Hello Friends and Hello September!

If I simply told you I love fall then that would be an understatement. I wait all year for fall’s arrival and live my best life in those days and weeks leading up to winter. This fall won’t be any different. We’ve got a lot of fun stuff planned in the coming weeks that I can’t wait to share here with all of you. It’s going to great!

Gem City Kids Update

School is back in session ya’ll! My oldest started 2nd grade in mid August and has transitioned back into school life effortlessly. She’s involved in her schools Colorguard team, will be joining girls scouts, and keeps going back and forth between Basketball and Cheer for her winter sport. Her other favorite part of school this year is that we live very close to the school, so as long as it’s not down pour raining we walk to and from school each day. The plan is to do that this year and then let her start walking/riding her bike on her own next year. Our neighborhood is very safe and we have a large amount of students that are walkers in our neighborhood. I just want to make sure she knows the route well and go over a few safety precautions before I let this baby bird spread her wings and fly.

In the world of Miss Freya we’re really starting to see her personality shine and her development is speeding up big time. While she isn’t able to crawl (yet!) she still manages to be very mobile. She scoots herself around and is beginning to grab onto things and tries to pull herself up. She also started eating actual solid foods and loves cottage cheese and lentils and has 4 teeth with more coming through. She is definitely sticking to the trend of being my biggest baby yet as well. She’s only 8 months old but easily wears 12 and 18 month clothing. However, she’s just like big sister Charlotte and has the tiniest feet around. She’s just now getting into 3-6 month size shoes which really only stay on well if she is wearing socks of some kind. I’ve also been planning and have her 1 year photo shoot schedule with our favorite kiddo photographer Kaitlyn Hensley as well as her 1st birthday party. So as the holiday’s approach, be on the look out for those photos to be shared!

The Gem City Mama and Papa

As for things with my husband and I we’ve had some major changes going on. My husband has a new job in administration for a local school district. He’s now working his “dream job” in a sense and has really been enjoying the change from the classroom setting. Now where the change comes in is he works NORMAL hours. so he’s gone from 8-5 Monday through Friday. No more summers off and actually having to schedule vacation time if we plan to go anywhere. Needless to say my mama brain is already planning ahead to next summer where I’ll be alone with a house full of kiddos during the week. At the end of the day I’m so very proud of him and excited for this new opportunity for him and for our family. So congrats my love!

As for me you all have obviously seen some changes around here! I actually have a legit blogging website now with my own domain and everything. To serious, long term bloggers I’m sure I sound silly and naive, but I’m excited about it! I also went out and got myself a new Mac Book because what I was using before just wasn’t working out with my future plans for this blog, and my continued work with the Dayton Moms Blog. So out with the old and in with the new. I’ve also taken some serious steps in my healthy lately as well. As some you know my mom suffered from a severe stroke back in June, 9 days before my wedding. At the time I was just so overwhelmed with what was happening in my life that I just did all I could do to “exist” the rest of June and beginning of July. However, once things settled back down into normalcy I really got to thinking. Taking simple steps now when it comes to eating and exercise could help keep me healthy and lower my risk for things like a stroke in the future. A friend of mine is a Beach Body coach and for fun I joined her clean week group. Ya’ll it was life changing. I learned so much from that week, and developed a strong foundation for the months and hopefully years to come. In that one week alone I dropped a couple pounds and lost some inches in the process. Below you’ll see my before and afters. They aren’t drastic by any means, but they do show progress, and I’m pretty dang proud of myself.

So there’s the re-cap on what was going on over here the last couple months. I plan to actually make this a monthly segment on the first of each month going forward, so be on the look out for this post moving forward. As always, thanking for for stopping in and reading about this little life of mine. Sharing it with people out there just like me (or not) is a blessing. You never really know how what you say  might spark something in someone else, or allow them to realize they aren’t alone in a certain situation or feelings. I hope my words touch people, regardless of typos, incorrect grammar, or whatever it might be that draws them in. Until next time friends!