I feel ten times better this morning, having woken up to Dekker using the bathroom at 7:45. I’m not counting on this happening every morning, but it was incredibly refreshing to have slept a bit longer this morning! As I suspected, the kids were in MUCH better shape this morning as well. Even though its been Dekker waking all of us so early, he is also completely trashed from the new schedule. In bad moods, extra unpredictable, and he’s only been working in extremes. He will be SUPERHYPER and then he will BAWL if something goes slightly against what he prefers. Its been a huge challenge. This morning has been such a lovely change.

I got everyone up and Dekker set the table while I changed diapers. Everyone had breakfast, and then all three kids played in the loft while I did the dishes. As I was washing dishes, I kept thinking of things I need to remember to put in my hypothetical planner. I asked about the ideal planner a while back, and while I’m still researching, I’ve also slowly been designing my own templates, to have exactly what I want. Its basic layout is finally put together, we refilled our ink cartridges, aaaaand now the black one doesn’t work. Merp. So while we wait on that problem to be resolved, I continue to think of things I want to write down and schedule, and that I’m afraid I’ll forget! So once dishes were washed, I sat down at the table and made a list of things to remember to add to my planner when its finally printed off and in a book.

I was enjoying my listing and my salted caramel latte (seriously enjoying, too much) when Dekker called down in his sweetest voice “Mommy, are you done doing the dishes?” I answered that I was. He offered to come help me put them away, and I thanked him, but told him we’d let them dry a little bit longer. He then invited me up to the loft to come play. “I don’t want you to be alone” he said. This is a recent thing he’s picked up since all of the moving. He never wants us to be alone. So I thanked him and headed up to the loft.

We played in the loft for the rest of the morning! Around 11:30, I went downstairs to make lunch. Pretty quickly after leaving, Laela burst out crying. She came down and told me Rowan had driven the walker toy into her knee. I kissed her knee over and over as she stood with one foot flat on the floor and the other on a tippy toe. When she confirmed that she was feeling better, she stuck around to help me set the table and get the plates to eat spot. We kept it classy with pb&j hot dog buns, and bananas. Its so funny how changing the shape of the bun makes all the difference. The kids think its hilarious, and they eat WAY more, hahaha!

After lunch, Dekker said his thank yous and took his dishes to the sink. He came back to the table and informed me he planned to “stay happy” this afternoon. I told him that would be super awesome! Laela announced “Me too!” from her spot at the table.

Rowan is now down for a nap, but so far, the big kids have keep their promises, and are both doing very well! We’re watching some tv, and I’m on the laptop, blogging, researching some more planner ideas, and trying to figure out how to force my phone to upload its pictures onto my laptop like I’ve asked it to! Nothing has been uploaded since Sunday this week! Lucky for you, there are other ways to put pictures on here 😉

It is a rare occasion to get a picture of Dekker where he’s not making a face, so enjoy this one while you can! Luckily, they’re all still cute!

I’ve been mentioning Dekker’s newfound desire to wake us all up around 6:30pm for the last little while. This morning was our earlier morning yet, and while its been a bit challenging to say the least, I’m relieved that today wasn’t Dekker’s fault! Unfortunately, it was Bradys, haha! Sorry hubs, I have to tell. Brady dropped his aluminum travel mug on the stove top this morning on his way out the door at 5:30am, and that was just it.

We took our time getting up, of course, and Rowan managed to fall back to sleep in that time, so the big kids and I got up and had breakfast together, and pretty much right as they finished, Rowan woke up. So Deks and Laela went to play while I fed Ro breakfast in the dining room. Finally we all migrated up to the loft and played for the majority of the morning.

