Three things every weekend should contain, in my opinion. Today was fully successful, based on the previously mentioned standards.

We had a great church service today. My mom, Brady and I lead singing for the service that was based around missions. We heard updates from our overseas missionaries, as well as from those who are more local. We also officially commissioned Cody as our new associate pastor, which was exciting. I think our entire church is really excited to have him in the position!

From the service, we went downstairs for food. It was something of a belated Thanksgiving meal I suppose, with all the fixings. WE ate very well. Dekker ate tons of turkey, potatoes, and stuffing, all covered in gravy. I love that he can eat more easily from the table now. Such a relief that at least a good chunk of that challenge is over. I’m sure there are more to come. That’s what I hear anyway.

And craft. I have crocheted like a mad man today!!! Anyone else have that bug? I feel like crocheting projects are really pulling me out of the ugly place I was headed. I mean, to God be the glory, don’t get me wrong! But I feel accomplished and proud of what I make, which makes me feel like I’m doing something good. It is nice to feel like you’re good at something, right? Plus, having an outside project to focus on is perfect.

The same way as the crocheting, I feel like this blog helps as well. For some reason, I was silly enough to use the word “daily” in the title. It was an accidental commitment that I made to write something everyday. And a side commitment to myself to not just rant and be negative. It has been such a positive experience for me! There are times when I wonder what will happen on that fateful day when I forget, and finally miss a post. Just that thought alone makes me anxious. But life will go on, and I’ll post twice the next day. Everyone will forgive me, I think. Right guys?

Well, as per usual, I’m off to my bubble bath. And Degrassi. Or Breaking Amish. I’m not sure yet. And maybe leftover pizza. Sleep well!

 

Once again, the weather has affected our plans. Brady and I were going to help friends with a quick home renovation. Ok, Brady was. An 80% chance of rain makes cutting MDF outside a little sketchy. However, the change of plans has given us a surprise day off!  So far, we’ve had a yummy breakfast, played with Dekker, started the deadly Degrassi TV series, and I’ve been crocheting my butt off. It feels sooo nice to be crocheting again.

I was thinking I would wait to post this in case I finished anything before the end of the day, but that felt like too much pressure. So instead, I’ll just break it down a little bit. I finished a slouchy toque but I’m not happy enough with it to post a picture. Besides that, I’m working on a baby toque for a friend. It’s a different style I’ve never successfully accomplished, so hopefully this is my “first time for everything” time. Also, the star stitch. I wonder if you can make a toque out of that. Maybe I’ll try! I perfected a few new stitches today and I’m feeling more confident in knowing a lot more technical terms. Kind of like music theory, only rather it’s crocheting theory.

Short post for a comfy day.

I slept like a log. I dozed off so easily and slept like there was no tomorrow! Or I suppose I slept like there are plenty more tomorrows. Whoops. It was such a relief to feel solidly tired. I’m sure Brady was thankful too. As my sleeping sidekick, he’s often up until I’m asleep. Yup, like children. I suppose he could let me “cry it out” but that might be awkward in the same bed…

So anyway, I slept great. And then had this horrible dream! A little bit of Community mixed in with Lost and I don’t know what else! I don’t remember where it was or why, but Troy Barnes was being forced to do something. He didn’t want to do it, because it was wrong, and the man trying to persuade him started surface slicing him with a big knife! Like, around his neck and everything, just enough to make him bleed. It was gross and terrible! He took it like a champ though, didn’t budge on his decision. And then the guy cut off one of his finger tips!!! It was all very bloody and scary and I hated it. But that was the end of it. Troy never gave in, and the guy gave up. I suppose whether dreams mean something or they don’t, its a good reminder anyway. Don’t give up on what you know is right, no matter what.

Today, we are going to my parents again, to practice music for the Sunday service. Brady and I were technically on the list to lead but having had the busiest week of my life, we passed it to my mom this time around. So we’ll practice music, have supper there, and play with Dekker. He is getting sooo close to standing on his own. He can stand for a second or two before he plops down on his bum or grabs back onto whatever he let go of in the first place. Not long, but its getting more common. He tries a lot, anyway. And he climbs up and down their two stairs out of the sunken living room. He’s doing awesome, and developing fast!

Also, just because I haven’t documented it in here yet (I don’t think) he is so much fun to watch! He plays by himself really well. His favorite is discovering what sound is made when two toys bang together. Any toys. But my parents have toy cymbals so he crashed those things together like nobodys business! Also popular are those stack cups that either fit inside each other or stack up into a tower. Most kids, you need to basically restrain while you build the tower before they come flying into it, knocking it over. I was actually really looking forward to that game! And of course, my kid is the one weird kid that won’t knock the tower over on purpose. He starts at the top and pulls one cup off. Then the next, and the next, until he gets to the bottom one. The green one. The best one. He picks it up and waves it around, celebrating his find. And then he takes it somewhere to smack it against another toy. End of game. He’s so funny, I get such a kick out of him playing toys. I genuinely look forward to playing with him today!

