The Brady's Arrive!

It seems tradition that Saturday nights are rough so that going to church feels like a challenge. This past Saturday night was no different. Between Ruby waking up every 2 hours and me having a sore throat and headache, I was not in the best of moods. Then Ruby spit up on my church clothes and peed on hers so my mood only got worse. Somehow we still made it but I was not super friendly with others. 

Monday was a very Monday, Monday.  I thought I would be nice and plan a play date for Ben and Lucy but it backfired because they struggled to get work done and had some dramatic incidents with school work. I hate days like that. I reluctantly kept the play dates because they were too far in motion but I was so frustrated with my kids. 

Tuesday my sweet tooth got the best of me and I had to make some cookies AND go buy some candy corn. The kids appreciated that and I am sure their dentist does as well.

Wednesday I instituted a clip chart to help the kid's behavior with school work and at least worked for the first day. I was much less frustrated with them. Ruby even cooperated that day so I was able to clean out the guest room since my brother and his family were coming Friday. Also that day, Tyler went to go somewhere and discovered his Suburban had a flat tire. So frustrating because we need two cars when for when my brother's family arrives. That car has terrible timing. Thankfully the place we go to for tires had the tires Tyler wanted in stock and we got it fixed in time. 

Thursday was my weekly walk with Grace. This time Ruby decided to be a stinker and cried for the first part of it. I ended up taking her out of the stroller and holding her while Grace pushed the stroller. We went to the library and our friends Ashlee and Sasha were there too. It was fun to run into them. Thursday evening I reluctantly took the girls to soccer because Tyler needed to stick around to possibly pick up Steven from tennis and he wanted to work on his shed. While the girls had practice, I was too scared to take Ruby anywhere so we literally hung out in the car the whole time. She alternated from eating to fussy. Evenings are hard for Ruby.

Friday we met some friends at the park in the afternoon. It was 2 families from Renaissance. The moms are super nice but they also have known each other for awhile so I sometimes feel like the third wheel. And when I see their daughters interact with Lucy- Lucy also seems like an extra. She doesn't seem to care though... After the park I tidied up the house a bit so it would be ready for my brother's family. Their flight got delayed so they didn't make it in until after 9pm but I managed to stay up for them. It was so good to see all of them.

Saturday we had a chill morning since they had a late night plus were adjusting to a 3 hour time difference. Mecca and I made some delicious chicken salad for the week. Tyler took the girls to their soccer game- they lost :( Mike's girls got a chance to hold and adore Ruby. 

After lunch we loaded up and went to Belle Isle. Our first stop was the aquarium. The axolotl was definitely the biggest hit for all the kids. They also have an octopus now which I thought was super cool but too hard to get a pic of.

 After the aquarium we attempted to go to the museum but it was closed due to utility issues. So lame. So we went to a playground so I could nurse Ruby. I sat under a willow tree with Rebecca and Tyler while Mike played lava monster with the kids. He is a good uncle. Tyler is a bit lame. But I enjoyed chatting with Mecca and Tyler. When I finished feeding Ruby we went to the Nature Center. I had never been there before and it ended up being a hit with the kids. The inside had a lot of fun hands on things and the outside basically had nature that the kids could dig and play in. Ben and Emaline made a garden but when people kept stepping in it, they had to put up some security measures. Lucy and Lillian put up "barbed wire" around a structure.Penny made lots of dirt pies. It was a good time minus Steven whining that he wanted to go home...When we had enough of his complaints and the younger kids were ready, we headed back home and picked up some pizza on our way. 

Mike and Ben in matching shirts

Retail Therapy and Things

The night before church was a rough night and I was sorely tempted to ditch church but I was good and didn't. However I did spend a good chunk of church chatting instead of listening to the speakers. I make a terrible student but there's something about newborn life that makes me desperate to talk to grown ups.

