I finally got to have gymnastics this week and it is my favourite thing in the world. I can’t wait for next week and Daddy will be able to see my class!

He said

This week was more about work than it was about family for me, but it was for all the right and very exciting reasons. You see we launched this two incredibly amazing new versions of our iPhone: the 6 and 6 Plus on Friday. The entire week leading up was getting everything ready for the launch. And what a launch it was! News from all over the world shared stories about the same excitement and lines we experienced at our store. In the end, it was a very successful launch day that has continued through the entire weekend.

I am composing my part of this week’s post earlier than I usually do, because I am in for a rare, 1-10pm shift on a Sunday—the second half of the shift dedicated to focusing on in-store repairs. It will also allow me some time to focus on some ‘paperwork’ that needs to be attended to. As much as I really relish the family time every Sunday evening, I am also relishing having the time to catch-up after some very busy weeks. And I am off work tomorrow and Tuesday so I expecting a moderate focus on doing little to nothing over those two days…

That’s enough about work…

This week I had a schedule that permitted me catching Emelia’s new climbing class at the gym. It combines rock wall climbing with rope climbing and includes heights that make  her Daddy almost faint. But for a girl that has climbed on any and all things since pretty much the moment she figured out how to stand up, this is the perfect activity. There is plenty of safety involved with the staff which includes legit rock climbing harness, ropes and carabiners, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was the slightest bit worried as I watched her reach the gymnasium ceiling from the second floor overlook in the workout area of the Y. Even as I took photos from the safety of behind the railing I could feel my hands alert me of the height she was at and help me not focus the pictures I was taking.

When we looked at the photos together later on that evening, she said to me, “The only picture you got of me looking at the camera is out of focus, Daddy.”

Yah, I know baby girl—your Daddy was a little nervous for you because he has an inverse affinity for heights unlike you, and you’re kind of special to him and I know I have to let you do these sort of things that allow you to be you, regardless of how you might get hurt…

That was when I recognized she is getting to the age that is very tough as a parent. She is at the point where we’re sending her out into the world further and with a lot more scary outcomes out there. And this is where we throw out a lot of trust in the world. For the most part, up until now she has been in our reach and we were there for her. But, as she gets older and wants to become more of who she is, we have to give her these moments where she can restore our faith in the world with every boundary and safety testing foray. It happened when we sent her to school, and it continues every day since.

My reassurance is that every day, I embark out in that same world with same dangers and potential outcomes, and every time I come home and nothing bad has happened I have provided her the framework to have that same sense of confidence and wonder to get out and do and be the things you need to be. And that I got this place today with the same freedom to explore that my parents gave me. It’s a little harrowing at times to sit back at the sidelines and watch, or to not even be able to be there to see, and trust that it will all work out in the end, but every time I do, I know she is better for it.

Next week, I am thankfully off on Saturday, so I will be able to go and see Emelia in her element in this gymnastics class and I am very excited about that. Danielle and Emelia dropped by the store yesterday to report on how the class went, and both of them were beaming with smiles as they spoke about it. I know that next week, I will get to add my smile to that bunch.

That’s all I have this week, while normally this sign off would include Danielle and I heading to the couch to surf some boob tube for the last bit of the Sunday, I do have two straight days off starting tomorrow to spend plenty of time with my little pod here. And I am pretty okay with that!

She said

This week as insanity at it’s finest. We are all in this week with activities for Emelia which she is loving and we are loving that she loves to be as active as we are. John and I have always said to each other that we want daily activity to be something that is second nature to Emelia and that John and I will always lead by example. Well she is certainly taking that lead and running with it. She has ballet on Tuesdays, Rock Climbing on Thursdays and Saturday we have a back to back activity, first at the Y with her weekly swim classes and then off to Gymworld for her weekly gymnastics. What a little athlete she is becoming.

But her activities were only a small portion of the insanity of this week. As we mentioned last week we are working with our credit union to refinance our mortgage to fold in debt we took on finishing the basement so many years ago. Well, that has been fun to say the least. I have spent what little down time I have not only collecting the never ending pile of paperwork I have been negotiating with various people to get everything done so we can go to our next financial chapter.

What this also meant was a full home assessment. Once I found a company we could use that was accepted by the mortgage company I was able to get someone who could come on short notice to match the time restraints I have. I could not have anyone here during daycare hours unless John was home. I could only have someone in the house after 3:30 as to assure that all the children had their proper rest and I could put the house back in order to assure we had the right first impression for the assessment. Needless to say I am a total pain in the ass customer.

