We were so ready to say goodbye to the hellish month of July, but August brought fresh pain in the form of Joey’s grandma, Raynee, passing away. We had to say goodbye to another family member, relatively unexpectedly, and it all felt too cruel to be true. I’m glad she got one last ice cream before she left this world to go be with her great granddaughter ❤

In the time between these family tragedies, we’ve been doing our best to live life. To be there for the ones in the center of these vortexes of pain, to get outside, to make sure Dempsey is taken care of and that we are taking care of ourselves and one another. It can be overwhelming but we are trying. And because I haven’t officially said it here, we are expecting another baby in December. A girl. And we are so so happy and excited. It’s been hard to balance those feelings with the ones of deepest grief, but again, we are trying.

I won’t go into too much detail about my first trimester — it feels so long ago! — but in short, it was awful. Feeling SO much better now! Better even, than I did during my super easy pregnancy with Dempsey. We’ve yet to get our act together and prepare in any practical way for a second child, but we’ll do that in September 😋 Dempsey gives “baby” lots of hugs and kisses and he’s been pretty into his I’m a Big Brother book, so hopefully the transition is smooth.

In general, he is such a joy lately. Catching on to things just so quickly and talking away! “More now” is his favorite thing to say, be it a song, a snack or anything he finds funny. He’s such a mommy’s boy and I love every second. His new thing is to randomly say “oh, Mommy? Hug!” 🥰🥰🥰 I’m thankful that he’s (hopefully) unaware of how many people are relying on him to be the one good and happy thing in their lives right now.

We also got a visit from my cousin a couple of weeks ago! It was her first time meeting Dempsey, can you believe it?? I think he won her right over and he seemed to warm up to her very quickly too. It was a busy handful of days, with a BBQ at our house one night, breakfast and a Rockies game the next and they all went on a walk/hike and had dinner in Boulder that Sunday. We got to see her one last time on Monday and she was kind enough to share her scone with Dempsey. Such a lucky boy!

This weekend started with a trip to the park. Joey and Demps ran over with the stroller and I walked over and met them. Felt strangely quiet all by myself 😋 Afterward, we all walked back home and made veggie quesadillas for dinner. Dempsey is more into throwing his food than eating it these days, but Joey and I thought they were pretty good! After Demps went to bed, we fired up Men and it was just so weird. I love Jessie Buckley and I thought most of it was interesting and appealingly strange, but as it neared the end, I could tell this was going to be one of those movies I had to look up the meaning to, and I really dislike that.

Just a Saturday morning meltdown, with a mouth full of waffle 😂 Trying to honor my toddler’s big feelings, but sometimes it’s really hard not to laugh. He was upset because we wouldn’t let him eat breakfast on the couch in front of the TV, a thing we never do anyway, but was very important to him right then. He got over it rather quickly and seemed to really like his whole wheat banana waffle. Took him to the library then the park afterward and he’s finally into going down the slide! Love his little “wee!” as he goes down ❤

We had Saturday afternoon plans to celebrate Bailey’s 2nd birthday and Dempsey sure enjoyed himself! He was very interested in all of Bailey’s new toys, plus her little playhouse outside and, of course, frosting! Must’ve wore himself out because he went to bed quick and easy that night. We decided to stay on our A24 quick and watched Lamb, which was no less weird than Men, but a little less confusing and a little more predictable. We definitely laughed when we first saw that lamb, but by the end, I had somehow come around to thinking it was cute 🤷‍♀️

A sort of busy little Sunday. We bribed my sister and Wayne into taking our yearly anniversary picture with breakfast and would you look at that little face?? We gave Dempsey that number and he proudly pronounced “EIGHT!” If only he knew four through seven 😂 Hit up Onefold afterward and it was so good, as always! Joey had his golf clubs stolen last week 😢 so he dropped me off at home, then took Demps to buy a new putter. Looks like Dempsey got some practice in as well 😋 Meanwhile, I started lunch salads, laundry and some pickled strawberries before sitting down to read for a bit. Once the boys were home, we gave Demps lunch and put him down for his nap before I left to get my hair cut. Post-nap and haircut, I made a goat cheese, pickled strawberry, honey toast that Joey wanted no part of but Dempsey and I enjoyed. Leftovers for dinner, easy peasy, then bathtime and bedtime for Dempsey and Big Brother time for Joey and I.

I hope this Monday finds you as well as you can be ❤