before and after {a real food journey}

I've been a little hesitant to share some of this...
because it's kind of personal, it's my own journey
and because I know that some people don't care
and even get discouraging about it sometimes.

BUT...there are others who have been encouraging me to share.

In fact, a few days ago marks the 4th person in the last few months that has said "you really need to show before and after pictures!"

Not because I was on this crazy, drastic weight loss journey - but just for the proof of what learning how to eat the right foods and cutting refined sugars from my diet really can look like.

So I searched back through pictures, and I'm finally giving in.
Even if I do end up closing my eyes and having one of my children push the "publish" button on this post because I can't make my finger do it.

If you're my friend in real life, on FB, or have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I began making some healthier decisions in my food choices awhile back.

It's actually been about a year and a half total.
6 months of me trying on my own (with no accountability or real knowledge) and a year of participating off and on with the My Clean Eating Challenge.
In which now I'm helping lead others and share the knowledge I've learned.

 Never before in my entire life had I desired to take control of my health and change my eating habits.  Nope.  Not gonna happen.  You die happy or you die healthy, right?  I wanted to die happy.

(I didn't realize the two could go hand in hand)

I maybe tried to give up pop a few times in the last 5 years, but it never stuck.  And Pepsi is really really good.

But then...

Our good friends and neighbors have 2 sisters that began their own "clean eating" journey (let's just define clean eating at this point as whole foods, closest to their natural form as possible, no processed foods, and no refined sugars)

They wanted to help people be more educated and have a support system to learning and implementing a healthier lifestyle...so they created the My Clean Eating Challenge.

It started small...just a local group where they live.

The 2nd time the challenge ran, teams from a few other states joined in.

And it has grown and grown and grown. 

Just real people telling others how learning to eat real food has changed their life.

When I heard about the first challenge I thought, "YEAH RIGHT!"I laughed at them. And wondered who these people really were!?!?
Obviously not normal people.
Maybe if it was 2 weeks long I'd consider.

There was a list of things in my diet I was not willing to give up....ever.
 But when they announced the 2nd challenge...I SOMEHOW had reached a point in my life that I was willing to make some changes to see if I could get some results.

After 3 babies, I wanted to see if getting my pre-baby body back was even possible.  (and it was! or at least pretty darn close!)

I needed relief from migraines other than prescription meds that cost $50 a pill. (and I got it!)

I needed to find out if there was any hope in getting over some digestive problems I've learned to live with.  (and there is!)
And little did I even know it was possible to feel way better and have more energy on a daily basis that I had ever known before.

I overall just knew I needed to make better choices and take better care of my body because I was pretty lousy in that department overall.

So I registered for my first 90 day clean eating challenge...and then wanted to slam my head into a wall to knock the crazy out of me. What in the WORLD did I just sign up for!?!?

It's been a year since that first challenge now.  And guess what?  It wasn't a fad, it wasn't just a 90 day thing and then back to my old ways.  

 The knowledge I gained about WHY I would want to eat this way is what made it all stick.

I still slide.  I still cheat. Sometimes for days and even weeks at a time.

When I vacation I don't really watch what I'm eating.  When we eat out, I don't try to order something healthy from the menu. I just cheat, enjoy and move on (and sometimes pay the price after).

But my brain is forever changed and that's what gets me back on track every time.  Knowing that I want my lifestyle to be overall healthier than before.  Not every meal, not every day.  But what I go back to after screwing up, is always where I should be.

My goal is 80/20.  I feel like that is being realistic.  Living a healthy lifestyle does not have to be all or nothing.  But those first steps to build the habits sometimes does need to be.  That's what the challenge was for me...tightening the reigns, holding myself to strict standards (with the help of others) to get quicker and truer results than just having a foot half way in.

We still enjoy eating out.  I still have a Pepsi from time to time.  I still devour chocolate chip cookies sometimes.

But I know the path that I'm on and the habits I've formed won't allow that to go on for very long.  After a few meals or a few days of cheating, I know that my body doesn't feel like it should.

It doesn't have to be this psycho, extreme, "tree-hugger" way of life.
It doesn't mean you'll never be able to shop in a normal grocery store again...I shop 95% at Walmart and Dillons.  Or that you'll be slaving in the kitchen every meal.

