Today was a very special Sunday. My parents shared the testimony of their marriage as the message in church, so obviously, we really wanted to go and support them in that. It was our first Sunday back in an incredibly long time, so it felt really really good to be back and see everyone. We were a minute or two late but lots of people were still arriving, and it wasn’t too terribly full, so the bench where we always used to seat ourselves was open and waiting. The kids are pretty out of practice with church, so they were chatty and we spent most of the morning shushing them, but the woman sitting in front of us was incredibly understanding and reassured us that she works with kids and that our kids whispers weren’t bothering her in the slightest.

After my parents shared, there was a time for anyone who cared to share to speak up and address the church. This is a lovely common practice that our church does every single week, where people can share exciting news, what they’re learning, or struggles and prayer requests. I stood up to share with everyone where we were and some of the things we’ve been struggling through, and let’s be honest. I blubbered through it. The congregation was SO supportive and responsive to the things I said, and Brady and I immediately felt encouraged and cared for.

After the service, not only did a large group of people come around my parents and pray with them, but many people came to Brady and I to offer information, encouragement, and prayers. Church is hard for us to get to these days, yet we felt surprisingly comfortable and relaxed being back, rather than stressed and kind of scattered like I expected to feel.

The whole day felt the same way. We felt comfortable, and rested. We haven’t spent time with my parents in WEEKS, which is completely out of the norm for us. The kids were thrilled to be back playing at their house, and Brady and I were SO happy to be spending the day again. It was a fabulous afternoon and evening of food and visiting and playing and reading stories and the kids showing off all of their new words and skills and telling all of their stories. It was wonderful, and we’re going back tomorrow!

Tomorrow evening, I mean. Laela has an eye doctor appointment tomorrow morning (just routine) and then we have a full afternoon. I’m SO thankful that Brady has had a few days off around this weekend, because we have a TON going on right now, which we’ll talk more about soon. Just continue to keep us in your prayers, if you’d like, and we’ll just keep swimming, just keep swimming…

Who is getting bored of my downer posts? *raises hand* I AM! Hopefully they are almost done for. We’re working hard for positivity over here, and I hope you can hear/see it soon!

I drove to Dollarama this morning to pick up a few things for the day. Some cleaning supplies, as well as a toy for each kid, as they all need pick me ups, and we rarely buy them toys or things like that when we’re out running errands. It was set up to be just a nice quick outing for myself, but it was set off by a serious of embarrassing dizzy spells that I could have done without. I will say that I was in control of the situation, as much as one can be. I didn’t wait to faint, but when I got super duper dizzy and was seeing black, I sat down, got myself together, before getting up and moving on again. Thoroughly embarrassing to sit down in the middle of an aisle, and then again right by the cashier, and then right outside the doors, but it was either that or fall flat on my face. I got everything in order and waited before driving home, but while laying in my van, trying to get blood where it needed to go, I was kind of sad as I realized that not one person offered to help me or asked if I was ok, even. I assure you, I was NOT doing this for attention. Not for a second. But it was weird that no one asked :/ C’mon, people. Help your fellow man when he falls. It may look like sitting down, but it might be a very gentle fall.

I made it home safe and spent a bit of time with the family before the kids napped and Brady and I rested up. We had a pretty anxious night, so we were feeling ragged and needed the rest. We got the kids up and headed out for a scheduled outing at 2:30. When we made it back from that, we gave the kids their toys, and I sat downstairs with them and we watched Paw Patrol while Brady did a bunch of cleaning that, unfortunately, I am not able to help with :/ He was a great sport about it, though, and did it happily while I dozed in and out of sleep, surrounded by my three kids whom I love more than life. This sickness has been a beast. I have never ever been this tired in my entire life.

We had a bit of a later supper before tucking the kids into bed. Now, Brady is making supper for us while I do this, and then most likely doze some more until its ready. I want to be stronger than this tomorrow, so we can actually go to church for the first time in a LONG time, and spend some time with my parents again. Its been a long time coming, and we don’t want to miss them again!!

Please don’t stop praying for us! We need a reprieve. Getting desperate over here.

After naps this afternoon, we headed out to run some errands as a family. Just quick ones. A quick stop in at Superstore, renewing the van insurance, picking up free coffees from McDonalds, and then Costco. I was really really proud of the kids at Costco. They were super adorable and listened really well. We recently learned that Costco gives out free cookies to the little kids at the bakery like Superstore does. When we went over to that area, Dekker waited for the person to come with the tongs, and then asked if he could please have a cookie. She was very happy to oblige, and gave him one. As always, I try to get Laela to ask for herself, just to practice her manners and talking to new people. I picked her up and said “What do you say?” to her, and she smiled all huge and perfect and asked “Tookie please?” So she also got one. And even Rowan did 🙂 It still blows me away that he’s big enough to have his own cookie! Eek! So the kids were cute, and did an awesome job.

