Good morning, and happy Monday.
It’s a gloomy day, but thankfully we only dealt with a lot of rain and wind from the tropical storm. My heart breaks for Florida My mother-in-law lives in Venice, and it was hit very hard. Luckily, they’re safe and only have minimal damage. I know hurricanes are natural and expected this year, but they are devastating. If you’re in a spot where Ian hit, my heart goes out to you, and I will continue to pray.
It’s been a month since my last recap blog. I figured I’d pop on today to share some photos from the month. I can’t promise a long detailed blog post, but sharing pictures with little captions is better than nothing, right? I also cannot believe it is already October. My Bugs is already five months old, and time needs to slow down.
We started September with a trip to Spring Farms to grab lemonade and peach ice cream. I bought this apple cobbler mix that I can’t wait to make soon!
This month, I’ve been trying to do exercises to help with my diastasis recti (ab separation pp) and two baker cysts behind my knees. After dealing with leg pain, and it getting worse, I finally made an appointment with an orthopedic to get an x-ray. It turns out my kneecaps are tilted, causing the patellar tendon to pull, which causes inflammation/fluid, creating tennis ball-sized bakers cysts behind my knees. It’s so painful, so we are working on strengthening my knees and correcting the issues! I have six weeks of P.T. to complete, and then we’ll see if I’m making any progress!
One thing I never miss is my walks with Leo and Bugs. Since the weather has been so nice, we’ve been able to go on multiple walks a day, putting him in such a good mood. It also helps me wake up when I’m exhausted in the afternoon. I always hit that 3 pm wall.
Every night after we put Bugs to bed, we watch T.V. for an hour with the pups. It’s fantastic to see the progress Tux has made. He went from hiding and hardly looking at us to cuddling and rolling over for belly rubs. It took him a year before he came upstairs, and now he runs all over the house. 
September must have been the month for chocolate chip cookies in this house. I made these for Kyle to bring into work, but I think I made over ten batches of these chocolate chip cookies these past few weeks.
Meals have been random and all over the place, depending on the day. Sometimes I have the time and energy to make dinner, but other times I whip up some eggs or door dash a salad.
Leo had a lump on his chest that we had checked out a few weeks ago. They think it’s a noncancerous lipoma, but we will keep monitoring it! Grumples had one the size of a baseball on his hip for six years.
After Leo’s vet appointment, I took him to Starbucks for a pup cup!
The following Saturday, we had my parents over to watch the first Iowa game. 
Chilly evenings call for butternut squash soup. I love this recipe because you roast all the ingredients and blend them in the blender. It’s super easy and quick.
It’s crazy how we had 90-degree weather and green trees, and then a few weeks later, our weather is in the 70s, and our trees are turning yellow and orange! 
Another day, another batch of chocolate chip cookies…
I try my best to get blogs up while Bugs is napping, but sometimes my brain feels like mush when I get those quiet moments. One of my favorite recipes I made this month is the kale and chickpea pasta salad! I loved having it with my butternut squash soup and washing it down with a pumpkin spice bar.
Because the weather has been so nice, I take out all the play stations and put them on the back porch. We stay outside almost all day. I let him nap and have his meals out there, and he seems happy with being outside. I think fresh air does wonders for babies. He sleeps through the night whenever we have extra walks or time outdoors. One of our neighbors gave us the Skip Hop activity table, which is his FAVORITE thing on the planet. He will spend all day at that table if I let him. Watching him learn how to play with all the pieces has been so much fun.
Morning porch time ️ 
Leo also loves the morning walks! Tux gets his walks with Kyle separately because he’s still afraid of cars and will shut down, and Kyle has to carry him for a few steps. He’s getting better, though, and he gets so excited to go on the walks. He runs to the door and spins in circles until Kyle puts him on the leash. I hope one day we’ll be able to walk together!
One of my FAVORITE things to do now takes Bugs to the playground to swing. HE’S OBSESSED! We are in the process of building him one for the backyard, but since he’s so tall, he fits right into the swing. He also has zero issues holding his head up, so it’s safe. We don’t push him very high, but he loves love love love loves it! He makes these little noises and sometimes lets out a big laugh. Not one day goes by when we don’t walk a mile to the park! 
We had a few downtime days after his shots earlier this month. He doesn’t respond too well, so we do a lot of naps and relax together. While he was sleeping, I watched one of my favorite movies, Hope Floats ️ I also made chocolate tofu pudding, which was amazing! It sounds crazy, but it was delicious. I used silken tofu, chocolate protein powder, cocoa powder, and a pinch of salt. I also topped it with whipped cream.
