I can hardly believe that it is already August.  What happened to July.  It’s as if I blinked and the entire month flew by.  It seems like only yesterday we were in June, and I was still preparing for the kids’ first flights.  Well folks, I am sincerely sorry that I’ve neglected my blog.  Here’s a little recap of the last few weeks.

We spent the first 9 days of July in Georgia visiting my brother and his family.  He is currently stationed at Ft. Stuart (about 30 minutes from Savannah).  We flew into Atlanta, and visited the Georgia Aquarium, Centennial Olympic Park, and Stone Mountain Park.  We spent an afternoon at Jeckyll Island, a driftwood beach at the southern tip of Georgia.  We spent the 4th of July at Ft. Stuart at an outdoor concert featuring Mario and Martina McBride, followed by an incredible 30 minute long fireworks show.  We celebrated my niece Raelynn’s 5th birthday.  We walked about 50 blocks and marveled at the beauty of historic Savannah.  And did a little bit of exploring in the swamps and parks of Southern Georgia.  All and all, out of everything we did, the best was just spending time with the family and watching the kids play.

After returning from vacation, I decided it was finally time to get serious about potty training Marley.   I went with the Potty Training Bootcamp Method.  This method is supposed to be a sure fire way to potty train.  This is where you say farewell to the outside world for 4 days and forego diapers completely, except for naps and at night.   It’s messy, frustrating, and took longer than just 4 days (it was more like 2 weeks), but I am happy to say that Marley is officially potty trained!

Hmm….now let me see….what else happened in July.

Ahh yes, Aaron and I had a nice evening out with friends at the Cosmopolitan.  We rarely ever get to go out without the kids.  Without any family in town, and the cost of babysitters, the last time we’d had alone was in May when we celebrated our anniversary.  However, I learned a very important lesson that night.  Drinking coffee and wine all day, and barely eating is NOT a good combination.  I found myself on the kitchen floor after passing out while fixing Jackson a bottle in the middle of the night with Jackson on top of me.  Luckily, Aaron woke up when he heard me hit the floor.  And we’re even luckier that Jackson landed on me and not the kitchen floor.  Jackson and I were both ok, and I am now making a conscious effort about staying hydrated.

The rest of the month is a blur of mommy meet ups.  We stay at home moms find all sorts of ways to keep busy.  From ice cream socials, park play dates, brunch and coffee play dates, local fire station tour, purse parties, jewelry parties, all while chasing our little ones around.  We somehow got lucky enough to get the chance to desert the kiddos with daddy and have a deliciously delightful mom’s night out.

What I enjoyed most about July was all of the family time we made happen.  Even though we were busy, we were really proactive in spending quality time as a family.  Most days were ended with a nice 3 mile stroll.  We took the kids out for a family date night which consisted of pizza and live music at the District at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, where Marley got to shake her booty.  We spent lots of evenings out back enjoying our almost completed backyard.  And we took the family up to Mt. Charleston for Jackson’s first camping trip.  Sadly, Jackson didn’t like camping as much as we’d hoped he would.  Let’s just blame it on his 5th tooth coming in.

Farewell July.  You came and went and left me with many warm memories.