Goals?

My mind isn't quite working the way it should today, but I have been wanting to blog for a week now. Josh's family came into town for the first week of July. FUN! My grandpa died on the 4th of July. Not fun. Anyway, those stories are for another time. I have been wanting to blog on goals for a while now.

Since I've became a SAHM for almost a year now...what? Yes, almost a year! Something I've had in abundance is time to reflect on who I am and who I want to be. During those school days when the girls were at school and Josh was at work, I found myself having some peace and quiet. What happens when my house is peaceful and quiet? My mind wanders. I know my kids aren't in school, but I've still managed to find time to reflect on who I am. I've decided to start setting 3 small goals a month, one spiritual, one health, and one on improving my interactions with other people.

Right now my health goal is to give up soda, for good! My goal was to not drink any soda in the month of July...I've had 2 so far.....that's okay though. To go from drinking soda nearly daily to one a week is a great accomplishment in my opinion. I already know my health goal for August - eat a healthy breakfast daily. I almost never eat breakfast.

My spiritual goal? Pray. My goal is to say my personal prayers morning and night, and to encourage family prayers morning, night, and meals. Something I really need to work on..... My spiritual goal for August? Personal and family scripture study.

How can I interact with other people more effectively? Hmmm, not such an easy goal to make. I guess right now my goal is to let people off the hook. I don't get offended easily but I do tend to let myself feel hurt by situations that I can't control or even the hurt-ee can't control. What's the point in that? So I'm trying to be nicer in my mind I guess, haha! Not sure what my August goal will be yet...

Anyway, I just thought maybe I could encourage you to set a few small goals for yourself. You don't have to wait for a new year to set goals and resolutions! Get over the "I will start on Monday" thing. You will feel so much better about yourself if you are striving to be a better person, even if your progress is only a small amount at a time.

New Favs in Music

So after some pensive posts of late I decided to bring you all some fun. I have been known to call myself the human jukebox. Seriously people the only music I don't love is screamo. Anyway, after becoming a mom about 10 years ago, I pushed my love of rap and hard rock to the back burner. I still love me some rap and hard rock when I'm alone in the car or running outside, but I try to keep most of my music family friendly. A bonus to this way of thinking is I can expose my kids to all types of music and put it on their iPods without feeling guilty. I've always had a little hippie in me. Maybe the term is hipster? I don't know but I like some indie alternative music that's for sure. Especially the singer-songwriter indie music, mmmmmm. Anyway here is my new favorite band. They won some huge music festival in Iceland and are becoming super popular around the world. I have been listening to their album for a few months and what do you know? Barnes and Noble now play the album on a loop in their store. Who are they? Of Monsters and Men.



Here is one of their songs called Little Talks. The video is a little weird and doesn't really depict what the song is about (a couple where the husband has died) but I LOVE the song!

Cry It Out - 1st night update

Wondering how our first night crying it out went? Waaaaayyyyy better than expected. After completing our regular routine of pajamas, reading a book, nursing, and cuddling (missing out on our favorite part - a walk outside - due to nasty wind) I laid him down in his crib, patted his chest, told him I loved him, and left. As I listened to him start to cry tears filled my eyes. Why? Why did I have to do this? I could go in, pick him up, hold him close and he would stop crying and fall blissfully asleep in my arms. What would that lead to? Waking every 3 hours to nurse and potentially fall off the bed and break his neck. Okay, I do have to do this. As my dad told me, Owen is going through an adjustment and sometimes when babies have to adjust, they cry. As hard as it seems, after the adjustment phase everyone is better for it.

Anyways, I watched the clock wondering how many hours I would listen to my baby cry and gearing up for a long night. 13 minutes? What? Yep, Owen only cried 13 minutes before falling asleep. It couldn't be that easy.....So I stayed up till 11:30 waiting to hear him....still silence. I sent Josh in to make sure he was alive. He was. So I went to sleep. Didn't hear a sound till about 2 a.m. He cried for 5 minutes and fell back asleep. I heard him cry about 5 times total between 8:30, when he fell asleep, and 6:45 when he woke up. Each time he woke during the night he only cried 5 minutes.

Nap time right now. Where is Owen. Asleep in his crib! With NO crying! Just a little whimpering before falling asleep. Oh people, please say it isn't a fluke....

