We had a nice relaxing day here at home. Did some dishes, played with the kids, Solly slept a ton, put some chicken in the slow cooker for an easy supper, and began organizing the whole mess of products we have towards the end of the afternoon. It was really really nice.

Once Brady was home, pretty much all of the kids joined the party in our en suite while Brady washed up and I sorted and planned and organized. As it got closer to supper time, I pulled up a chair and asked Dekker to help me. He dumped the last ingredient into the crock pot, and he and Laela took turns stirring it up. I have learned that including Dekker in the task at hand makes him much more inclined to cooperate later on. We just made a really easy, cheesy chicken on rice for supper. There is nothing to it, and its SO yummy. But its all stirred together, and Dekker liked his food plain and separated, if possible. He always fights this meal. And today, he ate it proudly! Two servings even. It was awesome! I’m so glad I’ve figured out how much pride he takes in his work. He’s so much like his dad.

Jerilee made it here towards the end of the kids supper, so she was part of bedtime this evening. Dishes were put away, toys were tidied, hugs and kisses given out, and everyone was down! Once it was quiet-ish, we grabbed ourselves some chicken and rice, and settled in for this weeks episode of the Bachelorette. We are so on the ball this time around, and only had the one episode to watch. We’re historically 2-3 episodes behind. So we ate, watched, and then had a nice visit afterwards before calling it a night. Jerilee leads a super busy life, and I always feel behind in what she’s up to, so today was great to finally hear about what is going on!!

As I type this, I know Brady is fading beside me, so thats all you get for tonight! Sleep deep, all! Tomorrow is Friiiiidaaaaay!!!

This crazy thing happened to me last night. I dozed off in bed, and woke up with Brady’s big face right in my face, eyes wide, mouth wearing the biggest dopey smile ever. I swear, he wasn’t even breathing.

“Did you fall asleep?” he asked.
“Shut up.”

So I NEVER fall asleep first. Not even ever. Not even with a fresh baby. Not even if I’m on a sleeping medication. Not after a super duper long active day when we’re all sick as dogs. I NEVER fall asleep first.

And last night, it happened. At 9:00pm.

I’m not sure what made me tired enough to fall asleep quite so early, but Brady and I welcomed the opportunity with open arms. It was SO nice to sleep so early! Even with Solly waking up once more than usual, we both felt much more rested, obviously.

Our play date today was cancelled on account of one of the littles in the other family being sick. All is well, though. We rescheduled on the spot, so I can anticipate it for next week 🙂 Wonderfully enough, I’ve made a handful of plans just today for the next week or so. I’m really looking forward to the days to come. I’m very annoyed with this silly pain still chasing me, but I’m going to try and see what happens if I just keep moving, even with some pain. Obviously not overdoing it, don’t worry mom 😉 but I’m starting to feel very low with this inability to do ANYTHING beyond keeping my kids alive. Its a blue place to be. So I’m making some plans, and feeling motivated! Woot! Hopefully I can actually get a few things accomplished soon.

As for the kids today…

As I was doing dishes this morning, Laela came and hung out at the island. I had daydreams of friends and family sitting at the island while I worked in the kitchen, but somehow, I hadn’t specifically pictured my kids sitting and being together with me, and I LOVE it!!! Regularly, Dekker and Laela sit here and play toys, or help me assemble food, with Rowan always underfoot. Of course, its all fun and games until someone tries to show affection to another…

Lol! You can’t win them all, I guess!

Dekker has consistently been a rockstar for the last couple of weeks! I feel like he’s changing and growing, and really becoming his own guy. Its been happening for a while now, but he’s really been shining as of late. When he starts to get a little irrational (we all do) he’s learned to recognize that he needs a bit of a break, and he comes back when he’s done. He often says “I’m still a little upset, and I still have tears, but I’ll give it a try.” What more can I ask for?? This morning, he has made a conscious effort to have a positive attitude, and to be as sweet as possible. I am LOVING this stage of life with him! (Don’t mind his dirty glasses. He’s four.)