Ro didn’t last long before he needed a nap, so I hauled him down, and took a break to call health line quickly. I’ve been having some funny vision problems that appear a lot like when you see spots after a dizzy spell, yet they don’t come from dizziness, they are MUCH bigger blank spots in my vision, and they last quite a bit longer. I called mostly for information, to see if anything could cause them that is common, but of course, like pretty much any other time I’ve called, they basically said “Oh, you’re pregnant? Go to the hospital immediately.” Yup, but nope. So I hung out in the loft with the kids while Ro napped, and right around lunch, Kim and the boys came for our afternoon playdate!

It was SO nice to have company over!! They brought lunch, we made lattes, and spent the afternoon in the loft, playing toys and all being together. It eventually got super hot up there, and that paired with my grouchy, overtired children, and their youngest being in desperate need of a nap, we parted ways in the mid afternoon. I’m sure she’ll have some nappers in her van, and my kids are currently half asleep in front of a show, just resting their minds. But it was SO good to get everyone together again! I didn’t manage to get photos of everyone, but these are what I did get, anyway.

I’m not completely sure what the evening will bring at this point. I had hoped to duck out to Walmart to grab a few groceries, but I’m not sure the kids could hack it. On another hand, though, they would likely sleep on the drive, and maybe that would be just enough sleep to get them to the evening without too many additional meltdowns. We’ll weigh our options once Brady gets home.

Lastly, yesterday, our cabinets came!!!!!

Those poor guys had 144 boxes to carry into our living room! But they did it surprisingly joyfully, and efficiently. Brady and I waited until the kids were down before he began the task of hauling them all downstairs, and we organized them in order of where they’ll go in our new house, matching up cabinet boxes to drawers and fronts, all as many other little things that we could. We are SO ready to dig in and start building/assembling everything so we can really get a feel for how things are going to look!!!

However, after a day quite like this, I am already sleepy, so I’m not sure today is the day. Maybe it’ll just be Saturday. Saturday is a good day too 🙂

Rowan is down, and the big kids are up playing with duplo in the loft. I’m on the couch, sipping a latte, listening to the wind, blogging. Its a quiet day. We had an incredibly early start, and all of the kids are in rough shape already. So I sit down here quietly and they play up there quietly, and we try to interact as little as possible. So far, its working.

We all went to my 32 week prenatal appointment at 9:45 this morning. We met Brady at the clinic and were called in right away. I’ve been feeling suspicious over the last couple of weeks that a surprise is coming. I honestly don’t know what I’m waiting for, but my gut has been telling me I needed to ask. So I babbled through my appointment about some weird instinct/gut feeling I was having, and that I was a bit nervous. My student doctor asked for details, and of course, it took me quite a while to gather any info from my unreliable memory. I finally made her a rough list.

I am feeling LARGE. LARGE. A month ago, at my appointment, I had grown like crazy, and it showed in my measurements. I feel like I am larger still, and considerably less mobile.

I am TIRED. I know I’m more than allowed to be tired and feel run down, but I could flop down and nap at any moment, and I’ve never been like that. Ever. Not in pregnancy, not freshly postpartum, not in daily life with three little ones. Never. I feel like an animal who is about to deliver their young. Like right before they deliver.

I have sooo many contractions. Not painful ones necessarily, just braxton hicks, but they go up HIGH and they are SOLID. I don’t notice them until I bump my belly into something, or touch it mindlessly, or rest something on it, and it is rock hard. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but that s EXACTLY how I laboured with Rowan. I was induced in the hospital, contracting like mad, rock solid belly all the way up, and felt no discomfort with it whatsoever. So noticing it happen more and more is a bit ominous.

Basically, to sum it up, I feel full term. VERY full term. I shared these things with my student doctor and she took it all in, but also had lots of reasons for things. I’m iron deficient, so thats something that plays a role in fatigue at least. Also, its my fourth baby, yes yes, I know. Things like that. I was kind of annoyed, but curious to see how the rest of the appointment would go.

