Category Archives: Moms

Summer slim down

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I started my “summer slim down.” This year I have a good friend helping hold me accountable. I’m a week in and I’ve done pretty good! I’m someone who does better with a goal. I’m less likely to cheat on a diet or get lazy with workouts if I set a goal to work towards. I think it’s the competitive side of me that kicks in. I don’t like to lose. Plus, having a friend give me that little push tends to help.

I’m not doing an extreme diet or anything. I’m simply cutting out a few items that I regularly grab while grazing or boredom eating. So less cheese, less milk (I drink a crazy amount), less sugar, less carbs and less alcohol. I still consume a good amount of carbs. I need them to fuel my body. But I’m aiming to add in more complex carbs and reduce my simple carb intake.

The word diet doesn’t mean you’re going on some strict meal plan. A diet by definition is “the kinds of foods that a person habitually eats.” So I’m making little adjustments to my regular eating habits.

My overall goal is less snacking. I’m someone who goes to the fridge to eat just because I’m bored. So I’ll grab a snack when I’m not even hungry. I’m attempting to cut out these extra unnecessary snacks/meals.

Well behaved kids

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My father-in-law gave me the biggest compliment the other day. He said my kids were the most well behaved kids he’s ever met. This might not seem like a big deal to most people, but I took it as a major compliment!

I work very hard to help my kids learn to be respectful and kind even at a young age. Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t without our temper tantrums and meltdowns. But those I don’t consider to be completely behavioral. They’re typically related to communication struggles and frustrations in understanding their own emotions. So I consider meltdowns and temper tantrums to be more learning and developmental related vs behavioral. Not to mention, they are starting to become few and far between. A majority of ours were due to my toddlers lack of communication since he was struggling with words. Now that he’s gotten more words, he’s less frustrated and able to voice what he needs. So we saw a significant drop in temper tantrums and meltdowns.

I’ve also worked really hard to change my mindset. I used to get so frustrated with my toddler when he would have a meltdown or temper tantrum. After I learned they were mainly due to his frustration in not being able to communicate, I was able to change my thinking and my actions. When he has a meltdown, I try really hard to talk to him softly, hug him or sometimes just let him be. Sometimes he needs a hug and other times he just needs his space. Same as adults!

Meltdowns and temper tantrums aside, my kids really are pretty well behaved! They listen well (most of the time.) They are good with following directions and doing what’s asked of them. My oldest loves to please people. If you ask him to do something and he does it, he gets so proud of himself. Sometimes I have him do goofy little tasks for me just because I know it makes him so happy and proud to help mommy.

By no means am I saying my kids are better than anyone else’s. I’m just saying how proud I am of them and how I appreciate someone pointing out how well behaved they are. It makes me feel like I’m doing something right and navigating this parenting stuff successfully!

Superset workout type

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When it comes to workouts, I’m a “superset” person. A superset is when you perform two exercises back to back with no rest in between exercises. 🤔

I don’t like to do the same exercise movement and rest in between. I’m someone who has to keep moving in the gym. I don’t like down time. So supersets work well for me. I typically do 4-5 supersets which is a total of 8-10 exercises. I do anywhere from 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps depending on the exercise and the weight. 🏋️‍♀️

Obviously this type of workout doesn’t work well for everyone but it’s been great for me. It’s helped keep me from getting bored at the gym. I also don’t have time to piddle around and waste time. 💪🏻

Toddler stages

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Well, we are in that toddler stage where I am constantly asking my child not to put his hands in his mouth or to lick things. Yes, I said lick things. I caught him licking the window yesterday. And the playhouse. And the wall. And the dog.🤦🏼‍♀️ I think some days he does it just to annoy me or see how I’ll react. 🤷🏼‍♀️

With all the Coronavirus craziness, now is the worst time for him to be doing that! I’m following him around like a crazy person cleaning up after him, making him wash his hands, etc.

Good news is, none of us have left the house for anything but essentials. One person (my husband) is the only one who does the essentials run. We follow every rule. We disinfect packages, food packages, and anything that comes into the house. When we go on walks, we stay more than 6 feet away from people. If we see someone walking down the sidewalk towards us, we cross the street to be safe. Hands are washed regularly and surfaces are cleaned more than ever.

When your kid says the “S” word

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Yesterday I took my kids on a walk around the neighborhood. There were a decent amount of people out and about. While walking, my 2 year old started yelling out “sh*t sh*t. I want to sh*t.” Yup, people looked at me like oh my gosh do you hear him? Ya I heard him! And I just laughed! 😂

Normally I’d freak out and tell him to stop immediately and explain to him why we don’t say that. But this quarantine has had me cooped up for too long. Momma just needed a good laugh. And I got one with this, because my kid wasn’t actually saying sh*t. He was saying SIT. He was tired and wanted to sit down. 😂

He’s 2. His words aren’t perfect. So to all the neighbors in Plano that heard my kid yelling out what they thought was a cuss word…..sorry? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Should I have corrected him? Maybe. But again he’s two, is just learning words, and momma needed that laugh 🤭

Lack of alone time

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The worst part about quarantine….zero alone time. And by alone time I mean me, by myself, with no one to talk to and nothing to think about. 🙄

I’m an independent person with more introvert characteristics than you’d think. I like to do things on my own and figure things out for myself. I also enjoy being alone sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids and my husband. But I’m one of those people who needs an hour or two to themselves just to relax and think about nothing important. It’s like hitting the reset button for me.