Gosh! This kid is SUCH a stunner! He just cracks me up! We haven’t seen a ton of Rowan these days. He is teething pretty hard (looks like all four eye teeth are on their way!) and, as with all of my kids thus far, he sleeps through his discomfort. Its not like he cries and cries and I abandon him there to weep and wail until he falls asleep. He’ll cry and chew, and as soon as I lay him in his bed, he is quiet, and sleeps. So we miss this little mug. But its just for a time 🙂 And frankly, his way of dealing with pain is one of the best! So sleep on, Macduff! We’ll see you soon!

Mr. Solly Wolly was six weeks old yesterday, and I can honestly say that he has made life considerably richer. Yes, things have felt pretty crazy around here since he was born, and I have found myself overwhelmed and out of control at times. None of those feelings are based on this kid. He has not complicated things. He fits in beautifully. I have to say, I know this pictures isn’t the best of pictures. Off centre and a bit shadowy. But I was taking a few others, and then he smirked 🙂 Whether it looks like it or not, I know he was. So I had to use this one. He is incredibly beautiful, whether my camera work is or not.

So I’m spending today being enamoured with my kids. Productivity can start tomorrow. Or the next day.

We had Kim and her boys over for the day today. Kim and I have had a handful of dates over the last few weeks, but neither of us have seen much of each others kids. Today was the day, and it was really really nice to be all together again.

They came mid morning, and the kids explored the house and played flashlight tag while Kim and I drank lattes and visited in the living room. It was that way until Rowan had an epic meltdown and went down for his nap. Then playing got a bit quieter and we started lunch. A good handful of grilled cheese sandwiches, cucumbers, and apples later, everyone was fed and ready for some rest. Therefore, toys were tidied up a bit and Netflix offered some peace. It was nice and cozy. It had been far too long since we all played together, and these rainy days are great days for dates.

The four of them left shortly after 2:00, and I sat for a few minutes with my kids in the living room. I remembered then that I had missed a call from my mom earlier than day, so I called her back, and we decided that instead of sitting on the phone, we should visit in person. So I convinced her to come over, even just for a short visit.

That was also a really nice visit! She came bearing cookies, played downstairs a bit with the big kids, held Solly while he slept a little, and we chatted about the upcoming events of summer. Nothing pressing, but all very important 😉 Brady got home around 4:30-ish and my mom headed home soon after.

Our evening has played out nicely, and everyone is tucked away in bed, minus Solly, who is working on his evening milkshake.

Tomorrow we’re off to another playdate! It should be really fun 🙂 New people to the kids, which is always a bit scary for the kids, but Dekker will be meeting another boy he’ll go to kindergarten with! Its time to get as many of those playdates in as possible! I’m really looking forward to it, honestly. I happen to be a superfan of this family, though we haven’t been in contact in several years, as tends to happen when both families have four kids! Should be a really nice time.

I feel like these kinds of dates are some of the best ways to spend these rainy days 🙂 Friends make everything better.

Last night, Solomon slept SO WELL! He went down shortly before 8:00pm, and when he often wakes up around midnight, it was 2:30 before he made a peep! He drank a nice big bottle and didn’t wake again until 8:00am. It was pretty awesome; I am truly thrilled with how well he slept. However, with him sleeping with so few wakeful times, I slept through a lot of medication :/ As soon as I woke up, I took my “superdose,” while Solly was still fussing in his bed. I knew I had to get on it fast. Not that I should have had to get on it super fast, as I took medicine at 2:30, but such is life. So I took my medicine, and fed Solly his breakfast. Then, we got the rest of the crew up and began the day.

If you’re around here, you’ll know that its been very grey and and windy and rainy today. Those days are always very quiet around here. Quiet in a good way, though. Currently, the two littler boys are napping, Dekker is building links, and Laela is playing with cars on the table beside me. While I diligently took my next dose of medication at noon, it was within an hour that my pain began. We’re two hours post-meds right now and its definitely not letting up. I’ve heard that the best thing I can do for it is to lie flat on my back, but that is not an option right now. So rather, I’m choosing to sit at the table with VERY good posture, and spend some time like that. Until Ro and Solly wake up, anyway.