I gained less than two pounds, and my measurements hardly changed, so I am back to measuring right on my weeks. Those factors alone show evidence that likely the baby isn’t growing at some unreasonable rate, I’m likely not much further along that we originally thought, and my fluid levels are probably fine. Baby’s heart rate was fine, his movement is still consistent, and I’ve had none of the obvious scarier things, like bleeding or crazy sickness.

So, we called it a draw with the baby and we left. He really threw us for a loop last month, but now, apparently all is back to normal. I don’t know whats going on, and there might still be a surprise in store for us. Who knows? Not us. At least, at this point, we now see our doctor every two weeks, so if we have any concerns, or I still feel quite this nervous, we’ll be able to get in sooner to talk again.

Now, we’re home, and the kids are starting to fight. I think I’ll feed them and throw a show on for a bit while I doze a bit on the couch. The kitchen cabinets for our new house are arriving this afternoon, and I couldn’t be more excited about this part!!!!! I can’t wait to see them all carried into the house, ready for us to put them together and plan out our beautiful new kitchen 😀 Should be a good distraction too!

I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect planner for a long long time, and I think I’m done trying. So for the last few days, I’ve been learning the Pages program on our laptop, and have been trying to create a very basic template for the EXACT planner I want.

I much prefer paper to simply using my phone calendar, though I use that as well. I just get annoyed when all of the things I want to schedule on the same day don’t all show up at once! I have a lot of things to keep track of, and our life is only getting busier, so I need a good, big, useful planner.

Many of the planners I’ve seen are expensive, and contain many pages that I wouldn’t find useful. I’ve slowly been compiling ideas of exactly what I need/want to see, and I’ve done this through looking online, making lists, and buying LOTS of planners that I never used for more than a week. Ask Brady. I love planners, but I want them to be what I need, and they just never are.

Recently, I came across one that is the closest to perfect that I’ve been able to find! It was a bit more flowery and viney than I’d normally choose, but I was more than willing to bypass my personal preferences that way for the perfect planner. Until I discovered that it was about half the size I was hoping for. It was then that I decided to just make my own template and see if I could do it.

I’m very close, and I will show you what I’ve come up with when its complete, as well as tested out. When I know its good, you’ll know. Sorry I’m being so vague, but the reason I’m posting about this is because I would like to know what other people look for in the way of organization. I personally never use the pages that look like standard calendar pages. Do people use those? What do you require to make you feel organized, and like you’re not going to forget something important? What extras would you add? I LOVE the idea of having a space for gift ideas, or maybe a monthly “project” page. Any ideas? What do YOU guys look for? I don’t want to miss anything!

Like I mentioned yesterday, the plan for today was a brief Costco run and then we drove to see the house. We actually stuck to the plan, even though I feel like they always change! The kids were all looking super cute today, and attracted a lot of attention. Lol! I can’t blame people for looking on. I heard one woman whisper to her friend “Look at her coat, and her sunglasses!”

We grabbed the few things that we needed before heading to a nearby Tims for coffee and a pee break. I forgot to pee at Costco and I’m at the point of pregnancy where I almost can’t sit while I’m wearing jeans and have to pee. Quite the challenge. So we drive two minutes down the road and stopped to grab coffees.

We drank our coffees and drove to see our house. We were incredibly relieved, after our Thursday visit, to see some more progress. To be honest, it wasn’t quite as much as we had hoped for, but two different trades were on site, and one had been there last Friday or sometime over the weekend.

Downstairs plumbing had been dug in!!! Now, I believe they just wait for an inspection, then cover it up and pour our basement floor!!! Thats scheduled for next Friday.

The taper has finally arrived! We’re a bit nervous that he’s only coming now, knowing the rest of the scheduling, it seems like he’s late to start. Especially because he is simply a “he” and not a crew. But such is life. I’m still hopeful! If he works through the weekend, he should keep up.

Loooooook! Its a real house!!

