Today felt so refreshing. It was much-needed for all of us I think.

Dekker got up at a decent time and had some cereal. I froze all of his bananas last night and that is always his favorite part of breakfast, so I made him and I smoothies instead. Frozen bananas, berries, pineapple, spinach, and milk. Done and done. He loves his smoothies and didn’t seem too disappointed about not having a banana on its own.

I’m so thankful that he doesn’t like to be too messy. He didn’t spill a drop in the car. We picked up my mom, picked up noodle bowls, and headed to Willa’s house.

Dekker did awesome, as usual. He wandered around the kitchen a little but stayed close and played magnets for the most part. After lunch we headed out to Boffin Gardens to take some pictures of him. I don’t have many on me yet, but my mom has a solid 300 so I’m sure I’ll have a few to put up soon 🙂 My favorite that I took…

 

Usually Mr. Dekker doesn’t like new places, but he LOVED being outside running around! I know I sound somewhat neglectful for not bringing him outside more, but I swear to you, up until maybe three weeks ago, I could have taken him to the exact same place and would have had to carry him every inch of the way. But today, he loved it. He got lots of sun, and checked out lots of flowers. The first flowers he saw were some white lilacs, and he wouldn’t go near them. By the end, we offered him some cherry blossoms and he moved right in to take a big sniff. Seems small, but it really is great to see him changing before my eyes.

Once the afternoon photo shoot was over, my mom, Dekker, and I hit up Costco. I ran into my high school french teacher there and we had SUCH a nice visit! I have kept in touch with a few of my high school teachers and while some think its strange, I don’t. Those ladies are amazing, and I love how often I spontaneously run into them at Costco of all places 🙂 The perfect place!

Dekker was exhausted at this point and was barely awake the entire drive home, but once there, he did not nap. He was in his bed for a while, but no sleeping. Needless to say, he was way overtired at bedtime and it was tough. Brady was changing his diaper and Dekker was just screaming!!! We really get after Dekker for screaming. Crying is fine, but the senseless screaming is not. Not in our house, anyway. But I could hear by his voice that he was just finished. He came into our r0om for our bedtime cuddles, and I kind of thought he was maybe a little too far gone. But I lay Dekker on top of me and he just slumped and cried. And I patted his back and made “oooooo” sounds like I used to do with him when he had horrible gas and needed to puke and was so frustrated. Not even a minute later my little boy was silent. I didn’t let up though. For fear of losing the moment, I kept the patting and sounds going until Brady came to have his cuddles. Such a soft little moment for me and my son.

It really was a great day. The little one had some exercise and adventure, and we all got some sun and socializing. Thanks for the day, ladies!

Its time for some positivity around here!

Dekker woke up at 10:30 this morning, had breakfast, and we played downstairs. He has always done things in this order, but he’s recently picked up a few new things. For instance, if I ask for a hug, he runs at me for one more often than not. In the middle of playing toys!! I even get kisses! He’s never been very kissy. Not that he hates them or anything, but he’s never initiated them or been patient enough to turn for one, but he does now! Also, if I’m on the couch, every once in a while during his play, he’ll come over and reach his arms up to me. I pick him up and he lays on me, has a nice minute long cuddle, and then goes back to playing. Especially these last few days, its as though he’s known we both need some extra cuddles. Such a soft boy.

When it comes to playing toys, Dekker is newly big on throwing a ball. He finally is saying words!!! BALL! and he’ll chuck the ball. Or the can of tea. Or the hockey puck. Or anything within reach. But he knows “ball” anyway 🙂 I got a “wuv oo” out of him today when I told him I loved him, and he chased after Brady this evening with his arms up, calling “Ut! Ut!” for up we think. Its starting!!!

We’re working pretty hard to get through this stage of hitting faces. He’s pretty determined to express himself that way, and while we are being consistent and not letting him ever get away with it, it seems to be fairly ongoing and not slowing down a whole lot yet. But in amongst all of it, we can at least tell now that he knows what he’s done sometimes before we even reprimand him. When he’s calmed down and I can speak to him face to face without him trying to hit me, I ask him if he’s sorry and he always moves in for a hug. Of course I expect him to actually say “I’m sorry” when he’s more verbal but for right now, I’d say this is a big step in the right direction. I understand his communication pretty well I’d say, and I can tell he is sorry for what he’s done. He’s really growing up.

