He has hit the big 3-0.

Erik has officially left his twenties!  Today is his 30th birthday and I am so excited I get to be lucky enough to be the woman spending it with him.  He told me today he felt old and I laughed!  30 is NOT old.  His life has JUST begun.

Here are 30 things that describe my sweet, lovable, awesome daddy of a husband that I have :)
1. A devoted, loving, understanding husband who knows how to put up with me!
2.  A daddy who will drop everything to play with his son...quite the entertainer if I do say so myself
3. LAID-BACK, omg....completely opposite of me.
4.  #1 Tarheel Fan
5.  Family man
6.  Lover of Mountain Dew
7.  Simple
8.  Quiet (at times)
9.  Lover of Firebirds (the resturaunt)
10.  Controller of the remote
11.  Dipper (Grizzly Straight is his preference)
12.  Calm
13.  A Saver...again, opposite of me.
14.  Organized with finances
15.  Blue-eyed
16.  Enjoys wearing the same outfits everywhere we go (sorry babe..its true but thats why I love you    because you don't care what other people think!)
17.  PawPaw Driver
18.  Polo man
19.  Owner of a new LAZ-BOY (Happy Birthday from Gage and I!)
20.  Fortunate to have a great job
21. Watcher of ESPN 24-7 (or as much as possible)
22.  Fantasy footballer...wait who am I kidding?  Fantasy footballer, basketballer, baseballer...am I missing any?
23.  Friendly when you get him talking :)
24.  A man who I do not have to beg to go to church, he enjoys it and that is one of my favorite things about him
25.  Trustworthy
26.  Someone I can have fun with no matter what we are doing
27.  Patient
28.  Genuine
29.  Positive
30.  A Provider

*Those are in no particular order :)

I love you Erik Sven! You make me happier than you'll ever know.  Happy 30th Birthday from us.  We  love you and cannot wait to celebrate 30 more birthdays with you (and more).

Love always,

Abbie and Gage

We love you daddy!

                                           
                                                             Poor Gage was sick :(

Update: 8 Day Challenge

Well...I made it!  I have completed my 8 day challenge :)  I do have to say, I have never, EVER tried to diet or watch what I eat BUT it is really not that bad.  It's not too hard to eat healthy, you just have to do it!  It can be expensive but isn't it worth being healthy and feeling great?!

So I lost 4 pounds, 2 inches from my waist, 1 inch for my chest (that's probably not a great thing considering, ok...nevermind), and 1 inch from my thighs (LORD, I could loose a lot more).  I'll be honest, I thought I would loose more BUT I feel great and do not regret anything.  I am still continuing to do one protein shake a day (mainly for breakfast because I am horrible about eating breakfast) and definitely taking the vitamins.  I took the energy vitamin before Zumba yesterday, OMG....I was gettin it!  I was so sweaty when I was done but it felt so good!

Here are some things I realized that I CAN live without after doing the 8 day challenge:
1. SWEETS
2.  French fries (my weakness.....Erik definitely just went to Cook Out and I only got a hamburger AND I took the top bun off before eating it)
3.  Coke and Sweet Tea
4.  Chips (I love salty sweets)
5.  Carbs (OMG, I didn't realize how many carbs I was eating on a daily basis)

This is what I learned from the 8 day challenge:
1.  You can be healthy if you deem it important AND let me tell you, it's important
2.  It feels great to have energy, I didn't realize how 'unenergized' I was until doing this
3.  Drink lots of WATER (I could go from 8 am to 4 pm without peeing and that is not a good thing.  I was definitely not drinking enough water)
4.  Choose snacks high in protein (not salt or sugar- oops!)
5.  Protein shakes are DA BOMB and great if you are bad about eating breakfast or just too busy to eat a meal- yep, it happens
6.  Eat carbs in moderation, it won't kill you...I promise
7.  With support....you can do anything

So with a few extra pounds and inches gone, a more energized mind and body, and an increased desire to be healthy and make healthier choices....I would say the 8 day challenge was a success!  However, although I am done with the 8 day challenge (I will probably do another one soon), I am not done seeing results!  Who says a momma can't look like she once did?! I did at first, but I don't believe it now :)

3 Teefies.

Mr. Gage has 3 teeth, 2 on top (I know, not normal) and one on bottom.  We haven't been bitten yet -but he likes to chew on any and everything.  He does this cheesy smile thing where he scrunches his whole face and you can get a glimpse of those teeth :)

Babies Best Friend.

So at first we were a little nervous about how Daisy would react to Gage and vice versa.  Daisy is VERY gentle, in fact she is a wimp, so we didn't think we would have any problems BUT she got really aggressive towards other dogs when I was pregnant, so ya never know! 

Well....Gage LOVES Daisy and I think her feelings are mutual :)  Now that he is crawling, he ALWAYS heads over to Daisy when she is laying down. He pets her, bites her (yep...he tends to have a mouth full of hair after that) and will actually crawl over her. The best part, she just sits there. He loves to watch her play/chew her bone and he thinks it is HIL-ARI-OUS! They really are, best friends. 





Here's to a healthy 2013.

As most of you have seen on facebook, my sisters are dropping the pounds and inches!  I am so proud of both of them and they both look AWESOME.  Lauren continues to loose the pounds (Lindsay too) and Lindsay is in a smaller size jeans than me!! 

Well I am on Day 4 of the 8 day challenge and I can honestly say, I feel great!  A lot of people at work are saying, "Why do YOU need to loose weight"?  Clearly, they haven't seen me naked :)  Yes, I have always been "smaller" but having a baby puts a toll on your body!  I am OK (not satisfied) with what the scale says, but I am not ok with jumping up and down while trying to put my jeans on.  So, I DO have things to work on. 

I honestly started the challenge because I am not the healthiest eater.  I don't eat A LOT throughout the day but I still need to watch my choices.  So far on the challenge (I don't like to call it a diet because its WAY more than that) I have lost 2.5 lbs (I want to loose 8 in all) and just really feel healthy.  I am eating things that I would have never touched before (boiled eggs, rolled up turkey and cheese, cottage cheese- still not my fav, drinking almond milk), etc.  It truly has been a wake up call for me because it encourages you to avoid sugars and eat a lot of protein. I didn't realize how much sugar I was intaking everyday.  I had a headache the first two days because my body was detoxing from all the sugar that I eat.  I have also had increased energy (I actually had trouble sleeping the first night because I wanted to get so much done).  We all know as a working mother, energy tends to deplite.  Its hard to get up at 6:00am, go to work, come home and spend time with your family, cook dinner, clean up.....and before you know it, its 8pm.  I have definitely not exercised as much as I use to so its nice to feel energized again...and HEALTHY!

I know I have only been on this plan for 4 days, but it is truly changing my outlook on food intake and living a healthy lifestyle.  I can't wait to take all my measurements on day 8 and see the hard work that has paid off! 

Thank you to my sisters for introducing this to me, I can't wait for the next family picture :)