TBT

I couldn't resist a good 'ole TBT post.

Just hours old.  I hardly remember him being so little!

After his first bath at home

What happened to this little baby!?!

MC Froggy Pants!

His board room picture!

How have 3 years already gone by?  In the words of my Great Grandmamma Mary....That ain't right...it just ain't right...

Egg Cups - Low Carb Eats

As many of you know...I'm a fan of the Atkins diet.  Well, an Atkins way of life actually.  That is literally the only way I can control my weight without devoting the time to a work out schedule.  I know, I know, it's not that good for you...etc, etc.  But, it works for me.  I just got back on the wagon last week, and I've lost 7 lbs.  I bought my first "Mom Swimsuit" this week.  A tankini with a skirt. WTH has happened to me?

Anyway...I love egg cups. When I do low carb, these are something I make every Sunday.  I actually really love them.  And, I can freeze them in baggies, which makes it super convenient to take them to the office during the week.

First, I brown a pound of turkey sausage.  I like the JennieO brand.  Then, I preheat the oven to 350, and spray my square tin with Pam.  You an use a muffin tin too, no big deal at all.  Just MAKE SURE you spray it with pam or olive oil or something.  You will HATE LIFE and NEVER make them again if you don't.  Just sayin'.

Sprinkle the sausage into the tins.  I usually have about half a cup left over, so don't worry if there is a little left.  If you are doing Atkins, you can melt some cheese on it later and call it lunch :)

Then, scramble 9 eggs.  I do what my great grandmamma does, and add "just enough" water to the scrambled eggs to make them "just right".  I also add flax seed and Nature's Seasoning, which I think is one of the best prepackaged seasonings on the market.

Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and then sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top.  Stir it with a fork to make sure the cheese is covered.

Pop in the oven and cook for about 12 minutes.

Yum!  You can also do these with shredded bacon, or add onions, green peppers, rotel...the baking pan is our oyster!  I'm weird about food getting old, so I pack six of them in a large baggie (for 3 breakfasts) and then freeze the rest in small baggies, 2 in each baggie.  I just put them in the fridge from the freezer the night before, and they are fantastic the next day.

I hope you like them!

Happy Birthday Cash!

Jaxson's best friend, Cash, had his 3rd birthday party!  It was at a gymnastics place, Cypress Gymnastics.  Jaxson had a great time.

He wasn't scared of anything (shocking)

Jaxson & the birthday boy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASH!

They had a ton of things for the kids to jump on.  The only hard part was that this is actually a serious, Olympic-athlete training facility (apparently Jonathan Horton trained here) so there are lots of safety rules.  It was hard for Jaxson to understand the one at a time on each activity thing.

But he still loved it.

So did Daddy

Jaxson sitting with "Gia-nanna".  He adores her.

Isn't she beautiful?

CUPCAKES!

Our friends said that this was the best party yet, you pay, buy cupcakes and $50 worth of pizza, plates and decorations and then you go home without having to clean up.  What are your thoughts on parties at home versus parties at a place like this?  We've only done the at home, and are considering a venue for next year.  I'm curious to hear what you all do!

Happy Birthday 'MERICA!

I love July 4th.  It means freedom, American Pride, hot summer afternoons and friends.  This year was no exception.

Jaxson's Primrose had a parade.  It was adorable.  His little class was so cute!

Our neighborhood had a parade too.  Our best friends joined us.  We decorated the golf cart, grabbed some beads, a pitcher of mimosas and headed out!  It was super hot but super fun.

Jaxson loved throwing the beads on the parade route.  It was pretty cute.  

I made the kids firecracker hot dogs.  Aren't they cute?  They actually ate them!

Courtney made the cutest oreo pops.  I may have eaten three of them...

I made my homemade chocolate chip cookies in blue and red.  I think I'll add sugar cookies to the middle next time and do red white a blue.

We headed to the fireworks show over the lake and had a wonderful time.  The boys loved it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'MERICA!

Weekend at Gigi & PopPa's

We had a fantastic weekend at my parent's house.  They live in Dallas, which is about 4 hours from where we live.  It's not a bad drive.  Jaxson does really well in the car with Bandit...his little mascot.

We went out to dinner on Friday night to celebrate my Mom's and Hubby's birthdays.  We've been going to The Grotto in Highland Village for 15 years now, and it's a family favorite.  The food is incredible, and Chef Morris is such a kind man.  We gave Daddy cooking lessons there for a birthday gift a few years ago.  It was recently on the Hungry Investors show...you know, the one with Jon Taffer, the guy from Bar Rescue?  Well, we really wanted to see how much it changed...and it really didn't that much!  Just a few things, like the square plates, the potatoes, and they did change the decor.  Anyway, we had an amazing time and Jaxson was a perfect angel.  He even went potty twice!

