I’ve decided I will no longer share blog goals on the blog because when I do, I never meet them. HA.
And now here we are, my January goal of finishing Q4 2022 is finally getting checked off mid-April. I technically had all the photos uploaded in my draft… It’s just the words that always take a while to come together for me. As always… That said, I’ve decided, moving forward, to just dump the photos no matter what, even if the words don’t come to me immediately.
October ’22
October was full of daily one mile stroller walks with Beau. Perfect, clear air. Leaves constantly changing colors. My favorite bonding activity.
^^ Could not resist the adult happy meal special that McDonalds had going that sold out in two weeks. This marked Beau’s first time eating fries and pickles, both of which he loved.
^^^ A Fall rite of passage we avoided our whole 15 years of togetherness until we had Beau… Pumpkin Patching.
You don’t realize how many families exist in a specific area until you venture to a pumpkin patch in the Fall. We went to two Fall/Pumpkin Festivals = Butler’s Orchard in Germantown, MD and Cox Farms in Centreville, VA. Both overwhelming, sensory experiences for both ourselves and Beau but also fun once we finally relaxed into the experience. Freshly served apple cider and apple cider donuts definitely helped to make up for all the screaming kids running around.
^^ Celebrated Charles’s 36 birthday with morning walk around Great Falls and a parents night without Beau.
Aside from the main highlights above, October was pretty much spent trying to keep all my food down. 1st trimester nauseau hit hard. We got to see baby#2 for the first time during my initial pregnancy check up. It was such a special experience to share with Charles in person since, for most of my pregnancy for Beau during *peak pandemic times*, I wasn’t allowed a plus one visitor in the hospital and had to facetime Charles for most of my check ups.
November ’22
^^ Semi-annual heart check up with Beau.
^^ These photos of Beau may seem vague but the location of where we’re at is what matters most = a car dealership. Once the idea of having two kids fully settled in, Charles was like “we need a car with more space” to which I responded “are you sure?” because all I saw was the additional monthly expense of a car note. But Charles was adamant and, after a bit of searching, we ended up getting ourselves a certified pre-owned SUV and, I must confess, the extra space is *very* nice.
^^ With our dear friends, Samir and Kiara at their baby shower.
In hindsight, I realize I barely took any photos in November. As I mentioned before, my 1st trimester symptoms hit hard and, if I wasn’t working, watching Beau or cooking food.. I was napping.
We spent Thanksgiving down in the 757 with Charles’s family and this was where Beau took his first steps which was a huge milestone. Then once we got back home from holiday, it was like he had never crawled because this boy was stumble walking all over our home for the rest of the month.
December ’22
^^ First weekend in December, Giney slept over. We went to the mall, picked up some early Christmas presents, ate masubi and then she had the nerve to tell Charles and I to go out on a date and let her watch Beau for a couple hours. Mind you, my lil 13 year old sister has never changed a diaper in her life. The gesture was super appreciated but we didn’t take her up on her offer. Instead, we let her do a trial run of babysitting Beau while we were present… As expected, she was quick to call us to change his poopie diaper.
^^ A much needed girls night out in DC with my besties. We’re going 14 years strong and I’m so grateful, that no matter the life chapter, time or distance, we’re actively present and supportive of each other no matter what.
^^ Found out we’re having another boy! By accident lol. I told the nurse we didn’t want to know but I think she forgot to black out the screen when doing our 20 week anatomy scene because, low and behold, Charles and I saw a very obvious penis on the screen. Ha!
^^ I shared a full Christmas recap here. Only thing missing from that post was this photo of us and the baby bump that decided to fully pop out over the holiday break.
^^ New Year’s Eve was spent at our friend’s home. A lowkey, super chill evening that found us home by 12:30am and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Until next post.
xo, Setarra
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