What can I say but that I really love Memorial Day Weekend! A three day weekend gives you time to actually do all of the things you need/want to do in a weekend. A little bit of work, a little bit of fun, a little bit of rest. And this weekend definitely gave us all of that. Joey and I got a night to ourselves, I got a night out with Hannah, we got our backyard together, had lots of fun with the kids and topped it all off with the Bolder Boulder and a Memorial Day BBQ at our house. Feeling a bit sore and out of it today but also so fulfilled, happy and ready for summer! 😊

I’ve been so ready to get back into our weekly walks to the coffee shop and the weather was finally nice enough on Friday, so off we went! A bit of a rush to get us all up and ready and out the door, then back home for breakfast and in the car to head to Grandma’s without it being 10 AM but we did it! I love having a new little passenger on these walks 🤍 That night, my sis and Wayne were kind enough to babysit so that Joey and I could go to the Rockies game all by ourselves! Felt weird but nice and it was somehow only our second game this season?? They lost but we still had fun and so did the kids 🙂

I’m usually the one to make our Saturday morning pancakes, but Joey was up early so he took over and it was pretty nice to just watch Duck Tales on the couch with the kids then sit down to a plate of perfectly cooked ricotta-blueberry pancakes! Dempsey is in a real coloring phase and I love finding him laying on the floor like that 😍 After Little Miss was up from her nap, we headed out to buy flowers for the backyard and I think we got in and out in a timely manner considering one of us was holding a baby and one of us was chasing a toddler around. Dempsey picked out some really pretty “Daisy Head Mayzies” 🥺🤍

Joey and I got all the flowers planted while Dempsey napped and isn’t it the best when you first get everything planted and looking nice and neat in your backyard?? I love it! Dempsey planted some pansies in his little pot then spent way too long filling up his empty bag of fruit snacks in our fountain and watering the grass with it 😂😂 Lyds took a late afternoon nap and then I had to wake her up to feed her so I could head out for a moms’ night with Hannah. Much needed! Not only was the food at Lady Nomada amazing, but girl time with a fellow mom is just so good for the head and heart. Plus no shortage of funny stories about our boys. Joey took the kids out to dinner by himself like a true psycho but he had some funny stories of his own when I got back. I think they all had a fun time!

Barely any photos from Sunday but we had breakfast at home, I got a haircut and Lyds got a bath and hung out with me in the kitchen while I made salads and prepped broccoli crunch. She suddenly seems so much bigger and older and more aware. Her sleep is still kind of a mess, but we’re working on it and I’m telling myself we’ll have it more sorted by the time she turns 6 months old. And other than that, she’s a happy girl. Truly the golden age of babyhood and I’m loving hanging with her! Made us caprese ravioli for dinner and it was a hit with Dempsey. He was also telling jokes all through dinner 😂😂 Why’s he so funny??

Memorial Day and the Bolder Boulder! We were up and out the door by 6:45 AM and then Joey dropped us off to hang at January Coffee until he and Chad had parked and walked back over. It was nice to have some chill time with Lori and the kids before the craziness of the race began. Made it to our wave on time and we were off! I love this race so much. Lots of families and fun (though it is CROWDED) happening in the walking wave and we had lots of people tell us we were brave for doing it with two young kids. I wore Lydia the whole time and Joey held our 30-pound toddler almost the whole time but we made it! After we finished, we sat and snacked in the stadium then watched both elite races finish and the men’s race sure was close and exciting! The walk back to the car felt a million years long after walking for two hours but we did eventually make it there and back home.

Felt a little bit hectic getting home at 12:45 needing to feed Lyds, put Demps down for a nap, get both parents showered, put Lyds down for a nap, get the backyard cleaned up and the broccoli crunch finished, all by 3 PM but then we got it all done fairly quick and had some downtime ourselves. Felt very nice! Everyone showed up shortly after 3 and Lauren brought some really good appetizers and that very cute baby 😍 Our kids woke up a little bit later and then we all ate — except Dempsey, who is always too busy playing with Uncle Wayne to be bothered with stuff like food — and had a lovely time. Once everyone had headed out to their respective homes, we got the kids to bed — Lydia had like ten false starts 🤪 — and then we finished the Succession series finale and ultimately, it felt right in how it all played out. I hope you all had a good long weekend!

Life with a baby and a toddler is certainly a roller coaster! Sometimes it feels like we are in the thick of it and every single thing is the last thing I can possibly handle and other times, everything feels good and happy. Mostly, baby sleep really stresses me out and I’m just trying to remind myself that we will make it through this stage eventually and I should focus on the fun things happening outside of the baby sleep realm 😋 We have watched some good things, read some good things, ate some good things and had a lot of quality time outside. Transitioning into summer mode, I think!

In the Kitchen:

Getting dinner on the table is no small feat these days but I want to give myself a pat on the back because amidst the insanity of the evening, I’ve been making us some good things! This week, we had Italian Herb Tofu Wraps — I’ve been making a lot of steak fries lately! — and Wild Rice Burgers, plus Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies! Tried to get Dempsey to make those with me and he ran away as soon as I pulled out the hand-mixer 😂 He kept wanting to eat the dough then wouldn’t eat the actual baked cookie 🤷‍♀️ Oh well, more for me and Joey!

Media Consumption

Trying to accept that these are just not my reading years. I really have to put in a concerted effort to read these days because free time just does not exist. It’s better now that I’m in the office a few days a week and can hold a physical copy of a book, but at home, it’s harder and you know what? That’s just how it is and it’s okay. I did finish Ali Smith’s Companion Piece and have been reading The Book List for my upcoming book club meeting and both were/are good. Also trying to accept that I’m not taking these in or thinking about them in the way I could before having kids. C’est la vie! In TV land, we finally finished Beef and I just loved it so much? Thought it was so interesting and unique and was blown away by the performances across the board but centered by Ali Wong and Steven Yeun. Highly recommended!

Life in General

Didn’t mean to post a bunch of pictures of the back of Dempsey’s head but they do show off his great hair so there you go. These two little people have been both driving and keeping me sane. If you’re a parent of young kids, you know what I mean 😅 Dempsey is happiest when he’s outside, so we have been loving the warm weather and we even got the porch swing up this week. He’s been climbing up next to me only to immediately ask, “do you need another push?” and getting back down. I love it, honestly. Miss Lyds continues to be happiest in our arms and she’s also practicing sitting up, using her voice and getting cuddles from Big Brother. My absolute favorite time of day is 3 PM when I wake Demps up and the three of us chill in the nursery for a bit 🤍🤍🤍 Last but not least, I am forever grateful for my mom. Literally don’t know what I’d do without her help. She took us all (plus my sis!) to the Butterfly Pavilion on Monday then came and watched Lyds on Wednesday, so Dempsey and I could go to the library. She is everything and more to me and my kids are so lucky to have such a wonderful Grandma!

I hope you all have fun plans for this Memorial Day Weekend. I am desperately trying to balance me time with mom time and not feel guilty about the former or resentful about the latter, so I will be on that journey this weekend 😅