Thankful Thursday - 167

This week I am thankful for...

1. PUPPIES!! Seriously, if ever you're having a bad day, just go snuggle some puppies. These 5.5 week old toller puppies are from Sherlock's sister, Charlotte. Fred, Dino, Barney & Wilma <3. 

Dom is normally so shy and quiet and timid in new places with new people. I have never seen him warm up and come out of his shell this quickly; even when we go somewhere he IS familiar with like the grandparents' places. He was talking non-stop and sharing and sooooo amazing with the puppies.

Dom was super gentle with the puppies which surprised me. He would get right down onto their level and give them their space and talk to them. Adorable. 

Fred <3

Emilia also warmed up quicker than I've ever seen. She was so happy to sit on the floor and play with the toys, pet the puppies, and surf around the table. She even let Shel hold her for a minute. Big deal :)

It's hard to get good pictures when everyone is moving around rapidly.

Fluffy puppy butt. And Dom down playing peekaboo

I didn't think she'd even know what was going on, but she was super stoked to see the puppies right away.

Can't force those smiles <3

2. Healthy meals. I've been trying to cook better lately, and having a meal plan definitely helps with that. We're also trying to save money on groceries, so instead of using chicken in my "Better Butter Chicken" this week, I used chickpeas. Also, instead of using rice I used quinoa! It turned out better than I expected, and I'll definitely make it like this again. 

No meal is without a car close by. Thanks, Dom.

3. Warm winter. I get a kick out of seeing the frigid, snowy temperatures in the East, while we're sitting here in warm, sunny weather. I'm making the most of it! I don't mind the snow because it's pretty, but I am a fair weather kind of person; I dislike being cold :)

Can't go far while Dom is napping, so Emilia and I sat in the driveway in the sun. Gotta do what you gotta do!

Daddy drove in while we were outside! How exciting!

4. Bossy Dom. We had Gramma & Grandpa over for dinner the other night, and after dinner Dom went and set up a tea party for them and insisted they come sit in the chairs so he could serve them tea. Saucers and all! He is a typical oldest child in that way. 

Notice how the sink is taken out of his kitchen and put on top. He doesn't use that cupboard, just uses the sink as a "lid", and reaches in to get stuff. Or stuffs whatever he possibly can in there and closes the top back up. Hilarious!

Normalcy!!

I feel like I've been so complain-y on the blog lately. It was just my reality for a couple weeks there. We are back to being a mostly healthy household!! It is such a relief. I am so very grateful we don't have to deal with severe health issues, or any health issues most of the time for that matter. 

A rainy walk with mom on Friday. We went to Tynehead in the Fall and saw the fish spawning, so every time we cross the bridge in our neighborhood he talks about the fish.

These two suddenly play SO much, which is absolutely amazing. Here they are having a secret meeting, surely conspiring against me. 

This weekend I was able to get out of the house for some time that wasn't at a doctor's office! 

Saturday Ashleigh took me for a shellac pedicure. I completely forgot to take pictures during (D'oh!), but it was so lovely. The ladies doing our pedicures were great and we got relaxing foot and leg massages. Definitely needed that! Afterwards, we went to the Expedia Cruise Center and I was her stand-in fiance as she explored options for their honeymoon. Next, while David watched the kids, we went to visit her wedding dress. Yup, still beautiful! 

Oh Sunday, David went to church as he was on media, and my mom picked up Dom and took him. I had an hour and a half while Emilia was sleeping and I sat with tea and cookies and read a book. Ahhhhh peace! So refreshing. 
Mom popped in after church for a quick pancake, but Dad didn't realize they were coming over for lunch so she left to join him at home after. 

Uncle Jeff came over in the afternoon to hang out for a couple hours. We took Dom in the wagon to the park to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. Dom loved playing with Uncle "Dump" and followed him around all afternoon copying his every move. 

Rolling cars up and down the slide.

A plane!

Playing some 'tar with Dump! No idea why he calls him that, but it makes me laugh.

In the evening we went to my parents' place for dinner and then back home with Scott & Ashleigh for a movie on the projector downstairs! 

This weekend really was such a joy. I feel refreshed and ready to take on the week! 

