You get up when?!?!

Being a wife and a mom means that there are some days that my time and space isn’t my own. That sort of goes with territory. But I’m learning that the things that I do for myself and the time I spend with the Lord make me a better mom and wife (even if I do need to run the vacuum or fold that load of clothes). I know my husband would rather come home to a happy wife and messy home than a grouchy wife and an immaculate house. (Like I could keep an immaculate house if I wanted to…)

My “me” time starts early, around 5:05 am early. I know, some of you are already rolling your eyes or thinking she’s crazy. (And maybe I am a bit crazy, but I think it’s due more to the two mobile boys under the age of 3…) There’s a little background behind why I enjoy getting up so early. Before I married I enjoyed working out and being active, but once I had a job and a household, exercise was the first thing to go. I would try to be active but it was never important enough to be a consistent part of my life. Then I gained over 60 lbs with my first pregnancy. (I don’t know how that happened. It couldn’t have been the Dairy Queen blizzards every night!) After I had Mark I struggled to lose most of the weight but never got back to my old size. Then I had Luke and realized that I wasn’t taking care of myself. I wasn’t eating well and I definitely wasn’t exercising. And most importantly, I was always tired and grouchy. None of my clothes fit and I didn’t even have the energy to be a good mom. So, my husband decided we would change our lifestyle together. We enrolled in the Body For Life Challenge in early May and have been going strong ever since. We've changed our eating and both have been working out 6 days a week for almost 3 months. So, that’s why I’m up at 5:05 every morning. I hit the gym at 5:30 when it opens and alternate lifting weights and running on the elliptical. When I started I honestly didn’t think I would make it a week. But after a few days I realized that getting up early didn’t mean that I was tired. I actually had more energy! I’m happy to report that I haven’t slept in and skipped a workout a single morning in the last 11 weeks. I feel better. My clothes are fitting and my husband and I have the energy to play with our kids and enjoy spending time with each other. By getting up early, I can get in this important me time and I even have time to eat, shower and have some computer time before my kids ever get up.

Of course like most moms, my other favorite time of the day is nap time. I am fortunate to have both my boys napping from 2-4, so this is when I read, blog, email, pray and sometimes nap myself. And I think I might take Sandra's suggestion and add some chocolate in there too! I really try not to do any housework during this time because the rest of the day is busy enough with the kids and running the house. I hope you all have some "me" time in your day. You can’t take care of your family if you don’t take care of yourself!