Laela turned two last month, and her party is FINALLY here! Tomorrow, we’re having a tea party for her. Somehow, in the midst of all of the crazy thats been going on around here, her little birthday party has grown in my mind into some enormous task. Which is silly. Because we want to celebrate beautiful Laela, not judge whether or not I can make good food, or how nice the house is, or who has the cutest party clothes. It’ll be a great time to hanging out with some of our closest friends, eating snacks, and making Laela feel like the very big deal that she is.

So today, Kim came by for the morning, bearing some treats she had baked for the party. While she was over, she secretly snuck away and managed to unpack and reload my dishwasher, AND wash Rowans bottles! Thank you, Kim!! We enjoyed her company, and her boys’, of course, for the morning, but they left shortly after lunch, and I had some nice quiet cuddly time with the kids. It wasn’t too long before Brady was off work and running some last minute errands, and Jerilee was on her way out. Once we were all assembled, we ate quickly, and it was pretty much the kids bedtime. Brady took them downstairs to begin our nightly routine of the kids tidying up their toys, and Jerilee jumped on the kitchen. We quickly wiped everything up, and she swept the dining room while I got the dishwasher unpacked and reloaded again. My biggest struggle in the kitchen these days is motivation, and she was great it amping mine up! She took initiative and wasn’t afraid to just pick a job and dig in. SHe’s even staying overnight so she can help in the morning 🙂 Thank you, Jerilee!!! We had a few wins and unfortunately, a big bummer 🙁 I decided to give that up for the day and we’ll either just not do it, or we’ll try again in the morning. It’ll be fine, tho. We have lots of treats and a very low pressure crowd. Its going to be great, regardless.

Brady has been on top of everything today, picking up everything I needed from the city, and running up and down the stairs so many times, just for little mindless things that I forgot. He’s done any job I’ve handed his way with a willing and loving heart. And in between, he’s found time to hug me and encourage me. Thank you, Brady. You’re the best partner in life I could ask for.

I’m so blessed to have so many willing friends. Many other people have offered help and been willing, and that has also blessed me in such a big way. I love my friends and family so dearly. You all know who you are. Thank you all for trying so hard to hold me above water when I’m floundering. God has me, not to worry, but its so nice to have you beside me, hanging on to me at the same time <3

T-15 hours til tea time!

So I’ve been saying A LOT that this week has been a struggle. I can genuinely say that it is NOT just me. This was confirmed by a SIGNIFICANT regression in Dekker’s potty training. I think he had five accidents today, one of which was not a little one, but the whole shebang. Peed everywhere. Not my best day, and a really difficult way to start it out. But I tried hard to roll with it, and did some laundry and made it into a normal day.

After a rough start, it was a relief to have my mom drop by with some groceries to help assemble a few things for Laela’s party snacks. She let me take all the time I needed before helping me get my motivation up to get in the kitchen. We then worked together and baked up a nice batch of mini cupcakes for Laela’s party.

We got all of that done, and that was about where I capped for the day. Brady luckily made it home before mom left, which doesn’t always happen. They tend to just miss each other, so this was SO nice to all be together. However, when she left, Brady sent me away to rest and he got the kids some food and took care of a few things. I couldn’t be more thankful for him, really.

Another small but beautiful point of the day is that, among Dekker’s struggles and attitude today, he is trying to be so sensitive to me. He knows I’m struggling harder than usual right now, and he is very understanding. I surfaced from my room to use the washroom, and as soon as Dekker saw me, he said “Mommy, I’m so sorry that you’re so tired. You had a hard day. You ok?” I just love that sensitivity comes so naturally to him. I have beautiful children.

So really, in the midst of an incredibly hard time for us, there are little upsides to be found everywhere! These days, I feel like I have to look a bit harder for them, but then I do. I know they’re there. And likely, soon enough, they’ll be clearer to me. I just need to remember that they exist, whether I have to work to find them or not. Feel free to remind me if I’m a total downer for too much longer.

So as I said yesterday, it was a rough one. I wasn’t kidding even in the slightest, and I was asleep before 9:30. Though this much sleep was clearly desperately needed, I felt disgusting all night, and woke up unsettled a lot. However, it was great to have so much extra sleep. Rowan woke up much  much earlier than usual, but Brady was able to feed him and lay him back down before heading out for work. Yay! I managed to sleep until right around 8:00 🙂 I still dragged through the morning, but it was hard to come off of yesterday. Whew!

