Today this little lady turns five. She is one whole hand old!
I remember being pregnant and wondering what she would be like as a 5 year old. I was so curious what her personality would be like. And you know what? It’s even better than I could have imagined. She is such a blessing in our lives.
One of her biggest strengths, and quite possibility her biggest downfall, is her huge heart. Seriously, she is so sensitive and tender and loving. One of her very favorite things cuddling. With me, with daddy, or with the dogs or her stuffed animals. Every night she asks if we can cuddle. You can’t say no to that! Because she is so loving and her heart is so tender she does get her feelings hurt pretty easily. I hate knowing that she hurts so easily. I still want to protect her from as much pain as I can.
As sweet as she is, she is equally sassy. She isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions and press you to get the answers. When she believes in something she believes in it fiercely. She is absolutely your classic girly girl. She oohs and aahs at every diamond commercial. She already talks about getting married and having babies and weddings and all those fancy things. She is currently in a phase where she loves talking about going to Paris or Yew Nork (thats how she says New York… it’s adorable)
Oh my little Payt, I am so thankful for the joy you are to our family. I’m SO proud of the big girl you are becoming.
I can’t wait to see what this next year holds for you. I know it will be filled with fun and exciting adventures. It will also be filled with just as many challenging and intimidating moments. Know that whatever happens Daddy and I will be right here with you.
We love you to the moon and back.
Happy Birthday baby girl.
How is your week going so far? Seems like my week has been SO long. How is it only Wednesday? Today is a super special day… It’s my husbands 29th birthday! So we decided to take the day off. Payton had school so after working out this morning we went to breakfast with some friends then headed home to clean up before making the trip out to Sump Coffee… Mid-Week Coffee Date for the win!
Obviously I love coffee, so a new coffee experience is always welcomed. It was a great ambiance. It was really all about the coffee. They buy their beans green and roast them. The flavors are out of this world. It is not a frilly coffee shop. They carry only whole milk and soy milk and have no syrups or cream. Coffee truly is an art to them and I enjoyed it.
After that we went down to the Central West End and found a cool place for lunch. I forgot to take a picture, what kind of blogger am I?! I had a great Chipotle Chicken Salad and lots of chips and salsa. After we picked Payton up we went to get cupcakes. Because every birthday deserves a good cupcake!
When we arrived home I was super excited to see that my text book arrived for my Precision Nutrition Certification Course!!
I have been wanting to do some sort of nutrition certification for a long time now. I’ve looked into lots of different options but when I found this one I knew it was the one. It is not just about nutrition in general, but sports and exercise nutrition. I love that it combines the science and the application. They have a Level 1 and a Level 2 certification. I’m doing the Level 1 now and plan on getting the Level 2 next spring. I’ll share the journey with you along the way, of course.
After sneaking in a little bit of work we decided to go out and celebrate some more. We ended up at the local kids party place. I am not usually a big fan, mostly because lots of small children make me feel stressed… but on a Wednesday evening it was empty! Score!
We played lots of Ski Ball
Chris won the jackpot on Deal or No Deal
And I beat Chris twice in the Sink It game.
It was such a fun spontaneous day! I love spending time with the hubs and kiddo. And I love being able to celebrate another birthday with the man I am lucky to call mine. He is my best friend and biggest supporter. He is my sanity and keeps me grounded. Plus he has a pretty epic beard. I mean, look at it…
Can’t argue with that, can ya? #BeardStrong
Happy Birthday!
How do you celebrate birthdays? Are you Pro or Anti beard?
Remember me? I almost forgot how to write. Seriously, Life has been crazy. Let’s try to do a quick update here…
CrossFit 70 is growing! We have a tiny space, like 700 square feet. So as the classes grow the space seems smaller and smaller. Well, we are moving! Just down to the other end of the building but it is over double the size! We are going to be building a second bathroom and… A SHOWER! We will have so much more space, a lobby and front entrance (we were previously just in the back bay instead of having a storefront). This means we are going to have A LOT of work to do. The good news is now we have a whole bunch of people who love to lift heavy and work hard to help us. We start painting/moving in the next few weeks after they finish building out the bathroom and shower. It will be sad to leave the area we worked so hard to build, but exciting to grow!! We need the space for sure, we had our Thanksgiving Day WOD and we were pretty packed. It was fun though. If you consider a 5 round Partner Fight Gone Bad Fun… Which most of us did. ha. I love these guys.
