Don't Mind Our Mess: Life Lately-- Our Slow Return to Normal

Good morning friends and happy Friday! We made it through another week and I have to say this week went a lot more smoothly for our family than I initially anticipated. This was Devin's first week back at work and I was nervous about being outnumbered by the kids again-- it's been so long since I've had to handle 2 on 1! I am happy to report that it went very well, apparently I was worried over nothing. 😊 We are extremely grateful to be getting a teensy glimpse of our "normal" lives back and every day seems to get a little bit better.

Side note-- does anyone else feel like it's easier to parent when only one parent is in charge? Devin and I are on the same page for the most part but have some slight differences in how we parent. I think Lily Grace's 3 year old brain appreciates understanding that there's only one person in charge. It's like she knows her rules/boundaries are more consistent when it's just mom.

Anyway, here's a little look at what we've been up to:

We have been spending as much time as possible in our backyard. If you missed my post earlier this week about our yard, you can check it out here. I had a few girlfriends over one night last week and this was our setup when they came over. Our backyard makes me happy 😀

Our little man is on the move! He recently learned to crawl and it is all he wants to do, all the time. I pulled Lily Grace's old playpen back out so I can make lunch/dinner in peace without having to worry what he has crawled over to. We never un-babyproofed our house, but Lily Grace has some toys with small parts and I don't feel comfortable with him getting into those.

He is also able to pull himself up to stand now and tried to pull himself into the bathtub earlier this week... yikes! Devin was with him and making sure he was safe, but had that been unsupervised he could've fallen in and bumped his head. Better safe than sorry so we pulled out the playpen. Big sister likes to play in it too now which is great because they can "play together". It's more parallel play than actually playing together, but I'll take it!

Lily Grace's summer camp is still on to start next week and I am beyond grateful for her to get a chance to be around other kids!! The toddler motormouth stage is no joke-- hah! I am ready for her to have friends to talk to so it isn't just me all day.

Her camp is "Princess Ballerina" and the theme next week is Frozen 2. Here she had pulled out 4 of her tutus, an Anna and Elsa shirt, and was doing the ballet moves she remembers from last year's camp. I think it's safe to say she's ready!

Our pool opened back up this week so we went to go try it out. This girl was on cloud 9! She was filled with joy to be back in her happy place!

We have been grilling out almost every night and one night I had planned on making grilled pizza, but then didn't feel like making/prepping the dough (definitely buying the pre-made crusts next time!). Since I was in the mood to take the easier route, we ended up making build your own mini-pizzas using tortillas. It took less than 10 minutes and was super easy for Lily Grace to make her own. We will definitely be making these again!

And then last but not least, I started running again recently and have been LOVING it! I used to wake up every morning at 4:30 and run/exercise before work, but then COVID started and my routine got out of whack. I made a commitment to get back into running this month and it has been wonderful. Here is my 5:45 am, no makeup, post-run, sweaty face: