1. Despite a really yummy Valentine’s Day dinner of twice baked potatoes and steak, TC and I fell asleep on the couch watching HGTV. Nothing says lovin’ like Sandra Rinomato. (And can I say that I’m sad to say goodbye to Sandra Rinomato?)
2. My house still smells like last night’s supper. An overwhelming smell of red meat and potatoes at 9:00 a.m. But it actually doesn’t bother me a bit. And I’m sure Boudreaux is happy!
3. We had a great “don’t buy crap” month of January and saved a lot of money. And then February came. And it hasn’t been bad, but we’ve had some expected expenses and some large unexpected expenses. More reason to plan for the rainy days.
4. There’s a lot of pressure with having a kid in school/preschool. I saw moms walking in with Valentine’s Day teacher gifts yesterday and very quickly started to feel panicked.
5. I am very easily motivated by the person next to me at the gym. I like to check his or her pace on the elliptical and at least match it. I may fall over and faint one of these days because of it, but I guess I’m just competitive.
6. I may be competitive, but I’m not at all athletic. So I should really just stop being competitive.
7. My teeth are still moving. I got my braces off twelve years ago and I still have to wear my retainers a couple of times a week because my teeth will shift a lot if I don’t.
8.We have moved on to watching Cinderella in our house. I worried that Todd would be mad at me for having Hudson watch another Disney Princess movie, but Hudson adores it! All the mice, birds, Lucifer (Rucifee), and Bruno have him in stitches constantly! We can hear him cracking him from the other room because he thinks the mice are so funny. I had forgotten how many little critters are in that movie.
9.Todd and I have decided to go forward with getting Hayes the doc band. We’ll have another appointment soon where his head will be scanned/measured for the doc band and then we’ll wait for it to be ready. Charlotte girls… I see lots of fun meet ups in our future!
10. My tailbone is officially bruised from yesterday’s spin class. I love spinning, but hate getting used to the seat. But the calories burned are totally worth it. I just have to stay away from the Valentine’s Day candy and the cookies.
11. Hayes was up at 4:30 this morning. We let him cry for about 15 minutes and then when it was clear that he was past the point of no return we went in to change his diaper and give him a very small bottle to settle him down. (Hayes! You had been doing a great job for about a week. What’s the deal?! Anyway….) Since my alarm was going to go off at 5:00 (I’m insane), I decided to just go ahead and get dressed for the gym, go downstairs, fix some coffee and do my Bible reading for the day and then head off to the gym. Well my reading made me extremely sleepy, so I grabbed a blanket and took a nap. For almost two hours. Around 6:45, I jumped up and ran out the door to go to the gym. I am still not used to the earlier mornings. I’m just waiting for the day when it’s my natural wake up time.
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
This was fun to read. Good for you on working out. I’ve never tried spinning. It intimidates me. More importantly, good luck with Hayes’ doc band appointment.
Where is Sandra going? Is her show cancelled?
I stopped wearing my retainers in college… big mistake! My teeth are all crooked again and I should get braces, but I won’t unless it’s Invisalign.
I think you guys are making the right decision with Hayes. I would do the same thing if Landon or any future kids needed it.
Oh, we will SO miss Sandra Rinomato too!! Maybe her successor will be just as fabulous!
I do the exact same thing at the gym with the people next to me. The problem is I always seem to be next to an over achiever who reminds me I’m not athletic either.
My husband has been getting up at 4:30 to go to the gym. I can’t believe he can do that. I think it would feel awesome to get up and just get the workout done. But I don’t think I could ever get up before 6 a.m. Plus, my boys are early risers :/
I’m glad you made a decision about Hayes. I’m sure it feels good to move forward with a plan.
It’s been 15 years since my braces came off, but I wear my retainers usually once a week. My top teeth don’t move much, but I can tell a slight difference with my bottom two front teeth if I go too long without the retainers. I hope any future children I have don’t have my small mouth!
I’ve had braces twice now. After my first time in them, you were told you could just stop wearing your retainers after two years. Well, 20 years, several broken “permanent” retainers, and another set of braces (to the tune of $6000) later, I wear my retainers every night. So worth it!