I was selected to be a part of the #HolidayFitList with Lorna Jane and Sweat Pink! Later this week I’ll be showing off some awesome Lorna Jane clothing, sharing some recipes from their Move Over Sugar Recipe book, and telling you how you can enter to win an outfit of your own from Lorna Jane. Their stuff is adorbs. (PS- If you shop Lorna Jane today you get 20% off all regular and sale priced items!!)
Remember how I told you awhile back we were getting family pictures done? We got some back and they are amazing. Here are a few of my favorites…
My family was in town for Thanksgiving, but we really didn’t take too many pictures. I cooked a simple meal and used short cuts like Stove Top… It was good to have them in town and Payton loved being the center of attention. We also went and cut down our own tree and decorated it. It seems to be our tradition to do that. I’ve always had a live tree and love how it smells. Although, I’m not opposed to a really nice fake tree if a good deal pops up… just sayin.
I have also decided that I want to have a completely Disney themed Christmas set up… eventually. This year we have a Disney Themed Mantel, but I want the whole tree to be covered in Disney Ornaments and even have some fun outdoor disney decor. Here is a shot of the mantel
Ah, It makes me so happy! Speaking of Disney… Only 46 more days until our cruise. I bought a dress from ModCloth for the Formal Dinner and I bought a Bathing Suit from Athleta (both on Sale!!) now I just need some shoes and cover ups and I think I’m good to go. Ahhh Vacation, I can’t wait.
We have a crossfit competition coming up this weekend. I’m looking forward to it! It’s teams of 2 and we have 3 teams going. It’s a small local competition, so low pressure and just for fun. Bring on the Tag Team Throwdown!
What’s been going on with you? Do you do themed decorations?
*tap, tap* Is this thing on? Sorry I missed you the last few days. Life is busy and sometimes time with family beats out time blogging. We actually went to a local campground this weekend and spent a night camping (in a cabin, but still) It was more fun than I expected it to be, honestly. Check out my instagram for some fun pics of the adventures!
I finally took all the toys from Payton’s room out to Once Upon a Child (while she was at Grandmas, ha!) and sold a bunch and made $80 and donated the rest. It felt SO good!
Now onto this week’s project: The Master Bath. If there is one room in the house that receives little to no attention from me it is the Master Bath. It is usually the last thing that I get around to cleaning because it is the one area of our house that no one ever sees. It is also one of the areas in the house that I use daily, if not several times per day. Things end up piling up and getting crazy messy. Let’s not talk about how often I clean (or don’t clean) the shower and counter area. I’m usually in a hurry and things never get put away. We have a pretty large bathroom but the storage situation is less than ideal. And let’s be real, I have a lot of crap I use for my hair/makeup/skin care routines. Since we have a double sink our counter space is rather limited. We have under the sink storage but I didn’t really find it useable or easily accessible for daily use. I ended up using a few shelves in our linen closet to store my stuff, but that gets cluttered up too. So, I got to work trying to fix the problem.
I got a storage container for the larger bottles of product I use on a daily basis. This way it’s easy to keep in the closet and take out when I need to use it. I also folded and organized all our towels and linens. Then I actually put to use the jewelry organizer I got for Christmas. I also organized my makeup into products I use on a daily basis and more special occasion type stuff. I have another organizer full of samples or other products I don’t use regularly, as well as an organizer for headbands and accessories. I put all of Mr Dreamer’s stuff in a container on the counter as well and then I actually cleaned the counter top and mirror. HUGE difference, right? This whole project took about 30 minutes and now makes it easier for me to get ready in the morning! Win-Win!
How do you keep your daily use products organized?
Hey Friends! Happy Monday! I actually wasn’t dreading this Monday. Man, having a week off of school really takes a huge load of stress off. The weekend was amazing and ended with a hair party where my dream finally came true… I got purple hair! If you follow me on Pinterest you’ve probably seen the abundance of purple hair pins on my hair-spiration board. While I’m not brave enough to pull the Kelly Osbourne (yet) I am SO loving it.