On Monday I had the kids do their "mega chores" and it reminded me how much I need their help with the housework. They may not clean quite like I do but it's enough to help me not feel like I'm living in a pigsty. I really appreciate their help. Also Monday Penny had an orthodontist appointment and the orthodontist changed her tune. Before she was saying that likely they would just pull teeth to make room. Now she is suggesting an expander and all the things.  Ugh. Tyler will be on paternity leave for Penny's next appointment so I'm going to make him go and make that decision. After the appointment, Penny and I did some thrift store shopping and we scored some fun things. She found a cute jean jacket with a cat hood and I found a Harvard shirt. I had almost bought one when I was in Boston with Tyler but they were so expensive. Here it was only $5- much cheaper souvenir, lol. After school Monday Steven had a tennis match and he won! He kept saying that the other team was just really bad but I am still proud of him. 

Tuesday I did some more retail therapy and bought Ruby some cute clothes using some of the money Tyler's parents had given us. It was nice to finally get her a few things that I picked out and extra nice to do it guilt free. That day the girls had to stay later at school for a reading assessment so Ben and I had some bonding time (with Ruby too). We went to the Dollar Tree and found some fun Halloween decorations and got a treat.  After school, Lucy got a much needed haircut from Grace. Her hair had really started to look Justin Biebery. Grace's daughter Isla talked our ear off the whole time, it was pretty cute. 

Wednesday Ben and Lucy went to Aiden and Brielle's house. Ben and Aiden made a cool video for extra credit about "irregular verbs". I was impressed. Lucy decided she needed more time with her friend and called me to beg for more time but we had church activities that night so it wasn't going to work. I had to deny her begging while she was on speaker phone with her friend, not very fun. 

Thursday I went for a walk with Grace and my bowels decided to have issues again. She was understanding and let me rush home while she helped get Ruby into the house for me. I'm glad my friends don't find my bowel issues awkward. Thursday evening was another traumatic evening at soccer with Ruby. She cried the whole way there. Then when I took her into the very quiet and echoey library to nurse her, she decided to cry very loudly and refuse to nurse. It was not fun and I a may hand over Thursday night soccer practices to Tyler for this season. 

Friday Caroline came over in the afternoon so we could catch up, it'd been too long. Ruby slept (on me) the whole time so we were able to have a good chat. Later I did a Costco run with Tyler and the girls. He went to get pizza while I grabbed some things. When I got to the self check out I could not for the life of me unzip the pocket in my wallet that had my Costco card. Thankfully an older lady managed to get it unzipped for me, made me feel pretty whimpy. 

Saturday the girls had an early soccer game so I made Tyler take them- mornings are hard. Apparently Lucy got pretty close to scoring some goals again- I think this will be the season she makes a goal! Ruby actually took a nice nap Saturday so I got some cleaning done and that felt good. That evening Tyler and I (and Ruby) got some dinner at Dickey's BBQ. It was a quick date but it was nice. With tennis, soccer, Tyler's projects, seminary and a baby I feel like we hardly see each other anymore... When we got home, I watched Jumanji with the kids- very nostalgic.

Some fun pics from the week...

Long's, Skyzone, Soccer

Sunday I went to church and stayed for the full 2 hours. Steven gave a talk and it was well done...but I am pretty sure Tyler wrote most of it for him. There was a lot of drama as we tried to help him with it the night before. Cherish and her girls came to church with us- just because. There were a lot of things she needed help understanding- temples, pre-mortal life, all the books we read out of (BofM, PGP, DC). You forget how unusual you are until you have someone new with you. Thankfully we didn't have too many crazy comments (just a couple) and she was not weirded out by the uniqueness, just curious. I did my best to explain and then I sent her some links that explained better. 

Monday was rough. The kids were not adjusting well to doing schoolwork. If the work was at all challenging they tried to a)cry their way out of it or b) rush their way through it. I feel like I'm not super emotionally stable right now so I'm not able to handle their emotional instability. 

