It was such a dark day today. Even with the blinds open, it never really brightened up. Just for entertainment’s sake, I took a couple pictures of the kids with the flash on. And I kind of loved how they turned out!!!

I love how eveningish the photos look, and how happy the models look 😉 I was surprised at how little squinting I captured. What surprised me even more was this side by side.

Yes, I reused the original pictures from above. Bear with me.

These boys are SO HANDSOME!!! And while they’re in no way lookalikes, they have more similarities than I thought! I’m not sure I’ve ever made a comparison picture of these two. Rowan looks so much like my moms side of the family, and Solomon looks like baby Brady. But in this picture, those eyes are so similar! Not quite exact, but Rowan’s are also more open than Solly’s, and it makes me wonder what other little details I’m missing that are similar amongst my kids! Rowan and Solly’s eyes and brows are pretty much matching. Nose and mouth, not at all. Hairline, nope. Chin, definitely, but all of our kids have that bitty little pointy chin, and who knows what Solly’s jawline will turn into when he drops the end of his adorable little baby chub? I’m NOT counting down the days for that milestone!

Its been a full day, and there’s still more to go, so today’s post is short, but very cute, if I do say so myself!! Sleep well, friends!

Today marks five months since we brought Wavy girl out of me and into this big, scary world. Lucky for the world, its that much sweeter now that she’s in it. She’s added an amazing warmth and peace to our family. I know she’s still just a baby, but I’ve often said that she has pretty much all the best characteristics from each of our other kids, just all wrapped into one baby! Lucky girly. Lucky family.

I know at least a handful of you have noticed! Wavy has chunked up!! She currently weighs 16 lbs 10 oz!! Thats over two pounds gained in the last month! Yet she’s still SO little! Dekker had outgrown his bucket seat by this point! Wavy will still be in it for a nice while here 🙂 Her hair is getting longer and longer, and while it may not look curly anymore, it is still amazingly curly when its freshly washed! There’s just too much of it and its too heavy, and the curl doesn’t hold. Likely as it gets longer and thicker, it should show a bit more. A big change in her physical appearance this months is her TEETH! Those two bottom teeth are nicely through now. I often go in there and rub them a little, and she giggles like crazy. As they grow further and further above her gums, her whole look will change, so be ready! I always think I’m going to ache and miss their little gummy smiles, and to a degree I do, but I always LOVE that little toothy look too!

Wavy is learning and changing all the time. She’s stronger and happier on her tummy, and even learned how to roll from front to back this month. She is also well on her way to sitting, which is CRAZY! She’s definitely still not ready to do it on her own, but she often goes from sitting to lifting her legs and her head in a desperate attempt to sit up. We’ve started putting her in a bumbo from time to time, which she really likes! I know not everyone is keen on the bumbo, and we only use it for a short stretch of time anyway. Promise. She just really loves being able to see everyone from a sitting position rather than from the floor.

We’ve finally struck a bit of a schedule with Wavy, but I’m pretty sure its only temporary. Since she’s been teething, she sleeps all. Day. Long. I miss her!! But her current schedule is that she sleeps most of the morning, wakes up for lunch and sleeps until supperish. Then we wake her, usually, to force her to have some wakeful time. Once the other kids go down around 7:00pm, we feed her and let her stay up as long as she can, which at this point is about 7:30, lol! And then she goes down. Sometimes, with this particular schedule, she wakes up around 10:00 or so and we can top her up, but usually she’ll wake up once a bit later on, drink, and then sleep until lunch the next day. Moral of the story is that she sleeps WAY too much and I miss her dreadfully. She’s SO sweet.

Praise the Lord for FIVE MONTHS with Waverly!

Hopefully no one judges me too hard for making a pot like this, but its the first day of December, and I’m out Christmas shopping all day, so it feels valid. (Yes, I wrote this yesterday so I wouldn’t have to blog today. Because, like I said, I’m shopping.)