While I sit here, I’m keeping busy with some online shopping, daydreaming about Ikea, and everything we’ll be able to snag when we finally get there 🙂 I’m also researching what we should buy with all of or credit card points. And what we need to organize all of the drawers in our house.

Lots of planning and organizing in my head, while my chest just aches and I get dizzier. Normally, on days like this, Brady comes home and lifts a lot of the pressure off by sending me off to lay in bed. But I’m just hearing now that he took a good fall at work today and will be coming home early, all achy himself. So it should be an interesting evening!!

Wish us luck!

I love a good storm. Right as we were leaving my parents this evening, it started to come down HARD! It momentarily petered out just in time to get the kids out to the van, so we ran them out and drove home. Once we were parked in the garage, there was another good downpour. We got everyone in and to bed, and I headed to our room to crank all of the windows open. I love listening to the sound of rain. Now not that I can’t know what the future holds, but it is definitely not raining anymore, and I don’t know if it will :/ Not tonight anyway. I know we’re forecasted for a ton of rain in the next few days! Like flooding levels of rain. But yikes, how I LOVE falling asleep to the sound of rain! Bah!

Today wasn’t particularly eventful. We had a really early start with Solly, and he was pretty unsettled for most of the day. Through the morning, we did dishes, a load of laundry, dishes, etc. I went upstairs after a while to continue the forever humungous project of sorting through products and trying to make our en suite vanity/makeup desk area what I want it to be. It didn’t take long before the whole family joined me in our en suite. Good thing its such a good size! I sorted and planned and didn’t really accomplish much beyond noting a few things I need to buy from Dollarama to make it a tad more functional. Who gets anything done in a small room filled with children? Eventually, Brady hauled them all down and bathed them. I brushed their hair and got them dressed.

We spent the afternoon and early evening with my parents. It was a pretty quiet day, which was nice. Lots of visiting while the kids played, lots of yummy food, nice stretches of naps, etc. The kids didn’t ask for tv once, which was a first! They love the routine involving a bit of tv after lunch, so they were obviously enjoying being at grandma and grandpas house.

Now, everyone is home and asleep. The bath is run, and I’m thinking its time for a snack. Perhaps nachos. Its always a good day for nachos.

One of the big opinions about large families is that they count on their older kids to raise their younger kids. It may be so in some cases, and I certainly don’t want to open up a forum for conflict. I know there are  a lot of opinions out there. I have opinions too. But its my blog 😉 So I can share all of the opinions I want!

In my opinion, we are not one of these families.

I don’t think any family would willingly say that they counted on their older kids to raise their younger ones. So maybe you can just take my word for it. We’re not that family. I will admit that our kids do things to help around here, and some of that involves getting diapers, throwing them away, retrieving blankets, soothers, burp pads, etc. In that way, the older ones help with the younger ones. In my opinion, that is part of sharing a house with someone. You help each other out. I was the youngest in my family, and I had plenty to do that involved helping my siblings out. We are simply teaching our kids not to be selfish, and to think of others.

During breakfast this morning, the kids were eating and Brady and I were doing dishes and getting the house tidied up a little bit. After a while, I heard Solly start to fuss in his bouncy chair beside the table. He wasn’t crying or too terribly upset, so I didn’t head over right away. He often gets over that kind of thing really quickly, and he did this time as well, within a minute or two. When I finally did look up from the dishes, I saw that Dekker had pulled Sollys bouncy chair right up to his dining chair, and he was ever so gently bouncing it with his foot. While he ate breakfast, he had consoled Solomon, all on his own.

Now, some may say this is our big kids having to care for our little kids, and how unfair is that? That a four year old would have that responsibility, to console the crying baby. But he didn’t! It was natural for him! He saw a need, and he met it in an act of love. He was not forced, bribed, or even asked.

