Life As We Know It: Christmas, Birthday, Fitness & 2 1/2 Years Old!

Hey Friends!

I realize that I haven't updated in quite some time. I could give you a million excuses but the truth of it is... I just don't find the time to sit down and blog. How sad is that? Life with 2 little boys is crazy... not to mention during this Holiday season!

Speaking of my 2 little boys... big news now is that Lincoln is officially CRAWLING!! And when I say crawling... I mean he is crawling EVERYWHERE! He used to just stay in the living room. That is, until a few days ago when he discovered that there is life and room all throughout the house. Did I mention that everything goes into his mouth as well? I swear, there could be a tiny piece of paper 20 feet from him and he finds it! How do they do that? So, I've been CONSTANTLY vacuuming and cleaning to keep that little man safe. Oh & he's pulling up now too. Yeah, he thinks he's big stuff. I was prepared for this. I knew that he would catch on much faster since he has Gabriel to show him. But I wasn't prepared for him to go straight from crawling to standing. Tonight he even stood up and let go of the table and stood there for a few seconds on his own. MAN OH MAN! I've got a lot of work cut out for me.

The past few weeks have been crazy busy for us. Jesse turned 24 on December 20th! We had his side of the family over on the 21st to celebrate and we also did Christmas with his Brother & Sister's families as well. It was fun and we had a house full of kids to entertain us as well. Gabriel Lee was also officially 2 1/2 years old on the 20th! Where does the time go? I know, I know... I say that all the time. But seriously? My tiny, precious baby boy is growing up on me. And I DO NOT LIKE it at all! Can we just pause time and let him be my baby boy for a while longer? Please!?

I can't even begin to explain how excited I was for Christmas this year. I've been buying things here and there for a while now and I couldn't wait for Gabe to see all of his presents. Not to mention the fact that I LOVE decorating for Christmas. Heck, Christmas is my favorite Holiday in general. This year was the first time we've had a mantle to decorate and let me tell you... I was super pumped and super excited on how it turned out. See the pics below!

Here's how our Christmas Holiday went:

On Christmas Eve we headed up to Jesse's mom's to celebrate and have dinner with them. We picked up some Fried Chicken and his mom and stepdad made the sides. It was delish. Then we exchanged gifts and just hung out while the kids played. Gabe got the new Go GO Smart Wheels and he absolutely loved it. That boy sure does love his cars. Lincoln just had a great time crawling all around and getting attention, as always.

That night, Jesse and I brought down all of the presents after the boys went to bed. We had a ball pit to blow up- sadly, it took both of us to get it done. That thing takes A LOT of air. haha. Santa brought the boys their very own "Santa" bags with their names on them. I bought these last year after Christmas at Walmart and couldn't wait to use them this year. We stuffed some of their smaller presents in them to make them look nice and full. Then we stuffed their stockings and relaxed on our NEW couch while watching "It's A Wonderful Life." Apparently watching this movie is a tradition for Jesse. I can't say that I've ever watched the movie in its entirety so I was excited to see it. Sadly, I fell asleep after the 2nd hour. I was exhausted... and I can never make it through a movie late at night...especially when I'm wrapped in a blanket on the couch. :)

Christmas morning Gabriel woke Jesse and I up around 9:00. That sweet boy let us sleep in just a little bit. Lincoln wasn't even awake yet, so we had to get him up so we could all do Christmas together. Gabe was super excited... but not as excited as I thought he would be. We started with the stockings and Gabe LOVED it. He got a stuffed "Horton" from "Horton Hears a Who" (one of his faves) and like 5 trucks plus some candy. He LOVED the trucks and was perfectly satisfied with those. So satisfied that we had to MAKE him open the rest of his gifts. That boy made out with the jackpot! He got tons and tons of cars plus a stuffed "Sully" from "Monsters, Inc." (another fave). Lincoln of course didn't really know what was going on...but he did have a good time watching and playing with some new toys. My favorite toy that we got for both of them was an activity cube box made by B. Brand from Target. It was probably our most expensive purchase but the boys LOVE playing with it! I especially love this brand of toys and was super excited that we got it for them.