We ducked back into the city to grab some fast food supper, and then headed back out to go see our house! I love not calling it “the lot” anymore. “The house” is SO much nicer! And guys, they have been BUSY!!!

 

This picture shows the whole place-ish. The garage now has walls, which is SUPER exciting!! Side walls and the front wall are up, and there is an inside doorway to our entrance, as well as the door into our backyard. The heap of materials in front of the garage are the roof trusses, which will go up likely on Monday, and then probably our room will get done! Our master suite is above the garage, hence it being the last to arrive.

This is the best way to show the next part, though it doesn’t really show anything in detail. But we have interior walls!!! We have two kids bedrooms with closets, a main bathroom, and a linen closet framed in.

Aaaaand a pantry, which I am clearly a little bit too excited for 🙂 (Forgive the lack of makeup!! I haven’t worn any since we all got so sick!) I loved having a pantry in our Radisson house. This one won’t be as big, but I don’t care. I am SO excited just to see part of my kitchen framed!

This was easily the best part of our day. The kids were excited to be back at the house, even though they obviously still only get to see it from the van. I can just see the wheels in Dekker’s head turning as we explain to him what will come next and what each part is. I can just tell that he is going to love every part of the building process. He already is. And Laela loves everything that Dekker loves, so she is super into the build as well.

It was good seeing the kids so happy today 🙂 Tomorrow we have a brief afternoon outing planned as well, but otherwise, its going to be a BIG laundry day! Happy Saturday, everyone!

Being that I am 26 weeks along in my pregnancy, its right around this point in time that I go in for my glucose testing. If you don’t know, it tests your blood glucose levels and can determine if I have gestational diabetes. Don’t worry, I don’t. I mean, I have no results back or anything, but I never do, and I would be fairly surprised if I turned out with it! That being said, I have my huge babies, and that is a common thread amongst women who do have gestational diabetes, so I don’t fight the test. Its just a nuisance because you have to wait a whole hour at the blood clinic!! Its ok, though, like I said, I don’t mind it that much.

I wasn’t the smartest cookie, however, and I ate some ice cream cake after lunch. This was the last thing I ate before venturing to the clinic. However, I had a few hours to spare in there so hopefully I’m good to go!

Do you know how sometimes, after having blood taken, you can get a super nasty looking gash on your arm? Like a larger than life type of bruise? Well, I did a bit of shopping after my test, and thought it was strange just how sore my arm was. I don’t much care for having blood taken, but even I know it doesn’t hurt that long at all! Once I got back home, I checked my arm, and sure enough, something gnarly and purple is growing under my skin, making me look like a intravenous drug user. I’m not one, don’t worry.

I did some Value Village shopping and got the kids some clothes before coming home. Brady spent the afternoon fussing with taxes a bit, which I greatly appreciate! Now, we’re going to have some delicious homemade breakfast sandwiches and call it a night! I hope you’re all doing well today. I really enjoyed my outing and am feeling a bit better than the last few days. And tomorrow will be good too!! A bit more errand running, this time with everyone, and going to see our house again! I can’t wait!

Its so hard to know how to blog these days. I’m sure a good handful of you think I’m just fully losing it in my life, and I want to reassure you that I’m not. Keep in mind that there may be stuff going on in our life that I don’t make public on here. In our current life, there is a lot that I haven’t made public, and those are the things that are bringing me down pretty far. Because of this, its really really hard to know what to write, what to blow past, what to share, etc. And while you’re reading and thinking I’m being suuuper negative, know how hard I work every single day to share positives and different perspectives. We are working our butts off over here to stay positive.

I wanted to clarify that because yesterday especially, I was at some of my lowest moments. I felt like I was just ready to break. Everything yesterday made me cry. I was a flat out disaster. Today, I worked hard from first thing in the morning on to have a better attitude and to make the day better, even just for the kids and not myself. And you know what? Its paid off. We haven’t had the most seamless day ever, but I don’t expect perfection. They’ve just been happier, more cuddly, and they’ve all played better together. They’ve shared more, without prompting sometimes even. Laela is a much more willing sharer in our daily life, but today, Dekker is doing what he can to make her happy because of how happy its making me. We’re all learning and figuring, and I’m constantly amazed how my kids continue to thrive in such hard circumstances. They are rockstars.

