Thankful Thursday - 266

Well it's been like 3 weeks since I've done one of these posts, and the last one I did was posted a day late, so I guess that's how things are going haha! 

I almost didn't do a Thankful Thursday post because it feels a little strange to be posting this the day after I share my struggles with postpartum. However, Thankful Thursday posts are meant to be a highlight rule. They're meant for looking for things I have to be grateful for. It doesn't mean that I'm not struggling behind the scenes. It just means I am still so blessed.

This week I am thankful for...

1. Sharing. In case you missed it, yesterday I shared a post about postpartum depression. Since writing it and sharing it with everyone, I feel lighter. I don't feel like I have to hide or be ashamed of how I'm feeling. I don't feel like I have to pretend - I can just be me. I have received great support through words of encouragement, meals, acts of service, etc. I didn't ask for any of this, but it's just a testament to the village we're a part of. 

Just a cute shot of Emilia "reading" Eva a book

2. More reasonable weather. We had that crazy heat wave a week and a half ago, and on the last day of the intense heat, my mom invited us to have takeout at her work in the AC. We had our dinner in the staff room, and then went down to the gym to run around and kick some balls around for half an hour. Dom seems to have a natural aptitude for soccer - we should get him into some extracurriculars. 

3. A new fridge! We did not want a new fridge, but a new fridge wanted us. The day I crashed emotionally last week, we realized our fridge was no longer keeping food cold. We'd noticed for a while that food was spoiling before it should, but I think the heat wave finally did it in. We went to an open box store and managed to get a fridge with a few scratches for a heavily discounted price. Not my dream fridge, but the space in our kitchen doesn't fit my dream fridge, so it will do just fine!

Old - this is the original fridge, so it was like 13-14 years old. We knew it was going to go eventually.

Old

New! I do like how easy it is to clean - no handles or ice dispenser or anything. I originally wasn't a fan of the two freezer drawers, but they're already growing on me. 

4. A functioning oven. The day after the fridge went, I was baking two loaves of sourdough. As I was baking the second one, our oven had a runaway temperature, shut off, started beeping and displaying an error code. Some googling and help from a friendly neighbour led us to the conclusion that we needed to replace our temperature sensor probe. David took the reins on this fix, and got everything installed the next day! However, that night I was planning to make pizzas with some sourdough pizza dough I made. We ended up at Mom & Dad's to make them there. That worked great, but it was a frustrating day.

Pierogi pizza - Sooooooo good!

Little missy wouldn't nap in the playpen, so I got a snuggle nap. Lots of these this weekend.

5. Gramma & Grandpa are retired! On Saturday there was a backyard BBQ party at Larry & Shelley's to celebrate Larry's 65th birthday, the fact that they both just retired, and that they're moving to Agassiz. It was the first party with "other" people I've been to since COVID! So awesome! We were also out past 9:30pm with all the kids. Latest I remember staying out with the big kids, but they did great. Slept in until 8 the next morning and all. 

Fun doll house at Gramma & Grandpa's! Their first time playing with it, so it occupied them for a very long time.

Lots of snuggles this day too. Leap 3 is a tough one

Emilia made some cards for Grandpa. On the left, we have Grandpa and Hiker, with his ears/head separate from his body. On the right we have Gramma and Grandpa.

I looked over and Emilia had her shirt up, breastfeeding her doll. She was talking to her baby, "Oh baby, are you hungry? Do you need to burp? let's burp. Good burp!" Such a natural <3

As we were leaving, Emilia and Dom said this in the van...

D: We missed Rebecca

E: And she missed us!... We love Rebecca and she loves us!

The first full family photo since before Emilia and Rebecca were born! It's been a long time coming.

6. Lots of smiles. Eva is in the middle of Leap 3, so that makes her a little more fussy than usual, but it also means she's becoming more mature and more engaged and starting to laugh a bit and smile lots!

Instead of sharing lots of smile pictures separately, here's some screenshots from my camera roll. She moves so much it's hard to get a clear shot!

She's just started smiling with her whole body

She's nuts. She still makes you work a little for the smiles, but boy are they worth the wait.

7. DOUBLE VACCINATED! Dave and I both got our second vaccines (double Pfizer) on July 5. After our first shot, we both just had a sore arm. This time we had a sore arm, but also had severe muscle aches the next day. No nausea, fever or chills, but it was uncomfortable. Well worth it though! I had them do my right arm, so I was facing Dave during the shot which was kind of cool. We got to watch each other get our final vaccines and join the #immunitycommunity. 

Felt good to be there

8. Getting out. After I shared my blog yesterday, and shared with my immediate family what was going on, I was encouraged to join everyone who went to Vancouver to watch Jeff & Adam play baseball. David was kind enough to offer to stay home with the kids, and I hitched a ride with Scott, Ash & Phoebe. I honestly wasn't really feeling up to going, but I knew I wouldn't regret it. I was exhausted when I got home, but I also felt a great sense of relief. I'm not hiding anymore. The boys won their game, and then we walked across the street for some Earnest ice cream. 

9. Being intentional. The doctor suggested setting aside intentional time with each kid to have "special" time together. I was painting my nails and Emilia asked me to do hers. Yes... of course I can do that. Dom also wanted me to paint his, so I did that after. Then today Dom came down from quiet time early (as usual), so I asked him to help me make sourdough pizza dough for dinner tomorrow. He was so excited, helped a bit, and then went off to play quietly by himself for half an hour. That's called the 10 minute miracle.

10. Help. Aunty Sonya brought us dinner today and then took the kids for a walk. Then mom came over after Eva was in bed and gave the big kids a bath and put them to bed so Dave and I could go out together to walk the dog. Just knowing I didn't have to make dinner today allowed me to breathe so much deeper. I had an extra hour and a half that I could be with the family, or work on things for myself. 

Mom has also offered to have the big kids over on Tuesday mornings. She picked up a sweet hockey playmobil set from Marketplace, and this past Tuesday Dom spent the entire time playing with it!

It also came with a score clock, dressing room, the zamboni in the back there, and lots of other little pieces. So fun.

And here are just a few more photos from the week.

Eva's out of control mullet hahaha

At least she's cute up front!

Please remember that these kinds of posts, or what people share on social media is their highlight reel. It shows the happy, the smiles, the fun things, everyone getting along, etc. etc. It doesn't show the mess, the stress, the fighting, the crying, etc. etc. I feel funny looking back on this post even. These are just little snapshots of my week, they in no way represent the whole picture.