September was full of big events which have already been blogged like Shark Bait's blessing, Man Cub's 3rd birthday and the Super Moon lunar eclipse. But, as always, there are still plenty of little things in need of recording.

September started off with a bang when one of my most favourite photo clients ever gave birth to her third baby, and I was invited to be part of the special day! Oh how I love being a birth photographer! Jess rocked the birth and Baby M is just adorable.

 I painted a Totoro peg for my brother Tarrant. It might be one of my most favourite pegs ever... but I think I say that about all my pegs Ü

Man Cub and I enjoyed a Costco lunch date with his best friend, Yatee. These boys have known each other since birth and it is so fun to see how much they have changed since then. One thing has stayed the same though- they are self proclaimed best friends. 

Bruce was still working graves back in September... and one of the perks of graves was that even at nap time, Shark Bait had someone to snuggle with. 

Man Cub started the treacherous road to being potty trained just before his third birthday. After two good weeks, we thought he had it so we gave him his reward- a new train. He sure played us! Once he got the train, h e quickly decided that being potty trained was for the birds and we ended up putting him back in diapers after several days of deliberate, non-stop accidents. With a new baby to care for, I just couldn't handle the added stress of a stubborn almost 3 year old deciding he no longer cared for using the big boy potty. Luckily, a few months later he was ready to go and it's been relatively pain free this time around. 

As always, I took lots of pictures of Shark Bait... 

September brought the beginning of a new preschool year. This year I decided to teach a one day a week toddler class, for those who were not quite old enough for a full preschool program but perhaps would benefit from getting out of the house and being with friends one day a week. Man Cub loves preschool days since it means seeing Yatee and his other best friend, Grace. 

Man Cub loves to hide under a blanket and watch movies on the iPad. And it's even better when he has a friend to join him! 

The weather sort of, barely cooled off enough that we braved the mountain one Saturday morning. It was a good hike despite the heat. I just love any opportunity to get some exercise with my family in tow. 

Shark Bait watched his first Spartan football game. He looked so cute in his MSU onesie, but clearly he was over me taking photos of him. Ü

I went for my first post baby run and was absolutely astonished to find that I hadn't completely lost my ability to run. I truly thought I'd be starting back at square one, where I could only run for 2-3 minutes and would then have to walk for about double that to regain my breath. I was so surprised to find that I could run a full mile without stopping, and at my typical 11:30 pace. I couldn't go farther than a mile, but I did not even care! I was just so glad to not be starting from scratch.

A few weeks later, I had my first run in 49 weeks with my favourite running buddy, Nicole. We hadn't run together since our half marathon, the weekend I found out I was pregnant with Shark Bait. She gave me this awesome headband which must have super powers because we did a total of 4 miles- 2 running and 2 walking. It felt amazing and it was so nice to spend some quality time with one of my most favourite people.

Beebs had her first family project for school... she had to make something that moved. She designed a caterpillar pull toy and I got to help her make it come to life. 

Shark Bait enjoyed some lovin' from his siblings... I love how happy Beebs was to get home from school and cuddle him each day. She sure misses her baby when she's gone all day. 

 The girls got cute new uniform dresses for school and proudly wore them twin style.

We ended the month with Shark Bait getting a round of shots and for the first time ever, my happy boy was a sad little mess. He just whimpered and wanted to be held. Luckily, Beebs was more than happy to snuggle him while I got things done around the house and cooked dinner. So grateful for such a wonderful little helper! 

Shark Bait's Blessing Day

Let's rewind almost seven months and attempt to catch up on some September fun. We started the month off with a bang over Labour Day weekend when Bruce gave Shark Bait a name and blessing at church. Almost all of my family was able to come down from Utah to meet baby Shark Bait and celebrate with us. Due to the holiday weekend, my brother Cooper and Tressie's husband Matt were unable to join us as they had to work, but they were very much missed! The rest of my siblings rented a house through Airbnb and my parents stayed with us. It was the perfect arrangement, especially as our house has become quite cozy since Shark Bait's arrival, but I wouldn't have it any other way! 

The whole weekend was a lot of fun. Shark Bait enjoyed loads of snuggles and the rest of the wee ones enjoyed spending time with aunts and uncles and my nephew, Bodhi. 

My mum brought us donuts from our favourite little grocery store in Utah. I decided I was totally justified in eating one (or more!) on my way home from the Zumba class Tressie and I did on Saturday morning. 

Tarrant brought a few games from his collection so we spent each evening sitting around the table laughing and joking and playing board games. I gave in and agreed to play Dead of Winter, despite my extreme dislike for zombies. (And then in November I let Tarrant talk me into watching iZombie... it would appear I am joining the masses in the zombie obsession) As always, our game nights were a highlight of being together. 

The house my siblings rented had a really nice pool, so we spent plenty of time over there swimming. It was a nice break from the scorching hot temps. The wee ones had fun being thrown into the pool by Bruce and having jumping contests. It made for some great photos. 

Shark Bait's actual blessing day was a good one. We were blessed to have lots of our closest friends and family join us for the occasion- friends from the girls school, my family, Bruce's family, police department friends... we were surrounded by so many people we love! Shark Bait was an angel baby all through church, not making even a peep during his blessing. Then, after church we hosted a dinner and he was passed around by the crowd. He was still happy as could be.

I love love love his blessing outfit. My mum got it for him and it's an all white sailor suit. He was cute as could be in it. I wish I'd gotten better photos of him wearing it, but I was still in that "just had a baby" fog and a few phone photos are the best I got, but we did manage to get a great photo of our entire family together on his blessing day. I'm very grateful for that!

As always, saying goodbye to my family was tough, but I was so so grateful to have had them all here to celebrate our sweet little guy. I know it is difficult and expensive to be traveling and away from home, so I really appreciate that my family made the necessary sacrifices to be here with us. And how lucky are my parents to have such a cute bunch of grandchildren? Even if they are prone to having dirty bare feet and scraggly hair. Ü