In November, I will

-enjoy these last 2 months with just Madison. In less than 2 months, she will no longer be out only child and I want to make some special memories with her before that happens.

-Organize Riley's room. Get all art on the wall, clean and sort her random stuff in her closet, get her room ready to go...

-Potty train Madison, which we are in the middle of doing.

-figure out Riley's middle name. I'm going to roll this one over from October! We have got to get it locked down!

-Bake some goodies for Madison's class.

What are your goals for November?

In October, I did...

Happy November! Here's my October goal update! How did yours go?


-do a fall craft with Madison
I'm a horrible mom. The latter part of October wasn't so good in the pregnancy front. She did do a lot of Halloween crafting at school and we did pick up leaves and acorns. that counts, right?

-bake something with her that she will actually eat.

Done. Read about it here.

-decorate for Fall
I changed my mind about this one. I just ain't up to it! :)

-figure out Riley's middle name. We have agreed to one but in favoring another that Alan's not on board with.
Fail! We did talk about it but didn't agree to anything.

-get Riley a mattress and crib sheet and try to get her room figured out!

Done! I bought her some white sheets(and realized I already had 2 white sheets for her), got her mattress ordered and her room layout done!

-exercise!
haven't had time and when I have, I don't have the energy.

-Do some form of activity with our church. 
Well we did sign up to volunteer but the dates were told wrong(not the church's fault!). Long story. We have signed up to volunteer for the same event for November and Alan is volunteering for an event soon. We also tried out a Sunday School class, joined the church and had Madison baptized.

Monday, May I?

Lets see how I did on last week's goals..

 -Plant the flowers I bought 3 days ago.
Umm.. I've had pansy's sitting in their black planters since last Monday!?! I will get them planted tonight! I have been keeping them watered! I did plant the mums and other flowers I bought for the front porch containers. That counts, right? :)

-Work on cleaning Riley's closet out. It's quite a mess!
This is hard to do considering most of the stuff thrown in her closet need some drawers to be put in. We did do some dresser shopping this past weekend and found 2 contenders. We did buy a daybed for Riley's room and now we are confused on the setup. Once we get the daybed, crib and glider situated how we want it, we will likely go get one of those 2 dressers so she will have a changing table and some space to put things!

-Do a craft with Madison and play outside more. 
We have been playing outside a bit more. It's been absolutely gorgeous outside and Madison loves being outside. We haven't crafted yet though. She's been painting and doing lots of Halloween/Fall crafts at school though! 

Hopefully this weeks goals will go better! I'm getting that nesting bug again so I'm wanting to organize and clean everything! Here we go!

(one)
Mail some gifts to our World Vision child. It's been too long since I've even written him, much less sent him anything! We got an update on him recently and he's doing great. I need to let him know that we haven't forgotten about him!

(two)
Take a mountain trip. Alan will be happy to see this one. We live an hour away from the gorgeous mountains and we haven't been in a few months. The leaves are at color change peak this week.  I have no idea when we will find time to go. We only have one small window to go this weekend so we would have to get up really early and go. May be worth it! We all need a breath of fresh, mountain air!

(three)
Buy and carve pumpkins. Alan's company is having a family fun day at an apple/pumpkin farm this weekend but I'm not sure that they will have any left.

Monday, May I?

First, last weeks goals...

-Manage my time better. With Madison, while she's at school, etc.
I feel like I got a lot accomplished this past week with a lot of things.

-Print some recipes from Pinterest and organize mine and Madison's recipe folder.
I got some printed, put in her recipe binder and pinned some more!

-Exercise!
Fail. My back has really been hurting.

Now for this week's goals!
-Plant the flowers I bought 3 days ago.

-Work on cleaning Riley's closet out. It's quite a mess!

-Do a craft with Madison and play outside more.

Monday, May I..

First, don't forget to do your Day in the Life post to linkup with Royal and I tomorrow! I initially did Thursday and then changed it to Saturday. I'm not sure I've ever done a weekend DITL post. You can start today or do tomorrow and link up later in the evening. Go here to see the post about the linkup.

Now, let's update last weeks goals!

 -Spend no money other than gas and groceries. We have really had a lot going on the past week or two so it's time to settle down a bit and buckle up!

