MOVING

So, we moved.  Again.  For the second time in 6 months.  I don't really recommend that to anyone.  :)
Our original plan when we moved into the rental of my brothers, was to eventually buy it and stay there permanently.  And then pretty much the day after we moved in, my job pretty much just went away.  I still have it, and I still hope for orders to pop up every day, but I have had maybe 10 orders total in the past six months.  While Clint makes decent money, the cost of living is just so high right now that there was no way we were going to be able to make it each month, let alone save up for a house.  So, we started looking.  Wait, no.  I started looking.  It took me several months to convince Clint that we had to  make a change before we were so under water there'd be no re-surfacing.  I looked for months.  I went and took the girls with me for weeks, to house after house after house.  If they didn't smell like dog/cat pee, then they smelled like cigarette smoke.  And if they didn't smell like cigarette smoke, they had only two rooms.  Or were so dirty I would rather live outside than in them.  Or whatever.  I got pretty annoyed looking at so many rentals that people were asking good money for but were just not worth it.  I finally found one on Craigslist---and after a few days of negotiating with the owner, signed a lease.  I actually feel really good about our move.  We are living more within our means, and we no longer have to rely on any income from me for us to pay all of our bills each month.  Yes, we sold stuff.  LOTS of stuff.  Yes, we downsized by  more than half of a house.  Yes, we live really far out and the commute is not fantastic.  But really?  I kind of love it.  I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders.  It's going to take a few months for us to get caught up on bills and be able to start saving, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and I'm so happy about it.  Our new home is clean, and smells fantastic, and is homey. 

The move, on the other hand?  Gag.  It blew.  I took a load a day from one house to the other pretty much every day for two weeks.  I stayed up late moving and organizing and selling.  I had a garage sale that went CRAZY.  People were fighting over stuff--before the sale even began!  We could not have gotten everything moved without the help of our parents.  My mom helped me with the little van loads each day, and watched the girls for me when I needed her to.  My dad helped assemble/disassemble things.  Shari and Joe helped us load and unload heavy furniture, late at night.  I am so grateful to live close to family. 

It's been a week now that we've been in our new home.  I still have boxes in my garage full of things that won't fit in the house but that I wasn't willing to sell.  For now, I'll keep them in the attic or garage.  I'm slowly getting things the way I like them.  I think what's frustrating for me is that I like 'like' things to be together.  Pots together.  Pans together.  Spices together, etc.  With the limited space, I've got dishes in my hall closet, toys in the same closet as my medicine shelf, decorations stowed in my closet, etc.  Things aren't where I'd ideally like them to be, and that doesn't bode well with me and my OCD.  But I'm coping.  LOL. 

I realize my new home is so so much more than a lot of people have.  I try to remember that and to be grateful.  I think it's just always harder to go from a big place to a smaller place.  Not awful.  Not unmanageable.  Not heart-breaking.  Just harder.  And my closet is just the perfect size for our pack and play.  So although this isn't a pregnancy announcement, a baby would fit just fine. 

Charlotte is, so far, the only one having adjustment issues.  We pass by our old house every few days to take the girls to school or visit Shari and Joe.  Each time, she cries.  She begs to "go home" and gets so sad when I tell her we can't.  She used to be my independent child, but lately she refuses to go to school, kicking and screaming when I try to leave her.  She is also up at night.  A lot.  Like every hour.  She used to sleep so well all night long, so her new sleeping woes have really thrown me.  I'm hoping that with time she will adjust and get back to her happy little self. 

I'm a lazy packer.  I just threw stuff in my van and unloaded right into closets.

Yikes.

My job while Clint put our bed together at midnight was to lay on our mattress so it wouldn't get in the way.

When I took Emery's crib apart, I found all of her missing pacifiers and her blanket.  Good thing I had made a late night Wal-Mart run for pacifiers the night before.

Last night.  Trying to get everything out, cleaned, and back to it's original condition before new renters came the next morning.

My baby.

 My baby. 

Turkey Trot 2012

 We continued our family tradition this year at the Turkey Trot!  The gals did great and we had a lot of fun.  It's always such a fun way to start our Thanksgiving day.

Furious Five

About a month ago I participated in a Crossfit Competition, and it was a bit more intense than the last one I did.  It was amazing.  So fun.  It would be so easy to let myself get addicted to the competition side of things and let myself spend way too much time crossfitting.  I have been happy lately in my decision to let myself do the occasional competition but to limit my time in the box to an hour a day.  Any more than that and I feel like I'm neglecting my kids and putting too much of my effort and focus into something that just--in the grand scheme of things--isn't what's important.  I think having fun and doing something I love is just fine-but there have to be limits.  Before I went to this competition I was dead set on having a baby STAT.  I have been having baby cravings bad.  An hour into the event, though, I was sure I would wait another year so that I could compete in any and all competitions that came my way.  I really was ready to put off babies for the sake of keeping up with crossfit!  LOL.  Ridiculous!  About 1/2 way through the day though, I saw a baby.  A cute, chubby little boy.  Let's just say I changed my mind fast.  My family is so much more important to me than anything else.  Now--when they're all in school and I have more time on my hands?  Ya.  I might be more involved.  Until then, though, my place is with my babes.  And I'm more than ok with that.  ANYWAYS. 

