Today we are celebrating FIVE YEARS with our sweet Solomon Brady! This last year has been a big year of change for him!

I couldn’t resist that last grumpy picture 😆😠

Solomon has really taken the plunge into “growing up” this year. Last year, he still seemed so little. He still felt like the baby of the family. He would happily go along with just about everything, which made it easy to have him around, but also made it easy to miss him. In the last year, we’ve pushed him a little harder to do a bit more for himself and while there has been some pushback along the way, he is growing and changing in so many exciting, beautiful ways! He is braver, more confident, and is quicker to join in with the kids games. Last year, he HAD to hold hands with an adult if we went for a walk. This year, he runs ahead with the big kids. Last year, he’d straddle his bike, and watch everyone go up and down the street. This year, he runs his balance bike along with them, and even tests out the bigger bike from time to time. He understands more. Has more opinions. He problem solves. He starts and participates in real conversations. He is an active BIG brother to Waverly, encouraging her and initiating games. He will grab stools and help her reach things she can’t do for herself.

Solly also invited Jesus into his heart this year!! Everything is only looking up for him from here!!

We gave him his gift this morning, so he could play with it with fewer spectators/bossypants siblings around. He got a super cute little remote control Hot Wheels car. It was SO cute.

This is the year he went from little to big, and its been beautiful to watch. I am SO proud of my Solly.

Happy fifth birthday, Solly Wolly Puddin Pop. What a beautiful five years we’ve had together!! You are dearly loved by your family and friends!

Its been a while since I’ve talked about my succulents that I have LOVED! The first plants in my entire life that I’ve kept alive! I’ve been truly so proud of them! As you may have picked up through my subtle posts, we’ve gone through a bit of a thing over here recently, and the odd thing has been left by the wayside. Lol! I jest. I hella neglected my succulents the way I neglected myself 😆#notactuallyfunny #sadbuttrue I have no real pictures of what they looked like, so this is the best I could find.

They may look lush, but they’re actually just grossly overgrown. The far hangy one was crispy and dead. They’ve all gotten SO tall. Simply put, they have NOT been maintained in the slightest. My mom picked up on the fact that I felt super crappy about them and I had started debating just chucking them all and starting over. So she lovingly offered to take the task on herself. I jumped at her offer. More so I sunk into it. Not so much jumping recently, haha!

I had numerous pots that were waiting to be filled, so she got to it. Over the course of several days, she split and propagated everything, and repotted my windowsill worth of succulents (or suckies, as I call them) into SO MANY CUTE POTS!!! They have madly outgrown their home!

Believe it or not, I still have one on my piano thats come after the fact. You’ll have to trust me that I have plans, though. I have more places that would happily house some more suckies for me!!

My plants make me happy. I like they they usually live, haha! And that I can often revive them when they’re struggling. This time, obviously, my mom saved them, but this is just the times, and I’m not giving myself too hard of a time over it. Many of my plants, inside and outside, have been gifts, and they remind me of nice people and how loved we are. I will continue to do my best, and I will continue to accept help offered to me. I am not above that!

I am humbled and grateful for my people, and their love, in all the ways.

The other day, the kids came home announcing that there are only 25 days of school left.

Before I continue, hear me. I really love my kids. And I’m excited for summer! I’m excited for the lake. For no deadlines. For sleeping in. For sunshine and easy food. I am NOT dreading summer!

But my reaction definitely appeared otherwise.

WHERE. DID. TIME. GO.

This has been the most bizarre few months of our lives, and because of it, time both inched and BLEW by. I could not comprehend how CLOSE we are to the end of the school year!! AAAHHH!!! I am SO ill prepared!!! I still can’t wrap my head around it, and guys? That was a week ago already!!!

This has been the fastest and slowest year of my life. The days have been thankless and long and just incredibly difficult. What a time, my gosh. I have driven to the hospital right around one hundred times. I have experienced heavy grief. I have seen my kids through struggle and confusion, and Brady through surgery, pulmonary emboli, rehab, paraplegia, and radiation. This has been an endurance game like none other. It has draaaaaagged.