Fail. Fail. Fail. Trying to do better with our spending though.

-Watch a movie(Admission). This is a given. I rented one today(free redbox code!)  and didn't watch it yet so I will watch it while Madison is at school tomorrow.

Done! This one was easy since I already had the movie and Tuesday was rough. This movie was really good! I figured it would be but I actually cried at the end! Highly recommended!

-Catch up on my cleaning! My back is hurting pretty bad to only be 25 weeks pregnant and I'm staying really tired. That means I would rather sit/lay down than do just about anything else. Alan is a huge help but things need to be done so he doesn't have to do them after working all day.

 A work in progress still. I did get a good bit done on Tuesday. If I can just keep the floors/counters clean and the laundry caught up, I'd feel much better! 

Now this week's goals!

-Manage my time better. With Madison, while she's at school, etc.

-Print some recipes from Pinterest and organize mine and Madison's recipe folder.

-Exercise!

In October I will

A short and to the point list. Nothing major, except the 4th one.

-do a fall craft with Madison

-bake something with her that she will actually eat.

-decorate for Fall

-figure out Riley's middle name. We have agreed to one but in favoring another that Alan's not on board with.

-get Riley a mattress  and crib sheet and try to get her room figured out!

-exercise!

-Do some form of activity with our church.

 What are your goals for October?

In August, I will...

-Ex.er.cise! I keep saying this but I'm for reals this time. I haven't felt good the past few days and I am feeling just kind of blah. Like I'm missing something. That something is a little walking in the neighborhood. Getting my heart rate up and maybe listening to some non-Barney or Mickey music.

-Along with that goes eating better. For us and Madison. I would like for us to snack on fruit and nuts instead of Doritoes and Sprite.  I picked up lots of fruit at the store and got Madison some healthier snacking options. Her snack bowl was being overrun by sugar filled gummies, pretzel and cheese dip-its and goldfish. I blame thank Kari over at Better Together and Brittany over at A Healthy Slice of Life for posting their Munchkin Meals weekly post today.(Click their blog names to see what their kids are eating!) I will be finding, printing and making Madison some healthy snacks as well in the next couple of days. Go to A Healthy Slice of Life for some really great, healthy food/snack ideas for your kids. I will be pulling some recipes from there and will review them in the upcoming weeks/months.

-Figure out the route we want to go with Riley's room. Her walls are a silvery blue and I'm thinking hot pink accents. I found some cute polka dotted sheets at Target and thought that'd be a cute route to take. I love Madison's vinyl tree in her room(see below) and would like some sort of non-tree vinyl for Riley's.

-Schedule another date night with Alan. In July we went out to a seafood restaurant while his mom had Madison. Royal at Royal Proclaims told me about a yummy newish restaurant in our area that we need to try.

-Try to schedule a mini-vacation or a week long vacation before December. Also, book our annual Christmas tree trip.

-For goodness sake, get Madison's 2 year photobook caught up and possibly start Riley's 1st year. I need to get with it!

I think that's enough goals for now. What are some of your goals for August?

In July, I did....

-Comment on other blogs more.
I am leaving comments on a few of the blogs I follow. A handful of the ones I follow have thousands of followers and I will comment if something strikes my fancy. A few of those are DIY type blogs with some family stuff mixed in. I also follow a ton of coupon/saving blogs and I won't comment on those because there's nothing to say really. Now if I could get a reply in email when/if the person comments, that'd be great. How do you set that setting?


-Exercise.
Nope. Big fail. I have walked a couple of times but I am vowing to do that for August. I'm feeling blah in that department.

-Work on Riley's room. 
Done! It's still a huge work in progress but I'm slowly selling some of Madison's out of season clothes online and getting Riley's stuff hung up. I will post more on this in a few days :)

-Work on Madison's 2 year book. 
I did upload some pictures for it. My computer is so slow, I get more aggravated doing it than not. I need to use Alan's computer to work on it and will start soon!

-Find and buy invitations to her party and figure out what in the world we're buying her.
Invitation part done! Last night, nonetheless, but we got it done! They will be here mid-August so be looking for them! As far as what we're getting her, I'm not sure. We have some ideas. I will be emailing out some ideas as well to those who've asked.