I signed up for the team side of the event and my partner is out of this world amazing at Crossfit.  His name is Gene, and we work together lots in the box.  (the box is another name for "gym") There were four WOD's we had to complete.  We started with a two mile run carrying a 45lb bar.  We did super well on the run and had an advantage over lots of the teams because we are about the same height.  One hour after the run, we did a "Fireman" WOD.  Sledgehammer, rope climb, buddy carry, box jumps, etc.  We did great until it came to the rope climb.  It was awful and SO embarrassing!!  I can climb the rope.  Fast.  It's one of my favorite things because I kind of rock at it.  haha.  Anyways, right before we started the WOD, I changed into old shoes so as not to ruin my nice ones, and wrapped them with tape.  Brand new, shiny, slippery tape.  So it comes my turn to climb the rope and my feet just will not grip.  I am sliding all over the place.  My arms were shot from the sledgehammer hits so I couldn't just upper-body muscle my way up.  The trick to these workouts, is that you can't move on from one part of the workout to the next unless BOTH team members can complete at least one rep of each exercise.  So.  Since I couldn't climb the rope, we couldn't advance to finish the WOD.  It was so bad!  I was pretty furious.  Poor Gene didn't know what was going on because I climb rope all the time.  Oh.  And I was being watched by a TON of people.  Let's just move on. 

The next one we had to do was a Police/SWAT WOD.  We rowed, buddy-dragged (which was a little awkward!), climbed wall, shuttle ran, lunged, carried water, etc.  It was awesome.  We did super well and gained quite a bit of headway as far as our place in rank was concerned. 

Our final WOD was the standard Crossfit one.  This consisted of buddy-burpees, pull ups, one-arm KB OH squats, thrusters, and clean & jerks.  Of all the workouts we had to do, I was most worried about this one.  Because we were a co-ed team, I had to use the men's bar and lift the same weights as my partner.  So I had to do 115 lb thrusters and clean & jerks.  I ended up doing fine on them -- but watching the video of myself afterwards was bad!  My form toward the end was pretty ugly.  We did really well on this one also and gained more ground in the ranks. 

Overall, we ended up placing 7th out of 49 teams.  I was happy with this, but also a little annoyed because of that dang rope.  If we had been able to complete the workout our score would have been high like the others and we for sure would have been top 4.  Apparently I'm way more competitive than I think I am, because I was pretty mad.  I even had to prove to myself that I could climb the rope--so I put my other shoes back on and did it just fine.  So now I know for next time -- don't change shoes! 

It really was such a fun day and I LOVE the rush of adrenaline I get each time I compete.  I wish they all didn't cost so much--they have one at least once a month but $50 each time gets a little out of hand.  One day when Clint has more time, I want him to come with me and get involved.  I think he would love it.

 

Emery is ONE! Oh, and I'm 30.

Being a mom to this little angel is my most favorite thing in the world.  She makes me smile no matter how cranky I am and no matter how cranky she is.  She is coming into her own and I am loving every second of watching her grow.  She is such a happy, lively, curious little baby.  She is constantly putting things in her mouth that I have to fish out and chewing on things that are disgusting.  She is not walking at all, but will pull herself up on things.  Then she gets stuck there because she is afraid to get down.  She prefers table foods over baby food now but will eat it if I force her.  She LOVES her bottles.  She is very picky about what kind of sippy cup she drinks from.  She is a fantastic sleeper.  She is super squirmy when she is getting her diaper changed.  I need a third hand badly.  She adores her daddy and sisters.  She has 4 top and 4 bottom teeth and is growing 2 more up top.  She loves to bury herself in one corner of her crib, and when I go to get her up she lays face down, kicking her legs and burrowing her head into the corner so hard- all while laughing.  I LOVE her so much it hurts.

Her birthday was low key, just how I like them.  We stayed home most of the day and had pizza and cake at the Overton's that night.  Clint went straight from work to a scouting thing and didn't get home till around 8, so he wasn't able to come but got to see her before she went to bed.  We didn't get her anything this year because--well--she's one.  I probably should have let the girls pick out a gift for her, but I've been failing in the motherly department lately.  

