Hello and Happy Monday. We had a nice and mostly low-key weekend, which is good because we leave for vacation this Friday and you know how stressful those pre-vacation days can be, scrambling to pack and pick up things you need plus getting stuff wrapped up at work. Trying to keep the anxiety at a minimum because I’m so looking forward to a few days with family, margaritas, sunshine and hopefully okay sleep.

Friday featured Jungkook’s first solo single “Seven” (and me listening to it a billion times!), a Barbie manicure, then work for the rest of the day before I picked our babies up from Grandma’s. Lyds was so tired and fell asleep in the car five minutes before we got home then was kind of a mess all night 😢 But we still had a really good dinner. Lori and Chad got some Alaskan halibut and passed it on to us. I just basted it in some butter and served it with rice and green beans and wow, so good! Demps loved it too. After the kids went to bed, we started Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol. These movies definitely get better as the franchise goes on but they’re also starting to all blur together for me 😂

Last soccer practice of the season on Saturday morning! I wanted to bring a treat for the team, so Joey headed out and picked up donut holes plus breakfast from The Nosh for us. I think participation and attention-span was at an all time low for the entire team but still, I got Demps on the field for a few drills and he was having a great time running around with one of his teammates before practice started, so all in all, I think this was a fun and worthwhile six weeks. I’m so thankful to Joey for volunteering to coach 🤍 They all got ribbons afterward and then some of us hung around for a bit afterward so the parents could chat and the kids could snack. On to swim lessons for the rest of the summer!

The rest of the afternoon was pretty calm. Lunches, naps, baths and then my sister picked me up so she, my mom and I could all head into Boulder for our annual trip to the Shakespeare Festival. How we convince my sister to join us every year is a mystery to me but I’m glad she indulges us 😋 My mom did all the work for the picnic and she’s the best! We had such a good spread of apps, sandwiches, sides and even some lemon bars for dessert. We saw Much Ado About Nothing and I really loved it! All the comedies are, well, comedic but this one seemed extra funny. The male and female leads seemed very committed to the physical humor! Got an update from Joey and the kids earlier in the evening and then made it home by 11:15 which is much much past my bedtime 🥱

We had nothing scheduled for Sunday and it ended up being a really nice day! Woke up and made some banana oat pancakes that were dense and chewy in the best way. Love me a hearty pancake. Afterward, Dempsey played barber 😂 and Lydia took a nap. This kid’s imaginative play has been so so fun to see lately. Once Lyds was up, we got out the baby pool for her. I think she enjoyed it despite Dempsey squirting her in the face with her water toys over and over then hitting me on the head when I told him not to for the fifth time 😡 She’s only worn her bathing suit twice and has already outgrown it so we just bought a new one 🥺 Joey and I got Illegal Pete’s delivered for lunch and I think Dempsey liked Joey’s smothered burrito more than the quesadilla I made for him!

Post-nap tech time 😂 Afterward, Demps asked me to take him outside so I did that while Joey and Lyds finished laundry and then while she was down for her last nap, Joey and I tag-teamed dinner and watched Onward with Dempsey. Love a summer dinner of grilled bratwurst and potato salad 🤤 It was the last night of pea puree for Lydia and even though she made a disgusted face every time we gave her a bite, she seemed to like it! Onto wheat 😬 I don’t know if I mentioned it here on the blog, but she’s broken out in hives on her hands a few times in the past month so we took her to a pediatric allergist who tested her for peanut and egg allergies, both of which she reacted to. We are now the owners of an epi pen! We were instructed to avoid those two things, stick to a skincare regimen to clear up her eczema and go slow introducing new foods/allergens until we go back again in two months to have her re-tested. Wish us all luck! Demps wanted up in the swing while Joey was giving Lydia a bath and I’m crying over how big he looks in there. Can’t they stay little forever?? Got the kids sort of to bed (Lydia was a mess and we ended up brining her downstairs to hold her on the couch while we started Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation) and then I took that little girl upstairs with me while Joey stayed up to work. She struggled a bit to go down and cried a bit at 5:30 this morning but slept okay otherwise, so we’ll take it! Hope you all have a good start to your week 😊

This weekend was both happy and hard for different reasons. Happy because I got to celebrate my birthday surrounded by loved ones but hard because we marked the one year anniversary of losing Elliott. I still can’t believe it. The work her parents and brother have done this past year and the strength and resiliency they, and those closest to her, have shown has been nothing short of breathtaking. So Sunday, we honored her with a balloon release and the crowd that gathered was such a sight to behold 🤍

Back at the beginning of the weekend, a trip to the zoo for Dempsey, Lydia and Landon — I’m so grateful that these cousins get to grow up so close to each other — a delicious bowl of ramen for me and after the kids went to bed, MI2 for Joey and I. Thought they might ditch the face mask thing but instead, they doubled down 😂

One more week of soccer left, thank God! It’s been fun, but it’s been exhausting 😅 We started the day with blueberry yogurt multigrain pancakes. Been serving eggs alongside Dempsey’s pancakes/waffles for something a little more filling and Joey got some that morning too. We actually had it together this week and weren’t rushing over to the field 👏 Steve, Lorna, my sister and Wayne were all there to watch. Watch me chase Dempsey around and beg him to stay on the field, that is 🤪 They scrimmaged at the end but Dempsey was definitely just sitting in the grass or in the goal the whole time. Hit the park afterward for some swinging then back home for lunch and naps.

During nap time, we started MI3 and once the kids were awake, Joey took Dempsey on a trip to the office and I made some new purees for Lyds to try this week. Let’s hope she likes peas and squash! Threw together a really simple dinner of pesto bowties with chicken sausage and tomatoes for dinner and when I asked Joey if he wanted a glass of wine to go with he said “no, we’ll get a drink at the movie tonight,” so that was a fun surprise for me! Big listened-to-a-pod-about-a-movie-and-then-really-needed-to-see-said-movie vibes from him 😂 But I’d also heard really good things about Past Lives and wow, I was really moved by it! I had such a big grin on my face through most of it and then BAM, it broke me at the end. I highly recommend it. Lori was watching the kids and they were both peacefully sleeping when we got home 😊

Here’s to 34! Got cuddles and kisses from my babies and such good presents from Joey 🤍 Then we loaded into the car and went to have breakfast at Snooze. It was as chaotic as you imagine a restaurant experience with two young children to be but I loved it. We headed over to Elliott’s balloon release on time, but had directions to the wrong park so we were late and felt to bad being the last ones there 🤦‍♀️ Lydia blessed us with a car seat blowout too, so that was fun. Couldn’t have been better weather though. I’m so sad Lyds never got to meet Elliott but she let a balloon go in her honor! FIVE new babies at this gathering, isn’t that amazing?!

We stuck around for a little but then headed home to get those littles napping, then proceeded to act like we had a lot of time to sit around and do nothing, followed by us rushing around to do laundry and salads before the kids were back up 😅 We had plans to meet my family at Chautauqua Park for a picnic to celebrate my brother and I’s birthdays but there was a miscommunication on the time, so we arrived an hour later than everyone else, oops! And yeah, Lydia did grace us with another car seat blowout. Love to arrive everywhere with a baby that needs a complete outfit change 🤪 Anyway, aside from all that, we had a really lovely evening at the park. Thanks to my mom for handling all the set up and food. She really is the best 🤍 Feeling a little out of sorts today but I’m ready to re-center and start another trip around the sun! Happy Monday to you all 😊