We purposefully tried not to schedule too many things for this Labor Day Weekend because: potty training! I literally had no idea what to expect and we’re definitely still working on it but our boy did great this weekend. I’m so proud 🥺 It’s a little bit nuts to rush your toddler to the bathroom while your 8 month old crawls all over and tries to pull herself up onto any and everything (why is she so obsessed with our very hard brick fireplace??) but we made it and actually the rest of the weekend was really low-key and nice. Cleaned out some stuff, read, cooked some good meals, snuck out to celebrate nine years of marriage, watched three whole movies (!!!) and grabbed the first fall drinks of the season with Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne. I’m feeling good about all of it ☺️

Please ignore my Birkenstock tan line 😂 I snuck out early on Friday and got a pedicure then when Joey brought the kids home we charged right into potty training protocol. Lyds got a bath and looked so funny in her narwhal towel climbing up on the laundry basket. After bedtime, we started AND finished BlackBerry and I thought it was really good and interesting and I was only kind of distracted by the two leads’ hairstyles 😂

Saturday had us all feeling a little stir crazy I think but we made the best of it by picking up biscuit sandwiches, restocking the little library, eating pesto veggie burgers for dinner and setting off a potty training celebratory firework. Lydia was literally flapping her hands in the air the whole time and of course Dempsey was dancing around in excitement too 🥹😍 After bedtime, Joey and I watched The Eternal Daughter and I’ll admit it was a bit slow but I kind of liked the eerie vibe and meditation on being the daughter of a mother. If my mother was Tilda Swinton, I would also cast her as both leads in my movie.

Such a nice Sunday we had. Dempsey helped me make some blueberry pancakes and they turned out so good. I try to make whole wheat most of the time but you know what’s good? White flour 😂 We put Lydia on a two nap schedule and she suddenly started taking a two hour first nap 👏🏻 Maybe she’s tired from all that crawling and climbing and standing and trying to fling herself over and out of our arms! My sister says she’s feisty because she’s a fire sign. We had some nice two-on-one time with Demps while she was asleep in the afternoon and showed him his first water balloon. Um water balloons have definitely come a long way since I was a kid. He loved it! Also just Joey and I throwing water balloons at each other even though we were showered and about to go out to a nice dinner 😂😂 Hit up El Five for dinner and it was all amazing! Joey gifted me an electric toothbrush and if that’s not nine years of marriage in a nutshell, I don’t know what is. We watched Rye Lane and wow, we really loved it! Quirky, well acted, and I love a Before Sunrise style plot.

Happy Labor Day! We had told Dempsey that he’d be seeing Uncle Wayne that day so as soon as I opened his door in the morning, he said “are you taking me to see Uncle Wayne?!” 😂 We met he and my sister at Pinwheel for fall drinks then drove over to Cheesman Park so they could help us take the anniversary picture we do every year. There’s TWO kids in this one! We got a normal one but all the outtakes — Dempsey clinging to Joey’s legs, Lydia pulling my hair, Joey and I laughing — are my favorites. Afterward, Joey and Dempsey went to their place to help put up their TV mount then came back for lunch and naptime. I got a (root)beer can chicken onto the grill and she was so stable, it was like she was made to sit on that can. Dempsey helped me make some egg-free cornbread, including some mini muffins for Lydia after his nap. I filled one and passed the tin to him and he told me “I’m filling it up like you did, Mama” 🥺 They tasted so good but were literally the crumbliest thing I’ve ever eaten, so you can imagine what Dempsey’s seat looked like afterward. The chicken turned out so good!!!!! I could not stop eating it while I cut it up and plated it for us all. Dempsey’s new favorite food, Caesar salad, to round out the meal. I was very very happy with all of it! Checked the clock after dinner and it was still early so we walked ourselves to Sweet Cow for one last holiday weekend treat and it definitely hit the spot. Such a sweet weekend with my family 🥰 We’ve got two days of semi-normalcy and then we are headed to Chicago on Thursday. I can’t wait!

I felt like I was in a mood this weekend. Not sure what to attribute it to except maybe gloomy weather, a heavy Saturday and just your average mom burnout, but I didn’t love it for myself or those around me. We ended the weekend with a good mom/son cuddle on the couch, lots of Lydi excitement (we officially have a crawler!) and a really good burger dinner, so I felt better by the end. Took myself on a run this morning already because endorphins really are the best medicine and I’m hoping to take this brighter attitude into the week 🤍

It was cool, cloudy and rainy on Friday and I was happy to have the raincoat my sis and Wayne got me for my birthday while I was out getting a fresh mani. Before all that, I dropped the kids off at Grandma’s and went for a run. My longest yet since rejoining the running world post-Lydia being born! 👏 Once the workday was done and the kids were home, I made us our favorite walnut pesto spaghetti.

Saturday started with zucchini walnut pancakes (and a nut-free, zucchini-free version for Little Lyds) and then my sis and Wayne came over to take Demps to his swimming lesson and hang with him for the rest of the day. Joey’s cousin’s husband passed away at just 27 and we had his funeral to attend in Colorado Springs. Just truly truly awful. He was a police officer so there were a ton of other officers in attendance, in addition to so many friends and family members. A handful of people gave speeches and it was nothing short of incredible to hear them speak about Fred, who was a genuinely happy, smart and caring person. I was so moved by how many people stood up there and called him their best friend. I believe it!!! A beautiful tribute to him but just such a devastating thing to happen. Lyds got a little restless toward the end of the service but did good otherwise and I hope her little smile and cuddles helped everyone a bit. We were told Demps had a good lesson and even pulled himself up out of the pool on his own! Afterward, we all had dinner at Tocabe and I’m so grateful to Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne for taking such good care of our boy 🤍

I’ve been so antsy to get Lyds on a two-nap schedule and she finally had a two-nap day on Sunday aaaaand, I realized having your kids on alternating sleep times means no break for you 😂😬 Especially if your husband is at a fantasy football draft all day! After breakfast and a piggy back ride that Lydia was LOVING, I took the kids to the farmers’ market and we had a good time. Mom got coffee, Demps got a frozen banana and we got peaches, tomatoes and corn because that’s what this time of year is all about! Got those littles home and Sissy to sleep and then she conked out for two hours so Demps and I got to have some real true one-on-one time 🙌

Demps and I ate lunch and then I fed Lyds and she helped me put Dempsey down for his nap, aka the most chaotic half hour of trying to get them to listen to me read books and sing songs and leave the room. He is a maniac when Sis is there for all of that but he didn’t protest when we left. This is usually my time to clean up and reset mentally but instead that little girl got into everything and didn’t want to be still for a second 😂 Standing, crawling and getting her hands on everything. It’s exhausting but the best! Demps didn’t crawl until 10 months and then gave it up pretty quick in lieu of walking so this feels like new territory to me. How does one go to the bathroom with a baby on the move?? 🤷‍♀️ When Joey got home, I told him to please pretend I wasn’t home but Demps woke up from his nap and wanted to lay on the couch and watch a movie with me and damn, if that wasn’t the sweetest moment of my day 🥺🤍 Made us all PLTs (aka prosciutto, lettuce, tomato) burgers for dinner and I guess Dempsey is a huge crispy prosciutto fan because he kept running into the kitchen for more! I love a homemade burger so much. Lydia loves a tomato and did pretty good with the beef but she’s not so sure about corn. Ended the night with some Olympic gymnastic trials on TV that had Dempsey doing “huge flips” (aka somersaults) and it was too funny! And after the kids were in bed, Joey and I watched Big Brother.

I hope you all have a nice week!