Cry It Out- 2nd try

Yes, I am once again in peril. Remember when I tried to let Owen cry it out to sleep back about 4 months ago? Well it never really worked because once again I sabotaged the situation. He was only 7 months! What if he really was hungry? So I would go in to feed him a couple of times a night which led to Owen never really learning to soothe himself to sleep. So, after 2 weeks of awfulness, Owen came back into bed with us and still nurses about 3 times a night (better than the 8 times previous to 1st try crying it out). Well, he will be 11 months old this week and with weaning in the near future, I've decided to night wean him now. He doesn't need to nurse at night anymore, he just is out of habit. AND, now don't judge me, he fell out of bed last night (and it wasn't the first time). Owen is a super light sleeper and quite restless most nights. He likes to wiggle around until he gets comfortable before falling asleep. When he is fully awake, he won't try to crawl off the bed. But sleepy Owen will wiggle right off the bed. After last night's 2 a.m. thud, Josh basically demanded I quit nursing him during the night, put him in his crib, and let him cry it out. I agree with Josh that the chance of Owen getting hurt by falling off the bed should be taken seriously so I will comply. I just HATE hearing Owen cry. I HATE IT! When Josh gets home, we are lowering the crib mattress and in Owey will go. Lord help me.

Baby Berry #4?

No, I'm not pregnant. Did I have you wondering by the post title, hahaha! But Baby Berry #4 has been on my mind a lot lately. Am I done being pregnant/having children? Or is there another baby waiting to join our family? Does Owen need a sibling closer to his age? Or do I love that I will have so much time alone with him? I'm constantly at odds with myself. Josh feels this way too. He'll say, "No more kids. Having babies is too stressful." The next day he says, "Owen needs a brother. Owen, do you want a brother?" Yes, I remind him it could be a girl but he is in full denial. If we have another baby, it WILL be a boy in his mind. Anyway, Owen has been a blessing but having him has also been a big challenge for me. I needed him. I needed the whole experience. I got pregnant with the girls really young and didn't have the whole "everybody super excited for me, go maternity clothes shopping with my mom, buy baby stuff and ready the nursery" experience. I needed that. I yearned for it. That's what Owen gave me. Everything about him was just happy and fun. From Josh and I deciding to welcome another child into our home, trying to conceive (yay, our first planned child!), getting the 3 am positive test, telling our family at Christmas, proudly strutting my belly around, a baby shower, having a natural birth, all of it. I love that boy so much. At the same time, he has been my most challenging baby. He wants to be held ALL the time and I hate crying so I give in (which causes him to cry to be held). Now that he is crawling he is into everything! We can't do the same fun stuff we did as a family sans Owen. There are so many things I miss about not having a baby. Getting a full nights sleep, working out a the gym or going for a run, cleaning the house in 1 day - not 5, reading a book in the bathtub (heaven if you add a coke to that mix), watching TV shows and not thinking about the sleep I'm losing. Yes, all selfish reasons but I feel the loss of those things. I know the time will come when I can do those things again. There are times I think about how fast 18 years will go and I panic. When someone lives around 90 or so years, 18 is hardly anything! But alas sometimes I feel like I'm just biding my time until Owen turns 3 and starts to get a little easier... Enter Baby Berry #4. Josh and I agreed that we won't have anymore babies in the house we currently live in. It's just too small. We agreed if we meet some financial goals this year, then next year this house goes on the market. Then if we are going to have 1 last baby, we'll get er' done. Owen will be around 3 then and just getting easier. Do I go and start all over AGAIN?! It stresses me out to think about it. Don't get me wrong, I love babies. Especially my own. I look at Owen and my heart melts. When he's upset he cries "Mama!" and I love it more than anything. It's fun seeing him progress from a round ball of skin, diapers, and reflexes to a mobile baby just starting to show his personality. It's just hard work having babies. I told Josh the other day, "If we were in a bigger house I'd say let's get pregnant NOW and get it over with." I always felt we would have 4 children. I just don't know if I have it in me. So to you I ask; how did you know when you were done having babies? What made you decide to be done?

Summertime!