I spend a lot of time every year figuring out what to get everyone for Christmas. Its a long process that I actually really enjoy! I try to be creative and resourceful. It can’t always be perfect, but its fun to try! And just for fun, I thought I’d share what I want for Christmas!

Feels like I need to say that I’m not asking anyone for these things! This isn’t a plea for people to buy me gifts. I just thought it would be fun to share! Some things are reasonable and others suuuper aren’t. I keep a running list as desires come to me, so here is the bulk of it, in no particular order.

A lash perm and tint! I’ve always wanted to try that out. My lashes are sad, short, and straight.

Pampered Chef waffle sticks! I only just learned about those things and they look so awesome!

Mukluks! Mine are five years old and are starting to come apart.

Super High Rise Wunder Unders from Lululemon. I love my pair of high waisted Wunder Unders, but I love the sound of the super high waisted ones even more!

The “Sultry” eye shadow palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills. SO pretty!

Also the “Extra Spice” palette by Makeup Revolution

You guys know that entrance mat that says something like “Just so you know, there are lots of kids in there?” I have been tagged in that Facebook post more times than I can count! I should probably finally get one…

A plastic lipstick organizer for inside my makeup dressers.

A pop socket for my phone.

A piano tuner kit so I can work on my piano slowly at home rather than paying for tunings.

Bosch dough mixer. (This is one of the vastly unattainable ones. SO expensive)

A curling wand.

Charmed Aroma candles, because they’re fun.

This sweatshirt!! https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/2206397189387368/ You got this, mama!

A robot vacuum thats tall enough to eat Cheerios.

Lush sleepy lotion.

A gratitude journal.

Microblading! (Another unattainable one. SO expensive!)

Hopefully no one thinks I’m super duper selfish now. I know there are WAY more important things that aren’t tangible or wrapped up under the tree. I LOVE those things. I don’t care too much about presents, but I think we’re lying if we say theres nothing that we want that could be boxed, wrapped, and put under a tree!

So now you know about me! Whats on your wish list? Share a thing or two in the comments!

I am SO happy to say that Waverly had her first tear-free bath today!!

I know some of your babies love baths, but ours never ever have. Wavy has been the closest, with having one or two where she didn’t cry immediately. Other than that, its taken a long, long time for our kids to appreciate the bath. Before you even ask, yes, we’ve tried the shower, too. They scream like you wouldn’t believe. Its awful. We’ve. Tried. Everything. They just hate the bath when they’re young, and sometimes when they’re older, too.

If you’ve been a LONG time reader, you might remember the struggle we had with Dekker. Bathing him with like a full contact sport. We tried absolutely everything, and we bathe him for a couple of years, holding him down like a rabid dog while he screamed for mercy. Those were some HARD years. The only thing that helped was age. So while I LOVE baths, my kids do not.

But today, while I can’t say she loved it, she definitely didn’t hate it!

What a relief! We usually end up just bathing her and pulling her out immediately, but instead, we did what so many parents get to do, and we chatted and I slowly poured water all over her and she cooed and splashed and it was just so awesome and normal. I loved it.

Let’s hope for many, many baths like this!!

I took a little break this afternoon. Brady finished his work around 11:00 and was home shortly before noon. We had a shot chat before I left. I didn’t put myself together more than clean clothes and deodorant, but it was fine. I wasn’t going anywhere that I felt I’d be judged for my top knot.

I went to get my nails done today! I admit, I was feeling a little unsure about it. My nail girl is on maternity leave, and I’m pretty loyal to her. Going elsewhere feels incorrect, somehow. But I went to the same spa, and saw another girl there. And she did a lovely job! I got me some beautiful nude nails for the month, nice and short, too. Exactly what I always want!

