooperates. I haven’t tried to drive in the snow yet.

I feel like Tuesdate has made a huge impact on my anxiety. In a good way. By no means am I saying that I’m “all better” but I feel lighter.

We arrived home last night and were greeted by a wild amount of snow. Our driveway was blocked by the general drifts that come from cars driving by. There was no way I was letting Stella (our Mazda, for those that don’t know her name) get stuck, so we commandeered our friends’ driveway for a few minutes so Brady could clear a space for her. We put Dekker to bed pretty quick and then ran a bath and had a snack.

We slept hard, and even got to sleep in, since Brady only really needed to be at work at noon today. Now I’m home, completely relaxed, crocheting my heart out. Dekker has been napping for almost three hours now. He was chatting and fussing a little, but I was on the phone, so I left him to just pout for a few minutes. By the time I was off the phone, he was back to sleep! Can’t complain about that!!! I’ve got another new/scary crochet order completed from start to finish just in the last few hours, which feels amazing! Ok, almost to finish. I need to buy buttons. But then it’ll be officially done. I’ll post a picture once that happens.

I’m feeling quite accomplished so far today 🙂 I will be the first to admit, the accomplishments don’t include dishes, unpacking, or anything that resembles a real priority. But I feel wonderful. Our time away was so amazing, I’m still on a bit of a high from the show and the dinner and the gorgeous new sparkle I’m wearing on my finger. It really was exactly what I needed. Being back home now, I don’t want to lose this feeling! When I decided a while ago to address my anxiety, I decided I needed to keep a bit busier. I’m sure that will eventually turn more into housework and useful things, but for now, it will be crocheting. So coming off of our trip, I’m happy to be back in my messy house, crocheting, relaxed. I feel at peace. I feel restful.

Let’s keep this feeling going!

I knew our trip would be wonderful, but I had no idea just how awesome!!! Sorry if this post gets really long!

We expected the roads to be treacherous so we left home quite a bit earlier than necessary. However, everything south of Saskatoon was clear, so we made it to our hotel in record time. A HUGE apology to my friend who missed the show on account of road conditions. If I had known, I would have called you. I’m so sorry. Our check in time was 4pm but we were let in at 2:30! We had a nice room with a king bed and a huge tv booked. However, we bypassed that pretty quickly and went straight for the pool. It was completely deserted, so we hot tubbed to our hearts content and then headed back to our room to get ready for dinner.We were out of the hotel by about 4:40 and easily made our 5pm reservation.

The Fireside Bistro. If I was one of those people who said OMG about things, I’d say it right here. It was a beautiful restaurant in a residential area of the city. It was dim, candlelit, and quiet. Our server was nice, and patient with us being relatively new at fancy restaurants. I chose the “Black and Bleu Chicken.” This was a very good choice on my part. It had some really nice heat to it, calmed down by blue cheese sauce. But the chicken itself was sooo fall-aparty. Key word there is “party.” Yum! Brady ordered a melt-in-your-mouth steak. We dined well. Brady then surprised me with a beautiful gift!

The months of planning paid off, my love! Brady designed a family ring for me! So often “mom rings” are tacky, but not this one! It is completely stunning. The band and the large swirl represent he and I, the diamond is because who doesn’t love a diamond, and the yellow gold wire is Dekker. The ring is designed so more yellow gold can be added and swirled into the ring with each child we have. It is a gorgeous chunky ring, which is perfect since I’m not a superfan of especially delicate jewelry. After such a delicious supper and a beautiful gift, the upcoming concert was just a bonus.

Of course, not too many good things can happen in a row, right? Hahaha! I won’t be a downer, I promise, but the opening band at the concert was SOOO BAD! Any Anami Vice fans out there? I didn’t think so. By the end, the lead singer was dancing around in suspiciously short sweat shorts (short enough that you were scared to look), “rapping” about taking his shirt off, and suggesting we all remove ours. Fat chance. We all laughed at them. The applause (apple sauce?) was pretty huge when they were done, but not because they were good. Because they were done. High points of Anami Vice were that they threw packs of gum into the audience, and that one of their songs sounded a little like an old Ace of Base song. Always a bonus. The low point, besides the band sucking, was the fart smell. Seriously.

The second band was Down with Webster. Lots of people love them, so while they weren’t my top choice, they put on a much better show and the crowd was really into it! I knew a few of their songs, just from the radio and passing through stores with background music, so I could relate and jump around a little. They threw plastic cups into the audience. Yup, like beer cups, only they were black instead of the basic red, and they had the DWW logo on them. I snagged one of those too but didn’t care about it enough to hold onto it.

