more house prep sandwiched between Moanas

We got our Moana DBD/BD/etc preordered at the disney store and scored these incredibly gorgeous lithographs for free. I cannot wait till we move and I get to decorate A's bedroom...she wants to do a princess theme, with each princess (Rapunzel, Moana, Belle, and Moana) on a wall!

This is the 13th time I have blogged this month. I haven't blogged that little in... well, since I started 8 years ago. Two things are definitely at play here and they both revolve around sleep. I spent the entire month waking up around 5:15/5:30, going 4 mornings a week to 6am crossfit, and the other days I usually only "sleep in" till 6 or 7. Nights have been taken over by Lan, who would rather cry for about an hour as I try to get him to bed, and trying to keep little a in bed, regardless of what time we put her to bed. Little d milks the time I am distracted trying to get the younger two in bed for all it's worth, and stays up well past when I want him in bed. Honestly by the time 9pm rolls around lately, the kids are barely falling asleep and I am beyond ready to call it quits for the day. I don't regret my decision to switch to early morning, it has just come at a crazy time in my life. I feel like my waking hours are spent managing the craziness of my littlests (which I love and I love that I can spend all morning wearing them out now!), and when I get any downtime it has been getting the house ready for pictures. We are down to a little less than 3 weeks before I have to have the house "camera ready", and while I am relieved a lot of the bigger things are done, there are still so many smaller things I have to do, I really should start working on a list.

The only three rooms I am completely happy with right now are A's bedroom, the boys' bedroom, and (please don't laugh) ....our walk in closet. The first two were not too difficult, as we don't really do anything in their bedrooms except let them sleep there. Oh, and A drew all over two of her walls, which is  a work in progress because she is the one who now has to clean it. So two rooms. And our closet has been the main source of clothing storage for all 6 of us so clearing off the top and bottom of it was no easy task but I did it! The funniest part was realizing that 3/4 of the clothes in our closet are Drew's... since my postpartum selection is not huge, not to mention a lot of my stuff is smaller (undershirts and sweaters) and can fit in the dresser we have. Also Drew has accumulated clothes over the course of the last 12-ish years (I think he still has stuff from high school!) and I can count on one hand all the clothes I have that have lasted me more than the last 6 years.

What has taken the most amount of time though (the closet took me less than an hour, and I was finishing putting away laundry at the same time), has been the kitchen. We have a lot of storage there, so it definitely tends to gather more junk than the rest of the house. One of my smartest purchases in tackling this endeavor has been organizers. I got two for the "junk drawers" (I hate calling them that!) and one for the spices... I found this one that you install and then pull down to reveal all your spices at eye level. Whattttt

 Yes, they are alphabetized. I've never been so happy about my spices (that I usually end up buying multiples of because I cannot remember which ones I have!)

Also a milestone I wanted to remember... this week was the first time since I got my fitbit (Nov 2015) that I have stayed ABOVE 6 hours of sleep every night!! (I have always managed to have a 5 hour or less night... something crazy always comes up!). So while my average is not amazing, the fact that I am getting more consistent in my sleeping habits (well, more so than I have been) is a great sign and hopefully means I will start to look less zombie like and stop eating all the food all the time (isn't that a side effect of getting enough sleep?).

I have more pics of littles to post from January, but for now I'll leave you with Moana

 Easily our family's favorite disney movie to date. We have officially watched it at least once a day (because it is requested many times!) since we got it last wednesday.

last "big" stuff done to prep the house for moving (aka the new fridge and oven!)

I cannot get over how much better my kitchen looks! 

Updating appliances really did make a big difference

 (And below is a before, well, at least with half the appliances in)

 And while putting in the appliances over the last week didn't exactly involve any effort on my part, I have been working on organizing the kitchen space! Aside from a pile of junk I am still working through, it is officially my favorite room in the house. Okay, so it always was but now even more so!

 Drew laughs at me because this sort of thing makes me excited but it really is like a belated christmas present to ourselves, even if only for a few months! I didn't have a huge desire to move before we did the kitchen update but now Drew will have to drag me out of the house crying come summer!

When we first moved into the house, things would break or be added to the never ending house to do list, and for about 8 months, I was content to let it sit there and live with the inconvenience. Then shortly after I found out I was pregnant with the twins, I realized if I wanted to do something to the house, I needed to go ahead and do it so I wouldn't regret going so long without it (hence why I did my own backsplash to cover up the nasty water damage and put in the new faucet so I didn't have to add more water damage!). I am grateful that I have held onto that mentality since then, because when we had that realtor come in, there wasn't too much for us to do. We still have a few loose odds and ends to do (like continuing to load up the garage!) but for the most part the house is going to be "picture perfect" (minus the constant stream of childrens messes) by the end of the month which is a huge relief. It's coming along!

