2014 Goals

So, now that it's the last day of January, I felt it was an appropriate time to actually get around the listing my goals for 2014.

So then I can get to work on completing a few more that were on my list for today :)...

1.  Lost 15 pounds by June.  This is the rest of my baby weight.  The pounds I put on because I like food, not really because of a baby...  Anyway, my broken down goal is 3 pounds per month...  January is done, and I can say I managed to lose 2 pounds.  But I've decided that I am just going to keep at it and keep my head up.  I can do this :).

2.  Improve my prayers.  Just felt like my prayers are sort of routine and lacking.  I know they need to be better.  So I'm working on it.

3.  Read 20 books for pleasure.  I love to read.  Didn't do it as much as I wanted to, but that's because I let other things get in the way.  Like facebook.  Haha...  So I've actually read 3 books so far.  But my 4th book choice is Don Quixote de la Mancha and that's almost 1000 pages.  It's going to slow me down!

4.  Make Lynnaea's "I Spy" quilt.  And I tacked on making one for Vivienne, since I might as well, since I'm already cutting all the hexagons anyway!  Plus she's young and will enjoy it.  One of these years I'll make quilts for the other 3 kiddos who didn't get one, but it probably won't be this year.  I'm happy to report I have all hexagons cut out and about 1/4 of the triangles.  So, on to the sewing!

5.  Finish Christmas ornaments by October.  I like to cross-stitch Christmas ornaments for all the nieces and nephews (on both sides) who are still in school.  And usually I'm scrambling in December.  So I'm setting this goal to avoid that.  And so far, I'm almost done with the 3rd!

6.  Go back to the Temple (every 2 months).  After having Lynnaea, I took a break for a while.  Now that she's older, I knew it was time for me to go back. 

7.  Be grateful every day for something new and blog it.  I'm doing that.  It's called rockinthenillalife.blogspot.com ;).

8.  Look for a miracle each week and write it in my journal.  I believe there are little miracles all the time.  Much more often than only weekly.  But sometimes I'm not awesome at recognizing them...  And I want to be better at it.  And I want to document them for my posterity.

9.  Get involved in a community group.  Our Stake President has encouraged us to do this...  I'm not sure where I will fit, so I'm needing to look into it.  I would love to volunteer at a soup kitchen or something, but that may not be so feasible, because of a certain adorable 8 month old ;).

10.  Start knitting again and make something useful.  I think it's pretty self-explanatory.  I haven't picked it back up since Lynnaea was born, so I need to.

11.  Write in my journal weekly.  I'd set this as a goal once before and accomplished it.  And then life happened again and I stopped.  So I wanted to do this again.  I think it's important for me document life.

12.  Look outward more/serve more.  I easily focus on myself, and I am prone to feeling all "woe is me."  I think, as I focus outward on others more, there will be a lot less of the woe is me stuff.

13.  Cook one binder recipe a week.  So... I love food.  Love to cook.  Love to try new recipes.  And so I have collected a binder-full over the years.  And they haven't been organized at all.  Just stuck in there.  So I'm going through and trying out a new recipe each week to see which ones are "keepers" and which aren't.  And some of them are likely to be featured at Monday Meals whenever we do it :).

14.  Floss daily.  I'm like the world's worst flosser.  And every time I go to the dentist, they berate me for not flossing daily (even though I was really good about flossing every other day ;)).  So I'm trying to do it daily by just doing so in the middle of the day.  Because at night, before bed, I simply don't want to take the extra time.

So, there's the majority of my 2014 goals.  Here's hoping that I make some good progress!!!

8 Months

Dear Sweet Lynnaea,

Another month has flown by, and you are now 8 months old.  That's 2/3 of a year.  And I am half in denial that you are closer to one year old than to newborn.  How can that be possible?  I don't know.  But my love for you has continued to increase exponentially.  I don't have the words.  You brighten every day.  You make me smile.  You make me laugh.  It is such a joy to watch you learn and grow.

And you have done a lot of both of those things this past month!  It has been amazing.  Today you actually did 5 crawls in a row!  So I counted that as you officially crawling.  I give you one more week and I think you'll have it down pretty perfectly.  And you are officially already into everything!  Even without perfecting the crawl, you were managing to do a crawl or two, and then a sudden lunge!  And you'd reach what you wanted.  Like mommy's library book...  Or pictures for your baby book...  Or the gold metal strip that separates the carpet from the linoleum at home (and why you love to lick it, I'll never know...  YUCK!).  In addition to the beginning of crawling, you also roll over from your back to your tummy like a pro!  And you are quite mobile in the walker you got for Christmas.  In fact, you have managed to get a wrapper out of the garbage can and tip over the powdered milk bucket (with a minimal spill, thankfully!) while cruising in your new wheels!  Yep...  You're starting to really keep mommy on her toes!

