I hope you’re looking forward to the holiday weekend as much as I am! As usual, this week was a whirlwind, but I’m looking forward to getting some quality family time (and some relaxing) this weekend. We’re planning on dinner, a baseball game, and fireworks with the hubby’s family tomorrow so it should be a great time!

Here are some of my favorite things from this week (and one or two from last week):

• Our new martial arts room

 

This is easily my favorite thing about this week! We had this equipment set up in the garage, but half the year it’s so unbearably hot here that it was unusable. We decided to sacrifice our guest room and pull the mats in, and I’m loving this setup. Having everything inside the house makes it easier to workout while the kids are awake, and walking past it all the time helps us remember to stay active. The mats also help me with Insanity because they help to cushion my joints while jumping or doing plyometric exercises.

• Spotify

I don’t know how I managed to go this long without ever trying out this app, but it is AMAZING! I’m currently using the free version, and the fact that it lets you create your own playlist without having the upgraded version makes me sooooo happy. I have a playlist for everything now, but I most often listen to my workout playlist and my singing playlist. I took some time off from the choir I sing with because of the baby so I’ve been having singing withdrawals in a huge way, but rocking out to my singing playlist really helps for now!

• Five Hour Energy

I’ve never been a big fan of energy drinks. I don’t think they’re very healthy, and I just don’t believe there is any substitute for a healthy amount of sleep. That being said, Micah has been having nightmares or night terrors at least once every night for about 3 months, so sometimes getting up for work at 5am is borderline impossible. I used to rely on diet sodas because I don’t drink coffee, but I was starting to feel bad about drinking all of the artificial crud in them. I’m still nursing full-time and I just can’t justify putting something that bad for me into my body when someone else is relying on me as their sole source of nutrition. I’m sure 5 Hour Energy isn’t that great for me either, but I can make one of those tiny bottles last 3 days so I feel a little better about it. I want to kick my caffeine habit totally, but for now this stuff is the toothpicks that keep my eyes open!

• Jurassic World

Life with two kids under 2 sometimes feels like a zoo run by the animals, but at least it’s never boring and there are lots of messy cuddles. I love spending time with the kiddos, but the hubby and I really needed to have some adult time this week. Most of our dates the last few years have included the kids, so we decided to get a sitter and go see Jurassic World. I loved the original Jurassic Park but I didn’t have very high hopes for this because of how bad the other movies in the series were. Although there were some cheesy parts, I was really pleasantly surprised. Chris Pratt is quickly becoming one of my preferred actors — he’s adorable and I loved him in Guardians of the Galaxy too. After the movie we stopped at DQ for a blizzard, and it was the perfect end to our date. It was the first time I’ve left Jonah for more than 30 minutes, and even though it was odd it was really nice to enjoy time with the hubby. It can be hard to see how fast the kiddos are growing up, but I have to admit that it has its perks…

• Toddler Protests

 

This is just way too funny not to share. As a form of protest, whenever I make Micah go to him room for a nap he throws absolutely everything he can find over the baby gate and out of him room. Clothes, toys, bedding, his water, the clothes I have boxed in the closet for Jonah to grow into…nothing is sacred. As frustrating as it is to clean this up several times a day, it’s also totally adorable!

• Stroller friendly races

I just registered for my first post-baby race, and I love that it’s family friendly! It’s only a 5k, so I signed up the two boys (who will ride in the stroller) and Kins, who with either run with me or ride in a stroller if I can get the hubby or a friend to come with us. I’m not positive she can finish a 5k, but she loves when we walk around the block so I’m going to slowly increase our mileage and cross my fingers. There are so few races I’ve found that encourage family participation, so finding this made me really happy! Someday I’ll get back to longer distances and setting PRs, but right now I just want to be active and spend time with my family at the same time. Here’s hoping the kids have as much fun as I do! 🙂

What was one of your favorite things about this week?

Do you have anything fun planned to celebrate the Fourth of July?