We share a birthday, which I LOVE.  I mostly love it because I can take the spotlight off me and direct it toward her. I turned 30 this year--which is quite the milestone I guess.  I feel the same except I swear it's true that your body starts failing you at 30.  My joints have been giving me fits like no other!  Audrie sent me a gift card to Ulta which I swear I am going to use soon.  I have been out of perfume for 3 months now.  Literally not a single drop.  I never have more than one bottle of perfume at once because I feel like I can't buy more until I'm done with the bottle (OCD much?) and I haven't wanted to spend the cash to buy more.  But I'm sure everyone is sick of the stink by now and would appreciate a little spritz.  So it's happening.  Thanks Aud!  My dad also came over late Friday with an armful of goodies.  He had flowers, a gift card to the See's store (which is my absolute favorite chocolate in the WORLD) and a wireless MP3 player.  My folks are the best.  Shari and Joe got me the cutest matching dresses for the girls to wear.  I'm so glad too because I'm too cheap to buy new clothes for Charlotte and Emery when they have Sage's old clothes they can wear!  ha.  It's possible Clint forgot it was my birthday until about 6pm that day, but he has never been a big birthday guy.  We took the girls to their favorite restaurant (Texas Roadhouse) Saturday night to celebrate though.  All in all, a fun day.  

Shari made the cake, obviously.  I possess no cake baking talents!

 Emery was so not sure of what to think of everyone singing to her.  She was so straight faced!

 

Once she got a taste of her cupcake, there was no stopping her.  She LOVED it!

Shun The Sun

Clint and I ran in the "Shun the Sun" half marathon last Saturday.  We ran this one together two years ago but didn't do it last year because A) I had a baby two days before the race and B) Clint had not recovered from his surgeries.  We really debated about it this year because we are on a tight budget and every race seems to get more and more expensive anymore.  BUT, we did it and I'm so glad we did.  It was so nice to get some one on one time with him doing something we both love.  We used to race together all the time and it happens far and few between now.  Sometimes I wonder what the heck we have in common anymore, but our love for competition and races and exercise is something we both love.  I think sometimes I forget how much he loves it simply because he doesn't have time to participate much.  Anyways.  Neither of us trained for this one.  Clint ran 4 miles about a month before the race, and I ran 3 miles two weeks prior.  I get to the gym often enough, but never get to run because of the kiddos.  So we were both hoping to just finish without too much pain.  Thankfully we did.  Kind of.  For me, I felt great and kept a decent pace until mile 10.  Then my knees started to crap out on me.  By mile 13 I was really done and thinking to myself, "why the hell would I ever want to train for a marathon?!"  Clint says he started to really feel it at mile 8 but never walked once.  I can't tell you how proud I am of Clint for doing this!!!!  After everything he has been through and after zero prep, he gulped down a Red Bull (don't get me started) and ran 13.1 miles with no problem.  This makes me proud.  For some reason I am STILL feeling the affects of the run.  My endurance is not my problem, but my knees are apparently getting old.  My right one especially.  I will be doing normal everyday chores and it will just give out on me.  And I can't fully bend it without excruciating pain.  I think I'm due for new running shoes but can't justify the price when I'm not running on a regular basis.  Anyways-we had a blast.  

I never carry my phone when I run because I don't have a case, but I borrowed my dads for this one and LOVED it!  Not only could I track my pace and listen to Pandora, but if I needed a distraction, I had plenty!  Audrie texted me mid  run asking if I was running a race.  I answered by taking a picture of myself and sending it to her. 

Something I want to remember but will not be funny to you:

On the way to the race, I kept telling Clint to slow down or he was going to get a ticket.  On the way home on the freeway, I noticed cars zooming past us.  I looked over and started cracking up.  He was going 50!  Once he realized, we were both dying laughing.  See?  Not funny.  But at the time it was hilarious!  He was just too worn out to push that pedal down any farther. 

2012 Family Pictures

 It turns out when you spend all of your "getting ready" time making sure your three daughters are primped and beautified, you neglect your husband.  Whoops.  He REFUSED to wear what I laid out for him because he REFUSED to be ok with my having spent $17 on a new shirt for him.  So he chose his own attire for family pictures.  Thankfully he looks good no matter what he puts on--but I still wish he would have worn what I asked him to.  It's always stressful each year around picture time.  I hate it.  I always love the end result but the drama leading up to it kills me!  I lucked out this year.  Not only did Katherine do my hair for me, but she picked out my outfit from her closet, AND assembled all three of the girls outfits.  Oh.  And Charlotte is wearing an 18 month outfit of baby Kate's.  Emery is sporting Kate's clothes as well.  I LOVE having extra closets to rifle through!!  Emery was not in a super smiley mood unfortunately, but she still looks sweet.  I sure love my family.