Now on to the agenda for the day…
So today is my third week of the Project: Simplify series. I’m so glad I started this! It gives me the motivation and accountability to follow through on projects I’ve needed to do. One of the biggest things I’ve wanted to do is make Payton’s room more inviting for her to play in. Since we work from home she spends a lot of time there. It was overcrowded with toys she never played with and the configuration of her room left her with little play space. I wanted to make her room something she would enjoy playing in (so she would stay out of our bedroom!) I spent all night Friday night going through ALL of her toys (minus the ones in the basement, but that is another post for another day). I had a box for donations, a bag for trash, and piles of toys she wanted to keep. I got rid of a lot of her baby toys and plan on taking them to resale or donating them. I also took down the vinyl dots from her “nursery” days since they don’t go with her big girl bedding *tear*
 I organized what she was keeping by category. She has a large tub of baby dolls, a container of horses, a container of characters/figurines, her music instruments, play food, and dress up. I also created an art station/table for her to color and got her some new crayons. I moved the bed over to the other side of the room to make her play area larger. We also put a TV/DVD player in her room so she can watch movies if she wants. I did this Friday night and I’m happy to report she has kept her room clean (with a little reminding from mom) since then!
And now for the before and after:
She was so excited to go to bed after I moved the bed. It was cute. I also went through a lot of her clothes and plan on taking some of the nice things to Once Upon a Child to try to sell them. She has played in her room more this past weekend than I think she has in the past month or more. All because I got rid of a bunch of stuff. Look at the amount of stuff I took out of her room!
She was there with me the whole way, asking lots of questions. I reminded her that these toys would go to other kids who would use them and she would have more room to play with her favorite toys and she didn’t seem to mind. She doesn’t miss them or ask about them (unless she sees them in the garage… which means I should probably get them out of there quick!)
It was probably around 3 hours from start to finish. It was so worth it. She now has a simplified and organized place to sleep and play. And it is less mess and clutter for me. I was able to get ALL her toys out of the living room downstairs and organized in her room. More fun for her and less mess for Mom. Win – Win.
Clutter makes me crazy. And far less productive. I stress about the clutter so much that it’s hard for me to focus on anything else. I’m trying to make life a little calmer and a lot simpler so I started this series called Project: Simplify.
Basically each week I try to tackle one area in my house that is stressing me out or is over cluttered. Last week we worked on my medicine/supplement cabinet in the kitchen. This week it is a place I spend a lot more time… The home office. Somehow my desk ends up being a landing place for all kinds of odds and ends. What usually happens is I clean up/organize the downstairs area… mainly my mail center… and all the stuff that needs to be filed or dealt with ends up on my desk. When my desk is this cluttered I feel like my creativity is zapped. So, it was time to simplify it…
The First thing I did was go through the big things (Like my broken macbook… and the box for my macbook air) and put them in a better place. I then gathered all the papers that were trash and other miscellanious items like the air freshener, headbands, lotion, nail polish and put them back in the right spots. I organized all my tech gear in one of the drawers of my rolling organizer cart. I also stacked all my books and journals in one place under my desk. I still have lots of mail/paperwork to file but I gathered them all together and put them in my file box. I also tried to organize the bulletin board. I have my calendar, my bill payment tracking spreadsheet, a picture of my family on a pirate ship, and a list of typical standards for CrossFit movements for games athletes… you know like 3:00 Fran, 4:30 Diane, and 15 strict pull ups… Gotta have goals, right?
So when it was time to get to work I was ready to hit it hard, no distractions. Simplified. Organized. Perfecto.
Do you have a home office? How do you organize it?
I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I remember trying to lose weight in high school because I wanted to fit into a pretty dress for school dances or because I felt the pressure of society telling me I should want to lose weight. Even during my internship after high school I tried to get into running or eating “healthier” because I thought it was what I “should” do. Until Pizza or Oreo night. Let’s be real – sharing a dorm room with 5 other girls it was basically a hormonal food binge all year.
The truth is I have always had a great level of confidence. I have always been surrounded by people who love me the way I am and make me feel beautiful and special regardless of my size. Have I had my fair share of dressing room frustrations? Sure. I may not have been super proud of my body, but I never was made to feel ashamed of it. I was happy with who I was.