Don’t be so worried about what everyone else does at school/preschool. It’s just not worth the stress. My kids took in CFA ice dream valentine cards to classmates and teachers. The teachers also got a cute little (non-personalized) notebook that will fit in a purse. We really try to keep it simple for the non-religious “holidays”. I almost let pinterest get me out of control, but then the reality of time set in. With Girl Scout and Cub Scout activities filling our weekend – not to mention family celebrations & church activities – there just wasn’t time. And based on the valentines both of my kids received, no one else had loads of time, either!
Please don’t take that as critical – I guess what I’m trying to say is that while it’s fun and sweet to do those things, don’t set the bar too high. It does get easier when they get a little older and just ask for the CFA valentines!
Way to go on the dedication to get to the gym! And I can’t close without saying a big congrats on the budgeting/financial discipline. My husband is teaching Financial Peace University right now, and we always wish we had known these principles 5 or 10 (or more!) years ago. You and TC have a few more years than we do – we and our kids are a little older – and I know you will be so glad you are making these choices. The payoff is more than financial!
So awesome that you’re still sticking to the waking up at 5:00 thing for Bible reading and gym. Seriously, I could never get up that early before work, and I don’t even have children! Really impressive.
We are only an hour or so from CLT! Would looove to meet up for lunch or shopping one day! xo
1. Twice baked potatos are my favorite. I love them SO MUCH. I need to get the recipe you used.
4. Pinterst has made these things harder and almost “competitive”. It gets on my nerves
7. Luke has to wear his retainer several tiems a week or his front teeth seperate. It cracks me up when he tries to kiss me with that nasty thing in his mouth. UM NO. I didn’t date in JUNIOR HIGH for a reason.
8. You are making me want to watch Disney movies so badly! I need to build my collection
9. I’m glad you came to a decision!
I laughed SO hard at #6 hahaha
I’m not sure how many additional blogs you read, but the Steecies from Steecies Pieces had all four of the quads wear the doc bands when they were infants – don’t know if you might want to connect with her?
Haha, “Rucifee”! Too funny! My husband and I need to have a “don’t buy crap” year! and when I say my husband and I, I really just mean me! I’m terrible at it! Good job and going to the gym! If I had woken up late, I probably would have just skipped altogether!
First of all, you are amazing for even trying to get up at 5 and go to the gym. Even by going at 6:45 you did way better than me! Lately I have liked sleeping in way too much and if I work out it’s only at night.
Your comment about the teacher gifts made me laugh. I was seriously amazed with all of the teacher and classmate Valentines I saw on twitter the last couple of days. Everyone is so creative. Doesn’t anyone buy the ready-made Valentines form the store anymore and tape candy to them?
I took spinning for the first time about a month ago and thought I was going to die! The seat was awful!
How long does it take to get used to it?
My husband gets up at 5am every day and I sitll can’t get used to it and always go back to bed. It is SO DARN EARLY!
Pinterest will just fuel the competitiveness … but remember that the bulk of people never follow through on the projects (myself included). It’s fun but the pressure is all self-invented (this is true for me anyway).
I took a spin class once. I, too, thought I was going to die! I want to go back b/c you burn so many calories, but I just can’t bring myself to do it again. I’m in Charlotte
You’re waking up at 5 in the morning?!?!? Good Lord… that’s dedication! Props to you. And, I know what you mean about spin class. I took one, just one, and that was all I needed to never go back. I hurt for DAYS!
when i used to spin- i would bring in my own seat cover. it was one of the gel ones from Bell. I think i got it at tar.get. it really helped with the seat pain and it made me feel less skeeved out by other people’s sweaty butt germs lol
good luck at H’s doctor apt!
Our alarm went off at 5:30 so A could go to the gym, and then I could go when he got back (we have a gym at our complex). He hit snooze, and I went back to sleep too…and then he didnt wake up until 730! It’s so hard with young children to jump out of bed in the morning, right?! I wish I were an early bird too!