Thankful Thursday - 166

Loving Thankful Thursday for holding me accountable during this challenging season; reminding myself how good we have it and how blessed we are!

1. Antibiotics. This week has been a doozy. Dom was really sick over the weekend, and I decided to take him into the doctor on Monday morning. I'm glad I did. He had an ear infection and his chest sounded really congested and he was having difficulty breathing properly. Not enough to go the hospital, but enough to be sent for a chest x-ray. Somehow I didn't realize that a chest x-ray would be traumatic. I've never had an x-ray myself, and just assumed he'd have to lay on a table and be very still. Wrong! They strapped him into this weird apparatus and I had to hold his arms up while he tried to break out and screamed with absolute terror. Poor guy. He recovered quickly once it was over. Anyway, the x-ray came back negative for pneumonia, and he was put on antibiotics for his ear infection. By the next day his energy was back and I could tell he was feeling so much better. He is still coughing a lot, and we went back to the doctor yesterday for a follow-up. Just have to keep an eye on him and take him back if he's not 100% better next Wednesday. 

We weren't counting on getting an x-ray, so his shirt wasn't conducive and he had to change into this ADORABLE gown.

Two straight days of this. Also so grateful David was able to be home with Emilia this week so I could give Dom my full attention at the doctor's office.

Saturday and Sunday were movie days. This cute little girl is now sick like Dom was over the weekend, but chest colds seem to hit him worse for some reason!

Also PJ days

2. Catching the free photo-book deal! I'm so glad I started my 2018 photo-book last year. When I noticed I only had 1 day before the free photo-book deal was going to expire, I had already completed half the book! I spent one more evening on it and ordered it. Hopefully there aren't any embarrassing typos! 

3. At least it's not the stomach flu. As much as I like to complain about all the snot and sneezing and drooling and coughing in this house right now, I am so grateful it's not the stomach flu. I am lucky enough to have not dealt with that yet at all with the kids. Sounds awful!  Also, they are both still sleeping through the night/not needing me throughout the night, so we're all relatively well rested. 

4. A weekend away to look forward to! David and I booked two nights away in March and I cannot wait! 

Can't wait for this! It will be winter, but still!

Not many pictures from the week, but here are a couple videos of Dom!  

Singing and playing his guitar <3

Yummy!

Lately

What have we been up to lately? Pretty much just trucking along. Today is filled with Paw Patrol, Wiggles, Cars and Planes. Dominic is sick as a dog. AGAIN. Emilia appears to be getting it as well. Boo. 

Fever, cough and chest congestion, plugged/runny nose. Two whiny kids, a very busy dad who's out a lot lately, and one exhausted mom! 

Here is Dom looking EXACTLY like his Grandpa. 

Yesterday evening my parents came over and watched the kids after we put Emilia down for bed. We had a date with David's family and their friends for dinner at Newlands. It is Shelley's birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMA!) and she invited everyone out to dinner and dancing. I didn't dance, but that's not unusual for me haha. I always say I don't express myself that way. I'm just a majorly awkward, uncoordinated clutz, so dancing isn't my thing unless I'm severely inebriated. That being said, we had a blast! So nice to get out. It's been quite a long time for us, so we treated it as date night. 

Not having to be responsible for my own kids meant I could actually spend some time with and enjoy the company of my niece, Rebecca! We played with filters on my phone!

Poor Shelley kept having shots show up in front of her. She had two B52 shots come up (Grand Marnier, Baileys and Kahlua). She doesn't like Grand Marnier, which was the top layer. I offered to "take one for the team" and was her designated Grand Marnier drinker. Anytime... any. time!

Other than that... what's been going on... Dom is speaking longer sentences now and rapidly learning the alphabet, Emilia can go from laying down to sitting up no problem and is surfing all the furniture. David's work is not as busy as it typically would be this time of year, but the jobs he has been getting are more lucrative at least! I'm trying not to stress too much about it, but I was actually at the doctor this week talking about my anxiety being through the roof lately. I had a bit of a burn out. I am/was sick of all the constant responsibility. All I do all day is think about other people and pick up after other people and feed other people. I know the other moms reading know what I'm talking about! Then add two sick kids, financial stress, the unknown of the next few months regarding my maternity leave ending, never getting to see my husband, and having a dog stare me down at the end of the day when I'm toast. Add all that up, and you get one burnt out Renee!