Lastly, the siding guy was around, but he was around on Thursday, and we have seen almost no change, so while we’re not sure what he’s actually doing there, he is holding up absolutely no one. So I guess if he’s got nowhere else to be, why rush?? We realized, though, after the siding color debacle, we haven’t taken any pictures! So he’s the REAL color!!! The one side of the house is close to done, but the other is still about a third of the way up with the old color, and the back is untouched.

Its so pretty 🙂 I’m very very happy with the color. So much more what we were expecting.

Our evening ended a little rocky and the kids were in bed earlier than usual, but they really really needed it. Dekker has picked up a nasty habit of waking the entire household on purpose before 7am. Its pretty horrific when you’re not used to it. We’ve stopped napping him completely in an effort to have him sleep a bit deeper and a bit longer, but he is in ROUGH shape by the end of the evening, that’s for sure! Its a new challenging stage we’ve entered, but naps had to be kicked to the curb somewhere along the way, and it appear that now is the time 🙂

One day, we’ll have our next babe, and we’ll be settled in our beautiful new home, and THEN we can find some form of what “normal” is going to look like.

And the moment we find that normal, Dekker will start kindergarten! Bahaha! Oh life…..

Brady and I expected to go to church today, especially since two members of our church were actually getting married during the service! However, yesterday felt like a very heavy day, so we opted to stay home and sleep a bit extra. It wasn’t a bad day yesterday, but I have been feeling incredibly bogged down recently, and it is both emotionally and physically exhausting. For the last few weeks, I’ve been saying that I feel incredibly “full term.” Very, very pregnant. I am now at the point where I am almost always out of breath. I know this is a common thread in pregnancy, but it doesn’t usually happen for me until much closer to the end. So I’m just tired, and I know my body. It needs rest. So this morning, we rested.

I had a latte in bed, thanks to my husband and our Rivo, and we took our time getting up. The kids played a we watched a bit of tv in between. Really took things slow. It was SO nice! We had made plans to have my parents over for supper, and because we are who we are and they are who they are, we had the perfect plan, which involved sweat pants and an easy supper. When they arrived in the mid-afternoon, we were all still in comfy clothes, I was prepping a bit for supper, Brady was doing dishes, the big kids were playing, and Rowan had just gone down for a second nap. It was very nice and quiet and comfy. They came with a bouquet of flowers in hand, as well as some homemade cookies, to celebrate our new “home” for the next couple of months. Really, they were the perfect house warming gifts. I couldn’t have felt happier than with fresh cookies in my kitchen and a GORGEOUS bright springy bouquet on my table. This house already feels incredibly comfortable, but the gifts were a lovely cherry on top.

We spent the rest of the afternoon with the kids talking non-stop to their grandparents, Rowan showing off his mad hand holding walking skills, Laela and Dekker showing off their new chapsticks with kisses, and some visiting amongst the adults 😉 It was a lot of fun, and very low pressure.

For supper, we mixed up the delicious mix of pizza bun topping and threw it on some fresh buns, with chips on the side. We had fresh cookies for dessert, and the kids were pumped. MUCH more for the cookies than the pizza buns, lol! Our kids and their weird issues with messy food. But it was all delicious, if I can be so bold.

We played and visited a little bit more before toys got tidied, teeth got brushed, and the kids went to bed. It was a really lovely evening, and the kids were in a good place.

My parents stayed until about 8:00pm and the kids fell asleep shortly thereafter. Now we rest up once again! Brady has Monday off but then reality hits and he’s back to work for the week. So tomorrow, we do Costco and drive to see the house and check the progress. Last time we went through, we thought there looked to be a bit of a hold up in one area, so we’re hoping to see some movement on Monday. But until then, we watch The Good Wife and eat caramel drumsticks.

Our plan for today was to get some stuff done around the house. Nothing is too crazy out of control, but we had to make a plan for a couple of things, get a few more boxes put away, do laundry, and catch up on dishes. We had quite a bit of laundry to do, so that was a priority, but also a bit ominous, as we’re still in the process of getting our clothing all organized and where it belongs. As for dishes, we weren’t terribly behind, but we don’t have a dishwasher here, which is new for us, so its a conscious effort to actually wash the dishes by hand every day.