And I’m so happy to hear about your decision with Hayes. I don’t think you will regret it
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I had the same reaction to spin — and refused to go again for two years. I eventually went back but bought a padded seat cover and this stuff: http://www.amazon.com/Reflect-Sports-Hoo-Ha-Anti-Chafing/dp/B004LKXBEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329342843&sr=8-1
there are no words to describe how much better i felt with the ride glide. it has some kind of numbing agent that works perfectly!
I totally am with you on number 4…we had Valentine’s parties for all 4 of my kids at their pre-school/MDO…we came home with a gallery of Pinterest projects LOL…I felt like quite the under-achiever
I do the same thing while working out next to people at the gym! How the heck do you find time to workout, lady!? You’re an inspiration!
My teeth are still moving too, but I can’t find my retainer. I wore braces for almost 4 years. You’d think they’d stay put.
I get up early for work, but I have to admit that even after nine years of doing it, I still haven’t gotten used to it. Maybe one day . . .
cinderella! one of my faves — now you’ve got me itching to watch it again
glad y’all had a nice vday dinner in — sounds perfect to me! we’re celebrating ours tomorrow night and i’m sure it will be very similar. xoxo
I was glad to read that you still have to wear your retainer some after having braces in junior high. I had braces almost 20 years ago and I STILL have to wear mine a few times a week. For some weird reason I stopped wearing towards the end of my pregnancy and that was a big mistake. I had to wear it every night for a couple months and it was super tight. Glad I went back to wearing it. I’m paranoid my teeth will go back to crooked.
Way to go for working out. It truly is hard work and dedication. Keep it up girl!
Ah I love spinning! I took about a year off from it and went back and it took me FOREVER to get used to the seat again. Good luck
I looooove Cinderella! Probably my all time favorite
And I love you line about Charlotte in here. Send me your dates when you know when you’ll be coming!
Jack wore a doc band!!! We have nothing but wonderful things to say about the folks in Charlotte and the results. My only regrets are that I let myself get so stressed out making the decision and that I didn’t get it on him sooner. I would be happy to talk to you and give you some tips! Call me! Just know that you are giving a wonderful gift to little Hayes…one he will thank you for down the road!
Check your Facebook messages!
Erin- you inspire me!! I am super competitive (with family and friends) but my competition would be better off with someone running next to me
you’re in my prayers while all is worked out with Hayes’ doc band and I’ll continue to pray while he wears it that it works in the ways you hope it will.
I love #5 and #8! Has anyone mentioned that you resemble (or remind me of) Emily from this season of the Bachelor (not Emily that will be the next Bachelorette)?
1. LOVE Sandra Rinomato! Gonna miss her too
2. One of my favorite hobbies is riding bike- but that seat is no joke! I definitely need to invest in a comfy seat for long trips.
3. I feel like my teeth are still moving- and I can’t find my retainer! But I will NOT be seen in braces ever again! So stop moving, teeth!
4. Glad you and Todd are making the best decision for your family (regarding Hayes) and have open communication.
5. Glad you took that nap. Now go take another one please!
I love that your boys watch all the disney movies! It makes me smile. And I need to get motivated to get up in the morning and hit the gym!
You get up at 5 am to go to the gym? You’re my hero.
I love HGTV and Sandra. I also really love House Hunters International. Seeing how other people live in different countries is kind of fun and also a little jealous when people are buying a second home somewhere tropical.
I would love to see you when you’re in Charlotte!
I’ve had braces twice and I wear a night guard. If I skip a few nights? It’s tight to put in.
As far as spinning goes–the padded shorts really really help. No one wants a sore tailbone.
Hey Erin
Haha girl I’m the same way at the gym. I’m more of a 4.5 speed walker than a runner but if there’s a runner next to me I notice I’m competitive with my speed which totally doesn’t make sense since I’m walking and not running lol!
I usually let Brynley wake me and then trade off going to the gym with my husband so we are early birds if we both want a good workout in! I tried spinning once and was so.sore I thought I was bruised so that was the end of spinning for me. If you do a Charlotte meetup I would LOVE to come
I’m in the lake Norman area which is the suburbs outside of Charlotte. Keep us posted! I had to laugh about Hudson living Cinderella. Ryder loved Dora and one day I had My Little Pony on and my husband was like what is he watching haha. Guys are so silly
Laura