All of this considered, a change of scenery was necessary. After Rowans weirdly scheduled morning, he and Laela went down for naps at the same time, and even managed to wake up at the same time! I took that as my cue to get everyone dressed and go to the city. Brady has been working longer days, and his location has moved to waaay the heck across the city again, so his drive home is way longer than normal. Therefore, we just see him a lot less these days. Today, not only was he going to work later, but he needed to hit Costco on the way home. We decided to meet him at Costco, and maybe grab a quick supper on the way home.

I managed to get all of the kids into Costco on my own, which is NOT an easy thing to do when the baby is too fat for his bucket seat but too tippy to sit in the cart. I had the two big ones sitting in the cart seats, and Rowan in his umbrella stroller, HOOKED onto the carts handlebar. (Handlebar? Is that right? What would you call the pusher bar thing?) I know, not the safest option, but I was very careful and he loved it. We weren’t in Costco too long before Brady caught up. We grabbed our groceries, and didn’t go too overboard, but we did get a few things I’m excited about! Some yummy snacky things. I love new snacks.

We grabbed some Wendys on the way out and then headed home. Unfortunately, Dekker has been struggling HARD with complaining these days, and by the time we arrived home, he had enough second chances, and I had had ENOUGH, period. So the kids went inside, and were immediately sent downstairs to tidy toys. I have to give Dekker credit, tho. I heard him say form the basement that it was dark down there. In my angst, I said “Well, grab a footstool then, and turn the lights on.” I didn’t think about having to go find the footstool in the dark bathroom through the dark basement. But he did it! Went all the way down the dark hall, and dragged his stool out to turn on all of the lights. So they tidied while I got pjs out for everyone and got Rowan changed. He proceeded to wail while I made his bottle, and then dressed Laela once she had brushed her teeth. Dekker came in and got his jammies on as well, and finally it was time for everyone to go down. So much crying and complaining has just about done me in for the day.

Sorry I’m such a downer, guys. I’m trying. There are just lots of adjustments to going back to normal after Brady has had a break from work and has been home. Its a lot all at once when I’ve had backup for two weeks. Deep breaths, deep breaths. I have to stop procrastinating for Laela’s party. No excused, Laela’s mini cupcakes HAVE to happen tomorrow!!!

Today was an incredibly low day for me, from spilling water all over the kitchen floor to things big enough that I’m not sharing them on here. And guys, I share A LOT on here. So it was a big one. All of that paired with aaaaall of the drama that came with the election, my heart feels heavy.

I will give you an incredibly minimal amount of information on how I’m feeling about it, and that will be that for tonight. Because enough is enough, and I have had more than my share today.

I voted conservative. I am scared of what the Liberal leader will bring. Conservative was so very family friendly, and if you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of in that group. I liked it. However, we no longer have a Conservative government. Please don’t tell me all of the details about why it will be better or worse now. Trust me, I know them. But these are my thoughts. Its done. For now, at least, we are under a new leader, and part of a new ball game. Its done. I had a friend write on Facebook today that she still loves her friends who voted Liberal. I know she was making a friendly joke, but I LOVED that. For my friends who voted differently than I did, I love you just as much as I did before. We can want different things and still be friends. Its ok to have different opinions on things. If we didn’t, life would be boring. Another thing I want to say is that, instead of being ticked, and wasting time fuming and judging and dreading what is to come (because its truly hard not to) I’ve decided to pray very hard for Mr. Trudeau, and the decisions he makes for our country. I genuinely hope he succeeds, because I live here!! I feel the same as a lot of people do, in the way that I don’t trust him and I don’t like a lot of his promises. I also believe its much easier to make good on a promise to take something away than it is to implement something. I’m nervous too. But I’m not going to sit, cynically, and wait for him to fail and screw everything up. I WANT him to do well!!! I encourage the rest of you Conservative-minded folks to think the same way. Let’s root for him, whether he was our first choice or our fifth. He has a lot of power, and I want him to use it for good. Anyone else?

I’ve been procrastinating a bit on Laela’s bday party (surprise, surprise) so today, the kids and I came into the city to get a few things started at least. We met Brady and picked up a few key items that I know I’ll need, and a couple of other little essentials that were just on our grocery list like always. I wish I had made a good solid list of everything I need for every recipe, but I didn’t, so I just tried to think of my list at home. It forced me to actually make legitimate plans of the treats I want to serve. It made me more excited.

