January 1: Today I was hungover. We drove home first thing. It would be crazy to go downtown, it’s so busy! We drove for a while. I dropped Michelle off. She told me a few days later she had COVID, hopefully I won’t get it too. Then I hurried home. Frank and SAP left, they went to meet Dan, Olivia, and Isabelle in Ottawa for an NHL game. I finally got to hang out with my babies! I missed them so much.
January 2: Today is my last day of May leave :(. It’s a pretty emotional day. I hung out with the kids all day. Frank worked on the library.
January 3-6: First days back at work! Crazy emotions, miss my kids but also really awesome to be back. Frank was at home with them, while I went to work. The kids go to school next week. I think they have fun when I’m not home. They seem to have a schedule and it all works. My boss said that I have to go to the office once a week and the other days I can work from home. That’s pretty sweet! I save time and money on the commute. One day I worked from home. I didn’t get much done, since all 5 kids were still at home.
January 7-8: This is the weekend! Lots of changes are coming up. SAP goes back to school, Frank goes back to school, A and B start daycare :(. I hope we will manage. We did a lot of work on the library this weekend. Adam had a high fever. Mommy took care of the kids and took down lots of Christmas decorations. SAP also had a dance party with Babi! The girls went to church, Frank stayed at home with the boys because Adam was sick. I enjoyed hanging out with the kids, going back to work is hard! Is it worth it? Maybe not while A and B go to daycare, but after I hope the money will be good and it’ll be worth it. Peter: Mommy this happened yesterday….like very very very yesterday…mommy says a long time ago…Peter “yeah!”. Alice: “I love how rain falls into puddles”. “Daddy what’s your favourite about nature?”
January 9: Today was a return to reality day. SAP went back to school. Frank went back to work. The boys started daycare! Adam cried :(. I hope he will grow to like it. The lady that runs it seems amazing. In the evening we just hung out as a family. Frank did some library and some bubble stuff.
January 10: Today I went to the office for 7am. Frank took the boys to daycare and my mom helped SAP get on the bus. I had a meeting with the two other field schedulers in the East. They seem really nice. A lot of software changes. At night me and the girls went to dance, the boys stayed home. We had dinner out too, Swiss Chalet. Alice loved it! I don’t remember the last time we went out to eat. It was nice to have just the girls.
January 11: Today was an at home day. The kids went to school, and the babies to daycare. Frank dropped them off, and he says they both cry when they are dropped off :(. I hope it gets better. Adam is worse than Benjamin, I hope he doesn’t develop separation anxiety. Working from home isn’t too productive, I don’t have much to do yet and there are so many distractions. Alice was home with me after 11, she threw up at school. In the afternoon I picked up all the kids and we went to skating lessons. SAP is getting pretty good at skating. Especially Peter, he is trying on his own! Frank came home super late because he was working.
January 12: Today I worked from home. It feels weird. No separation between home and work and very disconnected from work. I hope to get more responsibility soon, in February there is a guy leaving and I’m going to take over his work. It’s nice because not behind on house work. Frank came home late on Thursday. I picked all the kids up. We hung out and waited for him. Benjamin started throwing up at night, he was the first to have the stomach bug in our family. Here are the boys at daycare.
January 13: Today started with Benjamin throwing up all night. I didn’t feel right about sending him to daycare. Frank left early for work. Then I found out the buses were canceled. The roads were pretty bad. I took care of all the kids…but I was suppose to be working. I felt so guilty! Frank only had one class, so he was back by noon and I was able to get a few hours in. The kids and Frank played outside for a while. Adam started to feel a bit sick. We went to Gananoque to pick up some wood for the library and also some groceries. When we got home, Adam threw up 🤮. That night Peter, Sophia, and Alice all were throwing up. I cleaned up so much puke! And did so much laundry. It was so gross. Alice didn’t make it to the bathroom, so at 4am I was out there cleaning. So gross and smelly.
January 14: Saturday! It started pretty lazy. Since all the kids are sick. Sophia slept until 1am. Frank worked on the library most of the day. I had an upset tummy too, but, luckily I didn’t get sick. Frank got sick on Saturday night. Today I found out that Peter could roll his tounge, like me! Nobody else in the family can do it, except us. Love him ❤️. Babi brought us dinner which was really nice and she gave Peter a Lego set for blowing her kisses. Here is him, super focused on building it.
January 15: The kids are a lot better today. Frank isn’t feeling too good. He slept a lot, because he got the stomach bug too and he was throwing up. I spent a lot of time doing laundry. Peter: Hey mommy you know how I make bubbles in the bathtub…me, I don’t know, Peter I blow air from my bum. We went outside for a walk and the kids enjoyed snow sliding of the barn roof.
January 16: Monday! The kids went to school today and I worked from home. Not that exciting of a day. I feel disconnected from work and I am excited to get back to the office on Tuesday. The school bus was late today, it was frustrating because I feel I should be working and when it’s late, I feel even more guilty. Here are the boys at daycare and Peter at school.