feels like home

When we moved into our house back in 2013, we bought it with the thought that even though there were some things that we needed to work on in the house, it was more for cosmetic purposes as opposed to buying a "project". We wanted something we could turn around and sell at a moments notice. Turns out, we got about 8 months notice so we have been able to slowly work out some of the kinks. First up, the kitchen! I think I was told in an interior design class that red was a color for the kitchen, so I didn't mind that we had a huge red wall. But when we decided to get rid of the red wall, it left my color pallette a bit more open... and I decided to use the kitchenaid drew got me for christmas a few years back as color inspiration, and for the first time since we moved in I can say with confidence that I am really loving my kitchen and it feels much more like me!(not to mention my awesome backsplash job that I did while pregnant with the twins, or the faucet I did myself a few months after they were born while drew was out of town!). Now I just have to start cleaning off all those wooden cabinets that are covered in fingerprints and probably too much dust!

This was the before... can you believe they didn't even paint all the way down the back of the oven?? I mean, the oven is NOT hard to move! It's crazy how particular some of the paint job is and other areas are just horribly done. Can't wait to see how the stainless steel looks with the new color scheme!

 Replacing all my reds....

Speaking of reds... the "before" on the half bath... the ONLY wallpaper in our entire house! And easily the worst paint job of the whole house.

I don't have anything against red, I just think that accents are better done with accessories than with an entire wall. It's the little things that make a big difference in my opinion. The bathroom walls could probably use a little hint of color, but red was definitely not the right color. Maybe the next homeowner can figure that one out.

 Coming in the next 10 days! fingerprint-proof stainless steel AKA what my dreams are made of!

"OH MY QUADS!" or, The first 3 weeks at crossfit

today was the end of the third week I've been doing crossfit. It's been quite a journey.

A month ago I realized that I needed to start waking up early to get in my morning workout. I was already waking up a little earlier just to get some stuff done (6:30), and after a week of 5:30am wakeups I realized that going to a regular gym to do the classes I've been doing the last couple of years was just not doing it for me. I was dragging myself through workouts, even when it was in classes I had loved for years. My spark was gone. And while I didn't think Crossfit was something my body was ready for (I felt like I needed to have a perfect "crossfit body" before I started... and yes I realize now how ridiculous that sounds!), my mind WAS. So 4 Fridays ago I did it! I walked into a class and I needed some coaching through new vocabulary and new movements but I was doing it!

And it only took me 2 weeks to figure out that my usual "don't eat before early morning workouts" habit I developed while in my running years was DUMB. I made some homemade bars I stash in the fridge and grab one while reading in the morning before I leave. The gym is 7 minutes from my house, so even when the workout gets over after 7am, I still manage to get a shower in before my kids are out of their rooms (little d has been instructed to leave the babies in their cribs till 7:30 even though the boys usually wake up sometime after 7). 

I get to the box at 6am and do a coach-led warmup and stretch before my workout (something I have RARELY done in the last 7 years since having kids because I "don't have time for it") and then there are two sets of workouts. I check the app on my phone before leaving the house to see what the workouts are and I am always excited to go to class! Every day has been different, and even though there have been a few days where I don't feel 100% (still working on my diastasis), I am able to modify the workouts to suit what I am able to do that day.. but most says I am able to push myself and I love doing it! (although I haven't puked yet, which to be honest I was a little disappointed about, ha!). And honestly these more intense workouts where I need to activate my core have made it so I am actually better about doing my Mutu workouts as well.

There are about a dozen people who average coming to the class, sometimes more and sometimes less, but everyone's regular enough that I recognize faces even if I don't remember names. I have done so many things (like rope climbing!) that I never imagined doing. Everyone at the gym encourages each other and cheers each other on, especially those (like me) who finish last. How can you not love that? Some people have only been coming a few weeks like me and other for years! I love that as well as the college kids there are people my age with small kids, some raising teenagers and some as old as my parents!

I've been manageably sore most days but last week we did pistols twice in consecutive workouts and I could swear my legs felt the same as they did after my marathon!! For FOUR DAYS! That was crazy (and in hindsight I probably should have done an ice bath!) but then I recovered and I was fine. It's funny, because I thought while I was training for the marathon that the only way to get good muscles was to train for hours for a marathon, but I was wrong! I am still working on trying to get muscles like this again: (how does 2012 feel like another lifetime ago?)

So three weeks in, and I am completely hooked. 4 times a week the last 3 weeks has been good and I am eager to bump up to 5 times this upcoming week! I feel like the last month I have been slowly finding myself and finding things that make me happy (like getting stuff done before everyone wakes up! I love that!), which has gone along nicely with prepping the house to get ready for the market!