Yet, its almost June. WHERE. DID. TIME. GO. The kids are almost done school. Solly already is, but the older three will be done in just a few short weeks. I feel so unprepared, yet there is legitimately NO WAY I could’ve prepared or gotten ahead of anything more than I have.

These are just the times.

Its ok. Cookies help. No rest for the weary. Unless, of course, we rest in God, which we do. I’m grateful, but I don’t feel as rested as I’d like.

Yup, I said it. Today’s outpatient rehab appointment felt like a date 😆 Go with me on this, haha!

Well, first, I drove to the wrong hospital. In my defence, the last twenty five times I drove to the hospital, I went to the cancer centre. So today, as we crossed the river, Brady commented mildly “We’re going to the wrong hospital…” So that happened. Luckily, made it back to City Hospital rehab on time and checked in early.

Fun fact. The handicapped parking spots in the City lot are WAY too small. They are tight for our bus already, much less with a wheelchair pulled up beside. But we made it work.

So as I said, we checked in early and went to wait in the waiting room. Brady’s PT from before had heard he was coming today and was clearly keeping an eye out for him because she was beside us within a minute or two. It was SO nice to see her. Honestly, it was weirdly nice to be back 💜

It probably helped to know that we didn’t have to stay.

We chatted with our PT, Kari, and then one of the PTAs, Kristen, before his outpatient therapist made her appearance and introduced herself. She, too, was super friendly and nice to talk to. Being that this was Brady’s first outpatient appointment, it was more an assessment of his abilities and what needed work post-radiation. Thankfully, radiation took very little from him, and he is stronger now than he was when he left the program at City. Woot! She was able to suggest some things for Brady to work on and try that were new to him, so thats good to have a direction to move in! We’ll go back next week, but she said likely, his appointments won’t even be once a week. He is doing very well in his daily life, and mostly just needs to keep practicing everything he already knows, so there will be some in-person appointments and some virtual appointments, but likely not too many 🙂 Easy peasy!

We got out of the hospital around noon and drove to grab a quick drive-thru burger before continuing on. Walmart had a LONG list of things to get for the upcoming lake season. There was a lot that we transferred back and forth to the lake a handful of times last year, swearing we’d get a double for the lake next season, ie pillows, water bottles, toothbrushes, etc. We needed sheets for their mattresses, pillowcases for their pillows that stay there, and real cutlery rather than disposable. Finally, we needed blinds. Last year, we had cardboard taped up to the windows, hahaha! We finally nailed down some basic white roller blinds and they will be exactly right. We grabbed some fans for some family, a few small grocery items, and yarn for all the projects I have on the go. You have NO IDEA how therapeutic crocheting has been for me in these last weeks!!! Running out of yarn partway through a project was a total gut punch the other day, so I’m all caught up now! Woot!

The Walmart shop was a total blast, to be honest. We moseyed, took our time, laughed a lot, and got pretty much everything on our list!

Yes, it CAN be done! We can still shop with two carts!!! 💜 I am SO grateful for a husband who does not make excuses. That determination sets him apart in a lot of ways, and I am SO proud to be married to this man!

We got home and are both completely exhausted!! But, full speed ahead! Today is the busiest day we’ve had probably since Brady’s been home, and there is still more to do!

I am truly grateful for today.

Today was Solomon’s last day of preschool. Being the overwhelmed wreck that I am, I have no cute “last day of school” pictures of him on the step, or anything like that. I missed out completely on getting his amazing teacher a gift, and I didn’t even drop him off or pick him up. Today feels like a first class fail for me being the mom of a preschooler. Yet, I’m trusting that he is still so happy, and somewhat oblivious to the fact that I have been somewhat disconnected from his preschool experience for the past few months. I trust my friend who volunteered to drive him every day is happy to do so. I trust that his teacher knows how much I appreciate her and ALL she has done for Solly. I’m trusting that someday in my future, I won’t feel this overwhelmed.

