October Chats

On a scale of 1-10, how pumped do the kids look in this picture? Trick question, the answer is 11.

Y’all, it is giving me LIFE that I am getting my October Chats out on the actual last day of October. When am I ever that organized and on time like that anymore? LOL – never, but you’re sweet if you gave me any positive mental credit there.

October has been CRAZY! Honestly probably the busiest month I’ve ever had. In good ways, though. It’s been a very full month. I do think we over-committed a little bit during some weeks and were super drained, but when I look back on this month, I’m not going to think of how we were tired at the end of some weeks, I’m going to remember how many awesome experiences we had. Let’s dive in!

Because this month was so crazy, we’re just going to tackle the major stuff in sequential order (who am I today?).

VEGAS, BABY

That header makes it sound like the typical Vegas party trip, but it was really going to Las Vegas to visit my new favorite tiny bb, which is its own type of party. See what I did there with the Vegas baby? LAUGH AT ME.

My brother and his wife live in Las Vegas, and they just had a new baby girl, Charlotte. Man, you forget how tiny and squishy newborns are. I was in baby heaven and aggressively smelling her tiny head as often as possible.

Can they bottle and sell newborn baby smells? Asking for a friend.

It was a wonderful trip full of snuggles, good food, and some awesome time spent with family!

Birthday Fun!

My birthday was this month!

Highlight #1: the surprise party Seth threw for me with a bunch of our friends (he’s the best) at one of my favorite restaurants in Charlotte.

Highlight #2: Seth, my two best friends, and my mother in law redid our office in our new house into an office for me, which was a room I was studiously avoiding because it was previously home to a random assortment of things un-moved in. It is now full of family pictures, adorbs decorations, and a desk + office chair. It was such a thoughtful gift and gave me all the feels!

I am inching closer to the big three-oh, but that doesn’t bother me one bit because my life is packed full of amazing people, two of which are the sweetest tiny humans who make me SUPES happy. Yes, this season of life is crazy and full of tons of challenges (can’t act like everything’s always shiny and bright), but it’s also full of amazing things that put the hard things to shame. So bring it on (almost) 30, you don’t scare me.

Sleepy Colty Finally Sleeps

Why is he so cute? HE’S SO CUTE. This adorbs little man finally got sleep trained this month. We’ve tried 3 times before, but he’s been struggling with health issues for months, which led us to stopping both times.

We’ve gotten his health issues all smoothed out (read September Chats for that update), so we gave sleep training another try, and it went smooth as silk this time. Whew, is it nice to sleep through the night! I will say, I thought I would feel way more rested once I was getting a full night’s sleep, but NOPE. I don’t think you can feel “rested” when you have two babies, one of which likes to wake up before the sun. Rested is just a part of my past for now 😂. They’re worth it. But it’s still very, very nice to have a baby sleeping through the night!

On a sleep training note, we used the Taking Cara Babies program, and she is amazing – highly recommend. Her method is flexible, and she is compassionate to the sleep struggles of parents with babies/toddlers. Honestly, I desperately wish I had watched her newborn sleep class before I had my first son.

Pumpkins with my Pumpkins

Yep, this was the best family picture I could snag after many attempts. I’ll take it. Ford was probably searching for the “blue ta-too” (blue tractor) that was pulling a hay ride trailer. Twas the highlight for this tractor-loving boy.

And those red boots? His Tinker (Seth’s mom) gave those to him and they have hardly been taken off since the box was opened 😂

Anyway, in the name of being the MOST basic as possible, we had to hit a pumpkin patch. It was precious, of course, and the giant tube slide was the hit of the day (other than the ta-toos, of course). Fall is just the best.

Halloween Festivities

I mean, are we surprised by this family costume? Colt IS Jack Jack in actual human form, red mohawk and all. See below for proof:

If this isn’t my child, then my name is Barack Obama. To top it all off, we have a blonde two year old who easily passes for Dash, so Seth and I decided to don our costumes and rid the world of evil.

Our two best friends dressed up as Violet and Edna, so we were a complete set. We had a big Halloween party at our house last weekend, and it was SUPER fun. This is what the fam wore, and the costumes will be used again for actual Halloween.

Ladies Nights

I love these nights. One of which was an event called Ember, which was a worship gathering for women around Charlotte. I went with my life group ladies – it was wonderful and powerful and I loved spending that time with them.

Someone was speaking at the beginning and said “One thing I love about women is how they love to gather together. They just love to be together.” Couldn’t be more true, and I’ve loved the time I’ve gotten to spend with my ladies this month.

There was also a ladies night out for MOPS that was in the form of a book club. We read Where the Crawdads Sing and had awesome discussion. The friends I’ve met and set down roots with have been a giant answer to prayer, and I am so thankful for our people here.

What’s Been Tough

Again, for the sake of reality and not giving the perception that our life is perfect (NOT EVEN CLOSE), this month has also been exhausting. We are learning balance now that we are involved in so many things here, and we’re deeeefinitely still learning.

There was one week recently where 7 nights in a row I was out until 10 or later because I had something every night. Whew, that week hit home for me that I can’t plan and/or say yes to every single thing.

So October has been amazing, but October has been exhausting. And tough on the budget too with the traveling, busy nights, and lots of restaurants. November is a new month!

I hope October has treated you all wonderfully, I’ll catch you for the next chat at the end of November, friends! Love you all!