This isn't a paleo diet...which eliminates some entire food groups.  It isn't counting calories.
It isn't even trying to eat everything organic.
It's just learning the difference between REAL food and not real food.  And learning that some of the junk that is in our food is the culprit for weight gain, health problems, sleep, energy and disease.
It's learning how to truly eat healthy.

It's not a diet.  It's a life change and new habits.

So here they are (waaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone).  Nothing drastic compared to others, I know that.  I'm sure there are some of you out there with pictures that could put mine to shame.
 But these are big for me. And they definitely have an impact on keeping me going.

 (all of these were about 2 to 2 1/2 years ago before any healthier changes)

 (all of these are within the last month, except the family picture which was 6 months ago)

And for vain reasons only did I feel the need to include the picture with the age app that guessed me 10 years younger.  YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! (in my best Napoleon voice)
 Who cares if there was no consistent and accurate predictability.
I will keep this forever.

 I realize my clothes disguise some of the changes. But sorry...this is all you're getting.
I'm pretty sure you can see the difference despite the clothes.
About 25 pounds total.  Bringing me back to my pre-baby weight.
I know some of you get there without hardly trying, or after breastfeeding.
But you're lucky, and I'm not.

 Please hear me when I say I did NOT think I was fat.  I was not depressed about my body before (well most days anyway).  Even looking back at some of these pictures I remember thinking I looked fine.  I was fairly content with my body, because I convinced myself it wasn't going to change and there was no sense in getting depressed about it. But let's be real here too...I also cannot count the number of times I looked at pictures thinking "delete, delete, delete."
I know that's most of us huh?

 Weight loss does not have to be a motivator for everyone.  Just the desire to get healthy!  Did you know there was such thing as "skinny fat". Read this article from Time Magazine.  "On the outside they look incredibly healthy, but on the inside they’re a wreck".  It's a real thing.

I'll be leading a team through the challenge again this summer.  Starting June 1st!  It's now just a 9 week challenge instead of 90 days.

 I would love to have you join us!  Either alone, or with a friend or relative you want to bring along with you.  You can do it from ANYWHERE...all the classes are taught by webinar and everything is available online.

Don't worry about committing to be perfect for 9 weeks.  You'll get 2 cheat meals a week to keep yourself sane if you really need them, and you'll have a team and coach to encourage you when you slide.

Don't stress about recipes and where you'll shop and if your family will join in.

The goal is to come out of the challenge in a better place than you went in.  If you're the only one in your household doing it...that's a good place to start.

Use the competitive edge of the challenge to push yourself and use the accountability and community of the challenge to help you stay committed and get the support you need.

Here are the event details...

My Clean Eating Challenge Summer 2015 includes:

• Weekly educational classes 
• Private Facebook group for recipes, motivation, fitness and clean eating tips
• Webinars from Dr. Patrick Garrett 
• 50% off consulting appointments with Dr. Patrick Garrett
• Personal accountability from teammates, captains, and team leaders 
• Personal touch from your team leader bi-weekly
• Daily access to team leaders/captains regarding clean eating 
• Weekly prizes for top challengers
• Team and individual competition for points and weight loss 
• Point tracking for eating clean, water intake, sleep, and team communication

 The first class will be Thursday, May 28, 2015.  Point tracking will begin Monday, June 1, 2015, and end Sunday, July 26, 2015.

If you sign up today or tomorrow it's not too late! 
REGISTER HERE.

I promise if I can do this, anyone can do this.
If you need the help and support of someone who has gone ahead of you, I would love to help you.

the bridal shower

I'm going to start with a disclaimer.  I realize that most pictures of parties on Pinterest are put on by professional party planners, people who do this all the time, with budgets that are much higher than ours was.  Pinterest can be so good and so bad at the same time.  It can cause people to compare, feel unworthy, and get carried away by trying to impress.  But it can also be an amazing resource for ideas and inspiration and can help creativity come alive!

My goal was not to have a Pinterest-worthy shower.

My goal was to work my tail off for someone I loved dearly.  To create an atmosphere to honor her and make her feel so special and loved and to leave her with memories for a lifetime. This can be done in SOOOO many ways.  Putting on a fancy shower is not a necessary way to do that. 

But in this case, for this friend...this was what I chose.  I wanted her to walk in and feel like a princess.

I wanted my love to pour out into the details.  So these are the ways I chose to do that.

