STATE CHAMPS!!!

The fact that Abby is cheering for West Albany thrills me to no end. I LOVE seeing her out there and watching her with her team, it is such a special time and I'm so happy for her to experience it all. 

Sunday was State, which is a big deal. It's the Mother of all competitions and it's what you work so hard all year round for. You have 2 minutes and 30 seconds to show the judges all you got. It's a lot of pressure and the adrenaline is insane.

Watching Abby perform out there was so much fun. They were incredible. It was by far the best performance of their routine I have ever seen them do. They were sharp, together, and loud. 

They had a lot of competition though, there were some really good teams they were up against. 

Finally the awards ceremony came and we waited anxiously to hear the results. They announced the top 5 teams...5th place, then 4th, then 3rd. Still West Albany hadn't been called. So either they are in the top 2 or they didn't place. 

Second place, Westview. 

First place....

WEST ALBANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think we all screamed louder than we ever had, I know I did because my throat hurt all night haha! It was such an incredible moment and we all basically freaked out with excitement. 

I couldn't wait until the end of the ceremonies when we could go down and hug Abby. I was so happy for her and beaming with pride for my little one. 

Sisters!! I may not be the tallest but I'm not the shortest!

My sweet Abby

I got all sentimental that night thinking back to when Abby was just a whee one...

Man how time flies!

Abby,
I am so proud of you. I love watching you cheer and the smile on your face lights up that mat. Not only are you a talented cheerleader, you are an inspirational person and I'm so proud to call you my little sister...no matter how tall you get you will always be my little sister!
Love you!

Valentines

The day before Valentine's, Bria had her party at school. And because I love me a party I volunteered to be the coordinator for it. The kids had a blast and I think I planned some age appropriate games where all had fun! Including: Pin the Lips on Mrs. Valentine, Dancing Hearts (conversation hearts in vinegar and baking soda), throw the marshmallow in the box, and a love bug craft. 

Before we headed to the party it was mandatory to take my girls to Starbucks...

 I didn't take any pictures at the school party...it's a little hard to entertain kindergarteners and be a photographer so you'll have to trust me that it was adorable and they all had a blast.
That night Brian and I went on our date night, dinner, frozen yogurt, and Target. The perfect date night :)

 Valentine's morning I had all these envisions of the girls coming down while I was whipping up some pink pancakes and we would all eat them with smiles on our face. I get these ideas in my head and build it up and build it up and then the real thing is not at all what I had thought. The girls came down to a little valentine's present from us, Reese got a little stamp set and Bria got a shoelace necklace kit. Then I made the pancakes which actually started the night before when I baked some beets. I added the beets to the pancake mix and it was bright pink, score!
As soon as I cooked them they turned brown.
Pinterest fail.

 Plus, while I was making these, Reese was screaming for cereal and throwing a massive 3 year old fit. It wasn't what I had thought, but whatever. The pancakes tasted delicious, fortunately no beet flavor to be detected.
And I had a hair appointment that day which always makes me happy :)

That evening we went bowling and then to dinner at Red Robin with the Inukai's and Buell boys. Nothing says Valentine's better than mass chaos at Red Robin ;)

The girls (Amanda had to work, she was there in spirit though!)

 We actually had a lot of fun and the girls always love a night out with friends.
Late that evening we decided to head down to Albany in the morning. Brian wanted to help Kyle with his shed and I wanted to cuddle with Ames!

 It was a quick trip but oh so fun!!

Sleeping Beauty

Reese doesn't nap...in her bed. Nap time is her quiet time and I don't fight her on it, it's not worth it. However, she gets exhausted some days and will fall asleep somewhere, usually the couch with her Dad if he is home. 

Out

Dad's work is super boring

So tired

So yeah, she sleeps...and I take a picture every time. Never gets old seeing her zonked out on the couch, I love it.