And then, they were gone. And then things got awesome! Marianas Trench is my favorite band at the moment, and has been for the last few years. I have seen them twice before, at the exhibition in the summers. They have been great shows, but I have never seen them along their tours. This show was part of their “Face the Music” tour. They had amazing lights, great sound, lots of costumes, and a few things suspended from the ceiling, one of them being the lead singer. Twice. I swooned. More than twice. Big fan. They opened with the first song of their most recent album, which is one of my favorites. From there, they jumped around their three albums, changing clothes and guitars all the while. Even the drummer put on a set of marching band drums and ran around the stage a little while the lead singer played the regular kit. We were pretty impressed by that as well, as he had never drummed at any show we had witnessed. Brady held onto me so I wouldn’t get knocked around too hard, and recorded most of the concert at the same time.

The encore had to be one of my favorite parts. They rolled out a white grand piano for Josh Ramsay to play. He said something about never completely knowing which song he was going to play at this point in the show. He thought about it for a second, seemed to have a revelation of what to play, and then laughed and said he didn’t think he had ever played this song before. Out of nowhere, he started singing “Brick” by Ben Folds Five. He ran that song into one of their old songs called “Skin and Bones” until the rest of the rest of the guys emerged from backstage and performed the last (and best) song from their most recent record, Ever After. Josh disappeared partway through the last song, and when he reappeared, he was raised up high above the stage. And then, something epic happened.

P1010623 from Hailey Born on Vimeo.

Still in the air, he was brought way out into the middle of the crowd, directly above Brady and I. I swear, he was looking straight into our camera! He sang a line or two, did a backflip, and was pulled back to the stage where they finished the song. Seriously, I was shaking! Maybe I sound like a thirteen year old girl swooning over a boy band, but it was truly awesome. I had been silently kicking myself through the show, wishing we had picked a spot in the crowd closer to the side, as there were side stages we hadn’t seen, and the band kept coming out on the sides and interacting with the crowd. This one moment made it completely worth it!

Our camera officially filled its card and batteries died at the same moment, a few seconds after the final chord was played. Best timing ever! It could not have been better.

We drove back to the hotel, completely high on adrenaline, searching desperately for a place open past 10:30pm that would sell us batteries. We overlooked the fact that we couldn’t watch the videos if our batteries were dead. Duh. Thanks to Shoppers Drugmart for being a 24/7 kinda place! We were way too awake and excited until about 2am, when we crashed.

So. Anyone wanna go to the Calgary show tomorrow? Edmonton next Monday? Anyone?!?! I can dream, can’t I?

Brady and I are officially away! Dekker is hanging out with my mom and we are hanging out with each other. We drove on some pretty sketchy highways to get here, but it was worth it. We have a really nice hotel room, a huge tv, room service until 1:00am, and we already went swimming in an empty pool. Not empty of water. Empty of people. Just clarifying.

We will head out to some mystery dinner reservation Brady made in a few minutes, and then hit up the Marianas Trench concert afterwards. I don’t remember the last time we “got ready” for something together. One of us is always getting Dekker ready, so this is a change. I’m enjoying it 🙂 I’m also sooo looking forward to the show! We’ve seen them in concert twice, but both times it was at the Ex. It was awesome, don’t get me wrong, I loved the outdoor shows! But this show is on their tour schedule, so they should have a lot more of their own stuff to make their show great.

Time to go! Sorry for the short post. Tomorrows will likely be more exciting.

I finished an order late last night and I’m actually really excited about it. My FAVORITE kind of order! My instructions were to make three baby toques. Yup, that was it. I could be completely creative! It took a little longer than an average order for a beanie toque, but only because I was thoroughly enjoying trying new things and making up different patterns. Wanna see? Wanna see?!

This first one really is just the average beanie. However, it is made with the same wool I used to make her daddy’s toque last Christmas. Plus a flower. I’ve crocheted plenty of flowers but I really like this one! I might have to buy some of those alligator clips so the flower could be changed out for different colors. Hmmm…

For some reason, this toque was really hard to get a good picture of. It looks kind of mushy but trust me, I have one like this, and it smoothes out really nice when it’s on. The pattern I used wanted me to even the bottom out, but I think it looks a little more feminine and cute this way.

My FAVORITE! My first attempt at a slouchy hat! I LOVE this pattern and am in the process of making one for myself. It was surprisingly quick to make too! I just hope it slouches on such a teeny little head. And I guess I should clarify, the real color is a little bluer than this, but either way, the design is cute I think!

So, success 🙂 I’m happy the goal is met and accomplished, but I’m sad it’s over. I really enjoyed this order. Onto baby boots, and then another slouchy toque for another teeny little baby head. But they might have to wait. Or I may just work on them in the car, during the trip. Brady and I are disappearing to a concert tomorrow evening in Regina and are spending the night away.

Finally finding rest.