But love can be poured out in so many ways.

 Invitation designed by Tabitha at Whimsical Stationary.

My plan to be doing as little as possible at the last minute was a God-send. 

When normally my list would be 10 miles long and I'd be sweating bullets until the very last second,

I was instead facing this huge event 48 hours out and my baby being admitted to the hospital for a bacterial infection in his joints/tissues that caused him to stop walking.

My world kind of stopped.

I now had no idea what the next 2 days would look like, but I was so thankful my list of things left to do was only about 5 hours long.  Which was about the same amount of time it took for Daddy to get Gavin to the hospital, checked in, and into a room.

So it worked well for me to stay behind and finish and join them at the hospital later.

Things went well at the hospital and after the first day, we realized he was going to be just fine.  We started taking turns at the hospital and worked out a plan for me to still make the 3 hour trip for the shower.

3 hours there,

3 hours of set up,

3 hours of the shower,

2 hours of clean up

and then 3 hours back home to relieve Dave at the hospital and take the overnight shift.

But I was so thankful it all worked out for me to be there.  If I hadn't, there was a entire truck bed of supplies that would have had to make the 3 hour trip without me.  I was thankful for family who offered to drive it there and for friends who were helping with the shower willing to do whatever was needed.

I was kind of a nervous wreck.  Everything was done and packed up to go, but I had NO idea how it was really going to end up looking.  It's so hard to plan an event like this in a room you've only seen in pictures.

I knew that once I got there, if things didn't start coming together like in my head, there was nothing I could do at that point.  So I just prayed really hard.  And was blessed to have my sweet bible study praying about it too.

I forgot to tell you that in the chaos of a baby in the hospital, our family plans to go to KC together getting cancelled, and trying to figure out if I'd still be able to get there myself...

my friend Rachel decided she could go with me!

That sure made leaving at 4am a little easier. And really ended up being the BEST THING EVER!
We called her my little "Cinderella", but I hope I was much nicer to her than the step-mom.
But seriously, she helped me carry in loads and loads of boxes of supplies, she helped me make last minute decisions on some of the details, she got me this and that, and ran all over the place until the shower started. She became a helper to all of us hosting the shower.  She cleared dishes from the table as ladies finished eating, and had almost all the dishes done before the shower was over.  That saved us at LEAST an hour of clean up in the end.
  Even just making the ride with me and being there for me helped me hold myself together in such a whirlwind.

She was a HUGE HUGE blessing to me that day.

I had a "practice" table set up in my basement for months before this and changed things, added things, took things away and had several friends offer input through the months.

I started searching our local thrift shop for mismatched tea cups and then someone contacted me to say they were selling a bunch they used for a wedding for 25cents a piece. Definite score.

When I priced the cost of buying nice disposable plastic plates from Party City, plastic champagne flutes, and all the other tableware...we found out we could save money renting real stuff.

Score again.  Because I really didn't like the idea of having some real stuff (tea cups and saucers) and the rest plastic.

It just meant a lot of dirty dishes.  (enter clearing my throat sound)

That's where our little "Cinderella" saved the day.

Chargers - borrowed.  (except for the 5 being sold on my local FB swap site for $1.  I really felt bad only paying her $1, but that's all she asked for).  Another score.

Gold silverware - borrowed.  YES! YES! YES!!  My favorite.  And now I want a set of gold silverware myself.  I just don't know what I'd do with it.

We had each guest write their marriage advice down on the cute advice cards and then attached them all to a big metal ring for a keepsake.

I realize that I took on a huge task of doing the decorations alone. But that meant that these ladies took care of all the yummy food, helped everywhere else I needed them, and helped bring the whole thing to life on the day of.  I could have NEVER done it without them.

The sunglasses were a little party favor Jenny brought us because we hadn't been able to be at her bachelorette party in Palm Springs the weekend before.

4 Pi Phis, the bride-to-be, her mom, and two aunts.

.

 It was a joy to pour out my love and honor my friend on this day.

I was so thankful for this opportunity because I just don't get normal every day opportunities to do that anymore.  She is dear to me.  Her parents are so dear to me too.

It was a lot of work.  Don't let those Pinterest pictures make you believe otherwise.  The hours and sweat and stress and coordination and communication and every last little thing that has to be remembered...it was a true labor of love. And it required way more hands and heads than just mine. 