As for other good things that happened today, I was on the phone a lot. And I actually really liked it! I’ve been feeling lonely and stressed out for a while now and having the phone ring as much as it did actually helped me feel like I had people around. I know, it sounds a little pathetic, and I really don’t want to sound needy. But I’m also not too proud to say I really did need the company. I spoke to my mom, my neighbour, my sister, and Brady. I had Dekker to talk to when I wasn’t talking to them, and I even emailed with my mother in law. Communication saved my day. I appreciate all of you so much! Except the telemarketer that called my house. Stop calling!!!!! But everyone else is ok 😉

We had one of my favorite suppers tonight (perogies and wings!) which was super delicious, and watched Arrested Development. My opinion: not enough George Michael. Who doesn’t love Michael Cera??! But it was still nice to watch some tv, have delicious guilty pleasure food, and watch my son climb in and out of a diaper box over and over again. Such a funny boy!

Tomorrow I’m going on a date with my mom and and Dekker’s honorary Grandma Willa. We’ll have lunch outside on her deck and then go check out a garden by the university. Hoping to get some awesome pictures of Dekker now that the weather is finally gorgeous and isn’t as afraid of new places. Should be awesome!

I’m sorry this post is a bit haphazard but I’m really needing to focus on positives these days. Its hard when my gut would rather be pessimistic and grouchy, but we all have the gift of self-control and I’m choosing to exercise mine! Or at least I’m gonna give it a go. I have so many blessings in my life and so much to look forward to. I found myself so in love with Dekker today, laughing at his antics and kissing his lips over and over again. With him, my anticipation for our second child is growing at warp speed. At just about 24 weeks pregnant, I wish I could already set up the baby room for two kids, and I wish I could install the car seat. A little too early, I know, so I won’t. But I am thrilled that in a couple of months from now, I can. Love is in the air.

God is so good! I can’t help but add in an older photo of Dekker here that just melts my heart. SUCH a gorgeous boy I have!

Brady locked himself out of the house and his van this morning, so he had to call to me let him back into the house for keys. Therefore, I was wide awake at 6am. Having had a difficult day yesterday and anticipating a similar one today, I was very heavy-hearted and restless. My whole night had been the same. I had a fitful sleep filled with dreams and constantly waking up with braxton hicks contractions. It was a total bust.

Our day went better than yesterday but I am now exhausted. I’m going to completely cheat and post a note I wrote on Facbeook back from when Dekker was two months old as my post tonight. I struggle when Dekker struggles. I’m fighting an inner battle about putting my son through some pain for his own good. Will he resent me for bringing him to pain? Or can he comprehend that in the long run, I’m helping him feel better? Being a parent sucks ass sometimes.

…..

Oct 21, 2011

I’m a new mom, and leading up to this point I’ve heard lots of stories of what it would be like to be a mom and feelings I will feel or be expected to feel. I’ve feared that I wouldn’t feel those feelings and that I wouldn’t measure up to what everyone told me I would be like. Its been a journey already, and I’m only just about nine weeks in. I can honestly say I haven’t felt all the feelings I’ve been told I’d feel. I don’t cry every time Dekker cries (through diaper changes, the beginning of his bath, etc), I didn’t have horrible separation anxiety the first time I spent an evening away from him, things like that. But I got a serious taste of a mothers heart about a week ago.