You are still the happiest little bug :).  You smile a lot, you laugh a lot, and you squeal in delight a lot.  I love it.  You've also become quite ticklish!  Your little toes and feet...  And especially your sides near your armpits.  And sometimes your neck under your chin and your back.  I love to hear you laugh when we really get you going with some tickles.  Your real laugh is my favorite.  But you've also started a fake or forced laugh that you enjoy doing now.  I think it's all part of your learning your voice and what you can do with it.  But it cracks me up!  The other day, while you were in your jumper chair and Mommy was in the shower, I heard you doing your fake laugh like crazy.  So I looked out to see what you were "laughing" about and you were gripping the door frame with both hands (one on either side of it) and laughing up a storm!  Which made me laugh too.  You definitely have personality. 

You love bath-time and playing with your bath toys.  You like to eat puffs and rice rusks (they dissolve quickly, so Mommy doesn't worry so much about you eating them :)).  And you also like rice cereal still, oatmeal, green beans, apples-bananas-pears...  Well, let's just say there isn't much you don't like!! 

And everyone still comments on how happy, how aware, and how mellow you are.  (And most people say you look just like Mommy!)

Oh sweet girl...  I never knew I could love anyone the way I love you.  That I could miss someone who was just in the next room sleeping.  You're just that much a part of me now, and I'm so grateful to be your mommy.  Thank you for being you.

Love Always,

Mommy

So Far Behind

It seems I can't really keep up these days!  And this blog has fallen behind.  Somewhat on purpose...  Somewhat not on purpose.  I manage to keep up with my gratitude blog, simply because I set a goal to do that daily.  But there are definitely days I don't even want to take the time to do that!  And not because I've had a crummy day and don't want to think of anything for which to be grateful (though, admittedly, I do have those days on occasion), but because my time just disappears, and I sometimes don't want to take the time to even do that! 

But I do it, because I set the goal and committed myself to it.  I did not, however, set such a goal for this blog.  And so it's a casualty.  Yikes.  Definitely don't intend it to be...  But it happens. 

Today, though, I put it on my "Today's Goals" list, and it's getting done!  Yay!  While Lynnaea is down for her nap.  And eventually, I'll post some (if not all) of my 2014 goals.  Because I did set them, and I like the accountability of posting them here.

But today, I just need to catch up on the goings-on for the past little while.

So the reason I put off updating this blog on purpose was because I didn't want to post all the pictures of all the little kiddos before my dad got his package.  Which took a while, because my mom ordered him a Panama chocolate bar (made in Switzerland, but using Panama chocolate, so still awesome!) and we had to wait for it to arrive.  I had included a framed picture of all the kiddos -- which arrived with broken glass.  So sad. 

So Brad, Angie, Autumn, and Vivienne (their newest addition who is only a month older than Lynnaea) drove up and stayed the night with us a few days before Christmas.  They were here to pick up Saria, Samuel, and Benjamin to take them to Utah for the week.  And since all of them were going to be here, we decided to invite Desiree and Emily to spend the night as well.  And yeah, it was utter chaos for a lot of the time.  But I'm so glad we did it.  I made dinner and sugar cookies and the kids cut out the sugar cookies and decorated them after dinner.  Then the kids watched Home Alone 2 and Garfield's Christmas before all going to sleep (and yeah, Aunt Hila had to lay down in the living room with them to ensure sleep came for the kiddos... but it came quickly.  They were tired).  Meanwhile, Brad, Angie, and Vivienne slept in Lynnaea's room and we set up the extra crib (yes, we have an extra through a series of events) in our room where Jeremy, Lynnaea, and I slept.  Sunday morning I cooked breakfast and we got an all-kids picture.  So sad we never got an "everyone" picture...  But maybe one day.  Hopefully sooner than later. 