But it was all worth it.

 I was honored to have a part in celebrating her and the marriage she was about to enter into.

Oh yeah, my kids made the 3 hour trip with us too.  They were devasated when our plans to stay with some friends in KC were cancelled.  So with Dave in the hospital with Gavin, they obviously had to go somewhere.  So our sweet friend suggested I still bring them along.  They lived on the way to the shower venue, and she even met us right off the interstate to get them.  They were ecstatic.

Before we hit the road for home, we ended our "fancy" day with some gas station hot dogs.

Because sometimes you need friends that you can get fancy with, and sometimes you need friends that you can eat gas station hot dogs with.

 

Sources:
Black and White table runner  - Hester and Cook
Advice Card - La Belle Studio
Invitation, food tents and place settings cards - WhimsicalStationary
Tablecloths and coral napkins -  Linen Tablecloth
All other table decor - vases, candlesticks, etc - thrifted or borrowed
Tea cups and saucers - thrifted

my "fancy" friend

I've had a few friends begging for months to see more pictures of a wedding shower that I hosted back in March.   I'm finally getting around to it, but before I do, I want to tell you about the person it was all for. 

I'll call her my "fancy" friend, because...well...she's way more fancy than I. 

We pledged the same sorority our freshman year of college.

We found ourselves sitting in a big living room with 49 other girls after one of the most exhausting and emotionally draining weeks so far in our lives...

(Rush week now has nothing on exhausting and emotionally draining experiences, but for an 18 year old away from home for the first time, it was HUGE.)

I personally sat there, looking around the room thinking "WHAT in the world had I just gotten myself into?"  

We were hearing the upperclass leaders tell us that this room was filled with the girls that would be our best friends, would stand beside us on our wedding day, and visit when our babies were born.

 To be honest, it was kind of going in one ear and out the other at that point.

I really just wanted to run away to the bed someone had told me I could sneak off to alone and just sleep if I wanted to.  

YES please. 

(I was still an introvert way back then)

I'm a people watcher.  I prefer watching everyone, rather than interacting sometimes. 

While I really can't tell you what I really did that night, or who I talked to...

I know I watched a lot of girls.  And formed a lot of first impressions, some being correct and some being way off.

And I'm sure first impressions were being made of me that night too.

And I'm guessing I wasn't doing a very good job of impressing anyone in my state of exhaustion and overwhelmedness. (perhaps not a real word, but we'll go with it)

But of all the things I cannot remember from 15 years ago,

I do have one clear and vivid memory of that night.

The girl in the silk pajama shorts.

I had never owned silk anything in my life.  Or anything that even felt like silk.

And her hair....I'm not kidding, it was just like the girl from the Ramona Quimby books, you know that girl with the bouncy curls, and Ramona just stared at them and wanted so badly to reach out and pull on one to see it boing!

I didn't exactly feel the need to touch them.  But everything about her was interesting to me.

She was beautiful, fun, and in the center of all the action all night long.

If there had been some twisted and rude game that night that required me to choose the one person in that group of girls that I would least likely become friends with, I would have no doubt put her name down.

Not ANYTHING because of her.  Just because I could tell immediately that we were 2 very different people who came from 2 very different places.

Surely all of her friends wore silk pjs too.

Fast forward a few months, maybe even a few weeks, I don't really remember.

But our pledge class was taking our "pledge class sneak"...a weekend trip.

Someone's mom, somewhere in Kansas was hosting all 50 of us.  We just had to get there.

And wouldn't ya know...

somehow I found myself in front of my soon-to-be "fancy" friend and we both mentioned how we didn't have anyone to ride with yet.

She offered to drive, and it ended up being just us two.

We became forever friends on that car ride.

She wears Dior and Vera Wang.  I wear Target and Old Navy.

She drives in rush hour traffic for hours and hours a day.

I many days don't drive more than 10 minutes my whole day.

She's from the city.  I'm from small town Kansas.

She loves Halloween and costumes and dancing.  I kind of despise all 3 of those things. 

She waited 10 years after college to be married.  I just celebrated my 10th year wedding anniversary.

Heads turn when she walks in the room.  Heads may only turn when I walk in a room because I'm probably late.

She's moved from the city, to another city to the beach.  I still live in small town Kansas.

