Not even 1 pound

Here’s a little back story: I was athletic in HS, I was athletic in college, and then I had three kids. The mix of married life, and mommyhood over the past 6 years has changed my body in ways that are UNTHINKABLE. Once muscular and toned arms from lifting now get most of their exercise from picking up the little ones. I am convinced my thighs and stomach will never be the same again. I LOVE MY KIDS and HUSBAND but my goodness what have they done to my body.

That was me almost 7 years ago with my nephew I would give anything to have that body back.

Here I am earlier this summer hiding behind a one piece with baby on hip.
The time is now.
It is time to do something about it.
3 weeks ago my friend and I started training to do a 5k. Honestly, we are really more interested in the results we see on the scale than the 5k. We looked on pinterest and found the easy to do couch to 5k plan.
We’ve been doing it. I've worked out more in the past few weeks than I have in years.
I feel like I am working my butt off. 3 weeks down and sadly I haven’t lost a single pound. I am seriously getting discouraged.

Potty training might just kill me!

I love this boy

He has had a very special place in my heart since the day he was born...

But potty training him might just kill me.

He's a LATE bloomer, he's not interested, he just really doesn't give a bleep about it. Preston turned 3 in June making him almost 3 1/2 and he still isn't potty trained. We have exhausted every idea, read every book or blog, we've sung songs, we've cried, yelled :(, begged, pleaded, and bribed, now were exhausted and he still isn't any closer to going on the potty. Oh yes, he knows how to go pee pee and poo poo on the potty thats not the issue. Honestly I just think he doesn't want to grow up.

Any moms out there with stubborn kidsboys please give your advise in the comment area.

What’s your greatest fear?
I remember before I was a mom I had fears about who I was going to be or what I was doing with my life. Looking back I had no idea, A fear is so much more when its fear for someone else.
As a mom my greatest fear whole-heartedly surrounds my children. I worry so much about the life I am giving them, am I doing enough, are they happy enough, and what is enough.
My oldest was born smart. She has always learned and thrived. So we push her, I worry sometime we push too much. I worry we focus on things that don’t really matter and she’ll grow up sad and missing something.
My middle child is hardheaded and stubborn. We do a lot of things his way.
I hate to say it but the youngest or as I so lovingly refer to him, as “the baby” is just that my baby. I know children are supposed to be different so we treat them as such but are we doing enough.
Being a parent is hard. I don’t think it’s the act of being a parent that makes it hard it’s the not knowing how you are doing. The hardest part about being a parent is you don’t know if you’ve done a good job until its too late until they are grown and on their own to make decisions.

Comparison vs joy

Comparison is the thief of joy. – Theodore Roosevelt

I came across this quote some time ago I knew I wanted to blog the subject but I never had a strong reason to until now.

About 3 years ago my husband and I decided we were going to “live like nobody else so we could live like nobody else,” Dave Ramsey, we never looked back. We love who we are as a family and where we are. If you are unfamiliar with the meaning behind the Ramsey quote he is talking about living financially responsible no matter what it takes so that later in your life you can live however you want responsibly.

We never cared when we had less, or that we were eating beans and rice weekly. We could see the greater outcome the purpose. Comparison wasn’t an issue and it still isn’t in that part of our life we still scrimp and save. Heck, we’ve got three kids to send to college.

With all that being said… in my personal life things are a bit different. Since moving on post earlier this year and are now living in close proximity to so many people comparison has begun to appear. I find myself thinking about other moms and kids, how they raise their children, how clean their homes are, how smart the kids are stuff that shouldn’t matter to me. These are the little things that I kept finding myself thinking about throughout the day.

I didn’t think it was really that big of a deal until we were having dinner with some friends. I was showing my friend, a new mom, all the new and fun things we were doing and that the kids were doing. I could see it in her eyes. She was overwhelmed in daily life trying to balance her new role and I was showing her all the great things I could do with three kids.

Comparison is the thief of joy, such a true and eye-opening statement. We are who and where we are for a reason. Who cares what Jane Smith down the street is doing. To my friend- you are an amazing mom. You are doing a great job. Being a mom is the hardest job you will ever do, it’s worth it though. You will get better and things get easier.