Dekker got sick at about six weeks. He overcame it, but Brady and I got sick as well. Since we took our time getting better, Dekker caught round two. While this was going on, my son started peeing considerably less. Now maybe this seems silly to worry about, but its a very valid concern. This could mean anything from a bladder infection to kidney failure. So I observed it for about a day and ended up taking him to Royal University Hospital one night. A lovely nurse informed me he would need a catheter inserted to see if there was a blockage, and that Dekker would feel a lot of discomfort. I held his hand while he just screamed and the poor nurses fumbled with the tube saying not-so-reassuring things like “Was that resistance? I can’t tell, how far in does this thing go?” It was so scary for me, and for Dekker I’m sure. We got through it, and I got to feed and comfort him right after. However, about a half hour later, it was revealed that his catheter was unnecessary before but now that he had fed, he would need another one to see how much could be taken out of him. I can still see him in that moment. He was laid out on the bed, his upper body wrapped so tightly in his blanket so he wouldn’t flail his arms. His legs were pinned down and I was holding his soother in his mouth. He looked up and me and just smiled. So trusting. My heart broke as he suddenly jolted in pain and started screaming. My heart just breaks writing this, I remember it so vividly, and at the moment, it feels like I’ll never forget it.

At the end of our visit, we discovered that he had no infection, no failure, nothing scary. He had in fact grown 1.5 lbs in the past nine days and was also fighting a cold, so all his milk was used up in other areas of his body. I was so thankful to get him out of there safe and sound, and I know he still loves me.

I write about this because today Dekker got his two month shots. I knew we’d be ok since it would be nothing like our hospital experience. He was so good during the general check up, being weighed and measured, being put on his tummy on a cold counter, being undressed for longer than he usually prefers in general. He was relaxed and just cooed and smiled at the nurse, who seemed very taken with him. Considering the ordeal we had been through together just a week earlier, I opted to hold him for his shots. His first shot in his right leg made him cry but he recovered quickly. The second was not as nice, and stung him a lot more. No amount of soft talking or bell ringing could quiet his cry. Luckily it was time to eat anyway, and he slept for the next few hours.

I feel the need to write this out as I sit here and feed him his last meal of the evening. He’s very smiley, something that is less common in the evenings as that is his fussy time of the day. Something extra beautiful about my son is how much he loves to cuddle. He will always lovingly have a hand either in my armpit, cleavage, or wherever he can find some skin. Today he just prefers my arm. He just lay wide awake watching me, gently moving his hand around on my arm as if trying to comfort me, as I just can’t seem to stop whispering to him how sorry I am. Its nice to know he still loves me. I was made to feel earlier that I had put my son through some things that were unnecessary (the hospital visit) and I had a tough time wondering if I had caused him so much pain for no reason at all except for my own piece of mind. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to advocate for Dekker as he can’t do the same for himself, so I have to pray about things and just trust my judgement. I’m glad I took him to the hospital, I’m glad I took him to get shots, and I’m glad he still loves me.

I know God loves all His children even more than I love Dekker (hard to believe) and if it hurts me this much to see Dekker hurt, it must be just excruciating for God to see us all in pain. However, the hard and painful things we go through are often for our own good, or there is a lesson involved. I need to remember that. God won’t give me, or Brady, or Dekker anything we can’t handle. Its nice to know we’ve got someone watching out for us.

I woke Dekker up from a deep sleep at 1:00 this afternoon. He was a bit fidgety while I changed his diaper. I know most kids are, but he seemed pretty unhappy and out of sorts. He got through the whole thing and burst into tears right when I finished doing up the sides. Big crocodile tears. I carried him out to the dining room and instead of leaning towards his high chair like usual, he clung to me and cuddled right in. I asked him if he was hungry and he shook his head. He turned down his supper the night before, and now several hours later, he still didn’t want to eat. I know he’s been teething so we haven’t been pushing him too terribly hard to eat perfectly. But not eating at all is a whole different thing. I carried him over to the fridge and offered him some milk but he declined. He didn’t even want to lift his head up to look at himself in the mirror. If you’ve ever seen him in front of a mirror, he’s quite a card. So this was really out of character for him. I finally strapped him into his high chair, kicking and screaming and reaching for me. It was awful. I bawled.

Thus began a very difficult day for both he and I that I’m not completely ready to talk about yet. Maybe more tomorrow. But we survived, with each others help.

Cuddles make everyone feel better.

As tends to happen most days, I found myself completely taken with my sons beauty today. I know there are some people out there who would never call a boy beautiful, but opt for handsome or strong or some other flattering masculine adjective. And thats fine! But I am regularly reminded that Dekker is completely beautiful. In his personality, his heart, and of course his shocking good looks. I just wanted to add a few pictures of him in here that have been taken in the last day or two.