We spent the ENTIRE.NEXT.DAY in the swimming pool.  Jaxson loved it!

My Daddy got him this floatie, and it was perfect for him!  It gave him so much more freedom than the life jacket.  I think because he could keep upright and not keep leaning forwards or backwards.

It was in the 80s in Dallas.  We had to heat the pool!

Just look at that happy little face!

He played duck duck goose all around the spa with Daddy...over and over again!

Even Bandit got worn out from all the swimming!

"Please don't make me take a nap Momma!"

We all played Chicken Foot that night.  It's my favorite game night game EVER!  I lost...but I beat hubby!  Our games always get a bit spirited (and it's usually my fault).

The weather was so nice that we had breakfast on the patio!

Complete with rescue bots and bacon :)

How was your weekend?

Balance

I just had lunch with a coworker of mine and we were talking about balance.  We come from different perspectives and circumstances when it comes to balance...but it was interesting to both of us that we both essentially have the same basic struggles.  He's a Dad with two little girls under 5, with a wife that has a very successful business that she runs from home.  I'm a working mom with a 3 year little boy and a husband that works full time in a sales capacity as well.  But, we still struggle with pretty much the same things.

He was telling me that I should write a book about working moms and how to balance everything.  As I recovered from choking on my water...I let him know that I had pretty much nothing figured out and that my pie of balance was a in a sad sad state.  While it was a lovely compliment that he thought I had it all figured out...it got me thinking...how do I decide where I spend my focus?

Do you struggle with balance?  If you don't...how?  How do you manage it?

Here's the thing.  We all wear so many hats.  And, we want to excel in each hat that we wear.  Here are my hats...

Mom

This is probably my favorite hat EVER!  I love being a mom.  Jaxson has stolen my heart and I can't remember why much of anything was important before he came into my life.  The other mom's out there likely know exactly what I mean....I just don't know how to put it into words.  It is so important to me that we raise him with a kind heart that seeks out others and is filled with God's plan for him.  There's no failing allowed at this role!

Wife

I love being married and I love my hubby, but being a wife comes with a TON of responsibility.  He does more than most husbands that I know do, and I am so grateful for that.  But, there are also expectations that we carry in our marriage that I need to uphold.  I am his ultimate support system and cheerleader.  That's a really important hat to wear (or pom pom to carry!), especially when my job is just as difficult and I need that cheering too.  Sometimes it hard to give it all, especially during a bad month or sales cycle.  I'm also in charge or the general upkeep of our home, all the shopping, the food supply, and the finances.  Not to mention, he's my best friend.  It's critical that I nuture our relationship and friendship and make it a priority.  

Account Executive

At work, I'm in a high pressure sales job that I love, but that requires a ton of my time and thought.  But I love it (97% of the time if I'm honest).  It's not a 9-5 go through your daily task list and go home kind of job.  It's a creative, exciting, rewarding, purely performance based career.  If you're good at it, and you produce results, you get to stay and continue performing.  If you don't...well, you get a little time to answer for it, and then you don't get to continue any longer.  It's difficult to explain to someone that isn't in a sales / account executive role.

Daughter of Christ

Gosh, this is likely the most important one on this list!  As I've started to devote more time to my walk with Jesus, other things have suffered.  Quiet time means reading in bed at night, or getting up earlier in the morning which means hubby is woken up early.  Or, spending the time I normally would with him in the evenings having my time.  It's a difficult balance.  But, I can't operate fully and successfully without it.  And, I'm a firm believer that God will create the time that I need to spend with him and everyone else as I continue to be faithful in my commitments to him.  I am aching to know what his plan and his purpose are for me.  I see other people doing amazing things in other countries, in our church and in our neighborhood, and I can't help but feel like I'm wasting the opportunities he's given me.  So, I'm learning to spend more time with him and faithfully asking for his plan to unfold.

Me

This is the selfish part that we probably aren't supposed to talk about, but this is what started the entire conversation at lunch today.  We were talking about me trying to read the entire bible and how long it has taken me.  And, that taking time to do things like that can feel very selfish.  Just like missing my last two hair appointments or working out 5 times in the past 3 years.  I love being fit and healthy...but I can't justify taking time from any of the above roles to selfishly do that for myself.  Blogging is the same thing.  I've loved it for the past 6 years, and the past two I've really let it fall off of the radar.  Why?  It's not a priority.  Spending time with my precious friends is the same thing.  It's hard to take time from all of the other areas of my life and allocate it to fun on a regular basis.

I know that I'm not alone in this.  Many of you have got to be facing the same "hat parade" that I am.  I am eternally grateful that God has blessed me with so many hats to wear.  I feel beyond blessed...but I want to make sure that I am making the most of and focusing on the right things.  How do you find balance and peace?  How do you know that you are doing the right things?  I'm so curious to hear the experiences of other women.  Thank you for sharing!!