After such a creepy, dark dream, he sure lights up my day!

Today was better than I thought it would be! Always a nice surprise.

I was feeling very tired after yesterday, and Dekker decided to make my morning easy by sleeping through it. Literally. He slept until 12:30pm. When he finally woke, we had lunch and went to my moms house. We had arranged to drop him in Dalmeny while Brady and I went to the dentist. We were overdue and expecting pretty ugly appointments. We both got lectures because we don’t floss (shoot me) and I have my first cavity. So yes, we got in a little bit of trouble. We have another day in about four weeks where we’re both going in for another hour of cleaning and I’ll get my filling that day as well. The upside for me though was my dental hygienist. She came off as a bit of a cocky person, very young and pretty but with some solid attitude. She looked over my teeth and made a comment like “Well, they’re dirty, and that crap has to come off,” and from there, she proceeded to give me the gentlest teeth cleaning of my life. Barely any pain! I was sooo thankful! I had been dreading my appointment, and left feeling relieved, even though I knew I would be back relatively soon.

We drove back to Dalmeny for supper. The plan was for me to go back to Saskatoon to meet with a friend, and Brady would stay in Dalmeny with my parents and Dekker. Turns out my mom had a few things to shop for so she drove me in and dropped me off. I was a little nervous about this meeting too! I was asked to teach my friend how to crochet, which is something I really love to do, but teach? I feel pretty confident in my crocheting, but I haven’t taught anyone how to do it in years. However, it was wonderful. I was welcomed with open arms into her house. Surrounded by kids and an enormous (and suuuper loving) dog, we spent a couple hours holed up in her bedroom with music playing, while we crocheted. And it worked!!! She got it! I feel good knowing I didn’t completely waste her time.

Now I’m home, and fading already. I looove feeling tired. It gives me hope I may actually sleep tonight. Hope everyone else has a good night as well!

Today was a good day for lots of reasons, and challenging for lots of other reasons.

I decided to go to the walk-in clinic to finally deal with a few frustrating little ailments that I’ve left for too long. Being a wuss, I asked a friend to accompany me. After waiting at the clinic for a decent amount of time, they let me know that Dekker’s doctor had a cancellation and if I wanted to go for lunch first, she could see me, instead of me seeing whoever was on call. My lovely friend agreed, and we were out for asian food court food. I’m coming to LOVE asian food court food! We went back to the doctors office and got some things dealt with. Finally. I love my doctor. She’s not even my doctor. She is Dekkers. But she takes amazing care of me both of us. We made a quick stop at Tim Hortons on the way home, and that was it! Not lots to do, but I think I was just so nervous to go deal with things I had let go too far. I felt so exhausted. I brought Dekker home, fed him a little snack and put him down for a nap. I then lay in my bed until Brady got home. We had a quick supper before I ran out for a meeting.

Dalmeny is in the process of raising funds for building a spray park and I was recently recruited to be part of that committee. So it was my first meeting! It was fun and I’m actually pretty excited about the project. We were out of the meeting in good time, but then a quick trip to drop off a pizza pan at my moms house turned into one of those 45 minute visits in the back landing with the car running in the driveway. I love my mom. I feel like I haven’t seen her in weeks. It was nice to catch up while I handed her that pan for so long.

I drove home listening to the new Tyler Ward album, which helped me feel refreshed and relaxed. As much as I could, anyway. I replayed my day in my head, as I tend to do. For a day at the doctor, it was awesome! I loved having a willing friend with me, having lunch in the middle, and just general conversation so I didn’t get too nervous about the actual appointment. She helped keep my mind off of things, which I really appreciated. Also, the meeting was informative, the girls were nice, and the park is going to be amazing! It was a really great day. Yet for some reason, it was a weepy drive home. When I finally got there, my boy was on his way  to his nighttime bottle, so we cuddled up in bed while he dozed in and out, drinking his milk. He doesn’t usually sleep through that bottle at all, but his  nap was super short today so he was pretty finished.

And all of a sudden, my day got better.Dekker went straight from his bottle to sleeping on my chest, no hesitation. I held him so close, his twitches felt like they did when he was still in my belly. I found such comfort in his cuddles. Yet, I’m sure he felt comforted by me as well. He needs me, but I need him too! He has completely lifted my spirits this evening.

Dekker Thomas, that was exactly what I needed. Thank you. Sleep well, my love.

Before I even start talking about what I will be talking about, I have to say THANK YOU for the record views yesterday!!! 206! I had no idea that many people cared about my new shoes, haha!