The kids asked super politely for their cookies at the bakery, and then we headed off. We picked up Brady’s saw blades from the sharpening place, and grabbed some quick supper that we just ate in the van before we rushed home to vote in time! We made it less than an hour before the polls closed, so it was quite a bit closer than we try to cut anything ever, but we made it 🙂 Got our votes in. VOTED!! In case anyone on Facebook reeeaaally wants to push anyone else about it, WE VOTED. I think the thing I’m anticipating the most about the election is Facebook getting over it. I work pretty hard to stay positive in my day, but it seems that right now, at election time, everyone is putting everyone down! Everyone hates everyone! For the record, I don’t. I really like just about everybody.

Anyway, it doesn’t sound like a busy evening, but it was. So its time for a soak in the tub and to bed for me! Tomorrow, baking begins.

I wanted to share some cute pictures from yesterday, and conveniently, today wasn’t a great one! So pictures are always a nice space filler 🙂 Behold! Cute kids and date night.

The day began with lots of squishy cuddles with this guy. I love when he rests the full weight of his huge melon against my face 😉 Honestly. I do.

Before we got ready, we bathed the kids so my parents didn’t have to. Laela hates wearing clothes after a bath, despite the fact that he has full body shivers and is obviously chilled. Nope. No clothes. Crazy hair and wet skin.

I went to take a spontaneous date night picture with Brady, but it was premature. He wasn’t quite ready yet…

Then we ate this. Oooooooohmagosh. A bacon wrapped filet, topped with blue cheese and garlic. Its truly unbelievable. And the twice baked potato didn’t hurt either.

We, again, tried to take a cute date night selfie, but this guy totally photo bombed.

We worked it out, though, and this is the best we got…

Not the clearest of pictures, but it doesn’t matter. I love keeping record of things and having great photos and videos of everything I can, but looking at this blurry, theatre picture, at least I know we were having fun. It doesn’t matter if everyone else can tell.

Date night <3 Hopefully see you again soon!

Brady and I were lucky enough to get a date night tonight!! Thanks to my parents for babysitting 🙂 I wanted to take him on a birthday date, and today was it! My parents came at 4:00 and we left shortly thereafter. I have a couple of cute pictures but considering the time, I’ll maybe post them tomorrow. No time or energy to wait for them to load onto my laptop and fuss with getting them on here. But we both got dressed up all cute, and headed to the city.

We went to the Keg for supper. It may seem a bit cliche, but there’s a story behind it! Brady and I went to the Keg exactly one week before we got married. We each ordered a steak, and Brady liked mine better. Not a big deal, though, right? Oh but it was. We have tried once or twice to get back to the Keg over the years, but since they don’t take reservations on the weekend, and since we don’t get too terribly many date nights, it just hasn’t happened. Brady has tried to recreate this steak at other restaurants, but every time he asks for blue cheese, they give him a side of blue cheese salad dressing. And that is NOT the same. So for his birthday, I wanted him to FINALLY get a shot at this elusive blue cheese steak.

Well, myyyyy goodness! We both got that blue cheese, bacon wrapped steak. And we both ate every bite. They were sooo very melt in your mouth delicious. I can rarely eat such a large steak in one sitting, but it was just all of a sudden gone! Who knew! It was SO good. Worth every cent, no question. Our server was great, and the food was better. Thats saying a lot. We didn’t even walk out feeling weighed down, like tends to happen when a person overeats. It was just perfect.

I took Brady to a movie afterwards. I won’t even share which it was. I didn’t read any reviews, and it was SO crude! I knew it was going to be, don’t get me wrong, but it was quite a bit raunchier in beginning than I was bargaining for. One unhappy very old couple left after about 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it was right after that where the movie cleaned up and was less dirty. We had GREAT laughs, and enjoyed sitting in a theatre, holding hands, and being on a date.

When we were done with the movie, we grabbed some coffee and headed home. The kids were all sleeping, and my parents were happy, and full of stories from the evening with the kids. It seemed like they had almost as much fun as we did. Or I’ll just tell myself that and try to weasel some more date nights 😉 Sound like a plan? I think so.

Today has been a bit emotional day, but I’m so thankful to have Brady home. He’s back to work next week, and he will be very busy again. A lull in his job is always a treat, but brings the challenge of usually missing one pay period. Not a big deal, but it helps me when he has to go back. I wish he could always be home! But his work makes it possible for me to stay home with our beautiful babies. And he loves his job 🙂 So its really a win win.