How crazy to think that sometimes people do nice things for others because *gasp* they want to!!

I am so very proud of my kids, and the love they have, and show, for one another!

I wouldn’t dream of rushing them to grow up.

Oh, darlings, don’t you ever grow up, just stay this little…

I chose to celebrate my lack of ultrasound results with a change in my medication schedule. Its not as dumb of an idea as it sounds. I think its very important that I try, once in a while, to ween off, or change up, and see if my pain is still as bad as it was. When a doctor/nurse/tech asks me a question, I should know the answer, where I’ve been giving a lot of “I don’t know, I’m on medication” answers. Do you have reflux with the pain? Does it come and go? What makes it better or worse? I don’t know, I’m on medication.

I tried a couple of weeks ago to simply ween off of three pills. Just three. And it was a fail. Today, I technically took less pills, but the main goal was to space my doses out a little bit further and see how my body handled it. Rather than taking pills every four hours, I did it every six. I combined things differently (all TOTALLY SAFE combinations, like I’ve said, nothing is too strong) so my dose was slightly larger than before, but I was waiting longer between doses. Meds at midnight, 6:00am, and noon today. At 3:30, I started to feel that pressure in my abdomen which is my sign that I’m behind. It wasn’t excruciating by any means. It was just the beginning of it. I told myself I would reassess at 4:00 and likely take at least some Tylenol then. But by 4:00, I was completely nauseous, and my head was pounding. I don’t even know if my muscle still hurt, but everything else about me felt like complete garbage.

So this post is a little downtrodden, because I am. Brady came home and gave me my meds, as I was trapped under a sleeping baby and didn’t want to disturb him. But I did anyway, and am now upstairs, in our room, laying flat on my back, which is the only thing I’ve heard that could possibly help my pain at this point. Apparently even just sitting in a chair is using the muscle thats angry because its holding my head up. Assuming its an angry muscle at all. Ugh.

All things considered, I’m glad I tried this today. Its the best time for it. I’ll be all caught up for Saturday, and we have nothing planned this evening. So if I spend this evening in bed, I do. I hope not to! I hope to catch up. But I’m feeling pretty ridiculous, and I can’t take more medicine until 8:00. So wish me luck. Or wish Brady luck. Thats probably smarter.

I was just telling Brady that my least favorite part of blogging is making up titles. I actually really enjoy blogging! But often enough, I’ll title my blog, and it informs me that I’ve used that title before. I’m allowed to use it again, its not a big deal, but it drives me bonkers. About 1500 posts into this, I am running out of ideas! Hahaha! So forgive me. This post is just me talking about my day, like always.

Today was the first day this week that I didn’t have anything planned. I wasn’t put off by it at all, though. I figured I’d try to be productive, with emphasis on the word “try.” As I’ve said, it seems like any amount of physical exertion escalates my muscle pain, so beyond dishes and child minding, I don’t do too much these days. But life has to go on, and things need to get done! So I got the kids up and eating while I sorted laundry and put in the first load. Then I started on dishes, and realized that I had forgotten to run the dishwasher last night. So I loaded all of five things into it and ran it. There was no way I was washing everything left by hand, so I stacked it up nicely to complete later.

It was pretty soon after that when my mom called. I had emailed her yesterday and invited her over for lunch, and she had called to make a plan for the afternoon. I finally convinced her to come for lunch! Thank goodness we have the relationship we have, because I still could do laundry and a few other little things while she was around. She even helped with my chores, haha! Honestly, though, I didn’t get a ton done because Solly was SO unsettled today! He has great days where he’ll lay around, wide awake, and watch the world around him. Today, he just wanted to sleep, but never comfortably, it seemed. Poor kid just couldn’t get it together today, but I sure know that feeling, so I can’t fault him for it 😉

We had leftover chicken wrap stuff, just in salad form, for lunch, and had a nice visit into the afternoon. It was after lunch that I finally got a call from someone at my doctors office with my ultrasound results. They came back normal. Ugh. I was (and continue to be) so disappointed. No, I don’t want to have some big problem in there, but I’m frustrated about not knowing whats going on and therefore not knowing what direction to take. My physio will begin on the 18th, so I’ll anticipate that, but at 5.5 weeks postpartum, I’m pretty frustrated at the stage of pain I’m in unless I’m heavily medicated. Somethings got to give. Hopefully it will soon. But that was a piece of discouraging news today anyway :/ Keep praying, if you feel so inclined.