Currently we are in Birthday mode, Bria's 6th birthday to be exact. She is going to be 6 people!!! She has requested a Frozen birthday theme and we are having the girls from her class over plus a few other friends (Presleigh, Buell boys, Gracie, Kenzie). I'm crazy and just doing it at our house. I don't really have games planned or anything, hoping they will entertain themselves and then I will feed them some sugar and send them home :)
Bria is just like me and setting her expectations super high. She wants all these elaborate decorations and then she wants us all to jump out and yell Surprise! So....not sure how that's going to work...will let you know ;)

This cannot be happening...AGAIN

We have been renting since we moved up to Portland. Partly to get to know the area and where we want to buy, partly because we are still recovering from our Albany house... We bought in the high point of the housing market and then had to sell in the low when we moved up to Portland. We tried renting it out for awhile but we were still paying quite a bit to make up the difference between what we were getting for rent and our mortgage. 

So now we are saving up for a down payment and hoping to buy soon because renting is driving me nuts. Yes, it's nice that when things go wrong we don't have to pay for it. However, the temporary feeling is really getting to me and making me feel so uneasy. Especially with Bria in school, I want to establish our home and we just can't do that in a rental. 

And then here is the number one reason renting sucks...

We are being forced to move. Again. For the second time in a year. 

The owner has decided to sell and so the Holcombs are outta here. 

I cannot tell you the amount of stress and aggravation this causes. Back to searching for a house to rent...in Bria's school district...nearly impossible. I have been checking multiple times a day for the last week and there are 2 houses for rent in her school district. 

2.

And they aren't ideal.

Then to think about the packing up...and moving...and unpacking. Honestly, it makes me want to cry. A lot. 

But so far I've held it together and focused on the health and safety of my family and loved ones. And I will continue to focus on that because it could be a lot worse. 

Just looking forward to the day we can buy a house to call our own. 

Bedtime selfie

Last weekend we went to an Auto Show in Portland with the Inukai's. My girls were crazy and full of energy so it was a little stressful but I enjoyed sitting in some nice cars and Brian and Scott had a blast of course.

These girls have attitude to boot!

My spunky girl

We are taking a little break from swim lessons and will start back up for the Spring session. Still doing zumba and gymnastics and Bria has jump rope club and science club so I felt we had plenty going on.

Obviously this week was spent looking at houses to rent and we are still looking. There is one that seems promising so hopefully that one works out. Cannot believe we are here again, truly stressed and just down about it all. After my pity party I will remember to just roll with it, but I need time to feel sorry for myself, I'm only human! :)

Those darn germs got her!

Watching Dads favorite show together: This Old House

Waiting for the bus

 So Bria seemed to hold off the cough and sniffles pretty well, very minor symptoms. However, my little 3 year old's cough turned to that barking seal cough one night and I knew the croup had gotten her. We slept very little and sat in the bathroom with the hot shower going to help drain out all the mucous.

 Fortunately it didn't last long, only one horrible night and about 5 days of symptoms and now she is nearly back to normal. Just lots of snot from her nose and the occasional cough.

Mornings were spent cuddling

Afternoons were spent cuddling...

 And poor sweet Penny has pneumonia so we haven't seen her for awhile. Hopefully next week everyone is better and we all get a break from germs!
Last weekend was Abby's last competition before State, I got to take Bria and she was in heaven watching the cheerleaders and seeing her sweet Aunt Abby!

Bria loves her Aunt Abby!

So proud of my "little" sister...yes she is taller than me, no I don't wanna talk about it :(

I have to toot Abby's horn because she is the BEST back base ever. I can tell by just watching her out there that she is doing her part and more and it thrills me to death. Also, she got elbowed in the eye before their performance and has a nice black/swollen eye. But did that stop her? Nope, she's an Armstrong all the way baby!

Whole 30 for real

The whole30 is truly a life style change. I cannot say enough inspirational things about how positive this affected our lives and how incredibly we feel, both physically and mentally. 

What is the whole30?

To get the most accurate description it would be best for you to go to whole30.com and read all about it, but I will give you a summary:

For 30 days you cut out sugar and processed foods. COMPLETELY. There is absolutely no cheating, not even a lick. Is it hard? Yes. Is it impossible? Hell no. It's 30 days, toughen up and do it. 

So what DO you eat?