In July, I will....

-Comment on other blogs more. I try to do it now but only do it to 2-3 blogs that I follow and I follow a ton of them.

-Exercise. I stopped when I found out I was pregnant. Before that, I had been doing Jillian Michael's Killer Abs and really liked it. I have went walking a couple of times but nothing much. Now that I'm 12 weeks, I'm over that hump and need to get active again.

-Work on Baby's room. We will find out this month what the gender is. I am hoping to figure out a way around painting. I like the color of the room and it could be gender neutral. I need to find the colors/ideas that I want for the room. The closet is full of Madison's old clothes and things so we need to get that situated.

-Work on Madison's 2 year book.

-Find and buy invitations to her party and figure out what in the world we're buying her.

What are your July goals?

In June, I will... update!

-Start and finish a book before July 1. I checked out Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella today.
Not doing so well in this department. I didn't finish Shopaholic because I didn't like it. I then checked out Motherhood Comes Natural. I've only read 20 pages of it and it's due in a few days. Reading is not for me.

 -Blog more. This slump will be over, promise! :)
See? I had lots to say, I just couldn't!

-let Madison get messier(fingerpaints, shaving cream, etc) and hands-on play with her more.

-work on her letters and numbers. She knows her basic colors and shapes already so this is the next step!
Didn't work on this. She seems to know the number 3 though.

-Maybe...maybe start back potty training. We fell off that wagon quickly. I'm thinking of the 3 day method. Any recommendations?
Didn't start this. Maybe July.

-invite people over more. Whether family for supper or lunch or Madison's friends and their moms.
I did have a friend and her daughter over to play.

-Date Alan at least once a month on a weekend and go out for coffee or ice cream 1-2 times during the month while his mom has her during the week. We tend to get so wrapped up in trying to get things done around the house(mowing lawn, grocery shopping) that we don't focus on us. It's so hard to forget you were married first, then parents and it's very important to us to keep that spark alive! Very excited we have June's and September's date planned out and I can't wait! We haven't been on a weekend date since Valentines! I have something pretty special planned for September (our anniversary) so that's why it's already planned :)
-We had fun on our date and I can't wait to plan July's!

-Participate in a church activity. We've been attending a Presbyterian church the past few months that we both enjoy. It's also Madison's future preschool(starting in August) and they always have something going on. We went to an ice cream social where they had ice cream and games for the kids. One Sunday they had lemonade after church that we participated in. Another Sunday they had a cold salad lunch. Everyone brought a cold dish and ate! We've had fun attending these and will attend more in the future!

-start buying and planning Madison's 2nd birthday party. I know the theme and we have a general idea where we are going with food and decorations, I just need to start buying it. Photographer for the party is booked! 
 I have bought everything but the food and invitations!

-take more ME time. Go to the mall, book a pedicure, have more girls' days. Something for me every once in a while.
I've started letting Alan take Madison upstairs to play for 30 minutes or so. I will get supper ready, watch tv or read. One day I took an hour and cleaned out the pantry. Amazing how it helps.

In June, I will...

-Start and finish a book before July 1. I checked our Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella today.

 -Blog more. This slump will be over, promise! :)

-let Madison get messier(fingerpaints, shaving cream, etc) and hands-on play with her more. She plays independent so well that it's easy to clean the house or do something else while she's playing but I also realize how important it is to play with her too. I also need to ease up on her some. I realize she's a kid but when she does things out of spite, it crawls all over me!

-work on her letters and numbers. She knows her basic colors and shapes already so this is the next step!

-Maybe...maybe start back potty training. We fell off that wagon quickly. I'm thinking of the 3 day method. Any recommendations?

-invite people over more. Whether family for supper or lunch or Madison's friends and their moms.

-Date Alan at least once a month on a weekend and go out for coffee or ice cream 1-2 times during the month while his mom has her during the week. We tend to get so wrapped up in trying to get things done around the house(mowing lawn, grocery shopping) that we don't focus on us. It's so hard to forget you were married first, then parents and it's very important to us to keep that spark alive! Very excited we have June's and September's date planned out and I can't wait! We haven't been on a weekend date since Valentines! I have something pretty special planned for September (our anniversary) so that's why it's already planned :)

-Participate in a church activity. We've been attending a Presbyterian church the past few months that we both enjoy. It's also Madison's future preschool(starting in August) and they always have something going on.