Brady came home at a good time, bearing iced coffee for me. It was delicious. We made macaroni and wieners for supper, which sounds awful but filled tummies and made everyone happy. Anything one can squirt ketchup on is a big win around here with the kids. So everyone was in good shape going into bedtime.

Three out of four are down for the night, Solly is close behind, and I am so anticipating a soak in the tub!! I did end up getting that second load of dishes in, and I finished the laundry! It was a very productive day, even if it sounds small to you guys. I feel accomplished. And I’ve earned my soak! And a snack…

We ran out of a few staple groceries in the last few days, so I decided to take the kids in for them, rather than sending Brady on another errand. He’s always more than willing to run errands, but because of my ultrasound this week, he lost a few hours, and I don’t want to make it harder to catch up by sending him all over the place. So when the kids got up this morning, I got them fed and dressed and loaded into the van.

My plan was to hit Walmart, and get the kids some McDonalds for lunch afterwards to keep everyone happy. We needed a couple of things from Costco as well, but I am not that crazy to try to hit both big busy stores in one day without some extra hands to help. But I needed to fill the van with gas, so when I was at Costco doing that, I figured we could get those things after all. I found a pretty reasonably close parking space and got everyone into/onto the cart. Rowan sits up in the basket seat thing, Dekker rides on the end, and Solly was in his bucket in the actual cart. Laela hates to ride in the cart with Rowan, so she is VERY well mannered in grocery stores and we let her just hold hands and walk alongside. But today, I had to push the cart and couldn’t hold her hand. So we compromised, and it worked! She agreed to ride in the cart beside Rowan through the parking lot, and once we were in the store, she hung onto the side of the cart and walked beside me. I’m so thankful that my kids are exactly who they are. She didn’t stray or try to bail once. She just wants to walk rather than ride. I get that. She really earns those things, as simple as they sound. Proud mommy moment.

We got through Costco and everything was soaked. There had been a super quick downpour, and I was pretty thankful that it had stopped in time for us to get to our van without getting too soaked. Though my shoes took a bit of a hit. Also thankful I wore some super old shoes today…

As we drove to Walmart, it POURED. As we parked, it POURED. It was a bit ominous. The kids were a bit hesitant. There were no carts super close by, and I wasn’t about to try to run them all in through a crowded parking lot in the rain when I only had two arms. We waited a few minutes, and it didn’t let up. So I left the van running and went to find a cart. Don’t worry, the van was in sight the entire time. I got everyone into it as fast as I could, and Dekker and Laela were super obedient when I told them both to climb on the end and ride inside together. Everyone did as they were told, and we made it inside looking pretty “drowned rat esque” but it worked. We really enjoyed the Walmart shop, and the kids were on their best behaviour. The biggest fight was that both Dekker and Laela wanted to put the cucumber in the cart. That was it. Pretty easy to handle, if you ask me.

When we had paid for our stuff, we walked past the McDonalds, and it was PACKED. Worst of all, it was packed with people waiting, not people eating. I couldn’t imagine trying to get the kids fed there, so we walked past it. As the power of suggestion tends to work, Dekker and Laela saw those dang golden arches and expressed hunger. I told them I was hungry too, and once we brought daddy a coffee, we would go home and make lunch. And somehow, that was enough for them!! We headed for the exit and, praise the Lord, the rain had stopped momentarily. So we made a big scene of running to the van and being super loud about it.