Brady put the first load of laundry in, and came up with really fun news for me 🙂 The washing machine here is the same one as the set we bought for the new house, only ours will be one step up in size. Yet, this slightly smaller washer EASILY fit ALL of the kids clothes into one load!! And it was a BIG load of laundry. Just an example, there was fifteen pairs of jammies in there. Just jammies. There were jammies and blankets and five pairs of jeans and the whole load of clothing I picked up for them from Value Village yesterday. I am THRILLED that we will have even bigger machines in our new house!!!

We did learn, however, upon using the dryer, that the previous tenants likely didn’t even ONCE empty the lint trap in the year they lived here. 

Sooooo lucky for them the house didn’t burn down! And also lucky that we were able to muscle the lint trap open and clean it out!! No good, though. Kind of super duper yucky.

We got lots of laundry done, did the dishes, and got organized for tomorrow. Brady hauled some of the big boxes downstairs that were previous living in the bathroom, and we could finally bathe the kids. Please don’t judge us, haha, but yes, the kids were SUPER overdue for a bath.

I ducked out to buy some groceries for supper tomorrow while Brady bathed the kids. He sent me a picture to show me how happy bathtime was going while I was away, and upon arriving home, I took one of the true feelings going on in that tub.

It had actually gone really well, minus just a few tears. Dekker hates the bath more than anyone else, still, so he fought a bit, but not as bad as sometimes. This tub is one of those crazy old fashioned ones that is the average length but much wider than the current tubs, so they kids could really move around each other, which they seemed to like.

Now, everyone is out of the tub, freshly jammied and brushed and smelling good. Time for hot dogs and chips and some family time before bed. Everyone slept SO well last night, and they even slept in, which was a treat. Here’s hoping for round #2 tonight!

We had a relaxed day planned. Brady had a chiro appointment in the mid morning, and we had decided to all go in together, and then hit up Value Village afterwards for a few things. I sorted through the kids clothes a couple of days ago finally and was able to see what they actually need and don’t need. So I had a few things in mind that we could shop for. We walked out spending about $60, and for that, we bought Dekker a pair of jeans and two shirts, Laela some rubber boots, three shirts, and a dress, the new baby a jean jacket for summer time, Brady about five work shirts, and a purse for myself. I’d call it a very successful haul.

As we made our non-plan for the day, a number of other places crossed our minds that we needed to hit up, but they completely fell out of our minds until later that day. We had eaten lunch and put Rowan down for a nap, and while we were watching a movie this afternoon, I started remembering all of the places we had forgotten to go! It was then that we decided I’d go run another series of errands on my own.

It was SO nice to get out and about a bit by myself!! I went to so many places, got through them efficiently, and only bought the things I was intending to buy. I listened to music I loved and had windows open, despite the cold wind. I just felt good being out. Its a hard feeling to explain. I LOVE shopping with my kids, truly, but it was refreshing to just run into place after place for one thing, and not spent 70% of the outing putting people in and out of car seats. The ONE place that I bought one or two things that weren’t necessities was at Dollarama. We kept a few things packed that we use regularly in the kitchen, so instead of digging like crazy through all of our boxes looking for small things, I just snagged a few at Dollarama. An apple slicer, and some cutting boards, to be exact. As I was heading to the line, I thought of one last idea that I’d been tossing around for a while, and I decided to go get the kids their own lip chapsticks. They had some cute girly ones with princesses but the boys one was something that Dekker would know nothing about, so I opted for just regular Blistex. Mint for Dekker and cherry for Laela. Or if you were to ask them, green for Dekker and pink for Laela. Our kids LOVE putting on “lip fuff” and sometimes they accidentally massacre ours, or sometimes we don’t like them to share if we (or they) are sick. So I “splurged” and got them each their own.