Since all of the sickness has been through our house, we’re all still very tired and dragging most of the time. The one pro from this is that we all rest at the same time. I love this quiet time. It leaves me time to do this, doze in bed a bit, watch YouTube, and currently, eat popcorn twists. I’m going to take that relaxing time now, and hope that none of you think I’m insane. Thanks for your love and concern. We’ll get this all together soon enough.

Today was one of those silly days where I found it almost impossible to turn my tears off once they had started. It was in the mid-afternoon that my mom sent me a picture of how our house was looking. It was the biggest positive thing I had seen all day. Of course, it made me cry just thinking about it. We knew we needed to go see it in person. So we did! Once Brady got home, we dressed everyone and headed out the door. It wasn’t long before we were at our place!

It was SO surreal walking through OUR house! I may have cried. It is just truly unreal to see how much has happened and while there is still lots to do, its incredible to see how far into the process they already are!! I can’t wait to be able to walk through it when its more than just a shell with no roof. This was amazing, though. I have not a single complaint about how its all looking today. Not one.

We left down and hit up Walmart for some quick grocery shopping. The kids love Walmart. They love shopping. Because of our stop, we ate supper pretty late at home, but they were happy kids to have had an outing. Before bed, I asked Dekker and Laela what their favorite parts of today were. Dekker said he liked going shopping at the store, and Laela clarified “Ya, mart mart.” Dekker asked Brady and I for our favorite parts and we both agreed that seeing the house had been the highlight of the day. Then they went to bed, and I phone dated with my mom while Brady fed Rowan some milk.

Now, we rest. We are tired and down trodden, but working hard to find positives each day. I just wonder where the point is that we peter out. I feel like we’re dangerously close to reaching it. As always, prayers are appreciated.

We had an event or two up today and I had high hopes of posting some great positives things this evening, hence the lack of day blogging. However, I am feeling incredibly discouraged at the moment and I fear I won’t be able to squeeze out any positivity this evening. So instead, I want to thank my mom for sending some delicious turkey broth our way the other way.It really hit the spot for me this evening, and the kids loved the grilled cheese sandwiches that went along with it.

Thats all you’re getting for today. I hope you’ve all had a happy Monday and that you continue smiling this week. God is always good. Hold onto that, even if you have nothing else. Especially if you have nothing else.

I think I’m feeling slightly better today and yesterday than I was during the previous weeks. The improvements I’m seeing are nothing earth shattering, but I’m SO very thankful for them! Dr. Guselle was right. Nothing was going to make this incessant cough go away with actually suppressing it. No other sickness was bringing it on or making it worse. Coughing was making my cough worse. How stupid, really.

The last couple of days, I’ve rested my voice more than I am usually able to. I whisper as much as I can, so my voice is saved for phone calls, or being out where I need to speak up, or those moments where I have to raise my voice because the brawls just get too loud. Besides that, though, I have physically rested, and its been amazing! We are fever free, at the moment, but the kids still have colds and no one is at 100% just yet, so we all sleep in nice and long. Then I whisper as much as I can in the morning. The kids go down to nap, and Brady and I keep things low key while they’re sleeping. Better yet, the last couple of days, I’ve fallen asleep during their nap time, and thats been a LOVELY rest for everyone involved!! I never nap. Ever. But both medications I’m on right now are very very drowsy. I take the worse one at night, and the much milder one in the day, but they still both put me out pretty well. But that was a chunk of the reason they were given to me. Because of these meds, I’m able to sleep a bit better, and deeper, and I don’t wake up with every little tickle in my throat. I sleep through most of them, therefore resting my throat. Its been lovely! My throat still feels awful when I do have a coughing fit, but I have some of my voice back, and I’m not as miserable as I was a handful of days ago. For that, I am VERY thankful.

All three kids still have colds, but they’re just messy, and not as much miserable for them. Just snotty noses. They’re ok 🙂 Brady is almost all the way back! He even has a voice, which we swore would never come back! Tho while he’s feeling good, I think he’ll still be pretty tired going back to work tomorrow. Thank goodness Monday won’t be a super long day for him!

Rest and naps aside, I am still bushed, and I feel weirdly sick to my stomach. Brady is out fetching me the ranchiest BLT he can get his hands on (YUM!) and I will watch YouTube now until he arrives. Kids are in bed but not sleeping yet. I’m sure we’ll all get our chance soon enough.

Wish me and my voice good luck tomorrow! Having Brady home has helped so much in my very gradual healing. Pray it doesn’t stop today!