Wednesday school work went a little more smoothly, probably because they had less to do. When they finished we went to Longs to get my fav doughnuts and then hit up Skyzone afterwards. At Skyzone we were literally the only ones there in the beginning- it was a little awkward feeling but also pretty great. I sent a text to Cherish and then her and her girls joined us so it felt a little less awkward.

Thursday I went on a walk with Grace and Ruby while the older kids were all in school. It was really nice to have a conversation with my friend without a crying/ nursing baby. We both got some good venting done and made plans to make it a weekly thing. 

Thursday evening I took the girls to soccer again but this time it did not go as well. I nursed Ruby in the car and then I had the  idea to go pick up a couple of things at Kroger's. Ruby fussed and cried throughout the store and my stomach decided it was a good time to cramp up. Somehow we got through the errand and then I nursed her in the car again. Thankfully my stomach calmed down and so did she. 

Friday we had a couple of Lucy's friends over. She is super social so I'm trying to have people over again so she's not always at other people's houses but I really struggle letting people in our bubble. Anyways, I worry a bit about Lucy's social skills. She got all pouty when her friends wanted to play something she didn't and kept trying to push them to do what she wanted to do. Plus she was super rude to Penny which you could tell her friends didn't like.  It was rough to watch. Maybe I should just let her go to friend's houses all the time so I don't have to watch...She did end up inviting herself to her friend's brother's birthday party that night. She is always inviting herself to things, it's awkward.

Saturday the girls had their soccer game in the morning and Ben had his in the afternoon. Somehow I couldn't get our clothes right for the weather. I thought it was going to be chilly that morning so we all wore pants and jackets. But then the sun came out and it was actually quite warm. So for Ben's game we put on shorts and brought baseball hats and it ended up being cloudy and cool. Stupid Michigan. I took Ruby to both games and for both games she nursed for the first half and then was super fussy for the second half. I had to walk and rock her. She's a hard baby to take out in public. Penny, Steven and Andrea all came out with me and Ruby for Ben's game and Penny took some zoomed in shots of Ben out on the field. Both the girls' team and Ben's team creamed the opposing team. Lucy almost scored a goal, Penny kept socializing on the field and Ben had some great blocks. 

And some cute pics of Ruby. She loves having her hands up while sleeping and she is always intently staring up at random spots on the wall- maybe she sees something we don't...

Labor Day, Soccer

Monday was Labor Day so everyone was home. We decided to go to the Stake Picnic. I'm not a fan of big social events but the kids wanted to go, Mariah's family was going to be there and all my friends were going so we went. The Suburban was still broken and with Tyler's mom here we couldn't all fit in my Traverse so Grace was nice enough to take my girls in her car. The weather was pretty toasty but we managed to sit in a shady spot. Ruby needed to be nursed when we first got there and after that she basically got passed around. It seems like, besides my 3 good friends, mostly just the "grandma" ladies in my ward came by to see Ruby. But maybe that's because we don't have too many people in our Ward. Penny also matched her cousin Jessie at the picnic (they planned it) but I failed to get a picture of both of them. Just got a pic of Penny before the picnic.

Tuesday while the kids were at school, my friend Stefanie came by to meet Ruby and brought me lunch. While she was here, Tyler took his mom out to lunch. Ruby was not on her best behavior for Stefanie and just kept crying every time she tried to hold her. I know it's not my fault but I felt bad anyways. At least Ruby wasn't too fussy for me so when I held her, we were still able to have a conversation. It's always nice to catch up with her.

That night was Tyler's mom's last night here so we met up with Mariah's family at a Leo's Coney Island for dinner. It was a bit chaotic with all our kids. They all sat at one table and the adults sat at another table. My kids can easily get wrapped up in goofing off with their younger cousins. At one point Ben was clanging knives with Red. Such a good example to his cousin.

Wednesday morning I had to drive Leslie to the airport. But before she left she got some slobbering love from Ruby.