Yesterday Brady and I transformed our bed. We love our bed. Its a queen sized pillow top mattress that you just sink into. I know the soft bed isn’t for everybody, but luckily, everybody is not sleeping in our bed. Just us. We used to have a nice large blanket with a flannel cover, nice cotton sheets, decent pillows. It was a nice plushy bed. But now everything has changed.

We bought new pillows recently. Nice firm but puffy pillows. I’m a little nervous to switch mine out just yet, since I’m so bad at sleeping, and a new pillow is sometimes too tall. So I’ve replaced the pillow I hug with the new puffy one to flatten it out a little first. We also graduated our cotton sheets to flannel, since the cool weather is coming and the furnace is kicking on sometimes. I looove flannel sheets! But no one likes to sweat in their sleep.

Lastly, we got a new blanket and cover. Our blanket is a real wool but not frightfully heavy like you would think. Bradys mom made us a cover out of the material we picked out. It has a light cotton white top and a light brown flannel bottom. The best part? It’s an oversized king blanket. We lay it on the bed last night, and climbed under it. Blissful. It was light, and warm, and not sticky or overheated. Our feet didn’t hang out the bottom, and we could completely wrap it around and hug it in bunches.

I never want to leave my bed. Ever. However, supper smells good already.

That’s something that can cheer a girl up, hey?

Elvira and I had a really nice shopping day today. Short and successful. We went to the mall to purchase me a toe ring since one of my broke a few weeks back. She purchased one too! Hoping she enjoys it as much as I enjoy my twelve. From there we picked up a few groceries at Safeway and ended up getting a few scoops of salad and some ginger beef from the deli for lunch.

We ordered some Starbucks and headed out on our next challenge – to find a Halloween costume for Dekker that isn’t a superhero or a snake. We ended up with an adorable little animal (not telling yet!) with a very kind face. Can’t wait to see him all dressed up! (If you can’t wait to see him either, perhaps we’ll drop by your house.) Candy candy candy! But if we’re being honest, Brady and I will be eating the candy. We just want to show Dekker off.

And then, once all goals were reached, there they were. My new shoes.

If we can all look past my hairy legs, that would be appreciated. And yes, some would say “I would have never noticed if you hadn’t said something” but others will go”ew…” So I’m just putting it out there. They are soft and purple, barely worn, and fit amazingly. I slipped my foot into one and heard angels singing.

Just a quick side not here. I did not paint my toes purple for this picture. This is just the way they are. I’m not that lame.

Second side not. I now need to learn to walk in them.

Third and final side note. Elvira bought two pairs of shoes. So I wasn’t alone!

Have a great night! Sorry to the readers that don’t care about my new shoes.

Today is Bradys birthday. He’s finally my age again. I hate being older than him. I know, the difference is only about 2.5 months. But still. 24 is almost mid-twenties, and I’m happy I’m not the only one anymore.

We spend the day with family and food. Bradys mom is visiting so she accompanied us to church this morning, and we all gathered at my parents house afterwards for birthday lunch – thanksgiving dinner. The whole shebang. It was awesome. Since we hadn’t eaten enough, Elvira took us out to Boston Pizza for supper. Dekker sat at his high chair and ate and played very well the entire time. I love how low maintenance he is. Now we’re home, fat, and content. My bubble bath is running. But before I cut this blog post short, I will list 24 things I love about Brady.

1. His hair. C’mon, isn’t that the reason we started dating in the first place?

2. His musical ability. He excels in both guitar and drums.

3. His eagerness to teach Dekker music.

4. I never have to feel embarrassed playing guitar in front of him, even though he’s miles ahead of me.

5. His forgiveness. He waits through my rants of irrational emotion until I finally say something like “I’m not actually this mad, it is just coming out wrong” and then he says “I know” and forgives me. That is not a love you see every day.

6. He loves the Lord with all his heart.

7. He loves me.

8. He loves Dekker.

9. He has a genuine desire to lead his family in the way of the Lord.

10. He built me a huge soaker tub. Just for me. I share, of course, but he wouldn’t have built it for himself.

11. His work ethic. For his job and home projects.

12. He paints my nails. Toes and fingers. Very well. Anytime I ask.

13. He lets me paint his toes 🙂 But only in sock season.

14. His athletic ability. Any sport. Actually, sometimes that drives me nuts. But I’m proud of it.

15. He listens to my favorite band and travels for concerts, even though they’re not his favorite band.

16. He loves every meal I make. Even the new ones. Even the flops.

17. He doesn’t criticize.

18. He walks through the house when I wake up after a nightmare.

19. He changes every poopy diaper when he is home.

20. Did I already say his hair? Ok, his mondo smile 😀

21. Brady is a better housecleaner than me, and a more willing one.

22. He moved to a new province just to be with me, even though our dating relationship was rocky at the time.

23. He works so I can stay home and play with Dekker all day.

24. He will happily do a big grocery shop all on his own. The only “extra” that makes it home is chocolate. Who can complain?

