Whew, when these creep up on my to-do list monthly, the task is met with astonishment… how is it already time for another monthly recap? How did another month pass? How is my baby nine months old? Isn’t it still 2019? This was a really fun month, a month of soaking in the girls, a month filled with family dates, and visits with people we love.

This summer moved so fast (it always does) thanks to my book launch, and so I feel like August hit and we had a collective “holy cow” moment realizing that summer was on its way out and it was up to us to enjoy every minute of it… and that we did. The theme of this past month was: family. From meeting our new nephew, Miles, to a weekend spent at my parents’, a week-long tour of Wisconsin to see family and friends, and a lot of special “family dates” around Duluth, we’ve been soaking up all things family time.

Moving and Shaking 

This month felt like a big month in terms of Quinn’s development. She’s never loved just laying on her back (we have videos of how she’s tried to sit up for months!) but this month she started getting really wiggly and wanting to be on the move. While she’s not crawling (yet!), I have a feeling that an update will be following soon. From rolling around her crib like a wild woman to wanting to climb whoever is holding her, she’s getting active! I simultaneously love and dread this next stage because while it’s so fun to watch them crawl, you also have to keep your eyes on your kid 24/7. (I’m personally a big fan of when they hit the walking stage but also not in any rush for Quinnie to grow… uh, the heart of a parent!) 

Her favorite places to be are: sitting on the floor like a big girl, in a carrier facing out, running around in her walker, and chilling in her high chair! Contained but not restricted is the name of the game these days. 

Road trip to Wisconsin: 

Towards the end of this month, we took a road trip to Wisconsin to visit Drew’s fam and also see some friends. It was a 6-hour drive (per the map) but ended up taking around eight and I’ll spare you the details but there was a mouse in our car which made things even more interesting! (Yuck!) We learned that Quinn does not like to sleep in a car seat, she loves to look out the window or stare at Coco, and she can eat an insane amount of Mumums. We shared a room with her all week which also helped us realize that even a whisper will wake her up so Drew and I would sneak into bed like two teenagers and try to not wake her. Any parent knows that traveling with kids is more of a trip than a vacation, but overall she did amazing and was so flexible as we were out and about a ton.

Our travel must-haves: 

This travel pack and play: We’ve had this for over 3 years and it’s traveled the world with us. Hands down one of our best purchases ever! It takes 2 minutes to set up and dismantle, it’s light, compact, and comes in a travel bag. I can’t tell you how much use we’ve gotten out of this. 

This carrier: Okay, I am the queen of carriers (and I need to do a blog post round-up of my faves because I love them all for different reasons), but on a trip where we brought one carrier, it was this one. Both Drew and I can wear it, and baby can face in or out! If I were only getting one carrier, it would be this one (and the one we’re using was also a Coco classic!). 

This baby monitor: Call me crazy but I need cameras on my babies all the time (especially when we’re not in our normal surroundings!). I always worry that Coco will wake up and wander or be afraid. I love this camera/monitor set up for a million reasons! You don’t need wifi, you just need to plug it in, it can scan between cameras, and you don’t need a cell phone to tune in.

These white noises: Yes, it sounds like a wind tunnel when my children sleep and yes, we as adults have gotten used to it, but when you’re on the go, having these are a godsend. We put them by Quinn’s car seat when attempting to get her a nap in the car and have 2 in each room when the girls are sleeping so we don’t have to worry about noise waking them. I even got myself one for when I travel because I’m so used to the noise that it feels weird to not hear it at night.

Family Dates and bucket lists: 

Since the end of summer is sneaking up on us, we each picked a local adventure we wanted to go on before school started! I picked the beach, Drew picked the zoo, and Coco picked going on a train. On top of those three we also did a bunch of coffee dates, play dates, and we perused the mall a time or two! There’s something special about that time making memories as a family of four and now Coco wakes up asking, “Are we going on a family date today?”

While a lot of the day-to-day stuff can feel mundane, these little outings have been so fun and have also pushed us to get out into our own city even more and enjoy things through our kid’s eyes! We’re now going to make a “fall bucket list” for the next few months to keep our family dates a priority and to keep trying new things. 

House updates: 

So much has happened in this last month! One of the biggest challenges (and then wins!) was doing house showings on our Hermantown home. Since we are in the process of building our dream home, we were trying to time out the sale of our current home in a way that would hopefully allow us to have a seamless transition. While we were up north at the lake house for a handful of the showings, we had to navigate the (not-so) fun dance of doing home showings and trying to make our house look like it isn’t occupied with two dogs and two kids. There was one day that we had three showings all spread out over a 9-hour period and we had to reset our house so many times. It definitely wasn’t easy or enjoyable but we secured an amazing offer from a super sweet family, and we feel so lucky and relieved that this part of the process is over. 

On the new home front, there’s so much happening. Electrical and plumbing are going in, insulation is starting, and then we’ll get the sheetrock and the stucco on the interior and exterior of the house which will absolutely transform the space. We’ve been going over to walk the land and the new house once a week as a family, and it’s been incredible watching the progress unfold and dreaming about life there. There’s something to be said that the land just feels magical and the home literally feels like a dream come true. We’re hoping to be in by the end of the year, so fingers crossed. 

Alone time: 

Early in this month, I went to get a massage with Thea. If you’ve read my book, you know who Thea is and why this is wonderful. When I was laying on the table, I felt this release and this deep desire for rest (which was perfect timing, since August was set aside for just that!). I also felt this deep yearning for more time alone. I’ve gotten into this flow of life when I bounce between work and mom life (sometimes a million times in a day) and in juggling those two roles, I rarely take time to just be. 

One thing that I’ve been trying to prioritize and figure out for myself is how to claim more alone time for myself to be me outside of the roles I play, and I’ve also been trying to strategize ways to get that same opportunity for Drew who lives in “dad land” all of the time. It’s easy to be in the weeds as parents and in entrepreneurship and I’ve been trying to figure out what it looks like to take time for ourselves alone. Whether I take the girls out on a date so Drew can have a little time to himself or prioritize an extra day away when I’m on a work trip, we’ve been figuring it out together.  

Something that’s been awesome is now that Coco dropped her nap (not so awesome), she’s ready for bed when the clock strikes 7pm, so we’ve been taking that time after her bedtime and before ours to unwind intentionally. Drew’s been taking a lot of baths, I’ve been laying on our PEMF mat or meditating or watching a trashy show on Bravo before we head to bed. It’s hard as a parent to get that time (I honor that!), so it’s something we’re trying to figure out! 

To sum up this last month: 

I am so grateful we had carefully crafted a month of rest, I really needed it. It was wild how once I started to intentionally unplug, I lost that desire to be connected. While I thought I’d be on here and there (and I have been a bit), I’ve been mostly offline without a big urge or pull to be checking in or working. After such a busy first half of the year, this pause was needed (and I just kind of wish I had more of it, to be honest!).

I had all of these hopes and dreams for August in terms of what I wanted to learn and how I wanted my rest to look, and while the month unfolded a bit differently (as it does with kids!), it was the most special month of family memories and savoring summer. This post is making me commit to myself (and you) to do a little more journaling, learning about random topics, and investing in my health as we close out the month. 

Watch her grow:

• Click here for our Month 8 Recap
• Click here for our Month 7 Recap
• Click here for our Month 6 Recap
• Click here for our Month 5 Recap 
• Click here for our Month 4 Recap
• Click here for our Month 3 Recap
• Click here for our Month 2 Recap
• Click here for our Month 1 Recap 

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