She's seen Paris and London and I've seen more wheat fields and country roads than she probably even knew existed.

She spent the days after college graduation in Vegas, and LA, and New York.  I spent mine with little third graders and then soon after my own babies.

But none of that ever mattered.

We saw each other at our best and worst for 4 years.

We encouraged each other, borrowed each other's clothes (ok, ok, I borrowed HER clothes),

we cried, laughed, ate Thai take-out, stayed out too late, picked each other up from classes, 

roomed together many times, went home with each other on weekends, took trips together, and so much  more.

And you know what?

She DID stand beside me on my wedding day.

And she visited after our first baby was born.

She is dear to my heart and means so much to me. Despite our distance, despite our differences.

That car ride 15 years ago began something that none of that other stuff can really mess with.

Life is hard sometimes, and roads sometimes take us on different paths.

Sometimes what's going on in your life and the season of life you're in can be hard when friends are in a totally different season. It takes more work to stay connected.  And I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm really good about being intentional with my friendships and sometimes I fail.

But you know how real friendships have that way of picking up right where they left off?

And the big things in life bring you back together.

Like weddings..

The most "fancy" wedding we've ever been to!

I can't wait to show you pictures of it!

But before weddings...there are showers.

And I was honored to get to head-up her Kansas bridal shower.

It was the perfect opportunity to pour out my love for her and show her and her family how much they meant to me.

So goal #1 - make it FANCY.

I wanted nothing but fancy for my "fancy" friend.

 I saw her Pinterest boards, I know her love and attention to details.

I wanted so badly to bring this to life as best as I could within our means.

Goal #2 - do NOT let this turn into a last minute planning and prep ordeal like usual.

So I started the planning process 5 months before the shower.

Ha. Some people don't even plan their wedding for 5 months.

But I knew I couldn't pull this off otherwise. 

And in the end, things took a very unexpected turn so it was such a good thing that this was one of my goals from the start.

The theme and inspiration was decided on very early with a little bit of help from the bride-to-be.

 Here were my inspiration pictures...

 

What I knew from the get-go...

*black and white stripes

*shades of pink

*gold

*mismatched tea cups

I spent months and months thrifting for vases and candlesticks to spray paint gold

And with the help of that other amazing ladies who helped make the shower happen...we found gold chargers and gold silverware!  Some of my favorite details.

 

 The facility we were using didn't allow any balloons with helium and nothing taped or connected to walls.  Which really limits you when it comes to decorations other than sticking with the table.

So I wanted to make a few big focal points because I knew the room we'd be in was large.

I needed something that could be transported and stand alone, since I couldn't use the walls or ceiling to attach. 

  

 So I decided on big pieces of wood made to look like a big canvas.  I covered the wood with the striped fabric.  I free-handed the same initials that were on the invitation onto posterboard.  Then cut it out and spray painted the poster board and attached with double sided tape to the board. 

 

I'm not sure what gold forks, spoons and knives are really called.  Goldware?

Or gold silverware?  That's kind of contradictory.  But whatever it's called, it was my favorite detail of all!

Shower pictures up next!

a letter to my child's teacher

Dear Sweet Teacher,

On this last day of school, before we head our separate ways for the summer, I need you to know something.

You see, I know first hand, having been a teacher myself, how hard and taxing and sacrificing your job is. While your classroom may be filled with beautiful children, I know not every day is beautiful. I know that there are countless hours you gave, that no one knows about but you. I know on this last day of school (if not weeks ago) you are so ready for a break.  To renew your minds and get your energy back.  I know that you don't want to step foot in your classroom again until August.

But I also know that the kids you say goodbye to each year don't leave your hearts. I know that there's a part of you that wonders if you did enough, if you said the right things, if you impacted them as you wanted to. You planted a little part of yourselves in them and you may or may not ever get to see what they bloom to be.  And if you do have the pleasure of seeing them as they mature through the years, you'll never give yourself credit for anything of it.  But you should.

Please forgive me for not really being able to express what you mean to our family.  I'm learning that it's hard to describe the feeling and express gratitude through words.  And even simple teacher appreciation gifts, end of the year gifts (that were forgotten!), and handwritten notes don't even come close to what is truly felt in my heart for you.  It's hard to communicate what makes you so wonderful because sometimes it's reasons that are only felt in my heart. I feel it because I see that my child feels it.