I have no complaints. I have everything I need. You know that best friend that you have that compliments your personality perfectly? The one you can scrap with often but can laugh when you discover you’re arguing the same point? The one you can make macaroni with after midnight? That is Brady.

Brady boy, you are the ranch dressing to my chicken strips. I love you. I am so thankful God has given you another year.

I mentioned a few posts ago that I started crocheting again. I never meant to specifically stop, the warm months are just a weird time for creating wintery things. After our first snowfall, I’m back!

I’ve found the last little while (maybe the last month or two?) to be quite challenging. I can’t specifically pinpoint what exactly made them that way. Illness, busy weekends, and a lot of things I don’t feel the need to lay out on my blog for the world to read. Either way, my anxiety level has crept up on me. I’ve never experienced this. Low times, definitely. Depression, probably. But anxiety is new. I almost feel bad saying that that I feel anxious. I have the easiest baby and a very comfy life. But I have my reasons, and I don’t think I need to justify my feelings.

I decided to start crocheting again to help me keep busy. I have a few orders lining up, and I started a big project of my own. I stole the idea from Pinterest (of course) and am making it up as I go. Pretty exciting! Also, one order is for a unique pattern of baby boots. I’ve never made baby boots before! I’m loving the challenges. Maybe it’s silly, but they’re all things I can look forward to!

I have considered selling my stuff to bring in some extra Christmas cash, but I almost feel like the need for crochet creations for sale has been filled. I know lots of people who successful sell things better than I make, so I think that’s not really an option for me right now. I will just keep doing what I’m doing I guess! I like it. It is low pressure, which is a perfect match to my anxiety, I can do it in my jammies in my basement while Dekker plays toys, and my “customers” aka friends and family are very forgiving. It is not as though a slipped stitch knocks 10% off the price.

That being said, I’ll throw out a shameless plug for myself. I sold 17 scarves to people who gave them as Christmas gifts a couple years ago, and it was awesome! If someone has an idea of something they want or would like to gift, let me know 🙂 I have improved in my skills (if I can be so bold as to even say that!!) in the last year for sure, and can finally read patterns! I’d love to help anyone who has an idea they’d like to see turn into something tangible! However, I am completely content if I get not one order this Christmas. I’m just a girl crocheting in my jammies, trying to stay sane. I’m thinking my side project is going to take FOREVER anyway!

I should learn to make Dekker old man sweaters…

I mentioned a few posts ago that I started crocheting again. I never meant to specifically stop, the warm months are just a weird time for creating wintery things. After our first snowfall, I’m back!

I’ve found the last little while (maybe the last month or two?) to be quite challenging. I can’t specifically pinpoint what exactly made them that way. Illness, busy weekends, and a lot of things I don’t feel the need to lay out on my blog for the world to read. Either way, my anxiety level has crept up on me. I’ve never experienced this. Low times, definitely. Depression, probably. But anxiety is new. I almost feel bad saying that that I feel anxious. I have the easiest baby and a very comfy life. But I have my reasons, and I don’t think I need to justify my feelings.

I decided to start crocheting again to help me keep busy. I have a few orders lining up, and I started a big project of my own. I stole the idea from Pinterest (of course) and am making it up as I go. Pretty exciting! Also, one order is for a unique pattern of baby boots. I’ve never made baby boots before! I’m loving the challenges. Maybe it’s silly, but they’re all things I can look forward to!

I have considered selling my stuff to bring in some extra Christmas cash, but I almost feel like the need for crochet creations for sale has been filled. I know lots of people who successful sell things better than I make, so I think that’s not really an option for me right now. I will just keep doing what I’m doing I guess! I like it. It is low pressure, which is a perfect match to my anxiety, I can do it in my jammies in my basement while Dekker plays toys, and my “customers” aka friends and family are very forgiving. It is not as though a slipped stitch knocks 10% off the price.

That being said, I’ll throw out a shameless plug for myself. I sold 17 scarves to people who gave them as Christmas gifts a couple years ago, and it was awesome! If someone has an idea of something they want or would like to gift, let me know 🙂 I have improved in my skills (if I can be so bold as to even say that!!) in the last year for sure, and can finally read patterns! I’d love to help anyone who has an idea they’d like to see turn into something tangible! However, I am completely content if I get not one order this Christmas. I’m just a girl crocheting in my jammies, trying to stay sane. I’m thinking my side project is going to take FOREVER anyway!

I should learn to make Dekker old man sweaters…