That afternoon we headed over to my parent's house for lunch. As always, it was a blast. We did our annual Christmas Exchange (which is always fun and interesting), played some games, ate A LOT of good food, and that night we did gifts with my parents. Gabe got a barn set that had a "cow" and "goat" so he was set. That boy loves his animals. The boys also got several of their favorite movies... Monsters University, Despicable Me & UP! We've already watched them all several times. Even though we have all but Monsters U recorded on the tv. haha.

The next day we headed over to my brothers house to do another round of Christmas. We had Fried FISH (which I LOVE)! The boys got some more gifts and we played some ping pong and had YUMMY Margaritas!

Overall, we had a fabulous Christmas. I hate that it's over. I love this Holiday Season.

Well, this sickness bug has been going around like crazy. I thought that we had gotten lucky and it skipped us... but nope, it's come on full force. 2 days ago, Jesse woke up in the morning throwing up. I kept the boys away from him all day, praying that neither of them would catch it. That night, Gabriel started throwing up. I hate when my husband is sick (I lose my wing man) but I hate it even more when my babies are sick. It scared Gabriel and I could tell that he was miserable. He threw up again that night and then went straight to sleep without hesitation. He woke up yesterday morning feeling good and acting somewhat like his normal self. Jesse felt better too...just not 100%. I got my hopes up thinking that Lincoln and I got lucky. But NO! Tonight, my precious baby boy started throwing up as well. I hate it! He's miserable and not sleeping well at all tonight. My poor baby. I'm the only one that hasn't caught it yet, but I can tell that I'm not feeling well. I'm praying that it'll go away and I won't get the brunt of it. Jesse goes back to work tomorrow so I can not afford to be sick.

So, New years = New Year Resolutions, right? I won't lie, I'm not going to set a goal for the new year because we all know that resolutions last about a week. But, I will tell you that I'm bound and determined to become healthier in 2014- just because I need to. I really took a break from working out over the past week because of Christmas and I can really tell that I feel worse. I feel bloated and don't have as much energy as I did when I was running at the gym. So, starting tomorrow is time to get back on track. I'm cutting out sweet drinks, AGAIN, and going back to strictly water. My membership is up so until I renew it again I will be doing my workout videos here at home. I'm also planning on doing the Advocare 24 day challenge sometime in the next month or so. It's kind of pricey, so I'm going to wait a bit. However, I figured I'd kick start this and start by eating healthier and drinking lots and lots of water. I HAVE to get healthier. I want to be a healthy wife and mother. I don't want to be that mom that sits on the bench because I'm too fat and tired to do anything. I want to be the mom that can run around with her kids and not run out of breath. I want to feel better about myself and not wear stretchy pants all the time. I just want to feel like my normal self again. And let's face it, I haven't felt like that in quite some time. I had gotten back down to my pre-pregnancy weight after Gabe- plus I lost about 10 extra pounds. Then came the pregnancy with Lincoln. Silly me, I thought- Oh, the weight will come off after this one too. Boy, was I WRONG! I only lost about 10 pounds the weeks after having Lincoln and since then I've lost between 5-10 pounds. I fluctuate a lot. I'll lose 10- gain 5- lose it again- gain it- lose about 10 more- gain some... .it's a never-ending cycle. And I'm SO SO SO ready to put an end to that cycle.

We have a Florida trip in May and I would like to be able to put on a swimsuit and feel good about it. I'd like to wear my jean shorts and feel good about it. I'd like to be able to go shopping down there and actually buy clothes that I'm happy about buying. That's part of the motivation as well. I also want to go see Britney Spears in Vegas! I mean, who doesn't? But I told Jesse that I'm not going unless I can feel good about myself and get an outfit that I feel good in. Plus, we're going to save our money a little each month so it doesn't break us when/if we go. She's there for 2 years people... we got the time! :)

So, there you have it. It's time to get healthy. And you, my readers and friends, you are going to be the ones to hold me accountable. I promise to do a monthly post on my progress as well.

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas filled with many, many loving memories with family and friends.