I have been blessed to have found an amazing man who has loved me from the beginning- not just “despite my size” but really even because of my size. What?! He likes women with curves! HA. Like I said, I’ve always had confidence and that was a big selling point for him. It was a whirlwind courtship, engagement, and marriage. We were both blissfully happy to have found each other. I felt loved and accepted for who I am. Then it came time to start talking about starting a family. We were young and relatively healthy so we figured it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong. We went through 8 months of “trying” – Which, I know is nothing compared to what some people go through. But every month we didn’t get pregnant I felt more and more guilty. Was my weight the problem? This is all my fault was the thought that took residence in my mind. If I didn’t eat so much, I wouldn’t be this big. If I wasn’t this big we could get pregnant easier. So, I jumped back on the weight loss bandwagon. I joined weight watchers and lost about 5lbs. 195 was the lowest I got. But then it stopped working, or I stopped working it. I found out I had Hashimoto’s and thought finally, a reason! I was put on medication and expected the pounds to just melt away on their own. Instead – I got pregnant. When I found out I was pregnant I weighed in at 207 and could barely fit in my Size 18 jeans.
3.5 weeks pregnant and didn’t know it!
I was so excited to find out we were pregnant. Those 10 blissful months went by in waves of boneless buffalo wings, gallons of ice cream, and boxes upon boxes of mac and cheese. Delivery day came and I weighed in at 250lbs.
While that was a lot of baby, there was a lot that wasn’t baby.
When she was born I was in another state of bliss. The tired, hormonal, eat when I can and try to survive bliss. I ignored the fact that I gained nearly 50lbs when I was pregnant with this little 7lb bundle of joy. those extra 40+lbs weren’t going away on their own. Around her 2 month check up I was somewhere around 24olbs. Then came Easter. The day I would find my why.
If you have read the story of my health journey you know it was this family picture that would become the springboard my a-ha moment:
I was unhappy and unhealthy. I was learning to manage my thyroid disease and a newborn. I knew that IÂ needed to get healthy. My family has a horrible history of heart health (both grandmothers dying in their 50s-60s due to heart disease, my dad getting a pacemaker when he was 36…) and suddenly seeing this picture made it all click. I found my why. Because I wanted to be healthy for my family. I couldn’t imagine my daughter losing her mom because I didn’t want to eat healthy and exercise. For the longest time I said I was happy with myself, and I was, but I was also selfish for not wanting to make the changes I needed to be the healthiest me for my family. I may have been happy now, but my family wouldn’t be happy if I got sick… or worse… because of my poor life choices.
So I began my journey. That was 3 years ago. Since then my why has changed many times. I’ve been able to get to the healthiest I’ve ever been, but I’ve also found my passion. I enjoy working out. I eat healthy because I respect my body and want to fuel it properly. Now I’m looking more to performance and competition as my “why” when it comes to CrossFit. Since I started CrossFit majorly overweight I’ve had to overcome a lot of stereotypes of “the big girl” – and while I’ve had plenty of people support and encourage me there have been a few that have made light of my desire to compete. And you know what? It makes me even better. Even if I have 100 people telling me I can, all it takes for me to do it is for 1 person to tell me I can’t.Â
No, I may not be the smallest… strongest… fastest… or the best… but I leave it all out there. Today I hit a goal I set at the beginning of the year… a 500lb CrossFit Total (Made up of your Back Squat, Shoulder Press, and Deadlift). I set a 20lb Personal record on the Deadlift, something I’ve been working hard for.
This weekend I’ll be competing in my first CrossFit competition. I don’t know how I’ll do. But I do know I’ll give it my all regardless. I’ve found my Why and that is what keeps me going day after day. I want to be a healthy mom and wife first – but I want to be a competitor second.
When did that happen? I swear it was just yesterday I was heading into the hospital to have her. I remember seeing her for the first time, so tiny and pink. And now she is such a sassy, smart, & spunky little girl.
We got to celebrate her birthday twice! Once last week with our family in St Louis and again this past weekend with my family in Florida. She absolutely loved it. It is so fun to see them get excited about their birthday as they get older.