I felt really good coming home to my happy family. The kids had eaten MASSIVE amounts over supper, which is awesome, and Brady had been on the phone a couple of times with our mortgage lady, and had really positive news to share from their conversations, so that was another pick me up for sure. The kids were even more pumped about their chapsticks than I had expected, and everyone seemed really upbeat. They were a very pleasant group to come home to.

Now the kids are tucked in, and Brady and I are cuddling in for a relaxed evening of quiet. Tomorrow will be a big laundry day, and hopefully we’ll get a few more things organized and unpacked around here. But until then, there will be coffee and Netflix.

I had planned to blog in the day while Brady was away doing some warranty work this afternoon, but I’m SO glad I didn’t! It was a very rocky day for us around here, and the post would have been really sad. Honestly, I’ve blogged about days like before, and you guys have always been more than supportive, but I just didn’t want to write a mournful post about how terribly I had failed. So I decided to wait and blog this evening. If nothing else, it would give me a little bit of room from the hardship that was the morning and afternoon, and would possibly offer a fresh perspective.

What did come from waiting, however, was a very exciting, eventful evening, which I am MUCH happier to tell you about! Brady and I attended an evening at the elementary school that Dekker will be attending in the fall, and learned about what we could do as parents to help prepare our kids for school. I was able to leave Dekker and Laela with my mom for the evening, but as she’s not really allowed to lift over a certain weight, Rowan came with us. Childcare was offered at the school, which was lovely, and the girls babysitting were really excited to have a little one around among the group of older children they were watching. We’ve never left Ro in a childcare setting before, and the moment he was distracted, we left the room. We stood in the hallway for a minute and after hearing no crying, we headed into the library and grabbed a table. We sat with some people we knew, and grabbed some refreshments while we waited for everything to start. It was very nostalgic for me to sit in the library and reminisce. I used to attend that very school as a student, and while not too terribly much has changed, I know I’ll have a lot to relearn, even just about classrooms switching around. While they didn’t recognize me, I saw a couple of familiar teachers, and that alone made me feel comfortable. I know my kids will be taught by excellent teachers.

I won’t break into details too terribly much, but hearing about what is expected of us as parents, of Dekker as a student, and how we can start preparing him was SO much fun! It made me really really excited! Of all of the things we discussed, I could pick out Dekker’s strengths and weaknesses, if you can call them that. I was able to pinpoint the places where he might struggle a bit more, but that doesn’t mean he’s not “ready,” but rather that I know where we’ll need to focus on with helping him prepare.

I won’t gab forever about little vague thoughts, but I am VERY happy to learn that the kindergarten teacher, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and principal, who we all met this evening, have the same idea as I do about what kindergarten should look like. There will be gentle pushes and lots of learning, but they won’t be on their own. The teachers are eager to help and teach and PLAY with the kids! They want to teach our kids through the things THEY are interested in. They want our kids to be able to be with their friends. I really left this evening feeling like they wanted our kids to love school. I really want them too, as well. I have high hopes.

When we went to collect Rowan, he was sitting on a girls lap, on a chair, watching a movie. She noticed us right away and brought him over. He was totally calm, though happy to see us. As Brady got Rowans shoes and coat on, I asked how he had done. The two girls nearby gushed about how much they loved him. They said he was the funniest, happiest baby ever. They said he laughed the whole time. “We’d show him his feet, and he’s laugh. He’d touch his forehead, and laugh.” They all seemed pretty smitten with him, and truthfully, he was making eyes at them too. He seemed quite enamoured. As we left the room, the girl who had been cuddling with him said to her friends “THAT was so much fun!” Warmed my heart that he did so well.

Now, we’re home, and after such a crazy day, the kids had a fabulous, happy bedtime, which was a HUGE relief to me. I love those kids. Completely, over the moon, in la-la-love with them! They are all truly exceptional.