Lynnaea was getting over her 2nd cold of the month (blech).  That one settled into her chest.  I felt bad, since I knew we were spreading the sickies...  But we forewarned Brad and Angie and they said they still wanted to come and stay here so they could see us.  Jeremy got sick that following week and was sick on Christmas.  Which meant we didn't go anywhere while he and Lynnaea got over their yuckies.  So our Christmas was quiet and at home.  And maybe in future years that won't seem so weird.  When our house is full of kids and that's the joy of it.  But this year was the first year we didn't go visit people, and for some reason, I felt weird.  I wanted to go see family.  My mom came over here for a bit, and Chuck and Lea stopped by with Xavier...  But otherwise, it was just us. 

Oh, funny story!  Lea got Lynnaea a dog that talks and such.  She opened it at Lea's the Monday before Christmas.  And she was not impressed.  She actually started crying.  Lea felt so bad and was like, "You don't have to take it home if it upsets her!"  I knew she'd get over it, though.  So we tried it later that afternoon while we were home, and then she started smiling at it.  And now she loves it.

We had a quiet New Year as well.  Jeremy and I stayed up...  Mostly because we watched Harry and Hendersons, and since it was about 11:15 when that was done and 11:30 by the time we were ready for bed...  We decided to stay up in case Lynnaea woke up crying from all the boom boom boom.  Thankfully there wasn't as much of that this year, it seemed.  And she slept right through.  Yay! 

And if you got one of our Christmas cards...  Well then you know why watching Harry and the Hendersons is so funny.  Jeremy had never seen it, so we borrowed my mom's copy.  It was almost like were watching relatives!  Hahahaha.

And now it's back to the normal routine.  Jeremy is working swing shift.  And I'm working on accomplishing my goals.  Lynnaea is growing up a lot.  She now gets on her knees and hands and rocks.  I know it's only a matter of time before she's crawling.  She's already mobile.  Mostly in the backward direction.  And she rolls over from back to tummy.  But hasn't quite grasped that she can also roll from tummy to back.  She is now eating those Gerber puffs and wagon wheels and these rice rusk things that dissolve.  And she loves her rice cereal still, plus she still loves her squash.  She is also eating sweet potatoes, apples, apples-bananas-and some other fruit, peas and carrots (not her favorite, but she eats them)...  She's a happy baby.  So sweet.  And I just adore her.  Oh!  And she is officially completely ticklish!  And I love to hear her laugh. 

So, things are good.  And now I'm going to post pictures :).  Enjoy!

Guess who liked the Christmas tree!  A lot!

She's sitting up very well all by herself now...  No more need for boppy support!  (But sometimes I still put it there...  Because the sound of her head on the floor is not nice...).

Grandma and her two youngest grand-babies

Decorating sugar cookies.

Saria is really growing up... 

All the kiddos except Vivienne, who was down for the night.

All the kiddos Sunday morning.

Lynnaea and Vivienne.  Vivienne is very mobile!

Emily, Desiree, and Lynnaea ready for church.  Emily is blowing her grandpa a kiss.

Sweet baby girl in her Christmas dress :).

And this is what she did with all her presents...

Her outfit from Lea and Chuck.

Me, Lynnaea, and Lea

Not too sure about this dog that talks...

A lady from church gave us this now that her kids have all outgrown it!  So awesome.  And one day Lynnaea is going to realize she can walk around and move with it...

Merry Christmas from the Hendersons...  Yeah.  Classic.  And some say it's arguably the best Christmas card (in the history of ever).  At least from our family...

Yep, another present to chew on... On Christmas morning.

She loves her rings from Juliebean.  Anytime we stack them up, she takes them apart before we can finish.
 

 

She got this strawberry hat from someone I used to work with at the funeral home.  So stinkin' adorable!



 And she got the cutest monkey quilt from her Aunt Michele!  It's so soft!

 Jeremy made me a can rotater!  I love this thing.  It's way exciting...  And now I'm stocking it up!

 I took Emily for her birthday frozen yogurt...  A month late, but hey...  She is such a pretty girl.  And there's my munchkin trying to figure out what's up.  Haha.  And then there's me. 

Lynnaea and I walked with Sue.  This was Lynnaea's first time riding on my back.  So much easier for me to walk this way (kiddo is heavy!).  But I don't like that I can't see her.

 And this was yesterday.  Happy on her tummy... 

And even happier on her knees!  If only she could realize the crawl ;).  Just kidding.  I'm in no rush to learn how un-baby-proofed our house is.  We've already experienced that silence that indicates the kid has gotten into something...  She found her way to the Christmas tree and was chewing on it.  Very contentedly.

And now you know :).