On a completely separate note, I figured I’d throw in a belly photo, since I mentioned in my last post that I’m only somewhat comfortable if I let the belly be free as opposed to sucking it in. So when I’m comfy, this is what I look like:

That makes more sense for 23 weeks hey?

We just spent the evening with a good group of friends, eating appetizers and chatting in the living room. Sometimes I feel bad for not planning things but conversation never slowed, and it was really comfortable. I love our friends, and the way they accept our family just the way we are. Its been a good day.

Tomorrow Brady is back to work and I feel like I’m out of practice on how to parent by myself! Hopefully I figure it out in good time.

 

 

Todays post will be scattered and about many little things. Might be boring for you, but some things need to be blogged about even if they don’t relate to anything.

I am 23 weeks pregnant as of yesterday, and am feeling like I should rather be closer to 43 weeks pregnant. I get winded walking up the stairs. My heart races will race and race and I have to go lay in bed to bring it back to normal. I’ve also come to that great point of feeling over-full all the time. Not with food, but with stuff. As in, baby is where all my innards should be, yet my ribcage hasn’t spread out enough to accomodate them, so sitting is very uncomfortable. Anywhere. For any time span. Laying down is the only real option, which you can imagine is pretty inconvenient at the best of times.

Another discomfort I feel like complaining about is probably less appropriate to talk about, but I’m gonna. I feel like my boobs are physically trying to tear themselves from my body. Thus begins the hunt for a sports bra to start wearing to bed. Without one, instead of sitting up and getting out of my bed in the morning, I’ll end up on the floor.

To add a positive light to the situation, baby is hypothetically 1.5 lbs this week and as long as a cob of corn! It sort of makes things make sense a bit more. I don’t show too much and its hard to imagine that the baby is already so long, but I’ve discovered something. I have always held my stomach in. Always. Not because I’m embarrassed or aware of it really, but its just natural for me. Its gotten even more that way since having Dekker and having my abs work so hard to keep up with his bulk. I have been pretty unconsciously doing it this whole pregnancy as well, which I think is really great actually. I should try to exercise my ab muscles as long as I have them right? But since I’m having this full feeling that takes the wind out of me, I’ve discovered that just letting my belly be “free” gives me so much more room in there! Letting my abs relax lets my baby bump show while letting me breathe better. Win win 🙂 I complain, I know, but I assure you all that I am more than 200% thrilled to be pregnant and do not take it for granted for a second! We are sooo anticipating baby #2! Hoping to book our 3D ultrasound in three-ish weeks maybe?

One more quick note about the baby. At our last appointment, we heard the heartbeat on the doppler, as per usual. The sound wasn’t normal though. It was more of a snapping sound. Our doctor pointed it out to us and said the snap is actually the sound of the heart chambers physically closing and moving and doing their jobs! Very cool 🙂 This baby sure keeps us on our toes, learning new things all along the way.

To run off in a completely different direction, Brady rounded up the garden today and the town guy came and mowed our whole lawn 🙂 There is grass everywhere, but I’m hoping we’ll get a wickedly strong east wind in the next couple of days that will blow it all away, and then it will finally look pretty. I can hope. But either way, things are starting! I think we’re a bit behind but I’m hoping we’ll be able to have a garden up in the next couple of weeks.

I don’t have tons more to say really. I’m typing this post early because for some unknown reason, Brady and I are both wiped and fatigued today and need to go to bed early tonight. Lucky for us, the chicken for the spaghetti casserole was already prepared from the other day and in the fridge, so the casserole is doing its cooking thing without our help, and Dekker’s sleeping. I’m totally looking forward to supper and Arrested Development and my nudist baby.

Since rounding up the garden got cancelled last night, my dad offered to come do it this morning. About fifteen minutes away from our place the rain started and stayed all day. Only now that the day is done has it stopped. So who knows. Maybe tomorrow we’ll get our garden rounded up and the grass done. I know we could do it ourselves, but it would take forever with our mostly broken lawn mower, so we’ve recruited one of the guys from town with a ride-on to come help.