-start buying and planning Madison's 2nd birthday party. I know the theme and we have a general idea where we are going with food and decorations, I just need to start buying it. Photographer for the party is booked!

-take more ME time. Go to the mall, book a pedicure, have more girls' days. Something for me every once in a while.

In May I will....update!

I obviously scheduled this to post today but didn't update it all the way. So here's the updated version:

So I set myself some goals for May. I like goals because if you tell someone what you want to do, then you feel worse if you don't do them. Here's my update on how I've done this month!

• Read more. I've read 100 pages in a week. That's a record! I'd like to make a goal of 20 pages a day

 This is an ongoing goal. I am finally almost finished with a 350 page book that has taken me almost 2 months to read. I have a bad habit of staying up until I'm ready to sleep and then wanting to sleep when I get to bed. When M naps, I nap or get caught up on tv or internet stuff.

• Be crafty. Whether it's with Madison or scrapbooking at night. I need to do something.

Nothing...

• Work on Madison's 2 year photobook. She will be 2 in 4 months(!!!!) and I don't want to wait till the last minute like I did with her 1 year book.

Started this...

• Bake more. Even just making Madison some nutritious stuff.

I did make some brownies last week. Does that count?

• Blog more non-Madison things.

Fail.

• Date Alan more. Even if we just meet up at the park on days his mom gets Madison.

We've talked about this and have decided to date at least once a month, just me and him. Get someone to watch Madison and go out.

• Use my real camera more.

I haven't used it much

• Try to be more social with moms. I find myself focusing on Madison at gymnastics and the library and I need to open up more. Make more friends and find Madison some friends too.

I have tried this. I've become more friendly with 2 moms at the library. One is talking about joining gymnastics when her daughter turns 16 months.

• Make/find someone to make a blog button and favicon and trade buttons with fellow bloggers. I'd like to up my reader count.  

Done! I figured it out on my own. It's not perfect but it works! Now I can trade buttons with fellow bloggers an hopefully get more readers! 

• Put my phone down more 

Well I try to not pick it up much during the day. When Alan gets home, I get on it a bit more. 

In May, I will.....

• Read more. I've read 100 pages in a week. That's a record! I'd like to make a goal of 20 pages a day
• Be crafty. Whether it's with Madison or scrapbooking at night. I need to do something.
• Work on Madison's 2 year photobook. She will be 2 in 4 months(!!!!) and I don't want to wait till the last minute like I did with her 1 year book.
• Bake more. Even just making Madison some nutritious stuff.
• Blog more non-Madison things.
• Date Alan more. Even if we just meet up at the park on days his mom gets Madison.
• Use my real camera more.
• Try to be more social with moms. I find myself focusing on Madison at gymnastics and the library and I need to open up more. Make more friends and find Madison some friends too.
• Make/find someone to make a blog button and favicon and trade buttons with fellow bloggers. I'd like to up my reader count.  
• Put my phone down more

I will try to do this every month. I think it's good to have goals. What are your May goals? 

1.5 goal done!

4) Start back exercising. We have been talking about getting a treadmill or stair climber in the next couple of months. Since Alan stopped playing tennis regularly and when I got pregnant, neither of us has really done any real exercise. I haven't truly worked out in a gym in roughly 10 years! Before getting pregnant, I would run/walk the neighborhood.

We got this elliptical last weekend. After looking for a couple of weekends and not really knowing what to get, we finally decided on this one. After bringing it home and unpacking it and managing to get it upstairs, we were missing a screw. We called to get it sent out and waited. Alan decided Friday to put the handles together and found the missing screw clung to the handle. We both finally used it Saturday and it's a lot more of a workout than I thought it would be! I'm starting slow at 20 minutes with no incline, but Alan did a preset workout at 25 minutes with up and down inclines.

Also, the decorating part. I have yet to put up curtains in the bathrooms since we painted last April. 

