Month: March 2020

Well. Holy hell it’s been quite the week. Month. However long, basically pure chaos since I last updated!

For those that don’t know me personally, I own a CrossFit gym…aka a small business that was ordered to shut down on March 20th. 👎🏽 We’re running a virtual challenge for our members right now to get us through all of this “distancing” and for one of my “mindset” goals I chose journal – which reminded me to get on here and post!

It’s truly crazy how things can literally change overnight. I’ve felt all the emotions and finally made peace with the fact that it is what it is and I can only control what I do right now, not the outside world. So, I’m choosing to bust my ass for the gym, but also to step back and ENJOY this time with my family. I know it sounds crazy, but this too shall pass, and I don’t want to look back and have nothing positive to say about this time in our lives and I refuse to wish away even a second of these girls being little. 🥰

Social distancing is quite the opposite of our everyday lifestyle. Our days are usually full of errands, play dates and group workouts and our weekends are packed start to finish with get togethers, pool parties, cookouts and literally non-stop social gatherings. 😳 We’re extra thankful that some of our best friends happen to also be our neighbors, so we can quarantine together and get some sense of normalcy. 🙌🏼

Our new temporary normal has actually been much more relaxing than I expected it to be when we were in the thick of the “what ifs”. Chris got the garage organized and finally set up our home gym (6 years later 😂). Chris’ job is considered essential (he feels the need to remind me of that often 🙄😂) so he’s still gone part of the day, but when he gets home our evenings consist of working out, a long wagon walk with the babes (and drinks) and pool time! Basically Kensie’s dream life. 👸🏼

What I’m insanely grateful for right now is the forced SLOW down. I’m lucky enough to spend more time than most with my kiddos and hubs, but we are constantly doing something or going somewhere. It’s who we are and I wouldn’t trade it – but the empty calendar has allowed me to become more creative/innovative with my business and honestly allowed me to take 10 minutes to sit down and enjoy my coffee without feeling like I need to get the next thing done, because I have all the time in the world to do it now!

Anyway. K sure has enjoyed this time too. She spends her days back and forth from the pool and playroom and changes her outfit a minimum of 4 times from PJs to a princess dress to bathing suit to a new suit back to PJs…🙄

L has been planking and pulling her knees up under her and had her bottom 2 teeth finally come through! She also graduated from her survival lessons at Swimsprout and can float like a pro. 👏🏼 Dropped her in our pool this weekend just to make sure 😆 🤷🏼‍♀️ 🏆

She’s also been perfecting “mama” by saying it every single day 💁🏼‍♀️, has a strong love for wind and water, learned a new spitting noise and recently rediscovered her hand. 🧐

OH and my ever so cautious used to refuse even getting in a pool child…IS OBSESSED WITH LAKE SWIMMING. I draw the line at open bodies of water. I’m terrified. K went out in the middle, SWAM AWAY FROM CHRIS, and pitched a FIT when it was time to get out. 😳 I’m thankful I didn’t impress my irrational fear upon her, but this also means we can never go out there without Chris because no way in hell is this momma casually chilling in the lake not knowing what’s under me. 🐠 🐊🙅🏼‍♀️

I know there’s people dealing with some really HEAVY stuff right now. I know depression and anxiety are skyrocketing. I hope there’s SOMETHING in your day that can make you smile and balance out the temporary suck this situation has caused. I hope you have a community of people you can reach out to, and if you need them, that you do it! And if you don’t have one, reach out to me. I’ll gladly plug you in! ❤️

And this one is for all my fellow parents that feel like they’re failing right now…we all are. But they’ll be okay. 😂😂

My little chunkaroo is getting longer, leaner, and way too close to her very first birthday. 😭

Leighton is truly the BEST baby we could have ever asked for! I joke that it’s because Kens is currently in “high maintenance” mode and Elle knows she has to be this chill for mere survival purposes. My survival, that is. 😜

Elle was born with this special little sparkle in her eye and damn do I have a soft spot for it!

If you ever need a pick me up, come over and get Leighton out of her bed in the morning. She’s like a puppy when their human gets home from work. 😆 Full leg kicks and smiles and even some grunts and growls on an extra good morning. She doesn’t get that pre-coffee cheerfulness from her mama, I can tell you that much. 🤣 I will say it makes dragging myself out of bed in the morning way more worth it.

Elle loves to be tickled and she LOVES her big sister more than anything in this world. Kens loves to play with her in the car and Elle’s giggles are so contagious. K greets her with a baby voiced “hiiii my little cutie girl” every morning and every afternoon when we pick her up – and L goes straight into leg kicking happy mode and squeals with excitement.

Elle wants anything I’m eating – well, anything I’m HOLDING; it all goes in her mouth, shoes being her personal favorite. 🤦🏼‍♀️ We’re pretty sure she’s got an allergy to strawberries because they’ve resulted in 2 vomit sessions…so steering clear of those for a few months which she’s really not happy about.

Leighton is crushing her swim lessons and still doesn’t cry. She gets so excited and tries to climb into the pool the second I set her down. I have a feeling she’ll be my little bumps and bruises daredevil.

Her doctor said her vocabulary is comparable to an 18 month old…which is terrifying to think anyone could talk more than Kensie does. 😂 Elle’s got Mama, dada, hi with a wave, yay with a clap and uh oh down! She’s also been waving and saying bye bye…but she definitely doesn’t know what it means because she does it mid eating. 🧐

Uh oh is at the top of her list lately and most of her “uh ohs” is her new intentional game of “fetch” while she repeatedly throws her pacifier out of her car seat. 🙄

She’s still sitting and scooting her way around town – no crawling just yet! She’s pulled one knee under her and done some solid backwards crawling, but she’s pretty content with her current butt scooting method.

I really don’t get the whole “2nd babies are good to trick you into a 3rd” concept. My thought process is the opposite. I know there’s no way it can get any better so we should quit while we’re ahead. 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

We’re posting a day late because Leighton’s 9 month mark was also the 22nd year anniversary of her Grandpa’s (my dad’s) death.

I’ve taken Kensie with me to visit every year and this year, Leighton got to join us, too!

K is at an age now where I wasn’t really sure what all she’d ask and I was even more unsure of how I would answer the questions she’d have. It’s so important to me that they grow up just knowing this is part of their past and not something that I randomly introduce them to at 10+ years old when I think they’re “ready” to understand it.

I took them to the police station first to show Kensie a picture and tell her “that’s my dad!” She was shy in the moment but full of questions the second we walked out…most of those questions being “when can we go back home to get my princess dress”. 🙄

After she put the flowers in his headstone at the cemetery, she asked where Grandpa is and if Grandma was coming. 😆

She’s a smart one, gotta give her that! I told her it’s Grandpa’s special stone they made to remember him and since she’s got a strange rock obsession, the answer satisfied her and she didn’t ask again. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I know once they are old enough to truly comprehend the whole thing, they’ll be so proud of the hero their Grandpa was!