Since my dad was over, we broke out some watermelon and chatted a bit while Dekker had his breakfast, and then he headed on his way back home to complete some jobs before my mom arrives home from Winnipeg early next week. We took on our house and finished up all the tidying, swept the floor, did dishes, and threw in the last couple loads of laundry. I also prepped the chicken for dinner in its marinade.

Our friends arrived mid-afternoon. They’re always great to have around, and it seems the conversation never slows really. They are friends that we can talk to about pretty much everything. Serious stuff. Embarrassing stuff. Nostalgic stuff. As Nolan said this evening, we’ve pretty well crossed that line of whats appropriate to talk to your friends about, so now we’re just golden 🙂 They’re aso very brave and eat the things I try out on them. Today was my first attempt at chicken stir fry with a peanut sauce. While it wasn’t a juicy as I would have liked, the flavor was all there and it went over well. They brought a delicious dessert of a mixed berry pie with whipped cream. Sooo good and really smooth 🙂 We chatted a bit more and then they headed home just before 10pm. We all have young kids and even 10pm is pushing it.

So again, same as yesterday, all of our outdoor jobs from yesterday and this morning didn’t happen. But it was still a super successful day. We plan to stay home tomorrow and stay comfy. If we get ambitious, we might try and build some deck chairs that we’ve been dreaming about for a while, but not before croissants and coffee in bed. Its going to be another great day. Hopefully these days keep coming!

Today I woke up at 8:30am feeling surprisingly refreshed! I have no idea why, considering we went to bed pretty late, but I decided to go with it. We arranged and started laundry, tidied up the kitchen a bit, cleared off the dining room table, and a few other errands began. Dekker got up at a reasonable time and was in a good mood. We had everything set up for the day to smoothly. Our plan was going to be spent puttering around accomplishing things, then making my awesome chicken spaghetti for my dad to enjoy with us when he came in the evening to help with a few things. The flooding brought TONS of grass into our garden and we can almost not see where it ends and the lawn begins. So the plan was to use round up (I know, I know) and kill it off so we could plant soon. My dad was also going to help Brady get our chest freezer off of the cinder blocks we had it up on during the flood scare. However, thanks to the rain, the round up wouldn’t work, so dad didn’t come. We still did laundry and tidied a bit, but I felt discouraged.

If anyone remembers, my entire garden flooded last year, and stayed flooded, and died. It sucked. When all the flooding started, I came to  terms with the fact that we wouldn’t have a garden again, and that would be ok. But there is no standing water in my garden! And I’m eager to get planting! So I was pretty bummed that the first leg of the garden couldn’t be started today. I kind of lost gumption after I discovered that. Chicken spaghetti was put on hold for another day. I was back in jammies. It was done. I know it seems like something really silly and little to get me down, but it was just something I was pumped for that went wrong.

The garden will be rounded up tomorrow morning, and then we’ll spend the afternoon and evening with friends we love. I’m excited and nervous to attempt making this amazing chicken stir fry my sister introduced me to for them. If the weather is good, the husbands might go outside and build deck chairs, but I hear rumors of more rain so I’m not holding my breath. I’m in no rush. There will be a deck chair day sometime in the near future, I am confident. So there is lots of good to come!

But being bummed out this evening, Brady and I decided to go to Saskatoon for a few groceries and mainly just to get out of the house. I really want watermelon, so we went for one of those. And I’m out of stretch mark lotion for my belly, so we need that too. Those two purchases plus a few other groceries and a quick visit with a friend who works at the mall made up the evening I wanted. No, I didn’t accomplish as many things around my house but I feel better having gone out. And I’m thinking my friends coming out tomorrow like us enough to look past the few dishes left in the sink, and the unswept floor.

It was a rainy day. A bit gloomy.

I know, we were already home yesterday, but today was our first whole day back, and it was spent BUSY!