1. We DO NOT have whooping cough!! What an enormous relief!! The kids are till snotty and fevering on and off, but I see improvements that are making me hesitantly hopeful that we are on our way out. Please, Lord, let this be it! Dr. Guselle actually called with our results last night already. She laughed at how bad I sound (if you’ve talked to me on the phone in the last week, you get it) and then before even giving us results, she asked if Dekker’s nose bad bled anymore since she did his swab. I think its so sweet of her to be concerned about something so small in the grand scheme of things. I thanked her for remembering, told her he hadn’t had any issues, and then we got our results. This woman deserves a pretty significant gift when this is all over!! Anyone have any ideas?
2. Our house looks INCREDIBLE!!! We drove to see it today and I just felt overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude and every other emotion under the sun. Its a bit confusing, but the part that is framed at the moment is the raised basement. The main floor joists are now all up, and the floor sheeting is on. It doesn’t show in the picture, but the wall that will be the back of the house is already assembled and is just laying flat on top for now. Its crazy to think that main floor walls will be up soon!!This picture shows me standing inside our front entrance. Of course they leave the stair installation until the end. Probably to keep all of the nosey homeowners, such as ourselves, from messing around where we don’t belong. But it was truly surreal to see so much of it together. I think I will likely be feeling this way a lot in the near future, with every step of the process.
3. Last but not even close to least, this happened today!Does anyone else feel like crying?? Haha! Probably just me, yet I support this movement 100%. Doesn’t he look SO handsome?? We finally bit the bullet and I ever so generously told Brady that I would continue to love him, even if cut his hair off. So he did. And he feels like a million bucks, anyone can tell. Here’s to toques that fit, sleeping without a ponytail, fast showers, and eventually, less neck pain. You look smokin’ hot, hubs. I hope you know it!!

Thats it for updates today, I believe. When we got home this afternoon, we put the kids down for a nap, I took some of my medicine, and promptly fell asleep myself! Now that I’ve had a nap and rested not only my head and body but my throat and voice as well, hopefully this evening will be somewhat smooth and we can all keep improving health-wise!

Hope you’re all having a great Saturday!

I wanted to throw out some honest feelings about yesterday now that its over and done with.

For the most part, everything I wrote is still how I feel. I feel like yesterday was productive and positive. I feel like we can now say, with confidence, that we have done everything we can to get our household feeling better.

What I see more significantly today that I didn’t see yesterday is just how “fight or flight” we are out here. We are in survival mode, and have been for a while. Today marks four weeks since this sickness walked into our family. Yesterday was successful, but looking back on it, it was HUGE, and EXHAUSTING. We spent the whole afternoon putting our kids through some hard stuff, and then celebrating as big as possible when the hard things were over. And then more hard things, and more celebrating. Lots of tears and information and blood and snot and, as I’ve said a solid thousand times in the last few weeks, LOTS of powering through.

The other day, I finally had a bit of an emotional break. Outside in the hot tub, I had a little cry with Brady beside me. Conveniently, the hot tub is the gentlest place for me to cry because my throat was at its best, and my body was relaxed. So I had my cry and felt slightly better. It was shortly thereafter that we went inside, where I dried off and went downstairs, crying the whole time, and finally plunked on the bed and wept for probably a solid 10-15 minutes. I have not cried like that in a very long time, because I haven’t needed to. But now I have had that need. Its been an interesting time.

I’m not telling you guys this stuff so you feel sorry for us. I’m just trying to be flat our honest. Brady and I work really hard to be strong for our kids, but I also see the value in being honest about how I feel with my kids. Dekker and Laela know I’m scared and sad and tired, and they’re not uncomfortable with it 🙂 If mommy has a cry, they come and tell me they love me, and then they just keep playing around me and bringing me the toys that make them happy when they’re sad. They whisper to me when my voice is gone. They know which medicine goes to who, and then bring each other water bottles and kleenex. Its been a learning curve for all of us, and in some strange twisted way, its been good for us?? Ugh. This is another desperate attempt to find positivity in all of this, haha! How am I doing??

Ok, scattered post over. I know this was totally jumbled, but I wanted to give you a post with less details and facts, and more just about the emotion around here. We miss seeing people. I haven’t seen my mom or my friends in SO long. It chokes me up just writing it. We’re lonely, but we do have each other, and I positively adore this crew we have here! One day, we will be better, and we will celebrate!! I don’t know how, but we will. I cannot wait!!!

Thanks for the continued prayers and concern and love. Please keep it all coming! We’re not out of the woods just yet, but every encouragement is greatly appreciated!!