Life Lately

What a ride we have been on around here. Between a sick baby, my husband preparing to leave for two back to back Army trips, and a BIRTHDAY coming up its been pretty hectic!

Our son has FINALLY beat pneumonia, thank the Lord. That was no joke and took forever for him to get to feeling well again. Although his sleeping habits are still not back to how they were, I am happy that he is getting back to himself. (but really need him to start sleeping better, haha)

My husband leaves for a couple weeks for a job fair at West Point to talk to Cadets about his MOS (job) in the Army. Shortly after he comes home for that he will leave yet again for a month. That one is a *little* more exciting because it leads to a promotion in the following months. I guess I can survive some time away if it means he progresses his career.

Our middle child, Charlee turns TWO while her daddy is away so we opted to move her party up a couple weeks so we can all celebrate together. Our little bean LOVES doughnuts so it was only fitting that we chose the "Donut grow up" theme. Tomorrow starts the craziness of running around and picking up the odd and ends left for the party. I seriously can not believe our little feisty, premie will be two. She is still so tiny, but mighty.

On top of all these things going on in our lives Ive managed to work my Scentsy business well enough to earn a promotion and add one lovely lady to my team this month! Today is the last day of the month and I closed it out with a nice paycheck coming and a promotion to a Lead title! So thats exciting.

I know this next month will be just as busy as our new catalog releases, I parent solo for a bit and we get ready for all things Fall and pumpkin spice. Not to mention a few work outs need to be sneaked in there and meal prepping!

Whats been going on in your neck of the woods lately? Leave a comment letting me know what you have been up to!

Toddler Tales | My three year old and her SLIME obsession

I know I can't be the only mother facing this! Slime has taken over my three year olds life. If she is not begging to make this random concoction, she is crying to watch ample hours of slime videos on YouTube.

This all began because our niece showed her a few of these videos that she enjoys watching. I know, I know- there are so many other things I could be battling right now- Lego Tetris on my floor, gum in baby dolls hair, crayon on the walls.. but until you have lived this toddler slime obsession life YOU. HAVE. NO. IDEA.

At first I was like, okay this isn't so bad. She will watch a few videos, we will make a batch together, we will play with it as a family, throw it away and clean up. HA! Never that easy. #Nope.

Her dad went away for a week for work so i figured it would be the perfect time to try this out to keep her occupied. Who knew there was such a delicate process to making this stuff. Use too much borax and you get a rubber ball. Use clear glue and it turns into a hockey puck. Too much saline solution and baking soda the stuff literally oozes fluid. All the while my child is crying because it's not like Gillian's. Sorry kid, this was not in the parenting job description when I signed on! Btw- gillian is a Australian girl who has a slime channel on YouTube. Sad that at 28yo I know this info. Although I'm betting that if you are reading this you may know her too from your own personal struggle with this craft from hell.  

We literally can not go to a store with out my child verbally listing off the ingredients it takes to make slime. She is three, she JUST learned to wipe her but on her own but she can remember a list of household ingredients?! I don't get it.

So, how are we surviving these days? After too many failed attempts to make decent slime and a few patches of my carpet having permanent gunk in them, I have boycotted the making of slime in the Simon home. We are done. It doesn't matter if you follow the recipe to a T it never ends up quite right. At this point I'm better off paying one of the kids on Instagram to make it for her!

If I never see Elmers glue, borax and contact solution again it would still be too soon. From one momma to another, stay strong in these slime infested streets y'all!

Falling off the Wagon

 I knew the day was going to come when I ran out of steam. Going from business owner, mom of three littles, military wife and the gym there wasn't much left of me to stretch. 

In July my son came down with pneumonia and after a LONG night in the emergency room, little to no sleep and a very sick baby I finally crumbled. If you have ever had a sick baby you know the challenge it is to nurse them back to their healthy self- pneumonia is a million times harder. 

I fell completely off the wagon. I stopped going to the gym, I picked up my old terrible eating habits, every single thing I had worked so hard to get started to vanish, and now is completely gone. 

I haven't been to the gym in a month, I eat poorly, I've gained weight, I don't feel good. Life is kicking my ass and I am just taking it at this point. Instead of rising up and motivating others I have taken the back seat out of embarrassment. How am I supposed to run a fitness mom blog if I am not even in the gym. Where is my motivation I had earlier this summer?! 

I'm not sure where the girl I was a few weeks ago is hiding, but I desperately need her back. 