 A lot! Honestly, it was the most educational experience with food I have ever had. I learned so much and a big take away was simply: Read your labels. If it had any form of sugar, or anything I couldn't pronounce that is an easy no.
You can eat fruits, vegetables, most meat (unfortunately bacon is hard to find where it's compliant, some form of sugar or other chemical comes on it), almonds, cashews, olives, a variety of hot sauces, etc.

 Here is a sampling of what we ate while on the whole30:

Meatballs and zucchini (my lunch one day, also the meatballs were a favorite of ours!)

Spinach salad with strawberries, grapes, almonds and a vinagrette dressing that is compliant (Tessamae's)

Life saver! You can find them at Safeway and they have a variety of flavors, perfect for marinades, dip, or as a dressing

Sweet potatoes, egg, applegate beef dog

 We also had a delicious beef stew that included egg plant in it...yep, Brian ate it!! And liked it! Some nights we would do steak, asparagus, and sweet potatoes or salad of some sort. Chicken was a favorite, ground turkey or ground beef seasoned well and put into butter lettuce for a lettuce wrap.
Not only did we enjoy what we were eating, but we never ever went hungry. We were always full.
It has started to change our relationship with food and drastically decreased our portion sizes. Brian's blood pressure has gone down along with the pounds.

Our energy level shot up and we slept so much better. And my once snoring husband? No. More. Snoring. When I say he snored, I mean he snored. Very loud. Very very loud. I will stop because I'm sure he doesn't want me going on, but trust me when I say it got so loud I would have to go sleep in the other room. And now? 0. No snoring!!! Life changing people, life changing.

We don't have the aches and pains we use to have or any stomach pains.
All the benefits that have come from this are life changing and truly such a blessing for us. We became closer as a couple and found ourselves working as a team so well.
Our girls ate the same dinner we did, but for breakfast and lunch I would fix them something else (that was very hard to do, I LOVE cereal).

Was it hard?
HELL YES. The second week was the rough. The first few days you go through a sort of withdrawal as your body adjusts to the lack of sugar. I got a pretty bad headache as did Brian. But once that passed the first week was the honeymoon phase. We were all excited about being healthy and cooking all our meals, the new food was tasting good and all was well.
The second week hit and so did the cravings. It sucked not being able to have creamer in my coffee, or have a muffin. But we continued on. Weekends proved to be challenging and we had 4 to get through, Superbowl being one of those. Yeah, go us.

Week 3 might have been the most difficult. We were DONE. Yes, we felt great and yes we had energy. But dear goodness we wanted more flexibility. We were starting to feel trapped, I just wanted a damn cracker! Or cereal! Or let's be real, WINE!! Ugh, not fun.

It got so unfun that we both slipped into a wee bit of depression and nearly called it off on Day 20:

Yep, I took a picture to capture just how blue I was feeling

And then we both started working out even more and the fog seemed to lift. We found our second wind and realized we were so close to the end and wouldn't it feel good to complete it?! I mean, we've come this far, no sense in giving up now!
Then the home stretch happened and we were like, "Oh we got this." Day 25 we started thinking about day 31...what happens the day after?? And we got kind of nervous. We have been doing so well that we were scared to reintroduce foods we once loved...but aren't that great for us. How much should we introduce?
Fortunately the whole 30 website walked us through a little bit.
What is nice is that I have really been purposeful in the foods I eat and the choices I make. I have been putting a small amount of a healthy creamer in my coffee, that is worth it to me. Starbucks, I love Starbucks. In a weeks time I've gone twice, so nothing crazy. And I order a soy latte, don't want to reintroduce too much dairy as that is definitely a reason I get puffy and bloated feeling. I don't miss pasta, cheese or bread so I haven't introduced those. Overall we have just been weighing what is important to us to eat and what isn't. We are still both working out, I am currently training for Hood to Coast! Last weekend I did my longest run ever, 5.63 miles! For someone who is not a runner I am pretty proud. I also learned that I need to keep my toenails even shorter than I currently do:

I didn't even feel it during my run, the adrenaline was going I guess :)

I hope that we can inspire other people to join the whole 30 movement! It's not a cult, it's not a diet, it's not bad for you...it's a teaching tool to help you change your relationship with food and eat things that are good for you and make you feel good. Bread is not poison, it's not an enemy...but for me it doesn't make me feel great so I won't eat a ton of it.

