allowed to be proud

this man:





may just kill me.

i've really been trying to do more exercise here lately. we have a treadmill in our house, so i really have no excuse not to. there's just one problem. i hate doing the treadmill lately. it's just getting plain old, and i'm kind of over it. :-/ unfortunately though, that "reasoning" doesn't take away the fact that i need to exercise. so, i have gone back to my billy blanks workouts. i have 3 or 4 of his workout (boot camps is really a more fitting description) dvd's. suprisingly, in betwenn the intense pain, i'm really enjoying them! the time goes by so much faster than the treadmill. i've been doing them pretty much every night (except yesterday since we walked a gazillion miles around the zoo- more details on that trip later.) so even though it's never good to be prideful, i think i'm allowed to be proud about this. :)

keep it up, amanda, keep it up. (yes, i am talking to myself.)

date night

We are very blessed to be able to have a good amount of date nights. I know for some couples this is a twice/year occurrence. For some, never. So, I don't take for granted that we are able to go 'kid-less' about once a month. I have to say though, it. is. vital! Marriage can quickly spiral into only being parents.

Well, this weekend I had an extra special date night- with another guy. (Yep, Abe knew.) He held my door each time. He let me pick the restaurant. He let me sit down first. And, he kissed me. It was one of the best dates I've ever had (ONE of.)








I told Daniel last week that we were going to have a Mommy/Daniel date night, and he was so excited. He told Abe many times "Daddy, you are not going on this date. It's just for me and Mommy!" We went to Red Lobster for dinner and had a great meal and dessert. It was so nice to have an uninterrupted conversation with Daniel; and for him to know he had my full attention. I think it meant a lot to him, and I KNOW it meant a lot to me! We then rented "despicable me" to close out the night. Had a great time laughing with him to finish out our date night. He was such a gentleman (just like his daddy) on the date. I could just bottle this kid and keep him forever!

Some highlights of the evening:

Daniel: "Date night is hard- especially for the boy."

Mommy: "So Daniel, what kind of girl do you think you want to marry?"
Daniel: "Hmm....I know I can't marry you, but what {who} would be the closest thing to you?"

Daniel at dinner: "I will have the popcorn shrimp with fries on the side." (When did this kid get old enough to order for himself??"