I feel like I should also mention my rope burns, blisters and booty. Rope burns:

 starting to get some baby blisters:

and I had two pairs of "super stretch" jeans I bought last year... that no longer contain my booty. One of my favorite parts about strength training has been that it transforms your body even though the scale has stayed the same.... and my scale has stayed essentially the same since I was FOUR WEEKS postpartum with the twins!! Obviously I feel and look different but it just goes to show you that numbers mean very little. And I am perfectly content for the time being to stay in my leggings for the rest of winter till I figure out some sort of stretchy summer alternative to my bermuda shorts (that, probably, will also not fit me but I am too afraid to try!). It is certainly interesting to change your body but it can be expensive, especially for someone who does not like to go clothes shopping!!

these. girls. and boys! oh my heart....

complications of the heart variety

I have a complicated relationship with Valentine's day.

I don't want to say that I hate the "holiday", because that's not really fair... pre-Drew, most of my valentines days have been spent getting flowers or chocolates from my parents or whoever I was dating. But I always disliked the pressure that there is for some grand romantic thing to have to happen on a random day in February where there is no context for, especially as a girl that in every romantic movie you watch that's what you are supposed to anticipate and expect in a relationship.

Then I married a guy who's birthday happens to fall the day after valentine's day. Which was actually a really good thing. Because we never made a big deal of Valentine's day (usually my doing since I usually spend the day getting a cake ready and buying presents for the next day!), the last 10 years I have been able to focus the "holiday" (again, using this term lightly), on people who aren't able to brush it off as easily as I can. I know I am lucky I found someone that has stuck by my side for the last nearly 11 years, someone who I know loves me and gives me confidence when I am lacking and is in every sense my best friend and soulmate. So how I spend valentine's has evolved over the years, but mostly it has been focused on teaching my kids to show love to the people who need it most. Obviously, since love starts at home, I have tried every year to get each of my kids a little something that I know they will like. Gift giving is one of my love languages, but I also try to do things for my kids to make the day special and about love.

I bought these plates years ago, back when it was just little d and Drew and I, but I knew there would be at least 4 people in our family and luckily we ended up with 4 kids because I don't even think Target carries them anymore (post-vday clearance find!). Usually the kids get cereal for breakfast and I rarely do pancakes because it takes too long. They've never had sprinkle pancakes so...

The other part that I wanted to emphasize especially to the kids this year was to look for ways to show love to others. Drew made a crazy batch of chocolate chip cookies (per my request) and we were able to give them to the church teachers of each of our kids as well as some friends and family members. The babies did some watercolors and little a did some paintings of her own.

I guess what I am trying to say is, I feel like unless you are in a good relationship with someone, it is really easy to fall into this "holiday" as a really really sad holiday. And I try to be extra sensitive on this day because some people just need a little more love than others and we have so much love available to give. I am eternally humbled and grateful for the 5 beings (6 if you count the kevs) that I have been blessed with to have in my home and live with me. They are my world and even though I fall short as a wife and mother I will keep getting back up and trying to teach them to have courage and be kind.

 and maybe to not be afraid to share that love and goodness that they have inside to the rest of the world...

Her: "Can you give this to Moana when she comes for my birthday party?"

Me: *facepalm*

Have I mentioned her favorite animal is apparently the elephant? The irony of that is not lost on me.

it's taken us a looooooong time to make it here.....

a really good place.

That's what I keep thinking every day I wake up and I pinch myself because with how hard the last two years have been, we are just starting to get to a really good place and I am loving it.

Yesterday we had an easier day at church because my parents came with us to help with child-wrangling. We came home, had lunch, babies went down for naps and the older two just went ahead and started working on a fort. I was able to read and relax for more than an hour (during the DAY!) and it was amazing! The big kids got along really well and when the babies woke up they were delightful and found ways to amuse themselves. Lo lately has been into this little quiet book and Lan has been taking all the small action figures and lining them up along the counter, floor, racetrack, etc. We even had friends come over to play and have dinner with us and everyone had MANNERS and the amount of food in mouths exceeded the amount on the floor and nobody fell off a chair! Miracles do happen.

Since the boys turned 18 months things went from hard to OMGTHISISCRAZYHARD, sort of like how it felt once they were crawling at around 9/10 months. It was hard to keep them safe and constantly keep an eye on them and again, we are finally making our way into the realm of "they're probably not going to die if I take 2 minutes to run to the bathroom" (phew!!!).

I know that we have grown and learned a lot with the difficulties of the last two years especially. But I am happy to enjoy this time of relative calm (although not entirely perfect! we still have fights and screaming and all that stuff, just wayyyy less than 6 months ago!) as long as it lasts because I know it will not last long and then we will be on to more crazy stuff I feel like I cannot handle but I will keep forging forward, counting my blessings and enjoying my time with my 4 little crazies.

And try not to think about having to get the house ready for photographing and showing (!!) in just over 6 weeks.

 Not to mention my new crossfit gym that I LOVE, the fact that Drew finally has a twice weekly basketball group to go to, and this crazy "four seasons in a week" weather I LOVE that only Ohio can give us... PLEASE don't make me think about moving anytime soon! We are in SUCH a good place on too many levels to count! Let's just say there are going to be a LOT of adjustments this coming summer!