1. It’s October 1st! Wow. It’s Baby M’s birthday month—and it’s so incredibly difficult for me to wrap my head around that fact. I was just pregnant! We were just coming home from the hospital, absolutely in love but petrified that we wouldn’t know what to do with or how to take care of our sweet baby boy. And now he’s turning one? So many mixed emotions, y’all.

One of the last pictures of the bump! ::sniff sniff::

2. Speaking of the baby, we didn’t learn too much at his GI doctor appointment last Friday, so right now, we’re stuffing him with as much food (bulked up breast milk and formula + Pediasure mixed with his food—don’t get me started on all the unpronounceable ingredients in that stuff!) as possible. Maybe my regular ol’ digital scale is wrong, but I swear he’s already up a bit. I know in my heart that he is a healthy, happy, smart, thriving baby, but I’m human and just really damn tired of feeling like what I’m doing for him—and what I’m giving him—isn’t enough. Plus, the witchy doctor has put so many crazy things in my mind that I’m obsessing over it (keep me away from Google!) and making myself batty. I’m resolving right now to just enjoy my sweet baby.

3. In more lighthearted news, we finally got a waffle maker! Mark wanted a Belgian one, but I convinced him to get a regular one. I’m kind of regretting that decision…but maybe we’ll just experiment with some delicious pumpkin waffles or other variations until we’ve found a winner. Speaking of—what’s your favorite waffle recipe?

4. Now that the mornings are a bit cooler (hello, fall!), I’ve started taking Iggy out on walks before I leave for work. They’re quick and short, but I feel like he desperately needs them (plus it gives me a bit of relaxation, too). I always swore we’d never ignore our fur-baby when the real baby arrived, but some loss of attention is inevitable. So many times we’ve almost forgotten to feed Iggy dinner (!!!), but considering he sleeps in our bed every night, I don’t think he’s too neglected.

5. I feel like the husband and I desperately need to enact a bi-weekly or tri-weekly date night policy. With the added time burden of having to drop off and pick up Baby M at daycare (the hubs does this 99% of the time), I feel like our days are non-stop. We just need time to enjoy being a couple again. Got any inexpensive-but-fun date night ideas?

6. Today I’m guest-posting over at Variety by Vashti. Kayla is getting ready to compete in her first NPC Bikini competition (doesn’t she look incredible?!), and I was flattered to be able to contribute while she’s away. Lately I’ve been reading all I can of her blogging tips—and, as a new mom, I’m so inspired by how she balances it all and stays so fit!

7. Aaaannnd…if you missed my very first guest post, check it out, too! It was also an incredible honor to share a post on Carla’s blog!

8. I’m running out of things to say (my coffee still hasn’t kicked in!) so let’s end things here with a funny image.

Seriously, though, wine has been my saving grace in the evenings lately. A true “litre” that I can trust.

Happy [thinking out loud] Thursday!