and i don't wanna miss a thing

I've done a lot of contemplating lately. Scott and I both have done a lot of talking and hashing out. What do we want our life to look like? When we grow old, what do we want to look back and say? What will our 80 year old selves say about our 27 year old selves. Did we live our lives to the complete fullest, recognizing that this day this moment would only last for a small split second in the grand scheme of our lives? Or would we just allow life to mozy on by us while we got caught up in the daily stresses and worries that we all have and wake up one day to regret it all? This has caused us to make some pretty interesting decisions. Decision #1 was obviously getting rid of TV, and I have to say that neither one of us miss it even in the least. Decision #2 was integrating different fun traditions during our week to look forward to that take the monotony of daily life- i.e. Sunday night soup, Miercoles Mexican night (it used to be Taco Tuesday, but now Scott has class on Tuesday so we had to move it to Wednesday, only nothing that has anything to do with Mexican food begins with W so we had to change it ok?) and even small little routines that we have- Mom does bath, Dad does bedtime with a song. Decision #3 has been to wake up every day together and do devotions with our coffee. Decision #4 has been for Brinkley and I to leave my phone and computer behind once a day and go down to the beach- or if it's raining into her room- and play together for an hour or so. I like going to the beach more, and I know B does too but sometimes you've gotta make do. All of this pondering came to a head tonight while I was doing my Monday night workout video. I thought to myself, "No one would really know if I only did 20 instead of 25 reps." Then I thought, "yeah but if I do 5 less reps per exercise I do, that's a heck of a lot of exercise I'm missing out on." And then I went so far as to think how less toned I would be at the end of the year, if I cheated myself out of that hard work. And then it struck me like a flash of lightning. No one would know if I skipped my hour playtime with Brinks outdoors one day. In fact no one would even know if Scott and I were just "too tired" to go in and get her one morning and let her cry herself back to sleep. No one would know if I got a babysitter so I could take off all the time on vacations with out her. (I am not referring to the occasional getaway, I recognize that this is deserved and pretty much needed) And it IS hard work. It's tiring. It's easier to hire help, or take off every chance you get, or do what's "best for you." But if I did all of these things, I would be cheating myself out of a heck of a lot of time without her. And Scott and I would be cheating ourselves out of a heck of a lot of closeness that we could have with her. And we would also be cheating ourselves out of a tight relationship that we could form with her early on that could last her entire life. So although it is a lot more work to pour ourselves completely into our parenting roles, I encourage you, mothers, your souls, just like my abs will be so much more refined.

not an uncommon day with my girl