Wow, it's only been 6 MONTHS since my last post...I suck! Well, it is a new year and with that I hope(once again!) to keep up, or at least be more regular, with my updates. I want to me able to look back at the fun things we have done and memories we made and share it with the boys!
Along with a new year comes a desire to have a fresh start in various parts of our lives. Instead of creating a New Years resolution that I would most likely fail at, I have decided to create some "goals" in different areas of my life. I am including them below and am hoping to check back and see how I am doing.
Personal Goals:
1. Wake up for the day at 6:00/6:30 every day. This is going to be somewhat difficult for me considering I am a total night owl. I stay up way too late reading, playing angry birds, etc. and then have a difficult time getting up. I have to get up at a decent time every day in order to get Jacob to school or myself to work, depending on the day, and feel that making myself get up earlier than the kids that I will feel less rushed and more productive during the day.
2. Workout at least 3 days a week. This one shouldn't be too difficult, just need to make it a priority. My hope is to make it to the actual gym at least 3 days a week and then do other stuff around the house on other days(Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD, walk around the neighborhood.
3. Follow a cleaning schedule. This one shouldn't be too bad either. The house is never very bad, but I always forget to do the "deeper" cleaning items. Hopefully following some type of cleaning schedule will help me remember and stay on top of the big things.
4. Keep up a weekly Menu plan. Have started this on occasion in the past, but want to be consistent in this area this year.
Mommy/Family Goals:
1. Read with the boys each night. I usually do this each night, but want to make it a priority. Jacob is supposed to read aloud for 15 minutes each day and I know he still enjoys me reading to him as well, though we had been skipping it. Cameron is really starting to enjoy listening to the stories and I want to continue reading with him so he continues to enjoy it as he grows older.
2. Monthly dates with boys individually. This one is mainly for Jacob at this point, though eventually we will want to do it with Cameron too. A lot of times we find Jacobs needs getting pushed aside because Cameron is so needy. We want Jacob to know that he is still important and know that he can always talk with us and think doing a date day/night with just him and either Jason or I or both of us will help him feel special.
3. Implement a Family Night. Not sure how often we are going to be doing this one, but hoping for at least 1 time a month. My thought is to rotate who gets to decide what we are cooking for dinner that night and what activity we are going to do.
4. Date nights with Jason. We aren't very good about this now, but want to try and get to where we are maybe scheduling a date night every month or so. I also want to plan a weekend get-a-way for our anniversary this year.
5. Cameron: A)Potty Train. We have already started this a little, though we have a ways to go. B) Sleep Train...or whatever it is called. Basically I want him to sleep in his bed all night, or at least past the usual 1:00am when he gets in bed with us. C) Ditch the BINKY. This one I believe is going to be the most difficult for him. He only has it when he naps or is bed at night, but he REALLY likes it! I tried taking it away a couple of months ago and he kept trying to suck on his little lip...I felt bad and gave it back to him! Anyways, hopefully we will get rid of it sometime this year!
6. Jacob: A)Implement a chore chart/reward system. We have tried a chore chart in the past and weren't very successful with it. Not sure which system we are going to try as I am still looking around. B) Teach and implement character traits. I have found some cool books on Amazon that I might pick up to help with this.
Financial Goals:
1. Stick to a weekly food budget of $40-$50. This should be easy to do, especially since I am going to be menu planning. In the past, we would spend way more than necessary at the grocery store when we would just stop there every night to pick up we wanted for dinner that night. I also want to keep track of the grocery spending by keeping receipts that way if I spend way less one week, I can add it to a week where I might need a little more in the budget because of entertaining, etc
2. Pay off 3 debts over the course of the year. Hoping to do this over the summer when Jason is working more. Shooting for 3 but maybe will get to do more than that!
Anyways, those are the "goals" for the year! Hopefully I will be successful in all of them! I was hoping to add a couple of pictures, but in the past 6 months since I have last blogged, things have changed and I can't figure out how to do it!