Its important for me to intentionally note how my kids are adjusting to things once in a while. With all of these moves, I’ve expected some regression in them. This isn’t meant to give them less credit, or like I think they are less capable, but I haven’t expected them to thrive as much as they would if we were more rooted. I have been pleasantly surprised along the way, seeing very little regression in any of them! Yes, we’ve had some behavioural stuff come up, which I expected with their routines being so out of whack for so long. But I’m very pleased to report that they are continuing to thrive and grow even better in our current place. Brady and I agreed yesterday that we actually feel more at home in this rental than we did in our last few months in the house we had owned for the last seven years. We are finally comfortable, which I’m sure helps the kids as well.

I am finally seeing Dekker picking up on some of things we have desperately been trying to teach him over the last few months. These things include sharing lovingly with his siblings, helping with things without always being asked, and not panicking the second someone else breaks a rule. He still doesn’t prefer to share, but once in a while, he’ll offer Laela his toy when he’s done with it, if he knows she had wanted it before. He shares easier with Rowan, but Ro is still easier to overthrow 😉 That will come, I’m sure. He often sets the kids spots at the table before a meal, and he’s caught on really well to what things Rowan actually needs and what I just use of mine to share with him. This evening, he went to grab the kids milk out of the fridge, but it was a brand new jug, and he was struggling to get it out of the door. I told him as soon as I saw that it was totally fine, and I’d come get it in just a minute, but he insisted on helping more, and carried my skim milk to the table instead. Lastly, rather than immediately ratting Laela out every time she does something he thinks she shouldn’t, or yelling at her, he’s started to explain to her why she’s not supposed to do whatever it is. Then, if she doesn’t listen to him, he comes running to tell on her, of course. But he’s getting there, and I’m thrilled to see it!!

Laela is just talking a mile a minute these days! I know, she’s 2.5, and it makes sense for her to be chatty, but I’ve realized recently why I’m so blown away by this! At 2.5, Dekker was just starting to really form words. While lots of kids have different sounds that mean different things, or they’ll use made up words, Dekker never did. He didn’t want to say a word until he had it pretty close to perfect. So his words came slower. Laela, on the other hand, tries EVERY word. And because of this, she communicates beautifully! My mom finally got to come see our place today, and I was in awe as I watched her go from room to room and point out everything we owned by name! It was pretty crazy, as I really had no concept of just how many words she knew that I wasn’t even aware of. She understands everything. I constantly mix her up for an older child. But she is just growing and changing and helping. If Dekker has a question, she often knows the answer.

Rowan is also changing like crazy. He’s been crawling for a while now, and I figured he’d start walking while we were staying at my parents. He started standing on his own a bit there, but he didn’t walk. I felt a bit bummed that he hadn’t progressed as I had thought, and I assumed that yet another move would only set that back a bit further. (For the record, I’m not worried about him being “late” to walk, I just thought it was going to happen at my parents place.) However, being here and feeling how we feel, I’m very confident it will come soon enough. It is warm and comfortable here. We don’t have to worry about him breaking something that isn’t ours, or being rough with someone elses furniture, or knocking things over. Its just our stuff. He can do whatever he wants, as our life is pretty kid friendly. He has mastered the stairs completely. While we ALWAYS still walk right close to him, he is able to go up and down tall flights of stairs now, confidently. He communicates pretty well, pointing and grabbing for things. He says “ya” and “no” and “wow” and a few other words. Its not every single time, but we can tell its intentional. Sometimes he shakes his head “no” also. We can usually figure out what he wants. I couldn’t quite understand him not too long ago, but I can tell we’re getting better at that with each other. He is constantly changing and I’m so very smitten with him. He’s definitely my “boy band” kid.

So there you have it. Another update about the kidlets and how they’re doing life all together. We sure love them a lot, and they show us lots of love in return.

Feeling very thankful for my crew.