Ok, not too busy. We definitely slept in until 10:30 this morning, and had breakfast in bed before Dekker got up. We were at my prenatal appointment for 1:30. As I’ve said a hundred times before, I love my doctor! I had some things to talk to her about and she is always such a good listener. I’ve had a lot more stress in this pregnancy than I had with Dekker’s pregnancy, and she understands that I need information to feel calmer as opposed to being left in the dark. For instance, baby was breech a few weeks ago. I asked today when I could start thinking about babys position and when we would know baby was head down. I know a baby can move anytime in a pregnancy, up until delivery day, but she informed me that she would start checking for position around 30 weeks, and that if baby wasn’t head down, that she would send in a bunch of referrals right away and get things moving. I like details. She always throws something like “and the baby will probably flip while you wait for the appointments.” I love that about her. Last year when she put a referral through for me to see a specialist for not being able to conceive, she commented that it would be so great if we conceived before the appointment. And we did. She knows things. So all of that aside, she gave me lots of good information. I never thought I’d have this many questions at each appointment, considering how many I asked in my first pregnancy, but people aren’t kidding when they say every pregnancy is different. No two things are the same so far!

From the doctors office, we hit the Broadway Cafe for lunch. Dekker LOVED his pancakes and Brady and I wolfed down our meals as well. We hit Walmart after that, where we had our first “toddler accident.” No, Dekker didn’t poop anywhere strange. He dropped a jar. It was our fault for letting him hold it. If you know Dekker, he is very careful, and has never dropped anything out of the cart before, but he is also still a little boy and we should have never put that responsibility on him. It dropped and the contents were very sticky and yucky and it was a huge mess. I was completely horrified, and Dekker being as sensitive as he is, was immediately upset. And then a lovely Walmart lady in a white apron emerged from who knows where with a big smile and said over and over again “Don’t worry about this at all! Keep shopping, its fine. We’ll take care of it.” Someone was immediately sent for a mop and she stood near the mess so no shoppers would step in it. She was all smiles, and even touched Dekkers head and assured him everything was ok. I felt sick but for our first mistake like that, she was the lady to have it around. We gave Dekker a tube of Pilsbury croissants after that and no more damage was done. We actually had a great haul! Walmart had lots of great sales, so we are solidly stocked up on Childrens and infant Tylenol and Peach Five Alive, to name a couple. We also purchased some sealant for the deck and picnic table, and oil and a filter for the Mazda. But the big event of Walmart was Dekker being so grown up. He is very cautious in new places and will never be put down somewhere that isn’t familiar. But all of a sudden, that boy would not be contained. We have a runner. A runner-into-things-er. And runner-into-people-er. A boy with no fear. And one who gets a lot of attention when he claps those two tubes of croissants together! We kept a close eye on him, but I did order him a phone number bracelet the moment we got home. I know, I could make one, but I don’t have stuff on hand. No judging.

Our last stop of the day was Costco, where I purchased chicken breasts, milk, AA batteries, and best of all, Nestle Drumsticks were on sale!!! I’m not going to lie. The ice cream treats were the main reason we went to Costco.

Upon arriving home, we put Dekker down for a nap and put groceries away. We are still quite scattered from arriving home yesterday and have a lot of tidying up to do in the next day or two, but I have to say that I am again feeling floored by how blessed we are. What brought this on was bringing our freezer stuff downstairs to our huge chest freezer. I’ve had this moment before, but I had it again today. I was sooo annoyed that there was so little room in my freezer. I felt that way for about one second before I felt completely ashamed of myself. My freezer is fuller than its ever been. Meals from friends are still stacked high, considering more friends brought more meals. We are not a family who is rolling in money, but my goodness do I feel wealthy! I know I’ve said this all before, but I’m largely motivated to actually figure out whats all in the freezer and be a better steward of it. Have more people over, be more brave with my cooking, pass some food on to someone who DOESN’T have as much as us! We are truly blessed.

After coming upstairs, I was arranging a few things that were just strewn on the dining room table. A few shopping bags from todays trip and from the past few days were still full of items, so I opened them all up. Not only do I have another haul from Bath&Body Works, but also an enormous amount of summer clothes that we’ve bought for Dekker. I know they’re really just shirts, but I thought they were adorable so I took pictures 🙂

There are from Walmart and Old Navy. There are actually more from Walmart from right before the trip but they’re in the laundry already.