We picked up coffee for Brady and drove to his job site right around when he was planning to take his lunch break, so he brought his lunch in and ate with us. It was such a pleasant family date in the middle of the day. And the kids weren’t complaining about being hungry or anything like that! Total champs! I finally got them fed around 1:30, and all has been well 🙂

I’m calling today’s outing a raging success!!! I had no idea that this would feel so easy, and while I’m sure it won’t be easy every single time, I don’t feel in over my head at all. Very thankful for these little loves! (I’m super thankful for Rowan too! He’s just napping. We’ll get him next time 😉 )

Its been a great day <3

Today was a really really good day with the kids! Solly slept all morning, and Rowan slept all afternoon. No joke. I’m not saying that the day was good because I didn’t have to hang out with the little ones, because I LOVE them all! But I got to focus a bit more than usual on Dekker and Laela individually. They’ve been recently really getting on each others nerves, and I feel like I spend every minute of the day correcting them and going over the same principles of giving each other the benefit of the doubt, using manners, trying to resolve stuff before tattling to me, etc. I realize these are big concepts for such little people, but its got to start somewhere! And today, this magical thing happened! I’d see a situation go down kind of badly, and I’d remind them what the better way was, and then the next time it happened, they’d play out the exact scenario I’d have suggested. Dekker would speak in his polite voice, and even give reason for asking for what he wanted, and Laela would go along with it, with good manners all around. It was kind of amazing.

We had one bout that was a bit rough at first. I was on the phone, and Dekker was digging in our ottoman for toys when Rowan walked by. Ro lost his balance a little, and put his hand on Dekker’s back to stabilize himself. He didn’t even fall. Just caught himself. And Dekker freaked. “Ouch! Rowan! You’re pushing me!” This scared Rowan and he started crying. I snapped my fingers at him and pointed to his room. He ran off, wailing mournfully. I finished my call up pretty quickly after that and went into his room. We talked about how I had watched exactly what happened, and that Rowan had touched Dekker, but he didn’t even come close to pushing him. I told him how rude it is to yell at someone. I told him that, had Rowan actually pushed him to be mean, he should ask him to please stop, and if he went further, to come talk to me about it. We covered all of the bases, but sometimes I can tell things are just whipping over his head, and today, they were. So I decided to tackle him! I dove into him and took him down. He burst out laughing, and I helped him back up. As soon as he was back up, I shoved him over. He continued laughing. We had a good laugh and snuggle, and it helped bring him back to me a little. Then we talked about how I had been kind of rough and pushed him over, but it wasn’t mean. It was fun! BUT!, that being said, if he asked me stop, I definitely would have. Don’t worry, I’m not teaching him its ok to push! But I’m trying to teach him about context. So I asked him if Rowan had actually pushed him, and he said that he hadn’t. So nothing hurt? Nope. And all was well. He jogged out of his room and apologized to Rowan for yelling. I thought the situation diffused really well, honestly. I don’t expect he’ll forget anytime soon.

After that, the afternoon went nice and smoothly. The kids were on their best behaviour, and I could sneak away once in a while and get ready for my evening. When 5:15 rolled around, I went to pick Kim up. We went for fish tacos (Seriously guys, Taco Time. Try them.) and then drove to HomeSense. I’ve been there all of twice in my life, and while I’m not looking to buy a ton of new things for my house just now, I wanted to just meander through and get ideas. It was SO fun, and I only bought a couple of little things. I’ll definitely be back though!

As per usual, we couldn’t have a date without Value Village! The one by HomeSense isn’t as good as the other, so we don’t go as often, but I actually did pretty good! I got a pair of shoes, a shirt, a bathing suit top, and a couple of things for Rowan. It was a good haul, which was a nice surprise.

I drove her home afterwards, and came home to a sleeping husband. It was 9:30. Which is why I’m trying to pump out this post, lol, so we can head for bed soon! I had a really nice day today, so let’s hope Solly allows us a really nice night as well. He’s such a rockstar. Last night, I was SO zoned and dizzy and overtired when Solly woke up. Brady informed me that I did diaper change though! Who knew!! I guess I’m officially an “experienced mom,” changing diapers in my sleep! Win!