Friday was Ashleigh's 25th birthday! Since restrictions allow outdoor gatherings now, Scott planned a surprise for her at her parents' backyard with family and some close friends. David's parents came to watch the big kids and put them to bed, and we took Eva over there. It was so awesome and weirdly normal to be around a group of people. Ashleigh was surprised, and I'm glad we could be there to help celebrate.
Full disclosure is that Friday was one of the hardest days I've had in a while. I started out the day on a positive note, turned on the Greatest Showman soundtrack and cleaned the main floor while the kids played nicely. Then the day slowly went downhill as everyone started needing me, David was busy, and the house became a disaster again. I almost called Dave home from his shoot as I felt myself about to lose it. I didn't get a break from having someone touching me the entire day, and I am a person that needs my space to recharge. Dave had been out every day that week at a shoot or editing, and I hit a wall. I had a good meltdown, and then ordered pizza for dinner. I may not have had the most energy for socializing at the party, but it was still very cathartic to do something "normal" and get out of the house after 7pm! Long story short... can you say MENTAL LOAD!
Saturday was a quiet day at home, the kids watched a movie, and then Scott, Ashleigh and Phoebe joined us for tacos in the evening.
Sunday was a very big day for us. First off, it was Father's Day! Dave and I don't really celebrate these kinds of holidays in a big way with the two of us. Same with Valentine's Day, and even birthdays - we keep it sort of low key and don't usually do gifts. In keeping tradition, I did not plan anything super special just for Dave, but I did help the kids do an "All About Dad" questionnaire, and they decorated some mugs for him at preschool. They were so proud to give them to him. He doesn't drink coffee, but they're cute anyway haha.
Next plan for the day, our first family brunch with the Kimbers in well over a year! Many years ago we used to get together every single Sunday for brunch, but as we all became adults, started having kids, and got busier schedules, the family brunches became less frequent. I was excited to host this one for nostalgic reasons, and because there is so much to celebrate! The light at the end of the COVID tunnel, first family gathering in over a year, Rachel & Kyle bought a house in Abbotsford, Allana and Gabriel are making progress in their life goals, Larry & Shelley are both retiring within the next week and a half(!!), they are also moving out to a new home in Aggasiz after living in their current house for 32(?) years, the birth of Eva, everyone is healthy, and the list goes on! We laughed a lot, talked a lot, and it felt like old times. Dom & Emilia were SO excited to have Rebecca over, and we hardly saw the three little ones the entire time. Emilia actually came down to eat at one point, but the other two stayed upstairs almost the whole time.
While Emilia was sitting, eating quietly, Dom was calling her from upstairs, "Emiliaaaaa.... Emiliaaaaa...!" She just puts down her fork, looks up and yells, "WHAT!" We all had a good laugh, but maybe it was a little embarrassing because obviously she learned that behaviour from someone! (Guilty...) Haha.
Everyone was gone by 1:30 or so, and Emilia had a nap. Dom wasn't interested in napping, but Dave and I both laid down on the couch and he read some books beside us for 20 minutes or so. At least we got some rest... After nap & quiet time, and after Eva was up from her nap, we packed up and went to my parents' place for Father's Day Part III. We were there early and had almost an hour with just us and mom and dad which was nice and relaxing. Then everyone else came! What a family and fun-filled weekend!
We ate delicious food, and drank delicious wine. A couple months ago Adam ordered this HUGE 3L bottle of Poplar Grove wine with the anticipation that someday soon there would be something to celebrate. This seemed like as good a chance as ever. There are three new babies, Father's Day, Ashleigh's 25th, Dad's almost birthday, the three new moms are doing great, Marta is due soon with Gerber Baby #4 for 2021(!!!), it was a beautiful day, COVID is lightening up, and again, the list goes on.
I don't think I have been able to share on the blog yet, but now that it is Facebook official I will... Jeff & Marta are expecting!!! They are due August 19, and that will be 4 babies within 5 months for our family. My gosh the next few years are going to be CUH-RAZY and so much fun! She has the cutest belly right now, and we can't wait to meet Baby Merby (J&M nickname, not the actual name of the baby).
All the kids were awesome the whole time we were there. Each baby had a nap at some point, everyone fussed a little at some point, and all the babies were awake and happy at the same time for possibly the first time ever haha. D&E played upstairs the majority of the time, and very very little parenting had to be done. We did bring the sprinkler since it was going to be so hot out, and Dom had a major blast running around in it. We left him "unsupervised" (with Opa) for a few minutes and came back to Dom running butt naked around the front yard haha. Way more fun that way I suppose. He was like a frat boy streaking around. Emilia was a little less sure about the sprinkler, but enjoyed watching and ran through with Daddy a few times.
We came home, got the kids to bed, I gave Eva a bottle of formula I had prepped just in case I wanted to have an extra drink, and then we sat down and watched a couple shows together. Before we left Mom & Dad's, we both used a breathalyzer because we were curious what our tolerances were at. We hadn't drank much, but little bits here and there throughout the afternoon. We both felt "drive-able", and that means I'm "breastfeed-able", but wanted to be sure. Sure enough, I blew a 0.03 and Dave was 0.02. Apparently our tolerances are actually higher than we thought, and we can be sure we've never driven in the danger zone. So even though I knew I could breastfeed, I gave Eva the bottle of formula because I haven't been trusting my supply lately. I have a severe distrust for my body when it comes to breastfeeding, due to Dom's rough first week of not gaining weight, and Emilia not gaining weight from 2 months to 4 months. I decided to pump before bed to avoid too much discomfort overnight, and managed to pump 5 oz! The little bottle on one side actually started overflowing, which is annoying, but mostly I was just excited. So glad to know that even after a hot summer day, and feeling like my supply was too low, I am still producing what should be enough for Eva. She never nurses for long, but maybe she's just efficient. Who knows.
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