No plans, extra sleep, warm weather, and lots of movies means we had a good weekend! Also Dempsey had his first sleepover at my parents’ (I got a text from my mom at 10:30 PM on Sunday saying he’d finally sung himself to sleep 😂) so our weekend ended on an unusual but quieter note.

Friday started with donuts! Dempsey and I drive past this donut shop every Friday on our way to Grandma’s and finally decided to stop in. It is very no frills inside but there were regulars and a little line forming and I took those to be good signs. Got a mixed dozen and Dempsey had eaten three donut holes by the time I said goodbye to him. Can personally vouch for the twist and plain cake donuts! Back at home, Lydia was being all smiley and I love that 😍

The second half of the day included a long walk around the lake, wings and a movie. Joey had mentioned this wing place he wanted to try and Friday seemed like a good time to do it. It was a bit of a drive but I thought the ordering/pick up was smooth as could be and the wings and fries were GOOD. And also really meaty. Dempsey ate some waffle fries but would hardly touch the wings so I guess he’s a Fire on the Mountain loyalist 😂 Started Empire of Light after toddler bedtime and halfway through we weren’t really sure why it had such a bad rating. More on this later though.

Not sure where else to mention this, so I’ll say it here. Dinner time is so chaotic lately. Lydia is almost always crying because we’ve put her down to eat and she’s somehow always overtired, and between trying to have an adult conversation with Joey and respond to all the things Dempsey is saying, my brain feels like it’s going to explode. Hoping we find a new flow soon but for now, I just expect to feel completely overstimulated every evening 🤪

Lydia slept from 10 PM to 5:45 AM on Friday night!!!! Her longest stretch yet. I woke up in a semi-panic but we could hear her snoozing away in there and she woke up to eat shortly after. We let her sleep in her bassinet till 9 AM and it was truly strange to eat breakfast just the three of us. I was trying to use up mascarpone from last week’s pasta and found a pancake recipe that called for some. They were really good!!! We were near out of fruit so frozen wild blueberries to the rescue. Lydia had her two month photo shoot afterward and I can’t believe the difference a month makes! Took the kids to the park afterward and Dempsey hates heights but loves spinning, so he spent a lot of time on the tire swing. During nap time, both Joey and I got in a run and once Demps was back awake, we all watched Space Jam. Dempsey liked that part where Wayne Knight’s character gets inflated like a giant balloon 😂 Leftovers for dinner then finished our movie after Dempsey’s bedtime and I thought it looked and sounded beautiful but wasn’t sure what it wanted to be about.

Sunday started with biscuit sandwiches! The best 🤤 The rest of the morning involved Mary Poppins, Magnatiles, Joey fixing a drain and a baby nap in my arms. Sometimes, for funsies, we try putting Lydia down for a nap in her crib, then we laugh and laugh at ourselves for thinking it could be that easy 😂 But instead of feeling frustrated like I did with Dempsey, I just think “guess she’s still too little for that.” Black Panther: Wakanda Forever during toddler nap time and dang, I wish these BP movies weren’t saddled with the task of being so self-serious.

My parents came to pick Dempsey up around 3 and I kept getting cute updates on what they were doing, including a video of him eating Sloppy Joe and saying “I lub it” which I know brought such joy to my mom’s heart 🤍 Meanwhile, we were at home eating stir-fried eggs with velvet shrimp (yum!) and having a single conversation. What a concept! 😂 Watched an entire movie in one go afterward. Bones and All was less gory and less cheesy than I had expected and I actually kind of liked it?? Thought Chalamet, Russell and Stuhlbarg were all so good despite some issues with the plot.

This morning has felt so quiet without our rambunctious toddler around. I miss him! Lydia and I are off to our 2 month appointment today. Wish us luck!

Whew, what a week we had! Joey was in California for a “work trip” (is it work if you’re golfing??) and I was home with both kids for the first time. Luckily, I had lots of help and was never really on my own except for a couple of times overnight. I’m so thankful to have family so close by! We had some fussy moments (Lydia) and some toddler tears (Dempsey) but also lots of fun 🤍 Plus we had a really good weekend, with a trip to the zoo, dinner with Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne, homemade pasta, time outside and finally, a Super Bowl party!

Joey was home by Thursday evening so we were back to our normal schedule by Friday. Lydia and I slept in then sent a picture to the boys from bed and got that one back from them 😍 Lori invited Lydia and I to the zoo with she and Dempsey since it was going to be nice that day and we had such a good time! Lydia did so good and basically slept the whole time while Dempsey showed us the penguins, giraffes, elephants, hippo, orangutans and the cutest tamarins. I’m so glad we got to go!

Post-work, Joey did some tummy time with Lyds and both kids got baths before my sis and Wayne came over with take out from Beau Thai. Dempsey was loving egg rolls and his chicken fried rice and our pad Thai and yellow curry were both so good and spicy! Passed around some Telluride Truffles that Chad gifted us for dessert (adults only because they’re boozy 😜) before taking Dempsey up to bed. My sis and Wayne hung around for a little bit afterward but we were all so tired.

Made buttermilk blueberry waffles for everyone on Saturday morning and only complained the entire breakfast about how they were cold by the time I served them 🤪 Headed over to Adam and Lauren’s later that morning to help with some handy work but I misunderstood the time commitment so we had to leave in the middle to get Demps to lunch and nap time and then Lydia and I took a walk around the lake since it was so nice out! 😎 When I got back, Joey headed back over to finish the project they’d started and made it back home shortly after Dempsey was up from his nap.

Spent the second half of the day making pasta!!! We hadn’t done that since last Valentine’s Day and figured Dempsey would be able to help much more this time. He was too busy watching Encanto to help me mix the dough but he had fun rolling dough, putting it through the pasta maker, piping filling and using the pasta wheel! 😍 Sat down to eat that meal and he ate a single agnolotti 😂 Oh well, Joey and I loved it! A cute Valentine’s dinner for all of us 🤍 Started She Said after toddler bedtime and finished it up Sunday afternoon. I thought it was super good and both Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan were amazing. I’m not sure why this movie didn’t get more buzz!

Truly living for warmer days this winter so we can get outside! After breakfast, we loaded up the double stroller and took the kids up to Tennyson for coffee. Lydia loves a stroller nap thankfully so it’s easy to leave the house knowing she’ll sleep in there. Sat inside Huckleberry Roasters for a bit then walked back home and then from one stroller to the next Dempsey went so Joey and he could go for a run then play at the park. Look at that cool boy in his running sunglasses 😂😍 Lydia and I were at home making mini corn dog muffins that were kind of a mess but oh well. After lunch, Dempsey went down for a nap and I took a shower while Dad got some cuddle time with his daughter 🤍

Super Bowl party time! Lydia’s first! Darron and Karla always have such a good spread and I love watching those little boys run around and play together. They all posted up in bed to watch TV together later 😍 As usual, I barely caught any of the commercials — were there any good ones?? — and I had to ask Joey who won on our drive home 😂😂 Lydia slept for all of half an hour then proceeded to be awake and screaming until Joey laid her on a blanket on the floor. That girl! We got home late so everyone went right to bed. Lydia slept from 10 to 3, so maybe I should just always let her be awake for five hours before bed 😋

Hope you had a good weekend too!