Yet, time keeps moving forward. My youngest children aren’t so little anymore.

They are hardly little anymore. Solly’s fifth birthday is coming up. Wavy will be three this summer. They’re both becoming so independent and responsible. Solomon has really been embracing the older brother role for Waverly, which hasn’t always been the case. He is ON it now, and she is less interested in being the “little” sister as much as she is determined to keep up to him.

Wolly and Wavy are such a beautiful pair, I can’t help but wonder if she will feel a little lost without him home next year. It’ll be her turn soon enough.

Slow down, sweet kids. Time is moving WAY too fast.

I can’t believe we’re already talking kindergarten with Solly. Its CRAZY. But its happening! Solly will hit up school with the big kids in fall! They sent his registration package home with Dekker the other day. In it was paperwork for me, and a present for him!

He was SO stoked for his new books! Laela immediately hijacked them and read them to the class kids.

Man. Its going to be SO different next year with FOUR kids in school for full days! Solomon will only go every other day, but still! Wavy tends to feel a little lost when everyone else is gone. She wants to go to school SO badly!

But I think we’ll have a good time together 😉

I can speculate all I want, but we’ve learned more than ever that you just never know how your days will look! We just continue to pray for protection and press on!

So, this cool this happened a while back. Brady was gifted a recumbent bike that someone had built for themselves but didn’t end up using. Brady does not have enough balance to operate a regular bike, but he does still have quite a bit of strength in his legs, specifically his thighs. So he was excited to try it!

Upon first use, it worked well once he got it started, but his feet couldn’t stay on the pedals. His feet have next to no motor skills, and when they’re bumped, they spasm and jump. Being flat footed on bike pedals wasn’t going to work. Our neighbours and dear friends across the street include both hard workers and an occupational therapist. They went to work building Brady’s pedals a little different. He has a foot plate, with a heel hold, and strapping overtop. They also added a little holster for his crutches, so he could legitimately bike somewhere independently and go in somewhere. And with that all in place, Brady went out to bike on the street with the kids yesterday!!

Well, ok, first we pimped it out juuuuust a little…

Then he was ready!

It was SO much fun! The kids were SO happy to have him out there with them again! We all were 💜

I will be honest, though, and say biking “together” ended when we discovered that daddy could give rides. That was a WHOLE other thing!

So future bike plans include pegs, because this will absolutely happen again, haha!

Yet again, something that wouldn’t have been possible without the help of so many other caring people. I am consistently overwhelmed by the amount of help we’ve received.

Today, we will sit together for the morning and try to organize our thoughts and plans for the lake. Things we need to do there. Things we need to bring there. Things we still need to find and buy. Timelines. All that good stuff!

I was motivated to write this post not specifically because of any big changes with Rowan’s melatonin usage, but because Facebook showed me this adorable flashback! Look at that chubby little mug!

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He looks the least like his baby pictures than any of our other kids, for sure! Remember this side by side I made when Waverly was new? Can you place who’s who?

Its a process of elimination right? Rowan is the last one you place, because he looks the least like himself!

But he’s no longer a baby. He’s a whole big guy!!

I can vouch that he is doing really, really well. His capacity has somehow grown in the midst of all the chaos.

BUT, I can also vouch that there was some significant change a little while ago when we ran out of his magnesium supplement. He was without it for maybe a couple of nights, and they were horrendous.

He would get up constantly, and he threw HUGE tantrums in those evenings. One night, he woke up shortly after midnight, came upstairs, told us blatantly that he had no reason to wake us, and initiated a complete throwdown. It was horrific. I was absolutely haggard. We got his supplement back the next day, and it changed back pretty quickly. He’s been sleep walking a bit more since all of that, but they were incredibly stressful evenings and nights. I know I’m still nervous of it happening again, so I’m sure he subconsciously is, too.