I lucked up and found the ones for our bathroom on the clearance rack for $7 each at Target. I wasn't even really looking for curtains but they jumped out. I have been on the lookout for gray and brown patterned hand towels and a rug since the walls are gray and the tile is brown with specks of gray. The curtains are a mix between brown and gray and actually look pretty good in there, and they were the right length. Still looking for artwork for here too.

I have a love/hate relationship with our kitchen. I love our tile backsplash but I don't think the color of the kitchen matches it. I have been going back and forth whether or not to repaint it a neutral color. We were talking about adding curtains in there to warm it up, but after looking, I didn't like any of the options that the store had. Alan liked the khaki colored ones we decided to get. After hanging them, I think I like the kitchen color less and I'm not loving the color of the curtains but Alan likes both. I'm on the lookout for artwork to hopefully blend the color of the walls, curtains, cabinets and back splash. Hopefully artwork will be the answer.

I bought these balloon valance curtains for Madi's bathroom. I'm not loving them either, but Alan says he likes them. The window in there is really small so it's hard to find a curtain the width we need(27") in the color I wanted(pale pink). This curtain actually goes with her shower curtain and towels. After hanging them, I don't like how bunched it is. We will keep them for now. We are on the lookout for artwork to hang to the right of the window.

Another goal done..

Along with this goal comes a cleaning schedule. I hate cleaning the entire house in one day and with me not working, the last thing Alan needs to do is help clean on the weekend. I have made a daily cleaning schedule so its something I can do daily and by the weekend, all cleaning and laundry is done.


I got my cleaning schedule printed out and have been following it for a few weeks now. It really helps break up the chores and Alan doesn't have to do anything when he gets home or on the weekends-the way it should be if one person stays home, in my opinion. I got mad at him Saturday when I came home to clothes in the washer. I told him that I do that and he's messing up my routine! :) I have tried to not wash clothes on the weekends so we both can kind of chill out but sometimes we need to, and he took it upon his self to wash 2 loads while I was out to lunch with Amanda. I don't kill myself trying to stick to this schedule because some days Madison will sleep 3-4 hours and some days I am lucky if she sleeps 30 minutes all day. So on the days that she naps, I may do the next days chores or if I don't get today's chores done today, they will get done tomorrow. I thought I would blog my schedule since I have seen some of my friends pinning cleaning schedules on Pinterest. Here it is:


Monday -Dust entire house. Clean all windows and mirrors. Clean litterbox. Wash jeans. Vacuum


Tuesday - Sweep and mop living room, dining room, laundry room and hall. (Sounds like a lot but most of our living room is a rug)  Wash Alan's shirts and colors.


Wednesday -Clean both bathrooms. Toilet, counters, tubs, shower and sweep and mop. Clean litterbox. Wash towels. Dust entire house. Vacuum.


Thursday - Wash Madison's clothes and our bed sheets. Sweep living room, kitchen, dining room, laundry room and hall.


Friday - Sweep and mop kitchen. Wipe all surfaces including cabinet doors and microwave. Wash colors and whites. Vacuum.

One goal down!

2) I took some pictures of my niece and her fiance Saturday, who are expecting a son in February. I have no idea what I am doing, so I just point and shoot. This was the one of many things that has made me really look into taking classes or at least reading the book on how to use my camera. The local college has Photography classes that start in February. I am really nervous about the possibility of taking classes. I feel like it's my first day of school! This would also involve taking a Photoshop course and getting a new computer and Photoshop. 


Got one goal done! I signed up for the class! I am super nervous about this for some reason. At least an old high school friend is taking this course too so I will at least have a familiar face and someone to talk with and sit next to! Not to mention walk out with and follow home since the class isn't over until late.. I also don't like leaving Alan and Madison for 3 hours.. Even though Madi goes to bed between 7-7:30 most nights and will be fast asleep by the time I get home, I like being a part of her bedtime routine..

As Alan and I discussed, not only will this give me the knowledge of how to use my camera properly, it may also open a door for a business at some point and it will also help me interact with adults, which will help with my goal #1 of helping my attitude by committing and following through with something.

New Year, New Things!