I kind of didn’t want to leave. I try not to delve too deep into all the drama, but we’re in a challenging stage in our home these days, and I’ve had a lot of moments where I just feel like my head is going to explode. Getting out for the afternoon was a much anticipated breath of fresh air! I wasn’t totally ready for it to end. As I was driving home, I thought of something I could go pick up, as it had been on our list for a while, but we keep forgetting. Aaand then I missed the turn. So I rather did an impulsive thing and turned in at Value Village. I have a few things I’m constantly on the hunt for, so when I’m in on my own, its a good opportunity to go do a quick look. And it was successful! About a half hour later, I came out having spent $15, with a shirt and sweatshirt for myself, and two hoodies for Waverly. Go me! I’d show you but they’re all in the wash, because stinky.

I’m now home with the fam, anticipating an evening with Brady and Jerilee. And also sweatpants. Real clothes are so overrated, am I right?

Spoiled punk that I am, I’m going out for most of the day on Saturday, too! And the next weekend! Goodness, I’m one lucky girl to have so many fun things to look forward to!

Ok. Here’s the thing. I’m not very good at keeping memory books for my kids. I have one for each kid, and I have some info in all of them. But I’m not as diligent as I could be. I’ve spent a decent chunk of time beating myself up about it, but not too long ago, I realized that this is our records. This is our memory book! So whether one day I go back and find all the little details of my kids milestones and put them in their books, or I give up and hope my kids just read these books and find the info themselves, it is recorded. Unfortunately, I didn’t start the blog until Dekker was around 10 months old, so I don’t have all of his first year on record. But he has the most in his memory book, so hopefully it all levels out 🙂

I’ve been doing monthly updates on Waverly, which I’m really enjoying. I almost feel like I should do a “Whats my Kid up to” post each month on the corresponding day they were born. Thoughts?

Anyway, because I’m doing monthly updates on Wavy, I tend to hang onto info abut milestones until the 2nd of the next month, but I also want to have the exact date on record, and in this case, I’m just too excited! Hahaha! Don’t judge me. Its a mom thing.

I mentioned on November 24 that Wavy had cut her first tooth. Now that tooth was like a teeny tiny bit poking out for a couple of days already, but when it really pushed through was when I counted it. It was out almost all the way across. On the 26th, she went to bed with most of that tooth poking through her little gums and woke up on the 27th with TWO teeth completely through!!

Was SO awesome! She felt SO good about herself, too. Not complaining at all!

She continues to chew away at her hands, happy as a clam. I wonder how many more are on their way out! Our kids tend to teethe in twos, and the first four are often pretty back to back. Give yourself a rest, Wavy girl! I know you’re a pretty top notch individual and all, but you do NOT have to be an overachiever at such a young age!!

I keep noticing these little things in our life that we wouldn’t have without Waverly. Some of them are really just about having a baby in the house. Others are more specific to her.

Wavy brings a high pitched celebration when she first wakes up in the morning and makes her grand entrance.

Wavy brings little diapers, and fills them with inoffensive things.

Wavy brings the BEST hair.

Wavy brings bottles that our older kids LOVE assembling. It is often an argument to see who gets to put them together at the island for me. The more the better! With the bottles comes the smell of her milk, which you may find off putting but I think smells like a newborn baby.

Wavy brings conversation, especially recently, as she yodels alongside us as we talk. She’s such a cute interruption distraction contribution.

Wavy brings a purple diaper bag and a Lillebaby carrier that has never once hurt my back.

Wavy brings the smallest white ankle socks I’ve ever seen.

Wavy brings drooly spit bubbles.

And my favorite thing…

Wavy brings pink dryer lint. I was absolutely beside myself when I first dried a load of her receiving blankets and cleaned out soft pink fuzz out of the lint trap.

Literally EVERYTHING about her is cute! If she weren’t here, our life would be so different. I couldn’t be more thankful!

Its not a secret that I don’t love winter, but its amazing what a good nights sleep will do! I felt pretty capable this morning upon waking up, and headed down to get the kids up at a reasonable time that didn’t leave me rushing them through breakfast. I got Dekker packed up and sent off to school, and got the dishes done while Solly finished eating the Rowan and Laela played. I sorted laundry and started it going. When I came up, I was greeted by this beautiful sight.