So the only day that we could have work was this Thursday, John had the afternoon off and with great weather I was able to keep the children out of the house for a large portion of the day. Between all the normal day to day with 5 children I had to spend my little quiet time cleaning the house from top to bottom, after the children were up from nap I had to rush through, get them fed, diapered, house cleaned up again and out the door to get Emelia. John was home so he could help me get the children at the school to play at the playground for a long as possible to keep them out of the house and keep it clean.

At 4:30 the assessor arrived and John went through in detail all the upgrades we had done since moving in and our last assessment. The list was extensive considering the state of the house when we purchased it 14 years ago. The assessor was happy and said we made all the right upgrade decisions and he would have the report to the mortgage company by the weekend. Friday evening he emailed me with the value and we are quite happy that our house has more than doubled in value since purchasing it 14 years ago, not bad indeed. Now we have invested a ton of money but the increase value is far above what we have financially put into the house. So we are quite happy. Now to rebuild our equity as quickly as we can manage will be our new focus.

With that huge task out of the way we could shift gears. Because Thursday was actually our 15th wedding anniversary. And as usual the way we typically are we took the day at a quiet understated pace. We did our normal family activities and once Emelia was in bed for the night John made an incredible meal while I dealt with bedtime. With Emelia out for the night at 9:00 after an insanely long and busy day we sat down with wine, steak, shrimp and each other. And for us that was more than enough.

By Friday morning I think the weeks of stress had finally caught up with me, when my alarm went off at 6:00 in the morning I was feeling rough. I was getting sick. I tried to shrug it off to the wine from the night before so I could be in full denial that I was getting sick, but as the day went on and the worse I felt I knew this was not wine and lack of sleep, I was sick. By the end of the afternoon I was just begging in my head for the day to be done so I could crawl in bed and crash. By 8:00 Emelia was not feeling well and so the two of us with pepto in our bellies she and I snuggled in our bed and she fell asleep beside me. John came home VERY late from work, moved her back to her bed and we all crashed for the night.

With 11 hours of sleep behind me I woke feeling a lot better. Emelia too. We took it safe and skipped swim class and took the morning at a very quiet pace. By lunch she was 100% and so we were off to gymnastics. And man she was in love. She is honestly a natural. I am blown away at what she can do with no lessons. I am really excited to see how she develops this year with having her finally in formal instruction. At the end of class she said this was the best hour of her whole week and could not wait until next week.

She and I made our way to John’s work to see if we could if we could steal John for even 1o minutes as it felt like a lifetime since we had some real family time in all the chaos. She was beaming and loving talking his ear off in the short time we had before John had to go back to work.

Emelia and I after that had a task, to pick some snacks and a movie for family movie night when John got home. She and I took care of that and when we got home we also managed to squeeze in an hour or so long playdate with Anna and Grace as well as the neighbours twin one year olds. The kids had a blast as we enjoyed a rare warm fall Saturday. Emelia and I then made our way to pick up John, come home have dinner and then settle in for Harry Potter and some popcorn.

This morning Emelia got up at her usual the butt crack of dawn, I got up with her so John could get some much needed sleep. I did crash back on the couch for an hour while Emelia continued watching Harry Potter. Once we were all up we had some quiet family time and then I had to head off to do some weekend errands. I took care of the last of the financial stuff for the mortgage (which should be happily closing at the end of this coming week) and some groceries. I got home in enough time to throw all the food in the fridge and cupboard and then dash off to bring John to work.

The rest of the day we spent with friends. I had texted Komal earlier in the week to see if she and the girls were free and happily they were. We spent the afternoon with one of my favourite families. Emelia and the girls get a long amazingly well and Komal and I have a great time sharing, catching up and just enjoying each others company. It was an amazing afternoon and I really needed it. The last couple weeks has been madness and feeling stressed out. Today I could finally relax, the mortgage mess is for the most part behind us, this time next week everything should be closed and we can finally move forward. John also has his first weekend day off since our weekend away at the beginning of the month and I hope that we can take full advantage of that and spend the entire day together just enjoying each others company.

With the mortgage stuff for the most part behind us we can finally sit down and enjoy the weeks ahead, mainly our weekend away camping for Thanksgiving. Less than a month away and man do we need this time together as a family!

That is it for me this week, normally as John said we would be sitting down and enjoying the rest of the weekend together but he is at work and I have to get things together for next week. So until next Sunday…