Goals...

ok - so I've never been a big one for new year's resolutions.  I always figure if you need to make a change just start making it!  As I've gotten older, I'm starting to see the attraction of a new calendar year giving incentive to make some changes...  I would also say that this year, having Lauren just before the first of the year adds even more incentive for me.  In the interest of holding myself accountable for some of the changes I want to make, I want share some of my goals for the upcoming months/year.

I've broken them into categories:

Faith

This is one that I need so much work on!!  Two books I've read recently that have given me significant food for thought are "The Story of a Soul" by St. Therese of Lisieux and "The Family that Overtook Christ" about the family of St. Bernard... I see how much room I have to improve on the love for Christ - and it seems from reading their stories that cultivating a deeper love of Christ so much follows from it.  But try and be succinct in my goals:

1. Through prayer, reading, meditation, recieving the Eucharist, etc. cultivate and grow my relationship and love of Christ
2. Make morning prayer with my girls a standard of our day
3. Set aside some time to pray with Carl (besides just at meal times and bedtime with the girls!!)
4. Continue to read books that nourish my mind and soul and don't provide just entertainment!

Family

1. More patience with my girls... this has taken a nose-dive since I had Lauren but at some point I need to quit using that as an excuse!
2. More patience with Carl... ok, not that he really does much that requires patience but being that he is the only other adult in the house he tends to get the brunt of my frustration, impatience, etc. at the end of a day... I'm sure many can relate, but I still need to work on it!!
3. I've been working really hard on structure in my life, my house, etc. and want to continue to make that a goal.  The girls seem to be thriving more on knowing what our days look like.  This has been a little (ok, a lot) more haywire since Lauren was born but it's slowly coming back to a regular routine.
4. Eradicating the idea that I am EVER "caught up on laundry"... it just doesn't happen and as soon as I think this, I take a few days "off" ... and have over-flowing hampers again.  I need to pound the idea "staying on top of" laundry into my head... this implies a continuous process and is so much more conducive!
   

Nutrition

1. Eat better!!  I love all the foods that just aren't good for me and not helpful in getting rid of this baby weight!  I want to get better at eating good, introducing more vegetables to our diets, and maybe getting the pantry cleaned out of all the "snacks" that sabotage good eating. :)
2. Make a meal plan.  This relates to the first item, but I find when I take the time to make a meal plan we eat better, I'm more prepared, and so much less "frustrated" at meal times!
3. I've been considering trying a paleo "diet" for a while to break my dependence on breads and other carbs/grains... I LOVE bread but eat way to much of it.  My sister has been trying this and feels so much better (but she has rheumatoid arthritis and so is doing it for different reasons).

Fitness

1. My over-arching goal is just to be comfortable in my own skin again - which hasn't been the case since I had Karen. 
2. Working on being able to do 100 pushups (and hopefully a pull-up or two)!!
3. There are several runs I would like to do:

• St. John Hog Jog - 5 mile run in late April
• Bloomsday - 7.46 mile run the first weekend of May
• Windermere Half Marathon - the middle of May
• Race the River - Sprint Triathlon (oh my!!) - late July
• Dirty Dash - sometime this summer
• Another run or two into the fall to keep my running moving forward!

Thankful Thursday - It's just one of those days...

you know, those days where it seems like all the kids to is scream at each other - which in turn makes it seem like all you do is "scream" at them?  and you have all these "things" that you've been meaning to do (working out, standard house cleaning, putting away maternity clothes, laundry, etc) but just can't seem to find the motivation to start any of it...  Yeah - that's been my morning!  But how quickly things can change! The kids had a good lunch and are now all in their respective beds.  Unfortunately only one is currently sleeping but I have high hopes!

So - I am thankful for the reminder that even rough days have good parts!  Happy Thursday everyone!

A look back on 2011!! Part 2

July -
A fourth visit to Weiser - this time with Carl in tow for the 4th of July

Time at Priest Lake

August -
Visiting Steptoe Butte

Finally the start of Harvest and Karen is in her first wedding as a flower girl.

September -
Enjoying the Indian Summer weather

October -
My (then) baby turns 2!!

Heartbreak as we say goodbye to Jessica

Carving pumpkins for the first time with the kids... at least we accomplished that.  We didn't even get them into their costumes this year!

November -
Playing in the first snow of the year

Celebrating Thanksgiving with my family - a bittersweet day without Jessica.

December -
Welcoming Lauren!!

Christmas and wonderful time with family!

A look back on 2011! Part 1

... so in continuing my "catch-up" with this blog and the start of a new year... here's a look back on 2011!

January -
Started off with saying goodbye to a good friend of my husband's who was tragically killed in a snowmobile accident just before the 1st of the year.  We still miss you Shane!

Karen turned 3! and Carl 36!

Karen "graduates" from the birth to three early therapy intervention program to preschool for her therapies... can't believe she's already in school!!

February -
A visit to Cleveland to visit Carl's sister and her family.  The girls had fun with cousin Holly!

And saying another goodbye - this time to our little one lost in an early miscarriage. 

March -
Welcoming cousin Audrey to the world!

April -
Finding out we are expecting again!!!! A visit to Grandma & Grandpa's for spring break.

Easter!! and fun family pictures in front of the old flour mill in Oakesdale!

May -
Another visit to Grandma & Grandpa's to help my Mom with her recovery from back surgery.  No pictures from that trip - I was too busy visiting with Mom and keeping the girls from crawling into her lap!

June -
I turn 35!!  Oh my!!

Carl plays in another Hoopfest (but I'm horrible about taking pictures when we are up there so no evidence!) and a third visit to Grandma & Grandpa's for Fiddle Week.

Playing catchup! Introducing Lauren Marie

So I've been gone a while!  I keep intending to get back to posting and time keeps slipping by.   I have lots of thoughts to share with the new year but I thought the best place to start was to introduce you to our new little one (and one of the reasons I'm having a hard time finding time to get back to my blog!).

Lauren Marie joined our family on December 15th at 5:03 in the evening.  She was my biggest baby at 7lbs 8oz... She came out healthy and strong and I came out of the delivery with no complications which was a HUGE blessing!

 

I can't believe she is a month old already.  It's been quite a trip adjusting to 3 little ones!  But fun too - I'm so much more relaxed than I was with Karen and feeling so much better than I did after Megan that there is NO comparison!

We weren't completely surprised to have a third girl... I have three sisters and my husband has three sisters... the last 7 grandchildren on my husband's side have been girls and the last 4 on my side have been girls... it seems to be in the genes! :)