I lost most of my alone time when I became a stay at home mom. But what little I was holding on to is completely gone now thanks to this quarantine. I can’t even take a shower in peace without my husband opening the door to have a conversation or ask me questions. Or my toddler coming in to hand me a toy or ask for something. I know my child means no harm by it, and it’s sweet he wants to share a toy. But when you just want a moment of silence, a child standing there with the shower door open staring at you, isn’t the most relaxing.

Im trying to stay positive and remember that this quarantine wont last forever. We will go back to normal life eventually, and I’ll be able to go back to the gym and have an hour to myself. And if God wills it, maybe I’ll get an entire day to myself one day too to recover from all this 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

9 months post baby #2

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9 months pregnant on the left and 9 months post delivery on the right. I worked harder this second time around because I had a good handful of people tell me I’d never get by body back after the second baby. Or that it would be harder to get back into shape after the second baby. 🤔

I took those comments as a challenge. When someone tells me I can’t or won’t be able to do something, it makes me what to prove them wrong. So I pushed really hard this time.

I’m not 100% back to my pre pregnancy size. But almost all my clothes are back to fitting and that’s all I really wanted. I honestly haven’t weighed myself in a few months so I don’t even know my own weight. I’ve never been one to care about a number on a scale. I just kept a goal in my head to fit back into my clothes. Why? Because I hate shopping for clothes. I am not a person who enjoys going to the mall. If I have to shop I do it online so I can try things on in the comfort of my own home. But even so, I still hate clothes shopping. So, to avoid having to go out and buy new clothes, I just had to get myself back into my own clothes! And I did!

To the negative Nancy’s who told me I’d never get my body back after baby #2…… challenge accepted and won. What else ya got? 😉🤷🏼‍♀️

Vacation on hold

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I’m really itching for a vacation right about now. Our Mexico and DC trips were both canceled due to the Coronavirus. I’m not mad they were canceled. By no means do I want to be traveling right now with what’s going on. Even though our Mexico trip was at the start of the Corona spread, I still was uneasy about going. 😭

Although, it definitely stinks to get ready and packed for a vacation, then be told it’s not happening. I don’t love unpacking from a trip. But let me tell you, it way worse to unpack from a trip you never went on!

I’m not complaining though. I wasn’t ready to leave my boys just yet. Camden was only 7 months at the time we were supposed to go to Mexico. I know plenty of people travel without their children when they are at young ages. But I honestly just wasn’t ready for it. So the trip being canceled, while under terrible circumstances, worked in my favor. 💙

While I say I’m itching for a vacation, at this point I’d consider going anywhere outside of the house a vacation! 😂 I haven’t seen anything but my neighborhood (thanks to walks) and my house for the last few weeks. I could use a change of scenery. 😳

These days

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Isn’t it funny the little things we take for granted…… I miss going to the gym whenever I wanted. I miss trips to the grocery store with my boys (they actually love it there). I miss taking my boys to play places and watching them play and laugh. I miss walking down to the park and letting my little one play on the slides. 😭

It’s a strange and sort of scary world we live in at the moment. We are doing our best to stay happy and positive, but it gets hard at times. I’ve actually had to stop watching and reading the news. It was making my anxiety so bad, which isn’t healthy for me or the kids. ❌

Right now my focus is just making sure we eat healthy, get some exercise, get fresh air, keep our distance from others, and just keep hope that the light at the end of this dark tunnel is near! ⭐️

Gym etiquette

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I’m a huge advocate of gym etiquette. I do my best to share and not take up space. I observe people around me and watch to see if someone is using a machine before I take it. If someone is using a machine I want to use I’ll ask if they mind me working in with them.

Yesterday in the gym I went into the back part of the gym where it’s more secluded. There was a man working out BAREFOOT. While I found this incredibly disgusting I tried to just brush it off. I piddled around for a minute to see what he was doing so I could see what items I could use that he wasn’t.

He was taking up a majority of the area with the items he was using but I figured I could still use the cable machine in between his little circuit because it was out of the way.

In the middle of me doing my first set he comes up to me, literally stands uncomfortably close, close enough that I could feel him breathe and says “I need to do pull-ups here.” So I turned to him and said “I’m using the cable, I’ll be done in a second.” He then said “or you could move over there” and points to where I apparently should move for him.” I’m not a witty person and I never have a come back but the words just fell out of my mouth this time and I said “you can have good gym etiquette and share.” Mind you, there are 4 other areas with pull-up bars that he could have used but for some reason he wanted the one I was under. He snapped back and says “or you can just move.” So I smiled, turned back to what I was doing and finished my set. I grabbed my phone, and went to find a gym manager. I reported him for being barefoot in the gym, which is against health code. The gym manager confirmed with me he made the guy put shoes on. Which I appreciate.

I find it shocking that people have no ability to share and can be that blatantly rude. Is it because I’m a female and I was “in your way?” Or were you just never taught to share with others? I guess I’ll never understand. Hopefully the next time I run into him in the gym he says something to me again when my husband is there. Because ladies and gentlemen, barefoot guy won’t stand a chance when my husband gets ahold of him!