We ordered Crumbl Cookies because the breakfast lineup looked so good, but our cookies were hardly cooked and almost all dough. We used to love them, but the cookie quality has been terrible lately! Has this happened to anyone else’s store? I’m hesitant to buy them anymore because the past four orders have been poor. I’m also sad that the pink sugar cookie doesn’t taste the same. I saw a recipe online for it, and I can’t wait to make it! I may even try that today while Kyle watches the Eagles game. 
Football Saturday and Cobb salads! 
I’m still debating on decorating for Halloween this year. Everyone in our neighborhood goes all out, but I may stick with the fall theme. I always feel stressed when there are too many decorations floating around without order in the yard, and I’m also still picking out cobwebs and fake spiders from two Halloweens ago.
My FAVORITE baby product is the Tubby Todd brand. I ordered a new stash, and I’m just as obsessed. I’ve been using these since he was born, and he’s never had a rash or swing irritation. I also use the all-over ointment for myself now. My favorite scent is the Lavender and Rosemary, but I love the Eric Care collaboration apple scent.
I made these chocolate chip cookies with heath, Reese’s, and chocolate chips for a going away party.
We roasted spaghetti squash with black pepper, garlic, and parmesan!
Morning walks ️
Can you tell I’m excited about the fall?
My roses are making their final debut before hitting the winter sleep. They took a hit with Japanese Beatles and aphids this year, so I’ll cut them down to the stem, clean the ground areas below, and have our lawn service treat for grubs.
I did a lot of meal prepping with soups, salads, roasted veggies, and grilled chicken this past month.
I even made these delicious spiced carrot-baked oatmeal bars! You’ll have to let me know if you want that recipe.
After our trip to the Wise Acre farm, Kyle and I stopped at a cafe in Matthews for some citrus and tropical tea and a few snacks to have on the way home.
I love the meal prep kale salads because they last forever!
My mom and I took Bugs on a coffee date at Jackass Cafe & Deli. It’s inside the Mercantile in Rock Hill. They have the BEST stuff in there, especially for gifs, and the coffee and food are to die for.
We ordered the twerky turkey (AMAZING!!!) and the Drivin’ me Caprese. The turkey sandwich was so good that we ordered two more to go! I always get their oat milk cappuccino, and it never disappoints.
Bugs also enjoyed himself.
More morning Fall walks ️
This Lil man has been so playful lately. I LOVE IT!
Saturday morning walks are my favorite, especially when they are followed by apple cinnamon waffles.
I played piano every day when I was pregnant because I read that babies could hear and feel the music in the womb. I also played for him when he was a baby, and he LOVES sitting on my lap while babbling (sounds like soft singing) to the piano. Well, recently, he’s been banging on the keys, and it is the CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD! He’s super into the piano!
Whenever I finish cleaning the house, I always finish it by filling up the cake dish, lighting a candle, and pouring myself a cup of coffee ️
Another perfect park morning.
I always bring my lemon trees in when the weather drops down, and since we had hurricane winds coming in, I painted the pots cream and now have them in my living room! I love how they turned out. The smaller lemon tree needs to get an upgrade this year, which is perfect because I have an indoor plant that I’ve had for five years that needs a bigger home.
Fried brussels sprouts and taco stuffed bell peppers!
This recipe is coming to the blog soon!
Another recipe coming to my blog soon is this pumpkin pie dessert dip!!!
BEST FRIENDS.
This is my life lately, and I love it. And as soon as Bugs wakes up, I’m heading out on another one.
For dinner, we’ve been making these flat-out pizzas and Caesar salads. THEY’RE SOOOOO good, and the flat-out wraps are only 45 calories. I’ve also recently been obsessed with Dewey’s cookies. I’ve had gingerbread and hot cocoa, but now I need to try them all. I don’t get how they can make a cookie taste so good, and it’s even better when dipped in coffee.
Perfect night sky before the storm ️ 
Butternut squash ravioli ️ (all my favorite baby pajamas are linked in my amazon shop! ). I update it almost daily.
We weren’t sure how bad the storm would be, so I made a big batch of chili and cornbread just in case we lost power. I also craved it for the past few weeks, and with hocus locus premiering on Friday night, it sounded like the perfect timing. 
Hocus Pocus date night set up ️ 
The new Hocus Pocus could never be as good as the first, but I found it super cute and family-friendly! I will be watching it again this year!