It's a feeling kind of like "home".  It's that intense warmth that comes from absolute trust. Because if my child can't be with me all day long, I want and need to hand them over to someone who genuinely wants to do the next best job.  You welcomed them with open arms on the first day, and you had almost just as much impact on their lives in the last 9 months as their father and I have had.  Thank you for treasuring that time.  And thank you for showing them that there are other adults in the world besides mom and dad and relatives who love them, whom they can trust, and who see the good in them and care about what their journey ahead looks like.

Thank you for realizing from time to time that greater than their need for any academic pursuit is their need to be loved, cherished, and protected. Thank you for giving of yourself so selflessly. Thank you for praying for them, and caring about the matters of their heart. 

I realize that getting even just one teacher like you in an entire lifetime is a treasure. So when we get some of you back to back to back...we consider it an immeasurable blessing. Please know how much you mean to our family and how much our child loves you.  We know this...because we just spent 9 months watching them run out the door with confidence and hope because it was you who they would be spending the day with.

Love,
a grateful mama

Happy Easter!

Death has died.  Love has won.

This day changes everything. 

 

Praising our Risen Savior today!

So thankful that by His wounds we are healed, and that through His victory over death, we have hope beyond this life.

the start of mason's birthday celebrations

February 28 we celebrated our new 7 year old. 

Before the weekend, we got to celebrate at school.  

To see him get called to the front and listen as his teacher prays over him is something that will forever be etched in my heart. It wasn't new to me.  The same thing was done with Taylor.  But it doesn't keep my eyes from tearing up each time as if it was the first. 

He loves that sweet teacher of his.  And we do too.  So glad we won't be done with her YET.

 

 And then Saturday was his actual birthday, and the first indoor soccer game of the season.

Soccer games, a friend party and cupcakes all in one day...the best.

So the only thing that wasn't the best about this day was that I threw up the entire night before.  It started in the Walmart parking lot the night before (sorry to the person who pulled into that parking spot after us) and continued into the wee morning hours.

Yeah, not good.  An excited boy, cupcakes to still be made, a party to still be decorated for.  

I begged him to let us call the bowling alley and maybe we could throw something together there and Dad could supervise.  I begged him to move it to the next day and we'd just do our friend and family party back to back.  But the sadness on his face was too much to handle. 

7 year olds are SO not okay with a cancelled birthday party.  And I don't blame him.

Dave kept telling him he could handle it all.  And I know he could.  But like my normal self, I had left a lot to be finished up at the last minute.  And how awful to be stuck in a bedroom while his friend party continued without me.  I prayed hard.

Every hour that passed I felt better and better.  And with a few extra hands to help, we pulled it off.

Tie Dye Party up next!!

passports should never be this hard.

We lost our passports in the Bahamas last March.  It was a total bummer.  Kind of a downer to the trip, but we tried to get over it quickly.  

So today we had to apply for new ones.  It was an ordeal.

Not because of them.  Just us.

I'll start by saying we started this process a few weeks ago, in our minds we were headed out to start and finish in the same day.

To Walgreens for pictures.

To the post office to do the papers.

Forgot we needed birth certificates.

Back home.

Papers sat on our counter for 2 weeks.

A few days ago we finally tried again. Since we're now running out of time.

I remembered we probably also needed driver's licenses.

And I realized 3 days ago mine has been expired since September.

Crud.  The day we finally try to finish passports up I'm guessing they won't take an expired license.

To the courthouse to renew my license.

Praying I didn't have to take a test.

Didn't know I needed a proof of address.

Back home.

Hopefully we have everything we need now.

Back to the DMV.  

Got my license and then FREAKED that my temporary paper one was not going to work for a passport.  UGH!

Luckily it did.

Finally have everything we need.

Handed them our passport photos and they said Dave can't be wearing a hoodie.

You know, because he may be mistaken for a terrorist.

And the Walgreens guy didn't catch that.
Geesh.  If the Walgreens guy didn't feel threatened by Dave's hoodie then why should border patrol?

So back to Walgreens.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?  

This should not be this hard.

Back to Walgreens.

Dave sits down to take a new photo.
I dared him to just pull his hood up over his head and see if the Walgreens guy would even say something.  But he didn't feel it was a good time to be messing around.

BUT WAIT...they don't want words printed on your shirt either.