I have been thinking a lot lately of some things I want to get accomplished and/or change this year. Here they are:

1) Be a better wife, mother, family member, friend and all around person. Since having Madison I tend to feel disconnected or even distant from a lot of people in my life. I need to get back to that person I was and I will find her soon! The things exhaustion does to your attitude is amazing. Even though Madison is doing decent at night, I go nonstop during the day and by the time Alan gets home, I am wiped out! This makes me be quiet and then I am ready for bed by 9! With Madison I want to be that mom she loves hanging out with. With everyone else I will try to call, email or text more to keep in touch.

2) I took some pictures of my niece and her fiance Saturday, who are expecting a son in February. I have no idea what I am doing, so I just point and shoot. This was the one of many things that has made me really look into taking classes or at least reading the book on how to use my camera. The local college has Photography classes that start in February. I am really nervous about the possibility of taking classes. I feel like it's my first day of school! This would also involve taking a Photoshop course and getting a new computer and Photoshop.

3) Get our house more organized and decorated. I know some people think I'm already super organized but my goal this year is to get more organized.

I want our pantry to look like this:

via Home Stories A to Z

Our pantry isn't that wide but the main goal is to get all dry ingredients into labeled jars and maybe snacks and/or like items in baskets like the ones shown here. I would also like to redo my spices. I have them all in little jars with what the spice is written on the top, in ABC order but I would like something different.

and my scarves like this(on shower hooks):

via From the Desk

This is an easy one if I can just remember to put shower rings on our grocery list..

Along with this goal comes a cleaning schedule. I hate cleaning the entire house in one day and with me not working, the last thing Alan needs to do is help clean on the weekend. I have made a daily cleaning schedule so its something I can do daily and by the weekend, all cleaning and laundry is done.

Also, the decorating part. I have yet to put up curtains in the bathrooms since we painted last April. We also need new towels and some artwork in there, our bedroom and the kitchen. Our bonus room needs a good cleaning and painting and maybe make the beginning of Madison's play room with this:

via Pinterest

Here's some other things floating on my Pinterest board..

via It's a Crafty Life
love this to hang by door for keys.

via Google
bookshelves flanking a couch.

via Chocolate Moments
such a cute way to remind someone what little things they do make you happy! A dry erase board so you can write different things everyday!

via All Things Homie
A cute way to dress up your thermostat!

via Bryn Alexandra
I really like having hooks in the room next to the door. For purses, coats, etc.

via minimoz
Maps of where you met, married and live. Love this!

If you aren't on Pinterest yet, you should be! Or maybe you shouldn't.. It has made me want to redo my entire house! It has really given me a lot of great ideas for our house(like all of the above!), ideas for things to do with Madison, great blogs to follow and yummy foods to try, which I have already!

4) Start back exercising. We have been talking about getting a treadmill or stair climber in the next couple of months. Since Alan stopped playing tennis regularly and when I got pregnant, neither of us has really done any real exercise. I haven't truly worked out in a gym in roughly 10 years! Before getting pregnant, I would run/walk the neighborhood.

5) Scrapbooking. I haven't scrapbooked in years but it's something I really enjoy doing. The only thing is it takes me a couple of hours to do a page usually and I just don't have that kind of free time anymore, other than when Madison goes to bed and by then I am trying to spend time with Alan, cook supper(this eating at 8pm thing is getting old fast!) and am ready for bed myself! I need to try to do a page a week.

6) Use coupons more. I cancelled my E-mealz suscription a couple of months ago. I talked about it here. It was great up until about 6 months ago. They started putting things like Hot Dogs and frozen pizza on the list. I mean I understand that we all want easy meals but I paid for this site and I can throw in a hot dog meal in the other 2 days it didn't give me recipes for. Plus every week there was a seafood meal and I don't eat seafood. So that was 1 out of 5 meals I wouldn't fix so I was having to come up with another meal to replace the seafood meal. So anyway... I try to cook different things every week. I hardly make the same thing twice and when I do, it's something like tacos or spaghetti or an easy meal. I try to base what I'm cooking on whats on sale which helps but here lately I haven't done a great job with my grocery budget. I would love to keep a stock of things that go on super sale that I have coupons for like shampoo, toothpaste and baby items.

I'm sure I have a ton of other goals spinning around in my head. we'll just leave it at this. Hopefully in the next couple of months I will have all of these marked off my list! We'll keep you updated!