Laela has been paying attention over the last year or two, watching Dekker learn to read, and she has been really interested in it! We talked with her teacher the other day, and Laela said she wanted to start bringing books home to read that are in her reading level, not just library books for us to read to her, though of course we’ll keep doing that, too! Her teacher agreed, and Laela brought home some level A books the next day. And crushed them. That alone seems to have boosted her confidence. She spent a good chunk of the morning reading a book that is definitely out of her reading level, and while she had to ask a handful of times about different words, she never got discouraged, and she limped her way through that entire book!!! I was SO impressed! Once it was done, she requested a snuggle, so we did that too.

The little boys seemed a bit lost without her, lol! It was pretty cute!

Wavy has slept through our entire morning, which is both awesome, and inconvenient, haha! She’s sleeping through teething, which is ideal! But I also have a parcel waiting for me at the post office that I ordered three weeks ago and I want to go get it! I obviously can’t justify waking her for that :/ Merp. Self control, guys. I may have to exercise mine and wait until Brady gets home! *sobs internally*

I pulled out the laptop to get today’s blog up and Rowan was loaded with suggestions of what to blog about…

guitars
Christmas trees
robots
faces
buttons
mugs
stuffies

All solid options! But on mornings like this don’t require too many extra ideas. These kids make stories just by being here! Its been a cute day so far 🙂 Let’s hope it continues!

Christmas is ONE MONTH AWAY! While I had such high hopes to be done Christmas shopping by this point, I’m not, and thats ok. I have plans!

The tree is up! Its not decorated yet, but its up, so the rest will happen soon. At least the kids can get used to it in the meantime.

Hopefully I’ll order our Christmas cards today! The price is right (thank you, Black Friday) and the design looks good! We even figured out the message on the back, so its all good to go! They may not reach their destinations before Christmas, but I doubt we’ll be the only people who have that issue.

I have a Christmas shopping date this weekend, so I’ve spent a good chunk of this morning getting totally organized gift-wise. I have my list of who I’m buying for and what I want to get them. I’m hoping to streamline shopping day and get TONS done! I’m still a bit stumped for a couple of people, but I have time still. Time-ish. Not much. I always struggle with what to get my doctor (Though yes, I KNOW I don’t have to! I want to!) and this year I have two doctors to think about! Gah! What do you guys get for people who you really know nothing about in real life?

There is even talk of a girls trip with Jerilee to Edmonton! Because I could REALLY use Ikea…

In a lot of ways, I feel prepared for Christmas. And then in others, I’m so lost! I don’t actually have even half of the gifts I need. I haven’t baked. I don’t know when the school Christmas concert is. I don’t know where we’re going to be when. We haven’t replaced our Christmas lights that the hail destroyed. But this week feels like a solid kick off! Its less full than last week, and I’m determined to get organized and get rolling!

One month, folks! ONE MONTH!

Its been a really big work week. Brady has worked late every day this week, and he had to work a full day today. Usually work Saturdays are just for catching up, but this time around, it was an entire day in order to get a house done in time. Even though it should feel like an extension of a work week, I always have a hard time when he works weekends :/ I know, I’m spoiled. Lots of people work weekends. Its just not our usual.

Cher spend the day with me and the kids, to help lighten the load, and to just be a friend. It was so good to have her around to visit with, and help break up the day.

Today, we did lots of reading, coloring, and playing. We drank a lot of coffee. We looked through our recent family picture photo shoot. We chatted about fun stuff and heavy stuff. Brady came home with milkshakes. I chatted with my mom on the phone. Wavy cut her first tooth!!

Now, Brady has begun setting up the Christmas tree. Because Christmas is coming!

Its been a full day, but a successful day! I’m excited to assemble and order our family picture Christmas cards, though apparently they won’t get anywhere by Christmas :/ Kind of a bummer about all the strikes, but I do understand. I’m excited that Waverly is teething productively and is still such a peach! I’m excited to potentially finish getting the tree up and decorated tomorrow.

And while today was great, I’m really excited for a less chaotic week next week. More “regular” work scheduling makes such a huge difference!

Stay warm!