I am so incredibly proud of her. She is the sweetest most intelligent 3 year old I know. She really is wise beyond her years (which I’m sure will bring me trouble in the years to come. She loves to cuddle. I know that won’t last forever so when she begs for cuddles I am usually quick to give them to her. She has a huge personality. She loves to sing and dance, can’t ever get enough Disney, and sees the world through those magical innocent little eyes. It is so refreshing to be able to see the world again through her eyes, it reminds me that there still is so much to wonder at. Sometimes the responsibility of being a parent is overwhelming, but it is absolutely outweighed by the joy that she brings to our lives.
Happy Third Birthday Baby Girl. Don’t grow up too fast.
So I’m not exactly one to go gaga for Valentine’s day- but I don’t hate it either. We don’t normally go crazy with presents or anything, but I have to say my husband is the best at being creative with it! Remember when he made me the awesome Hey Girl Memes last year? I thought he couldn’t out do himself with those…. buuuut he did. Seriously, I have the best husband ever. This year’s valentine was just perfect. Check it out:
Best ever. I mean, how do I even top that? There’s no way I could. So, just for fun… I made him some memes of his own 😉
In all seriousness, I am SO blessed to have the husband that I do. While I do appreciate and love him every day, Valentine’s day is a day to go a little beyond normal to make sure he knows that. He is my best friend. My biggest Cheerleader. My confidant. I’m so lucky to have him (even if his instagram is full of pictures of me sleeping). We are a great team and we have a heck of a lot of fun together.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
What’s the most creative gift you’ve received? (Doesn’t have to be just for V-Day)
Sometimes I feel like waiting for Christmas and training for a race are quite similar. All this work and emotional build up for the one tiny moment in time…. and then it’s over. Christmas really snuck up on me this year. Life happens that way I guess. The busier it seems the faster it goes. I could get all mushy, emotional, psychological about it… but I’ll spare you. I’ve been in that kind of mood lately, so don’t be surprised of one of those posts happen. Just not today.
Back to Christmas. We started off Christmas Eve going to lunch and church with some of our BFFs. Little Dreamer let me curl her hair, and was SO excited about it.
I sported my new glasses to church. I got them from Coastal.com – You get your first pair free! I paid $20 for upgraded lenses, but that was optional.
After church we exchanged “stocking” gifts and got to open our presents from one of our friends. He’s a sneaky little guy, got both the hubs and I RX Jump Ropes, but put them in different size boxes AND taped them to the box so they didn’t shake around AND put a bag of almonds in the box for the hubs so it would throw him off. Hilarious. Mine is “Naughty Pink” – I totally love it. And it is FAST. Bring on the double unders!
The hubs did awesome with my stocking stuffers. I got a water bottle, inflatable travel pillow, and my favorite: sparkle fuzzy slippers!
My family tradition growing up was getting to open one present on Christmas eve. and it was ALWAYS pajamas. We’ve continued that with Little Dreamer.
After she went to bed Santa Came! He had to put together the wagon, get breakfast ready, and make sure the house was clean… so I don’t think he got much sleep. Christmas morning came and Someone was excited to find a Wagon under the tree! She has been asking for a wagon for a while now. However, I don’t think Delilah was nearly as thrilled as she was about the wagon…
Once the grandparents got there the rest of the day flew by… presents and paper everyone. Lots of smiles and laughter. I think that is my favorite thing about Christmas. The joyful chaos. Watching Little Dreamer open her presents was so fun. She had been asking for some of the stuff for so long- Like that Doc McStuffins doll. I have that check up song permanently stuck in my head. I wore my Minnie Mouse Footie PJs part of the day. Hubs and I got each other luggage since we will be traveling a lot this year. We made it into a little game. He wanted some very specific things on his luggage… hard case, special wheels, good handle… I just wanted mine to be cute. We both did good. Little Dreamer got luggage too… remember that Personal creations post?We also stayed in our PJs all day. I loved it.
One of her other favorite presents was her Innotab2. She calls it her ipad. I don’t think she put it down for longer than 5 minutes all day. She even made a vlog. I am going to have to post it, I was cracking up. My favorite present of hers? Her WODtoys Barbell. Too stinkin cute. Plus, those cute little workout clothes just kill me. The top is from H&M ($3!!) and the bottoms are from target.
It was an awesome Christmas.
It made me realize how blessed I am.
I have great family, amazing friends, and awesome blog readers!
How was your Christmas? Favorite Christmas Tradition?
imperfectly courtney 