So he turns the shirt inside out.  Easy fix.

Picture finally completed.

Back to the courthouse.

Passport applications finally done.

Only to find out it's a 6-8 week process.  We leave in 7 weeks.

We may or may not get to Cabo.

But we will for sure never lose our passports again.

And I hope this recap of steps helps someone else do this process way easier than we did.
It should have never been this hard.

goodbye nursery.

Another big-kid transition happened at our house last month. 

When Gavin was born, Taylor excitedly moved out of her room and into bunk beds with Mason, so that Gavin could have his own room.  We turned her girl room into a neutral nursery since we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl.

She's been waiting anxiously for more than 3 years to get her own room back.  We have been in limbo with a possible move to a new house for the last couple of years, so we didn't want to spend money painting a room and re-decorating to give her her room back, when we could possibly be leaving. But we finally decided we'd just move her without all the extra details. 

So our last baby moved out of our last nursery.  And into the bottom bunk.
The 2 boys are finally together.

No matching bedding.  No theme to the room (the wall is still designed like a barn door from when it was Mason's nursery).  Just absent of all pink details is all that matters.

Everything in Gavin's room was going to work perfectly with the quilt we got her for Christmas, except the red details.  She was SO excited the day we told her that we'd go ahead and move her!  She completely agreed it was ok to not paint or buy anything new for this room, and just wait for the next room and do a little more personalizing then.

 

There are still a few red things up and if I just took the time to paint them pink they'd be perfect.  But knowing myself, I doubt I'll ever get to that.

Our big girl finally has her own space.

They boys have done amazingly well together.  They are both always so tired at bedtime that they have hardly even say a word to each other.

And our little missy who couldn't stand to clean her room or keep things picked up off the floor EVER, has kept her room nearly spotless ever since the move.  The first morning she woke up in her new room she made her bed without being asked and has made it every single morning since. 

the kids' first ski trip

I guess it will be catch up for a little bit...not that I'll catch up on everything, but maybe the big stuff.

So here's a little trip down memory lane... all the way back to the week after Christmas.

Kind of seems like forever ago already. 

But it was pretty fabulous.

 We traveled with Dave's entire family to Breckenridge the weekend between Christmas and New Years.  8 adults, 8 kids  in 3 vehicles headed to the mountains.   Even the 8 hour car ride was pretty fabulous.  Riding with cousins and getting to switch cars a few times is much more fun than being stuck with mom and dad only.

                            We had lots of combinations of riders by the time the trip was over.

The interstate had closed down to Colorado a few days before we made the trip and a few days after.  So we picked the perfect time to get there and back with no weather or road problems.

 We rented a "ski-in" townhouse so we could all be together, and be close to the slopes.  Just a quick and COLD 5 minute walk to the main street with shops and restaurants.

  It didn't take the kids long at all to find the hot tub. 

  

We had never spent time in Breckenridge before, just high school ski trips straight to the slopes.  But the main street is so neat with all it's cute shops and restaurants.

Day 1:  The kids went to ski school from 9-3, or something terribly long like that.  I was pretty nervous and had NO idea how they'd do.  It helped they'd be with cousins, but dropping them off was a tad harder than I thought it would be.  But it was worth it.  We were able to have a day of skiing with just adults, and the kids ended up having a blast. 

It was just a tad cold.  As in cold enough that we had to be careful about skin being exposed.  I had my fingers out of my gloves for just a few minutes and they hurt for over an hour afterwards.

I braved it and took my goggles off for the picture.

Gavin stayed back at the house with Papa and Nana.  But he still insisted in dressing up in all his gear when everyone else was.  Luckily there was a hill right outside the house that he could sled on. We just had to watch for skiers because he sledded right out onto the ski path.

It was so fun taking our kids back to Colorado after having been there this summer.  Colorado was beautiful in June, but nothing beats it when it's covered in snow.

Day 2:  Time for the kids to show us what they could do on their first green. The first run of the day was a nightmare.  Tears, frustration, arguing.  Basically the conversation went like this...

 "I quit!!"

"do you have ANY idea how much this cost, there is NO way you are quitting already!!"