School is out for summer (insert look of horror). Don't get me wrong, I love my girly girls. Yes, summer means sleeping in, no homework, cloud watching, barbecues, swimming, snow cones, etc. But here at the Berry Patch, it also means boredom and bickering. Oh ya, I'm a SAHM. That means it gets to be me...all summer....trying to combat boredom and bickering. Thanks to the creative ladies on pinterest, I've come up with some ideas to help get us through summer, and maybe even enjoy it! Don't worry, I'll share my ideas with you too!

Welcome to "The Lost Week." Something I came up with to ease the girls into our summer schedule. The first week after school gets out is deemed The Lost Week. During the lost week the girls can sleep in, watch as much TV as they want, play their electronics to their hearts' desire, snack as much as they want. Basically it's a free for all! My only rules are: they still have to shower daily by noon and complete their morning chores (basic make bed, etc.). That's it! I figured they needed a break right? That's where we are right now. I'm soooo bored! Seriously. I thrive on schedules.

Which brings me to our summer schedule. Every morning the girls must complete their tasks to earn the afternoon activity. Their morning tasks are to wake up at 7:00, shower and get ready, clean bedroom, and help with daily house cleaning. They must also read 30 minutes per day, and write 1 page per day. They can write anything such as stories, plays, journal, whatever. If these tasks are completed, then each day we do an activity.

Make it Monday - Arts and Crafts
Time to Read Tuesday - Library and/or Bookstore
Wet n' Wild Wednesday - Water! Sprinkler, swimming pool, anything water!
Town Time Thursday - Movies, park, zoo, museum, whatever
Friday Friend Day - Invite a friend over
Spend time together Saturday - Family Day
Spiritual Sunday - no schedule

Jozlyn will have ballet 3 mornings a week, and Haylie Jo will have swim team 4 days per week.
Every evening they get ready for bed, pick up toys or activities, and it's lights out by 9.

I have also helped the girls come up with a list of things to learn this summer like, how to use the blow dryer, make mac n' cheese, mop the floor.

Don't worry. We will still have free time. Plenty of cloud watching, snow cones, and yes, TV (gasp). I just know that we thrive on a schedule. I'm hoping this will cut down the time spent on electronics and complaining about boredom. A girl can dream right?

Clean Eating

Yes, I'm still trying to lose the baby weight. Although now that Owen is nearly 10 months old, I think the weight would now qualify as "mine." Just in case you didn't know (or notice), I gained a whopping 60 lbs when I was pregnant with Owen! Whew! That's like carrying around a 3rd grader all the time! No wonder I was so tired. Anyway. On my quest to regain the body I once knew, I've decided to follow clean eating. What is clean eating? Something you probably all know but I'll give the rules in bullet form just in case. - Only eat single ingredient foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat, and diary (though I know dairy has more than one ingredient, you get the picture) - Only use olive oil and butter. NO vegetable oil or margarine. - when eating pasta, rice, or bread, it must all be whole wheat - If you have to buy something boxed or canned, it should contain 3 ingredients or less - If don't recognize an ingredient, your body won't recognize it either - Drink a gallon of water a day - Yes, I said a gallon! - Follow the 80/20 rule (eat clean 80% of the time, have what you want 20%) - Fat contained in food does not = fat in the body. So fat free doesn't mean healthy and fat doesn't mean unhealthy. Know your fats! Olive oil, avocados, butter all contain healthy fats! This is basically how we should all eat all the time. No processed foods, no fast foods, no junk in our body. I know it sounds hard but it really isn't. I've found that I can eat so much more than I used to. Clean foods usually contain less calories than the junk plus you get all the vitamins and healthy stuff your body needs. I still allow myself a few cheats. I have a soda once a week or so. No more than 2 per week. I also mix some plain chocolate m & m's with almonds and peanuts so I can have a little treat when snacking. I allow myself ranch dressing with my veggies. Why not? I feel so much better when I eat clean and I look better too (bonus)! When I'm trying to lose weight I do all of the above plus I calorie count and watch my carb intake. I try to stick to eating 1200 calories a day (a little more actually since I'm nursing), and no more than 165 carbs per day. I try to up my protein and fiber intake as well. I shoot for 45g of protein daily and 14g of fiber. Though I give myself a free day a week where I don't count calories. So far I've lose 47 lbs of that "baby weight" which means I've still got 13 more to lose. My goal is to lose it all by Owen's 1st birthday. That gives me 2 months to meet my goal. Cheer me on!