With him caught back up on everything, he is doing way better again. Guys, it was uncanny how fast the lack of supplement affected him, and how quickly he was back to managing to his emotions when he caught back up!

Praise the Lord for guidance and help for Rowan. Keep it coming, so his life can only get easier to handle!

After two days of searching Saskatoon, a friend of ours was able to find a solution to our breaking recliner 💜He happily came over, dismantled the chair, and put it back together in full working order. He cut no corners, and it works perfectly! We are SO grateful for his help and all of the work he put into it, and ALL of the effort he made going into store after store after store, comparing silly little parts. It should NOT be so hard to find replacement parts for furniture!

Dekker weaselled his way into helping, which I LOVED, but the kids spent most of the day outside. It was necessary, finally. We had kept them inside a bit more over the last week with the weather being a bit crappy and a couple of the kids having a few little sick moments. But yesterday it was nice enough that I could confidently send them all out without worry.

And in return, they granted me the grim reminder of the biggest downfall of sending them outside. Dirt. Mud. Mess. Sometimes I take pictures. This time I didn’t. I was SO overwhelmed.

My beautiful children have no choice but to play in the dirt. Thats what we’ve got right now. And thats fine. But a couple of them took it upon themselves to take off their shirts, douse their bodies in sunscreen, and literally rolling in the dirt. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? A couple of them also opted to dump the watering can to make mud. That was truly their end goal. Mud making. Lastly, Laela confirmed to Solly that dirt is healthy, and he should eat it. *sigh*

They were SO DIRTY. And almost all of my children hate baths and showers.

Thus began a very stressful evening of marathon baths. Never before have I scrubbed children the way I have these last couple of weeks. I soap them up good and proper, scrub them, and there were still streaks of mud down their legs! What gives?! I had to soak Rowan, in hopes of loosening some of the gunk, and when it still didn’t come off, I took a soap saturated cloth and basically scratched at him until some of it came off. Its true that some of my kids are pretty self sufficient in the bath, but not on that level of filth.

By the end of it, I was absolutely sweating, and I felt like crying. Whew!

Believe it or not, today I feel kind of uncertain about sending them outside. And thats not ok either. I want them to play outside. But I cannot do that kind of marathon every night, either. I know lots of people bathe their kids every night. This wasn’t that. This was a whole other thing, and I don’t have the energy for it. Absolutely no way.

Time for a new plan.

We were informed on Brady’s last day of radiation that his side effects will peak around 7-10 days after treatment. Today is day 8. So here is an update on how the first week at home, treatment-free, has been.

Brady hasn’t gained back much energy at all, but he also hasn’t slowed down much either.

He is off his medication for nausea, which is awesome! He’s still on a couple of others, and he is pretty discouraged about how fatigued they make him. That being said, though, we know a great amount of his fatigue is due to the radiation itself. Once we’re out of the woods on that, we’ll see just how drowsy he is on his meds. They didn’t knock him out like this during rehab, so we’re hopeful!

There aren’t too many other crazy changes to speak of. Brady has a nice routine of the things that keep his headaches at bay. Workouts. Deep cold. A soak in the evening. He has a chair that works well for his back. He drinks lots of water and monitors it. He’s doing it all right, and its paying off.

Would you believe that there are five people in these pictures?

This coming week, Brady gets to go to Golden Mobility and finally get properly measured up for his custom chair! We received word last weekend that we’ve been approved for funding for Brady to get a beautiful wheelchair that will be built for his body and his needs. SO much better than what he’s working with now! This week also holds his assessment/first outpatient rehab appointment! It will be good and weird to be back at City Hospital, but I think we’re both looking forward to seeing what else they have to offer him.

God continues to protect us. And you, friends, continue to support us. We see you, and appreciate you not forgetting about us. This is a long game situation, which you clearly know, as we’re 3.5 months post-op.

Still so much to anticipate.