Final weight loss in 30 days:
Brian: 32 pounds
Lindsey: 6 pounds

Inches: Lots! Wish we would've measured! We did take before and after pics but they are pretty revealing haha! Here's a little sneak peek:

I was feeling really discouraged the day before we finished, but when I saw the before and after pictures I was ecstatic and totally motivated! 

Look at his face and neck!!!!! Incredible!

I can't say enough how proud I am of Brian. He completely changed his eating habits and did it with a smile on his face. This is a man who loves his spaghetteos and mac n cheese...he loves brownies for breakfast and two large glasses of milk with it. He despises fruit (except apples and bananas) and hates trying anything new. 

Ya'll, he DID IT. He ate mass amounts of veggies...eggplant, kale, broccoli, carrots, the list goes on! And although he still doesn't like fruit, he does like the smoothies I make him every morning and they have a healthy dose of berries and other yummy fruit. Technically smoothies are frowned upon by whole 30, but if it's the only way to get fruit in someone, I say it's compliant :)

Brian-You are an inspiration to everyone and I am so proud of you, love you!

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

Our first taste of non whole 30 compliant food?? 

A small handful of Honey Nut Cheerios and a glass of red wine.... YUM!!!

And one last hoorah for my hubby and myself... WE ARE WHOLE 30!!!!!!

Young Love

 It's no secret that Bria is absolutely boy crazy. She loves boys, loves love, and can't wait to get married. Sometimes Brian and I wonder if WE are doing something to make her so boy crazy, but I think it's just her seeing me and Brian so in love :)
Bria is currently very much in love with Monson, an adorable little boy from her class. He is the sweetest little thing. She was thrilled when I told her that he was coming over for a play date and couldn't wait for the day to come.
As soon as he came over she showed him all over then they plopped in the chair and started chatting:

Bria: "I told my Mom I'm in love with you."
Monson: "Yeah, I told my whole family I'm in love with you."
Bria: "I can't wait to live together!"
Monson: "Yeah."

I died. It was too cute...and too soon :)

Walking to the park hand in hand

 Yes, Monson is shorter than her. She looks so tall in these pictures. He is really small for his age and Bria is kind of tall. I can't get over having a tall child, it's surreal for me!

So there goes my girl, falling in love at age 5. And if these two get married, I'm recreating this picture because HELLO, wedding video?!
Notice how I'm always thinking of the wedding video? Wonder where Bria gets her fantasy of love and marriage? It's a mystery.

Stay away germs!!

January usually means sickness. And nearly everyone we know is or was sick recently. Not just any old cold, but knock you off your feet sick. Penny has tonsillitis so I'm nervous the girls might get it. Bria has a cough and stuffy nose and just last night Reese woke up with a stuffy nose. Praying it's just your run of the mill cold, if anything, but not sure we will get off that lucky.

Playing with the princesses...brings back memories from my childhood!

 Last week we had some AMAZING, sunny days. We spent a lot of time outside, the girls love going to the park.

And Saturday Jax and Jenny came up so Uncle Brian could take Jax to get his haircut. Have I mentioned Jax's distaste for getting his haircut? He would scream and freak out despite our valiant efforts to entertain him. However, last time we tried something new...send Uncle Brian in to see what happens! And guess what?
He was a perfect angel. Brian was like, "You guys are drama." Brian's one rule is that we are not allowed to come with them...not even in the car. It's Uncle Brian and nephew time. Both of them look forward to it :)
Uncle Brian had a Seahawks donut waiting for Jax when he got here:

And in honor of the Superbowl, Jax got some sweet color added this time:

Uncle Brian wore him out!

We always get excited when family comes up to see us!! 

Now it's Sunday, Superbowl Sunday and we are all still in our pajamas and trying to get the day started. Brian is at an estate sale and I'm sipping coffee, blogging, and playing referee to my girls. Eventually I need to get my butt in gear and get ready for the week...maybe after another cup of coffee.