It is officially September! I celebrated a little prematurely by drinking a pumpkin spice cold brew yesterday, and buying some fall decorations from the dollar spot at Target & even though it will still probably feel like summer here in Columbia for a month or two, I am determined to squeeze in every bit of fall because after living in Vietnam last year, I definitely missed it.

August was quite the busy month. Naomi turned a month old (!), we are settling in to our new home (basically this means I am always trying to explain to Nathan that we need throw pillows and wall decorations), and things have really picked up with students back in town.

Nathan works with international students, and we had a picnic party on Friday and it was so fun. I stayed for a little bit, while trying to make Hezekiah happier by feeding him two bags of chips and three cookies. Mom of the year! But all in all it was really fun, I love seeing students from so many different countries gathering together, having fun & doing fun things like making a PB&J for the first time!

Like I mentioned earlier, Naomi is one month old! She is in the 99th percentile for weight which is so funny to me because she doesn’t LOOK big. Her belly is quite large, but she still has those itty bitty newborn legs that look like sticks. Her cheeks are pretty chunk though, and she sometimes does look like a little round ball. She is pretty content and loves to be held. Motherhood is constantly sanctifying me. Every time I am trying to do my own thing, and I set her down and she begins to fuss, I find myself getting frustrated or short-tempered. And then I remember oh wait, she’s a little human and literally just wants to be comforted and held and have my attention and I am reminded that cleaning, or whatever I am doing can wait because Naomi will forever be more important than that and these days of her wanting to be held are so short. Anyways, she sleeps and she eats and she is just cute. Even when she is wide awake at 2:00 in the morning, she’s really stinking cute. She likes to sit upright like a mini human, and she also loves being in her carseat.

Hezekiah has adjusted well to Naomi. He loves to rub her bald little head, give her belly pats and give her kisses. It is one hundred percent the cutest thing you will ever see. Although, sometimes he does try to lay on her, or poke her eyes and if she starts crying he will try to put her pacifier in her mouth with the most force you have ever seen.

While he has adjusted so well to Naomi, he is a little skeptical of other humans. He loves to give high fives regardless though, which is kind of funny when he is crying because he’s scared of you, but will still walk up to you and excitedly give you a high five. We have gone to some playgrounds recently and while he is very timid, he’s getting more brave. Usually he is just content walking around the playground equipment instead of on it. Which is okay with me because I don’t have to worry about him falling off. The other day, while at a playground, me and a friend were talking while Hez and her daughter walked over to those little grills they have at parks, and decided to “clean up” the ashes by taking them and throwing them in the trash can. At least he was trying to be helpful, right?

So anyways, we are soaking up this last bit of summer. We’ve got a zoo trip planned on Saturday and I’m hoping Hez likes the animals. He calls every animal he has seen so far “dada” and dogs are most definitely his favorite. He also has recently fallen in love with the movie “Shrek” and i’m pretty sure it’s just because he thinks that Donkey is a dog.

So there’s our august. It went by fast, and I’m trying to just soak up this season of life that we are in right now.

Here are some things that I’ve especially enjoyed this month:

-Femina Podcast: Nancy Wilson talks about basic christian living habits & practices specifically related to being a women. They are shorter podcasts (15-20 minutes) which is perfect for my mushy mom-brain.

-Let’s Talk Podcast: I came across this podcast this summer, and it made walking around at 40 weeks pregnant bearable. Jackie Hill Perry, Melissa Kruger and Jasmine Holmes talk about a different topic and how to apply biblical wisdom to everyday life. The one on contentment is my personal favorite and has probably convicted me to find my contentment in Christ and Christ alone every single day since. I recommend highly.

-MyPanera coffee subscription: Can I list this as one of my favorite things this summer? Is that okay? I don’t know, but I love this. I’m not sure when they stop offering the first month free (pretty sure its soon, so sorry). But for less than $10 a month, you can get unlimited iced or hot coffee. Ya’ll, i’m all about my iced coffee. Whenever I leave the house I go to the nearest Panera and they bring a big ol’ thing of iced coffee out to my minivan for me! I don’t have take my children out of their carseats, I don’t have to pay money even, it’s free (until my free first month ends). What a beautiful thing. I recomend the large sized iced coffee with almond milk and two sugars. It’s good.

-I always want to include a recipe that I’ve really enjoyed this month, but to be honest I have not cooked very much recently (thank you mealtrain). However, I did make scotcheroos for our small group last night and I always think it’s so funny how apparently scotcheroos are an Iowa thing?! Who knew. If you haven’t had a scotcheroo, try them. You wont be disappointed, unless you don’t like peanutbutter/chocolate/butterscotch rice crispies, then you will be very disappointed.

Here’s to hoping I can actually recommend a book the next time I write a blog. Let’s just say reading has taken the backseat so far in this season of having two children under the age of two.

If you’ve made it this far—thanks for reading. Thanks for being interested in our little life. You rock.