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I have a decent amount of willpower. I don't always exersize it, because I'm a bit of a hedonist and I like living life to its fullest, and I don't see anything wrong with being spoiled as long as you don't lose sight of how incredibly lucky you are.

But those damned pumpkin cream cheese muffins at Starbucks. I cannot resist their call.

Am attempting to bake my own this morning in order to satisfy my cravings with a slightly healthier version. We'll see how they come out!

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Pumpkin muffin making on hold while Ryan naps. Have some content!

Legoland was all kinds of fantastic. Alex was a bit grumpy the first morning, so I had trepidations... it's not uncommon for him to baulk at the start of things he's not used to. He warmed up quicky during/after lunch though, and the rest of the time was lots of fun. Many cool rides, lots of awesome lego sculpture/statues, areas for just free play/building with lego blocks... we were with some SoCal friends of ours, so there was a good ratio of stroller-watching and participation :) Alex and Nick got on really well as always, and Vincent was old enough to do a lot of stuff. Ryan, alas, was too little to go on much, but enjoyed everything there was to see and hanging out with people.

Alex's birthday was a huge success! I was worried as a couple kids kept to themselves, but I heard later that they kept talking about how much fun it was, so relief there :) Since many of the kids are still around 3 years old, it was mostly gentle chaos, though we did manage to organize enough (kinda) for one game and the pinata. It's not a party without a pinata! :D Alex got a ton of stuff he absolutely loves, there was no drama, and I got to see lots of people I love (though not enough time with any of them, as always).

Fish! Our old bowfront tank had developed a tiny leak. We managed to keep it patched up until after the party, but it was clearly something we needed to take care of before it turned into a BIG problem. We scouted around and managed to find a used Red Sea Max 250 that we both love. It's only a little smaller volume-wise than our previous tank (and we're understocked enough that downsizing was fine) but has a much smaller footprint, which was a big plus for me, plus it's just more technically advanced and streamlined, so definitely an upgrade. We've gotten everything moved over smoothly, and picked up a few critters to round it out (turbo snails, hermit crabs, and a cleaner shrimp). Also rearranged living room a bit, and I think it works well. On the to-do list is re-caulking the previous tank, which we'll then try to sell to recoup a bit of the expense.

Alex is back in school and is doing well so far. His attention span goes downhill in the afternoons, which I attribute to the half-eaten lunches... not sure if he genuinely doesn't have enough time to eat or if he's busy playing/talking... but trying to change things up and find some quick options that 1) he'll actually eat and 2) are healthy/filling enough to carry him through the afternoon. Also getting used to having free time again! I'd forgotten what that was like over the summer :) I love that break when Ryan goes down for his morning nap, and sometimes even manage to be productive... though relaxing is definitely a good thing on the days I don't.

Ryan is getting more communicative. A lot of it is still parent-recognized language rather than something a stranger would understand as English, but hey! There's a reason they call them "baby" steps :) Blueberries are still his favorite food, but luckily he loves the available-year-round bananas as well. He desperately wants to be on top of couches/beds/chairs but has not yet learned how to safely dismount, so it's a highly supervised activity as yet. He has begun to recognize the cats as competition for my attention :( and so is not as fond of them as he used to be. Still gentle with them, but definitely pushes them away rather than petting them. He might be starting to develop the same jealousy with Alex... boy is just going to have to learn to share our attention, whether he wants to or not. Favorite toys are still music based. He loves those cards that play songs when you open them, so I keep a couple in my purse now... they don't take up much room, and are a good diversion when crankiness strikes at the store, etc.

Ah, naptime is over... more updating soon, hopefully :) Hope you all are enjoying the end of summer and beginning of fall, my favorite time of year.