Tomorrow will be good 🙂 We’ll have a low key morning, and then my parents will come babysit the kids while I take Brady out on a date. We haven’t had a kid free date in SO LONG! Maybe when Rowan was quite a bit littler, but because he has been such a challenge to feed for so many months, we haven’t felt good about leaving him with anyone, even someone we really trust, like my mom. BUT Bradys birthday date is a good reason to test it out finally 🙂 We’ll go out for dinner and maybe a movie, depending on whats playing. Just getting out of the house together is the priority. To reboot, refresh, and celebrate.

But first, we’ll get these kids to bed and find some supper for ourselves. Perogies are the order of the day.

Brady and I made a slightly more detailed plan about Laela’s birthday this afternoon, which I’m really glad for! I have so many lovely ideas and not a whole lot of time, so I really appreciate his constant willingness to help me put stuff together. My husband definitely doesn’t have the old-fashioned “Thats woman stuff” attitude toward things like that, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that aspect of his love for his family. Win for Brady! A bit of party planning plus five loads of laundry made for a nice full afternoon.

I headed to Kims around 4:30 to be there around 5:00. Upon arrival, I went through the side door of the van to pull the extra bucket seat out of the stow and go storage, so her baby boy can use his own car seat. As I was trying to pull the seat up, with my butt in the air, I head a sexy man voice ask “Excuse me, miss. Did you need help with that?” Thank the Lord is was just Kim in all of her sexy voice sick glory, messing with me from her doorway. It was a good start to the date.

We enjoyed our evening together, as always. We had a delicious supper at Boston Pizza, did some shopping, where I even found a few serving dishes for Laela’s birthday, and then stopped for coffees and brought them back to our romantic little spot under the tree in the *cough cough* Costco parking lot *cough cough*

It was 10pm very quickly, so I brought Kim and her bitty babe home for the night. Brady and I chatted on the phone during my drive home, and now I’m just about ready to crawl into a nice hot (yes, still hot!) bubble bath before bed.

It was such a nice day, with a very nice ending in sight <3

Today was Brady’s birthday. I am a not-so-whopping 2.5 months older than him, so I call him old because he is finally, yet again, as old as I am. We are both 27 now, and I know we’re not old, but its a strange stage for me to be in! I remember when I realized I wasn’t just 20 anymore, but I was in my mid twenties. And NOW, we’re approaching our LATE twenties!! Either way, its nice to have him here with me.

We spent the day at my parents place, laying low and catching up a bit. The kids miss being there (our schedules haven’t made too many visits possible recently) and my parents were gone over Thanksgiving so we haven’t seen them at all for a good long while. So we hung out there while the kids played and settled in again. When my dad got home, we sat down to a yummy supper of mashed potatoes and sausage. It was delicious, and the kids ate really well. Its so funny how different Dekker and Laela are. Dekker likes everything plain and separated, where as I could throw everything into a bowl for Laela and douse it in gravy, and she was good to go! They did great. For dessert, we had the cake Brady and I made the night before.

Ok, story. I’ve had this cake I’ve wanted to make Brady for a few years, but its pretty ominous and I’ve never gotten up the nerve to make it. Finally, I decided this was the year, and I was just going to recruit some help and get it made. I’d need some help just because it involved making a few different parts that were all a bit touchy and new for me, and I have three kids, so ya know, its tough. However, I couldn’t get any help!!!!! So I buckled and told Brady that I really wanted to make it for him but I would need his help. I said I could easily make him a different cake on my own, but if he wanted this one, he’d have to help. Thankfully, Brady is a great sport, and was happy to help. So we worked at it for 2.5 hours last night and served it today. Ive got to say, it looked pretty impressive!

Speaking for the taste, we didn’t get it perfect and the base of the cake was a little bit dry, but it was a huge undertaking and I think it came out super well!! I think I can speak for both of us, too, when I say we had a lot of fun assembling it together. There were lots of things to create and neither of us bake too much, but it worked out! Win for us! And yes, we’re all classy, serving it on a cookie sheet.

After the food and visiting was over, we did a quick tidy of the toys and went home. Dekker slept the whole way home, so he’s awake still, of course. But he’s being pretty quiet. Laela is out, and Rowan is right in the middle of lulling in and out, so everyone is on their way.

Its been a lovely, super low key day. Happy birthday to my loving husband. Thank you for being you. I still love you, just in case you were wondering…