I have put my business and kids on the front burner and that's totally okay, but I need to remember my preaching and take my own advice, I need my hobby too! My health and body image are important too! Self love is IMPORTANT! 

If you ever find yourself in this same rut, remember it's okay to fall- just remember to get back up! Do not stay down, claw your way back to your goals. 

So with that saaaaid- DnD is back and ready to start this journey over again, and again, and again. No matter how many times I fall off the wagon. 

Working With What You Have

Trust me when I say that I know what it is like to pinch pennies. I know that not everyone has the extra funds every month to spend on a gym membership that depending where you go can be pretty costly. The great thing about fitness though is that it can be done ANYWHERE.

Outside my husbands unit and the tire we were lifting

Yesterday my husband and I were motivated to do something out of the gym after watching the Crossfit games. Anyone else swoon over Matt Fraser like I do? Anyway. We headed up to his work on post to use some of the PT equipment they use in the mornings.  Great thing about being on a military post there are plenty of tires to flip, heavy jugs to carry and places to run. We started with a run, he did a full mile while I did half. I am so not about that running life. Then we went back and did a small circuit of tire flips, jug carries, sit ups, push ups and pull ups. Well, he did pull ups- Im not quite there on upper body strength.  It was hot, we had five finger death punch blaring on our portable speaker, and it was honestly just what we needed to get out of the house and moving. So if you are a military family, I encourage you to do some exercise on post!

Tire flips are heavier than I thought, so I had a little help from my husband. BUT. I eventually got it myself and was able to do FOUR flips on my own! woot*woot! 

Side note- if you are military there are always FREE gyms on post to ID card holders. Some even have family rooms that you can bring your children to and work out while watching them. I never used that option because I have overly attached little ones who if they see me in the room they instantly want on my hip.

Working out in our apartment gym with our
youngest in his car seat

Another option is apartment gyms.
Raise your hand if you live in an apartment. *insert hand raise* While its not my favorite type of living, it works for now and there are a few great perks. Like the pool and the gym. I used the gym in our complex when my son was too little to go to the kids care at our gym. Of course some gyms are better than others when it comes to apartment fitness you will have to assess yours and what your goals are. Mine is pretty impressive for being a small gym so I was able to get a decent work out in. One thing you can always count on being in there is some type of cardio equipment.




Which ever option you choose, the important part is that you are taking the steps to exercise and be HEALTHY! Fitness does not have to be expensive or taxing on your bank account. Find local resources available to you and utilize them!

Gym Child Care For The Win

I had my first baby in 2014 and when she was about nine months old I began going to the gym with my husband. We signed up, excited to start and impressed with what the child care LOOKED like. We loaded up on our first day and I never knew the nightmare we were about to encounter. The women running the daycare in the gym for whatever reason would not speak english to us, we knew that they COULD but for whatever reason they chose to speak to us and our daughter in Spanish. Weird, right? Our daughter had a complete meltdown, and that was the day I decided no more day cares. I gave up going to the gym because I was not going to put her in that situation again.

My husband requested they paint her face as Braveheart. 

Flash forward to this year. We started going to the Gold's Gym in our town. The gym is great but the child care is what won us over. THEY. ARE. AMAZING. They know our daughters by name, they console them if they are upset, they do crafts, they play movies and have a ton of toys for the kids. My favorite thing though is every day they have a special activity. Like, face paint Friday's and pajama day Saturday. We love it. Our six month old also started going, and yes some days its hit or miss with him because he is a teething, temperamental mess lately but they are just as great with him. They even have work out activities for the kids on Sunday's and a mommy and me class for baby-toddler ages. The amount of thought that went into this child care is very impressive. Its so much more than sitting them in front of a TV or in a room full of toys. The teachers are interacting with the kids, they are helping them make crafts, they are doing everything they can to make sure mom and dad get the time in to get a great work out.

Every day leaving, she goes to the weights and does squats. 

It has been really fun going to the gym as a family. Our daughters get excited to go and play which helps hold me accountable for my work out that day. Its something they look forward to doing, and they are watching us better ourselves which in return is teaching them the importance of exercise.

I encourage ALL moms to find a gym with awesome childcare. You don't have to sit at home and put your health on the back burner like I did. There are great gyms that provide good child care. If you don't like how something is being done, or how your child is being treated speak up and voice your concern. Before I was quite and timid- now- you better watch out when it comes to my babies. I haven't had any problems at our gym, our girls love going just as much as we do! If you are at Fort Bragg I urge you to try Gold' Gym of Hope Mills! The gym is great and the childcare is even better!