It was ugly and I had no clue how we would make it through the day.  And to top it off, Dave had been struggling with what we thought was altitude sickness.  Major shortness of breath and heaviness on his chest.  As the morning went on he was feeling worse and worse.   So at a time that he needed extra energy and extra patience, he had none. We were kind of falling apart.
 We each stayed with the kiddo who we tend to deal the best with.  Each run we did got better and better.  Actually the 2nd run of the day was almost a complete 180 to the first. But Dave wasn't doing well at all.  We skied in for lunch and he knew he couldn't go back out.  I kind of freaked out about being responsible for 2 kids on the mountain, but luckily there were enough adults and enough kids that didn't need quite the supervision that mine did, that we divided and conquered and the rest of the day went great!  Mason tended to go pretty fast down the mountain, so someone always had to ski ahead with him.  And Taylor and her girl cousins worked hard at turns and taking it slow.

We were the "slow crew".  The biggest cousins were off skiing elsewhere and getting a lot more runs in a less busy area than we were able to get to. 

  

Can you see how big the crowd was to get in line of lifts by the base?

It was New Year's Eve and as the day went on the lift lines got longer and longer and longer.  And when you have a bunch of beginner skiers who can't go any further up the mountain to get away from the long lines at the base, we were stuck in lines almost as much as we skied.  There were a few meltdowns in lines and some attempts to lay down in line while we waited to move forward.  But all together they were troopers.  Skiing is HARD. WORK.

The kids ended up loving it and doing so well!  We finished the day being able to get down green runs with no falls.  And at the end of the day they were good enough to take the little-bit-harder run that led us to our townhouse. 

2 days is all our family could handle.  The other day everyone else skied it looked more like this...

Poor Dave was getting sicker and sicker.  He was a trooper and still tried to half-way enjoy most of the 2 days we had left.  It took us awhile to realize his breathing/lung issues were more than just the altitude.

So I had skiing duty and then the second I walked back into the house I had a little boy anxiously awaiting for more sledding and snow playing.  So back out I went.

 Having skied on New Year's Eve, we were exhausted.  We are usually late nighters and stay up to watch the ball drop with our kids but there was NO WAY.   So we had some family cuddles and then everyone crashed.  Pretty sure our eyes say it all.

Somehow even though there was room for our kids other places in the house with their cousins, we ended up having everyone in our room the whole time.

Luckily we had enough floor space for everyone but we were definitely cozy

 We filled our non-ski time with games, sledding, movies, shopping, grocery store trips and lots of eating.

  

Gavin definitely provided a lot of entertainment for everyone too.  He gets spoiled, babied, loved on, played with non-stop, cuddled, taught to say cute things, you name it.  It's pretty cool being the "baby cousin".

While the others skied another day, we ventured out just the 5 of us.

 We found the best way to get the baby around.  Never once did he complain about the amount of time we spent downtown.  He definitely had it made.

 

 

We aren't huge Starbucks people, but when Starbucks is in a cute yellow house, and there is HEAT, stopping for warm drinks was a no-brainer. 

 And then the last night we were there, after by-passing this Crepes cart all week, I decided I had to get in line.  I was the only crazy one who wanted to try them. But seriously, when the line at a place like this is a mile long for a week straight, during all parts of the day, you have got to assume you are missing out on something pretty spectacular.

I stood in line for 90 minutes.  It lightly snowed the whole time.  It was actually really beautiful.  But about an hour in I realized how cold I was getting, like all the way down to my core.  I think my blood was even cold.  So my hubby brought me my ski pants and a 2nd coat to finish out my wait.  He opted to not stand with me though. He went back to the townhouse until I called him to say I was done. 

The good thing about that long of a line is that it took nearly that long for me to even choose which flavors of crepes I wanted to try, there were TONS.

But what I didn't realize was how much they can change in a matter of minutes after not being hot and fresh anymore. Which would explain why everyone sits by the fire outside the cart and eats them there. So ordering them to-go was a little bit of a mistake.  But still good!  I would stand there again...just maybe not for 90 minutes.

It was such a fun way to ring in the new year!  Breckenridge is awesome.  The mountains are amazing.  The snow is beautiful. And skiing is fun...and exhausting.

On the way home I started feeling pretty sick.  A few days later I tested positive for influenza.  We're pretty sure that's what Dave got while we were there.

And then the rest of January was pretty much downhill from there as we fought sickness.

But we're all good now.  I THINK.

And we are gearing up for another big birthday weekend!  

SOMEONE is turning 7!