These are from Target. I purchased them while in Winnipeg. The middle one feels a little too babyish so it will likely end up as jammies, but it was a three pack and the other two are adorable! They’re diaper shirts, so they’ll likely be on his pants-free days. Which happen often.

And here are a couple of super cute, gender neutral onesies that I also bought at Target. I’ll be honest. I don’t love gender neutral things. I get tired of their colors fairly quickly. But these feel a bit more fun than all the pale yellow stuff you can buy. And I love the chevron. Couldn’t resist.

Not included in these pictures are the clothes that Brady and I bought while shopping with friends. I feel overwhelmed looking around my house, seeing all the new things I bought really without a second thought. I am considerably more fortunate than I give myself or God credit for.

I suppose I’m just feeling very humbled today. People live on wildly less than we do everyday, without drinking water or shelter, and I’m complaining that my freezer is too full. Forgive me Father.

Today was travel day! It was time to leave Winnipeg and head back home. Since the initial drive to Winnipeg didn’t go as smoothly as usual, we were a little nervous when we left. Luckily, Dekker is totally the bomb and did way better on the way home! He still had meltdowns but all things considered, it was a much easier trip.

He was pretty tired and zoned most of the drive.

I thought now that I was home, I’d put up just a couple of cute pictures of Dekker that we took on our trip that I didn’t bother posting in my last few posts. Objections? *crickets* Perfect.

Dekker hung out in sleepers for most of his first year of life. To be honest, most home days are jammie days too, and I think its perfectly acceptable! Feel free to disagree, but if I would prefer to wear pajamas all day, I’m thinking toddlers feel the same. Anyway, he is always in “normal” clothes if we go somewhere. Except this random Safeway/Starbucks date with my sister and I! He was so cute wandering around in his sleeper 🙂 With that insane cowlick too, haha! What will I ever do with that thing?!?!

Ok, this is kind of unrelated to everything, but I have to just say something about his sweatshirt. I have an aunt that told me the most important staple for any new baby is having a good pair of jeans and a grey sweatshirt. Sure, whatever you say. But she bought Dekker a grey sweatshirt back when he was littler and she was not kidding! He wore that thing until we physically couldn’t twist his arms into it anymore because it was so tight! It was incredible! However, that was the last grey sweatshirt he had. Until recently we picked this one up on garage sale day and wow is it cozy! Don’t you just want to squeeze him?

Tuesday evening was spent at my Grandmas apartment. While a couple of us girls sat outside on the porch, Dekker hung out inside with Brady and some of my other family. But he checked on us 🙂 He would knock and I would knock. If I spread my hand out on the window, he’d match me. Such a sweetheart!

Dekker at his first Blades game! I’m not sure how we’ll ever top this one, honestly. It is currently the Memorial Cup, and the home builder that Brady just signed with gave all of their trades tickets to a game, first row. Sadly, Saskatoon lost to Portland 4-2, but it was still pretty incredible to be right there, so close to the action. And bless his heart, Dekker did amazing!!! He slept pretty much the last 1.5 hours of the trip, and then had a good supper and we just showed up late. But I got to meet a couple of other tradesmen that Brady knows from around the job sites, which was nice. And the lovely couple behind us gave Dekker a toy puck! Everyone was very sweet to him 🙂 Not necessarily a place for a baby but he did great and didn’t seem to bother anyone.

Somehow we got the best picture of us ever taken this evening! Ok, not the best quality or anything, but as soon as we took it we were amazed that we all looked so happy! We traveled aaaaall day and then hit up a loud hockey game, and had a complete blast! To think we debated not going just so we could go home and be a bit lazier a bit earlier. What a shame that would have been.

To top off Dekker’s awesome attitude, I have to just add a quick story in here. I mentioned that he started teething again basically as soon as we arrived in Winnipeg, and I told a friend that I discovered he had popped two molars! I lied. He popped four. In the last four-ish days. For that reason, we are all champs.

SUCH a great trip, ended with SUCH a great family date watching hockey, and now SO happy to be home! Feeling wiped but really, really happy! I think I can speak for all of us.