New Year, New Me

It's time for annual resolutions!!! I've decided to do things a bit differently this year. I've decided my priorities and aligned my goals to match.

Priorities: Me, Steven, Kids, Family, $, Organization 

Here's the breakdown.

ME

1. Running PR: I'm training hard for the Ogden Marathon, with SOJO as backup. I'm following an advanced marathoner plan (the same one I was following when I got pregnant with Jane!) and hoping to get 3:15 or lower. I'd also be ok with a half marathon 1:22 or lower. So far I haven't missed a day of the schedule despite all the snow! And it's intense! Often 8-9 miles on weekdays and 12-22 on the weekends!

2. Weight: I'm hoping to lose 10-15 lbs this year and limit the junk that comes to our home as much as possible. So far, I've already lost all the weight from Christmas and I have high hopes to be done with this goal by June.

3. Reading: 17 books. Not particularly ambitious, but I have 3 little kids at home all day so this isn't my priority for this season of life. I've already completed Dune and The Stranger so only 15 more to go!

STEVEN

4. Dates: 1 date OUTSIDE of the house every month. With 4 little ones and few local babysitting options, this is proving to be a challenge, but February is complete!

5. Visit the temple: Again with the babysitting, it's complicated, but we have a goal to go 3 times this year.

We also have some non-official goals of completing a marriage book club just between the two of us and to keep up the fun and positivity we had from our first real getaway without the kids.

KIDS

6. Dates: we have a goal of getting each kid a one-on-one date each month. I've even made a schedule. 

7. Wean Lily from fingers: she's been a finger sucker since a tiny infant. happy to say this one is complete!

8. Teach Caleb and Lily to read: they know all the letters and sounds and a few sight words. Caleb is pretty good at sounding out words but I wouldn't say he can quite read yet. Hoping to complete by summer.

Reading "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More" for the millionth time...

9. Swimming: I'd like William to make swim team (if he wants) and Caleb and Lily to be proficient in the deep end. I think we will make it by summer and if they do, I promised to buy a pool pass!

Caleb at the bottom of the pool. He was terrified to do this a few months ago!

10. Potty train and Binky wean Jane: can you believe she'll be 2 this year! Hoping to ditch the binky around 2 and potty train when all the other kids are in school.

FAMILY 

11. Vacations: we've been saving hard! Big plans for vacations this year!!! Disneyland, cabin, UCLA reunion, a girls' trip, and Hawaii to visit Grandma and Grandpa Garff!

12. Read Harry Potter: is like to read at least Book 1, perhaps Book 2. Movie nights when we finish!

13. Blog: At least once a month, but I'm going to try weekly if I have anything good to say or pix to charge.

14. Summer Camps: This was such a hit we are making it a tradition! A couple of options we are considering: repeats of Star Wars, Lego, Princess, and cooking camps. Other new ideas: Harry Potter, inventions, Ocean, Animals.

15. House Projects: I want to do one bigger project a month to improve our house and get ready for a remodel next year.

$$$

16. Emergency fund:  I'd like to have a solid amount. At least 2-3 months worth of house payments. After all the emergencies in the last year, our emergency fund is pretty bare---though we've been lucky enough to always have enough!

I also have some non-official money goals of not spending money when the monthly budget is up and paying our house ahead to only have 9 years left on the loan.

ORGANIZATION

The house projects also fit under this priority. But my final goal is more fun!

17. Pinterest Projects: I'm shooting for once a week. I have a long list of ideas I'm dying to try. Things for me, the family, and also for fun. Here's a picture of my most recent one.

 

I'm usually pretty good at getting a lot accomplished with my resolutions. I may not complete every one, but I'll come close and definitely be happy with the results. Here's to a great 2017!!!

Accident-prone

Of all our children, Lily is the most "adventurous". She likes to run as fast as possible, climb higher than I prefer, and is often falling or tripping or otherwise getting injured because of her "activities." 

So it's no surprise that she was the first in our family to get stitches.

Though this time it wasn't her fault. I was doing dishes, and Steve was getting a movie ready for Movie Night (it was Lily's turn to pick and she picked "Frozen"). Lily tripped over Steve and was inconsolable...and started bleeding uncontrollably from the bottom of her foot. I could see it was deep enough she would likely need stitches, so I gauged her up, put on a sock to hold it in place, and headed off to urgent care.

Luckily, I had "Frozen" on my phone because that was the only thing that made Lily happy.  After what seemed like eternity of a crying baby in the waiting room, Lily's injury was examined. It was though it might have got the tendon, so a  more senior doctor came to look at it. Still, they were unsure, and of course my phone battery died, so we had a kicking and screaming mess on our hands in the form of my daughter. And boy, can she scream! She wouldn't stay still enough for a thorough exam and cleaning, so we almost had to go to Primary Children's to have her sedated.  But with 4 of us to hold get down, we finally got her cleaned up, determined it wasn't a tendon that was cut, and put in 7 stitches.

After a Popsicle and a sucker, Lily finally calmed down and we went home. But Lily wasn't allowed to go in our brand-new sandbox or finish out the next week of swimming lessons. :( luckily, I got a refund for both her and Caleb's lessons.

And when we asked Lily what happened, she said Daddy cut her...his toenails aren't that bad. :) Caleb had thrown one of my nice Pyrex measuring cups a few days prior, shattering all over the tile. While I had vacuumed and swept several times, we assume a stray piece must have ended up by the couch where the injury occurred.

It was a hard 10 days, but I'm happy to say that our baby girl is all healed up and we are back to bike crashes and brother fights as usual.