January 17: I went to work really early today. Frank took the twins to daycare early too. My mom came and got the other three ready for the bus. I guess Peter cried about not wanting to go to school, so my mom took him to her house for the day. They hung out and had a great time. At night me and the girls went to dance. It was nice to hang out with the girls. I even got a bit of one on one time with Sophia in the cafe. Me and Alice did grocery shopping at Costco. Then we went to Mekong and had Pho. They had a great time.
January 18: Today was a weird day. Frank starts late and my computer was broken. So I kept Peter at him and Frank drove the kids to school and daycare. The buses weren’t running because it was freezing rain. Peter seemed really tired and sick. But he didn’t nap. I organized the clothes for the twins and did some taxes. Then I got the girls from school and the boys from daycare. We then went skating. They are learning lots at skating. At night Frank started to do geometry with Alice and Sophia read a book. I also finished this puzzle, didn’t get a picture because Adam broke it.
January 21-22
January 23: This was a pretty regular Monday for us. Kids to school and daycare and Frank to work. The only really special thing that happened was that Alice finally got her shoes!!! She waited patiently for months for them to come in, and before that worked very hard to save money for them. She treats them so well and is so happy wearing them. They are blue sparkly Elsa (from Frozen) shoes.
January 24: What a day! Adam and Benjamin were sick at night, Adam is having a hard time breathing. I gave him the inhaler and he got better a bit, but still pretty fussy. We woke up and they were upset:( I think it’s because they still wanted to sleep, but had to go to daycare. After Frank left with them, I started to get the other three ready for the bus. Frank called because he had a flat tire. I got them off to school and then went to tell my dad, who then went to help Frank get home. I had to work. I worked pretty hard today, lots of phone calls, so it felt nice. Frank worked at home too. I left at 1:30 because I had to take the babies to the doctor. They were woken up from their naps! Super cranky babies. They were upset at the doctors. It went pretty good though. The doctor gave some medication to Adam and his breathing got better. Their speech is behind, but, she’s not worried. Benjamins head is big, but, it’s genetic and not a problem. Frank picked up the other kids and we went to dance. I went to Costco with Peter and Benjamin. It was nice, except that Peter really wanted to buy Lobsters… they were 50$ for two, so we didn’t get them. Maybe one day, if we go out East this summer. Frank got his van fixed, his tire was flat because they were wore out. At night we had Pizza and went to bed.
January 25: Today was a long day! I had to wake up at 5 and drive to Cherrywood TS, that’s in Pickering. For work. I met my coworker who told me the meeting is actually at 10 not 9…Urgh! I was a bit overwhelmed with it, hopefully it will become easier. I need to become more confident with my words in front of people. Frank got all the kids ready for school and daycare. He starts late on Wednesdays. The babies are adjusting okay to daycare. Adam has a bit strain breathing again, hopefully he gets better soon. It started snowing lots in the afternoon, a big storm coming in. I picked up the kids and we hung out. Alice practiced her speech about Panama. I was really tired. Hopefully the kids go to school tomorrow.
January 26: Happy Birthday Michelle! Today Frank and I both went to work. I stayed at home, and he went to school. The kids also went to school. It was a snow day though, so they had to be driven. Which kind of sucks, but at least the school was open. It snowed a lot during the night. I hope the babies are okay in daycare, seems like they are. They are getting a bit sicker though I miss our Mat leave days a lot. It is nice to have an income, but I wish I could just be with them all day.
January 27: Adam was sick with me at home today. He was having a hard time breathing. Frank took Benjamin to daycare. I walked the three other kids to the bus. I left Adam at home by himself. I was scared he would wake up while I was out. I came back 10min later and he was thankfully still sleeping. He slept until 11am. Then we hung out a bit and he fell back asleep at 1pm until 4pm! I hope he is getting good naps in at Daycare.
January 28: Today is the weekend. It started by me going to hairdresser in the morning. I thought it would be fun for Sophia and Alice, so they came too. It was, for the first hour. Then they got super bored. It was a 3-hour appointment. I got highlights. I wish I didn’t though, I’m not that crazy about them. Next time I’ll go darker, with copper highlights. When we came home Frank worked on the library and I hung out with the kids until nighttime.
January 29: Today we didn’t go to church. It seems like everyone is a bit sick and it is also a snowstorm. Adam is having a hard time sleeping. I am so tired. Frank worked on the library, and I hung out with the kids all day. We tried to play outside, but Adam didn’t want to nap. He stayed up all day! What a guy.
January 30: Today we all went to work/school/daycare. I worked from home. Frank went to the rental after class to fix a leaking lead pipe. He was frustrated because he kept getting the run around from the city. Eventually it got hooked up though. When Frank came home he took the heat shield off the bottom of my car, it was bent and dragging on the road.
January 31: Today I went to the office. My mom took the kids to the bus stop. It was a regular day. I think Adam is getting Separation anxiety. He only falls asleep if I hold him. As soon as he seems me, I must hold him. If I put him down, he cries. It is hard to care for my other kids when he is so needy! Heather, the daycare lady, says he is fine with her. I guess when Im not around. We went to dance at nighttime. We went to Swiss chalet after, it was fun with the girls.