I had a little meltdown, and am going to now try 300mg of Wellbutrin daily instead of the 150mg I was on. If it helps a lot, then once things settle down I may try go back to the 150mg, but there's no side effect of going up. 

Well that turned into a rant I wasn't counting on. 

He's getting really good at his alphabet puzzle, and has started recognizing letters in books or signs and stuff.

Woke up one morning and looked at the monitor and there she was, sitting up. Oh! I guess you figured that out overnight, eh?!

This chocolate, pretzel, caramel deliciousness left over from Kerriann at small groups was literally my lunch one day. It has just been that kind of week; needed me some chocolate!

Here's hoping this next week is better, the kids get well soon and I don't get sick! 

Thankful Thursday - 165

This week I am thankful for...

1. Creating memories. Dom got a giant candy cane for Christmas this year. When I was his age, I also got a giant candy cane so clearly there was a photo-op coming! Dom would not really cooperate for the photo, and then he broke the candy cane, but that's okay. The effort was there! Photo of me at age 2 and Dom at age 2!

Still happy after breaking the candy cane.

2. Reading. I like to read, but I hardly ever do it; I don't have time to myself to read! This week finally, Emilia went to bed at 6pm and David had been working all day, so I went upstairs for a couple hours and let him do Dom's bedtime and go back down to the office. I read that whole time, and then when we went to bed I read for another couple hours. I (basically) started and finished a book in one day. I had read about 50 pages a previous day when we had a power outage. 
Rain by Tim Antonides. He was one of the grade 6 teachers when I was in grade 6, although he did not teach me. The book was very well written. I couldn't put it down. I like books that have an element of realism to them. The book is about a couple's struggle with infertility, which I know he and his wife did before having their twin boys. I wouldn't describe it as a feel-good book. More as a... raw emotion, feel-all-the-things book. Nevertheless, I'd recommend, especially if you or someone you know has struggled with infertility. 

3. Home Line of Credit. We applied back in November, and it's just finally gone through. We took out a line of credit against our house and were approved for MUCH more than we thought we were applying for. We just wanted to use it to pay off our car loans and then have a lower interest rate (4.25% vs. 8% for now) and pay it back as we can. I'm grateful we're responsible and good with money so the LOC won't be a temptation for us. It will be nice to have that buffer though, especially if/when I don't go back to work. I'm starting to bank my maternity leave payments starting this month as well to see if it's even possible for us to survive. 

4. "Busy Toddler" on Instagram. If you have a toddler and do not follow this lady, drop everything and follow her. She is FULL of great ideas for kids. I have some saved and every so often I get inspired and actually do one. This Tuesday we did some car painting. Dom just showed interest in painting and art the last time we went to Storytime, so I thought it might be a good time to try. He was super excited about it which was a nice surprise. He painted quietly by himself for a solid 30 minutes, and then I moved the cars he was painting over to a soapy sink and he spent another 20 minutes washing them. That's reason enough to follow this account!

Started out easy with an old makeup brush because I couldn't find the paint brushes.

Moved up to a little sponge painting. That's the face he made when I asked him to smile. Clearly he was too focused.

And then on to the car; roll it through the paint and then roll it on the paper.

Wanted me to draw a jeep for him to colour. He actually stayed in the lines pretty well considering.

Clean up time!

5. Getting Braver. With David being home throughout the day, I've had the luxury of doing outings with just one of the kids while the other one naps. Now that work is picking up a bit and the kids are both awake longer, I have to start branching out and tackling the stress of two on my own. I went to the grocery store the other day, outnumbered, and it was actually a great first experience. 

6. The Winter 2019 List holding me accountable. At the beginning of the season I made a Winter 2019 list of things to do with the family (or with Dom in particular) so that I'd do more than just the usual around the house stuff. We tackled a couple in one day recently with the car painting mentioned above, and a trip to the library!