• Karli went to visit some extended family in Florida with her Dad and 2 brothers.  I was a single parent for 5 days.  Holy crap I missed her….
• Hurricane Irene hit us….thankfully no one was hurt and our home wasn’t badly damaged.  BUT, we lost power on that Saturday at 1pm and didn’t get it back on until Wednesday evening.  Five days and then four nights by candlelight with no A/C was not the most fun.  We lost everything in the fridge and freezer and lost a chunk of our big tree in the back yard.  We also had a section of the tree in our front yard fall on our roof.  Not good.  It hung on a power line and remained on our roof for until last Thursday……we have some damage to our roof, but nothing major.  Very thankful for that!
• We decided to re-home our sweet great dane, Lucy.  She is an amazing dog, but we felt like she was better suited to be the ONLY dog in a family.  She wanted to be the only one getting the attention, and our beagles were really being affected by it.  She was sweet as could be around the kids, but Lachlan wasn’t comfortable running around in the backyard because he could easily be knocked down or hit by her tail by accident.  It was a hard decision to say the least…but one we knew was the best thing for her and us.  We found a family that had just lost their great dane a year ago, and they have 4 children and no other pets.  They just ADORE her and she is getting all the attention and love she could possible have.  It was a perfect fit.
• We had The Lowers come visit and stay the night with Delaney, Julia & Charlotte.  Lachlan loved them and we had a great time! Already looking forward to next year….
• K and I have finnnnally made a decision to go on vacation! Yes, we have never gone on vacation together….can you believe it?? We have been together for 10 years this November.  Insane.  We’re going big and going all out for our anniversary, Christmas, and Lachlan’s birthday.  We have booked 12 nights (weeee! so excited even typing that) at a 5-star resort in Orlando Dec 23rd-Jan 4th.  We will have Christmas in Orlando and celebrate Lachlan’s 3rd birthday at D.isney! We are staying in a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom with a heated private pool and huge resort pool with water slides.  The resort has a mini-golf, 3 playgrounds, workout room and more.  We can’t wait.
• I chopped my hair again after letting it grow out.  Donated it to l.ocks of love, too, which was awesome.  I’ve started trying to exercise more often too.  Jogging a few nights a week when the kiddos go to bed early and trying (I stress TRYING) to eat less chocolate.  I so love chocolate   I’m about 20-25 lbs below my pre-preggo weight with Cael, so feeling pretty good about that.  Would ideally like to lose another 10-15 pounds to reach my goal weight…but just taking it slow.  This girl is never getting in a bikini, that’s for sure.  Maybe some women don’t get stretch marks with 9+ lb babies?
• In just 9 days, Cael will be one year old.  He is a sweet, chunky, 5 toothed ball of cuteness.  He puts himself to bed every night and sleeps through the night (no nursing!).  He has been an excellent teether and is generally pretty happy most of the time.  His favourite things are E.LMO (in all forms) and the L.ittle C.ritter books.  We have gone through 4 books with him….he carries them around everywhere and kisses L.ittle C.ritter on each page.  It’s hilarious and absolutely adorable.  I cannot believe he’s going to be a year old.  The time just goes by much too quickly.  I have cherished every moment watching him grow up this year.  A little sad that I’m losing my baby though….
• We got Lachlan’s hair cut for the 2nd time professionally.  Only this time he LOVED it.  He is still obsessed with all things noisy and electric (and usually dangerous)….hairdryers, fans, vacuums, dog clippers, scissors, hair straighteners, drills, weedeaters, lawnmowers and the like…..SO, he loved that the hairdresser used the razor on the back of his hair AND the hairdryer.  He loved it so much that the following night he decided to give HIMSELF a hair cut.  That was nice.  He used the dog clippers.  As soon as I heard them buzzing I ran in….but it was too late.  OH well….it’ll grow…….
• There’s much more, but the boys are drawing me away…..Some recent photos (including one of Lachlan’s hair PRE-DOG-CLIPPERS-CUT):

Cael turned 9 months old on the 20th of June and his 2nd tooth is breaking through the bottom gums now.  That amber teething necklace is still doing wonders for him!  He is such a happy boy and I just fall more and more in love with him every day.  He is “talking” now constantly “mummummum” “dadadadadadadada”. I love hearing new sounds coming from him and his laugh makes me so so happy I feel blessed every.single.day that I get to spend my days with him.   Cael’s new favourite thing is taking a bath in the sink….he loves the sprayer hitting his tummy and tries to grab it!

AF returned when Cael turned 8 months (same time it returned after Lachy was born) and it decided to show up again after 23 days! WTH? I am seriously hoping this doesn’t become a normal thing.  Have you ever experienced this with your postpartum periods? It feels kinda strange to not be charting and keeping track of every little thing related to my cycles…but another baby isn’t on the horizon any time soon for us.  I have let my FF membership expire for the first time since 2007…. (sadly, yes….) knowing that I can renew again if we decide to TTC#3 in the future.  Karli and I have talked about it a lot the past few months.  Some days I really want another one, and other days I am really really complete with K and my two boys.  We have a perfect balance, the right size house and vehicle…..and a third child would mean big big changes.  We are leaving the door open a crack….if we want to go down that road later on….we can.  But for now, we are a family of four with plans to stay that way…

Lachlan is saying everything imaginable now and I am so proud of him.  Ever since he was potty trained a few months ago, he hasn’t had a single accident and has worn undies to bed every night (woke me up one night so he could go potty!). So proud of him!  He is still struggling in the sleep dept…so he is sleeping in the bed with me.  One thing at a time, right? Love him to pieces.

Ps. Regular post coming soon.  Lots to blog about, just busy busy at the shop and trying to keep the momentum going!!!

My angel baby….I knew he was teething….but he has been so good through it all! I remember (and I’m sure you do as well!) being up night after night after night with Lachlan as he was teething and screaming (got his first tooth at 11 months). We were armed back then with C.amilia, T.ylenol and O.rajel and NONE of it seemed to help.  Cael hasn’t needed anything and is sleeping just the same as he was months ago (nursing on and off throughout the night).  He HAS been wearing the amber teething necklace constantly though.  I may be sold on those things now.  Lachlan never kept his on long enough for me to know if it really worked!

Lachlan is becoming a big kid before my eyes.  Talking in sentences now, drawing pictures (that actually resemble real things!) and totally wanting to do things ALL BY HIMSELF now! I wonder when we should start thinking about preschool………nah, not for awhile…..

Also, I’ve mentioned Z.ulily before, and many of you guys joined (smart folks!).  If you haven’t, click the link to join and get amazing daily deals for moms, babies and kids! We have gotten great stuff for birthdays and Christmas already for a fraction of the retail price!

Some photos from the weekend