It was sad to say goodbye to Grams Hatch because it meant the end of parents visiting and the end of having help. We were so lucky to have had so much help up to that point. Thankfully, despite still working, Tyler's been able to be a help as well. He was able to get Steven home from his tennis match that day- he took some work calls from the tennis courts. So far I haven't had to worry about the matches. And I probably won't have to because in addition to Tyler's help, I finally found a tennis mom who is willing to carpool. Her son is a freshmen that can't drive and she also doesn't no other parents, lol. Through email we have found that we can help each other with rides. 

Thursday I had my postpartum Dr's appt. I honestly didn't bring up any real concerns I have because I feel my worries always seem to be unfounded and are usually dismissed...The Dr did notice that my scar was red but said it was probably just due to my pant's waistband. Turns out it's really been my garment's waistband so I've been wearing high-waisted undies since then and my scar has been feeling much better. 

Thursday night the girls had their first soccer practice and I decided to take them. I was going to take Ruby for a walk on nearby trails but the mosquitoes were out in full force so we took a short walk to the library. I got a few books and then she got fussy so I found a nice seat and nursed her. Then we went back to the car where she nursed some more. She tends to cluster feed at night time. When she was done eating we hung for a bit and then the girls were done and it was time to go home. I was releived our outing went so smoothly. Meanwhile the girls got eaten alive on their first soccer practice. Seriously the bugs have been so awful.

Saturday my hormones were a little out of whack and not helped with a fussy baby who was making it hard to get anything done. I really wanted to get the house cleaned but it seemed like every time I was done feeding her she just wanted to be held. Tyler was off at Home Depot- he always has some project to do- and by the time he got home it was feeding time again. Life with a newborn is really a big adjustment from my previous life. I can no longer just do what needs to be done or what I want to do because this baby seems to always need me. But I am trying to remember to be ok with the slow down because they grow up fast. This time won't be forever. 

Ruby's Blessing, School Starts

On Sunday we had Ruby's baby blessing. In the circle with Tyler was Grandpa Hatch, Grandpa Brady, Jeff Jones, Ken Pierce, Bishop Davies, and Alan Bloomfield. Tyler almost messed up her name (by changing her middle name to Rubeus- he said Ruby Ru-- before correcting himself). But he remained composed and gave a beautiful blessing. Grams was awesome and recorded it, it went as follows: “Ruby we bless you that as you continue to grow, you will gain strength and be healthy. We bless you that as you start to interact with your brothers and sisters, you will find and enjoy the love they will give you. We bless you that as you continue to grow, you will find love for the scriptures and the stories there in and will learn from them. We bless you that you will have a hunger to know your Heavenly Father and to know what it means to be a Child of God. We also bless you that as trails come if you cannot find joy in them that you will at least learn from them, to become stronger and closer to your Heavenly Father. We bless you that as you are given opportunities to serve that you will find joy in the service of others. We bless you that you will always be able to find help when you need it and always remember that your friends and family love you.” After church we took pictures and then went back to our house for a BBQ. My friend Caroline had made Ruby's dress since somehow I had lost the dress that was mine, Lucy's and Penny's :(

That night Poppy Hatch flew back to Arizona and the next morning my parents started their drive back to Arizona. Hard to say goodbye to so many but thankfully Grams Hatch is still here with us.

Monday morning Steven had his first day of 10th grade. The class he hates the most is English and the one he likes the best is Cyber Security (he says because they haven't done any real work yet in Cyber Security). He also told us how they played Two Truths and a Lie in one of his classes and everybody thought his lie was that he had a baby sister 15 years younger than him.

While he was suffering in school the younger kids had some fun celebrating their last day of summer. First the girls went and got manicures with Grams Hatch (Lucy got purple nails and Penny got pink nails). Then after lunch we went to Yates Cider Mill to get some doughnuts. Ben's friend Andrea joined us. We were super lucky because they were having a buy a dozen, get a dozen free deal and there doughnuts were so good. I went the extra mile and bought a doughnut with ice cream, carmel sauce and apple crumble. I could eat that every day. While we tried to eat our treats the bees surrounded us. I had to walk around to keep them from attacking me. I really dislike bees. When we finished, we decided to go for a walk on a nearby trail. It was so pretty. There were some stairs down to the river that the kids enjoyed trekking down.

The drive home was a little stressful. We hit some traffic and Ruby did not like the slow moving car so she started crying and really worked herself up. The kids were really worried about her- they thought she wasn't able to breathe. I had to explain that if she can cry, she can definitely breathe. It was a loooong drive.

On Tuesday the younger 3 started school at Renaissance. They all returned with complaints about school- too much work, mean teachers, can't sit by friends...the usual...I think they were happy to be with their friends though. 

 

Wednesday we had to get back to the homsechool grind. There was drama as per usual but we made it through, When they finished their work, Grams Hatch took the girls to their Back to School Picnic. Ben stayed behind. He had a friend coming over later that day and was not interested in going to the picnic. Around lunchtime Ruby was taking a nap so Tyler and I left her with Ben and went and grabbed a quick lunch at Leo's. It was nice to have a little date with Tyler and Ruby slept the entire time so it was easy babysitting for Ben. This having older kids with a baby really is awesome. The next awesome mile stone will be when Steven has his license and can help with rides...

Thursday, everyone was at school. I spent most of the day nursing Ruby. I really am not too productive these days. Friday was a holiday so Steven was home. Everyone was super social. I went with Ruby to visit Melissa and Alissa- Alissa had just gotten scoliosis surgery and she was doing reall well. I was impressed with how well she was getting around. Ruby was fussy but calmed down and let Melissa hold her while we were there. We brought AJ home with us so Ben could hang out with him and we had Andrea over too. Steven went to Max's, and Lucy went to her new friend, Brielle's house. Poor Penny was the only without friend time but Grams Hatch was nice and took her to Defy so she could have some fun. That afternoon I went to get pizza, only to discover that the Suburban was not OK. The wheel bearing was about to bust--again. So frustrating. Grams Hatch had complained that it sounded bad and we had thought it was just it's usual noises- nope.So now we are down to 1 car and of course,the busy soccer AND tennis season begins this week. *sigh* Parts come in Thursday so hopefully it'll be fixed by next week. Just another project for Tyler- he is also working on building himself a shed.

Saturday afternoon we met Mariah's family at West Bloomfield Nature Perserve. I had Steven lead us on the shortest trail but I didn't realize just how short it was. We were done so quickly. Probably should have done a longer trail. We decided to go to the cotton candy store after the walk. They were having a sale and  Leslie was going to get some cotton candy for Steve. On our way there Ruby got super fussy so I decided to stop at a park to nurse her while the kids play- I had the hardest time finding the right road to get to the park. I blame sleep deprivation. We got to the cotton candy store at 3:05, only to find out that they had an emergency and had closed at 3. So frustrating. I regret that nursing pit stop. There was a shop next door with ice cream and Grams was nice and got the kids ice cream. 2 of the kids got cotton candy flavored so they could stil have their cotton candy ;) When we finished up our ice cream, we hit up Milford on our way home. Grams window shopped with the girls while I sat and nursed Ruby on a bench. Steven hung out with me (Ben was tired from caddying and hadn't joined us on all our failed adventures-lucky!). The kids fought so much during all the driving- it was so irritating. It really wasn't a fun day of outings. 

And here are some cute pictures of Ruby. She still nurses every 2 hours, and she is often fussy- she's a tough baby. I had really hoped for an easy one. Nights she either goes down really easy and then is up every 2 hours or she takes forever to get to sleep but then does a ridiculously long stretch (5-6 hours). She is truly unpredictable. She's lucky she is adorable.

She turned 1 month old this week!