New Year's Goals

UPDATED: one more rather important goal* has been added at the bottom...

Yes, New Year's goals, not resolutions. The following are things that we will be working at throughout the year -- goals. If some of them don't work out, it is a goal not fully met vs. a failed resolution. See the difference?

So, here are our goals:

Budgeting. Now that I have more time, I am going to work on a budget for us. I never tried before but I found this budget form for fluctuating incomes and I am going to give it a try. I am hoping with budgeting that we will be able to start putting more money away into savings and Amelia's accounts. Oh yeah, and we want to take a small trip**, just the 3 of us (ie- not home), to celebrate graduation.

**Right now we are thinking Chicago might be easiest (and Jason hasn't spent much time there, ever). We would like to stay in a hotel, in the city, for a couple of nights and go to some museums.

Losing the "senior 20". That's right, the "senior 20", similar to the "freshman 15". I started this past semester in the habit of exercising regularly and then in mid-October I began my bad habit of working at the computer, eating. Eating a ton. I put all the weight I had lost in the previous 8 months back on. It is time for it to leave, again. Jason is also heavier than usual. He did quit smoking a year ago, which is great, but as a side-effect, he has been putting the weight on. So, we are not dieting...diets don't work (for me). We are aiming to watch what we eat more closely, follow the portion recommendations on everything we can etc. We are hoping that by eating better we can develop better life habits and in return, put some of the weight off. Which brings me to our next goal...

Exercising. As clique as it sounds, we want to exercise more this year. We are not running out and getting gym memberships or anything, yet, but we are going to try and make a better effort to get moving. It is a bit chilly here in Wisconsin, but we are going to try and start going on walks a couple of times a week. You gotta start somewhere! By the time spring comes we will hopefully be in the habit of walking and eager to go out more, in the nicer spring weather. As the year goes on I am sure we will find more ways to exercise and get moving.

Reading Hour. This one was Jason's idea, which was shocking to me. Jason, not the world's biggest reader, has suggested that we try and read, as a family, for one hour each day. He would like for Amelia to grow up in a house that reads. I agree. My parents are avid readers and I used to be, sometimes reading more than one book a week. I have been looking forward to being able to read, now that school is over, so a reading hour will help with that.

Cover to Cover. I have set out to do this before, more than once. I have never done it. I would like to, finally, get through the Bible, cover to cover, within the year. I found a plan, here, that I am going to follow. This one will be hard for me, as I have not finished more than once in the past. I am feeling good about it this year. Only time will tell.

*Correspondence. In the past year I have gotten even worse at keeping in touch with people (it was possible!). I went from phone calls, to e-mails to Facebook messages. Yikes. I had a busy year, at least give me that :) I am hoping that this year I can make it a point to be in better touch with friends and family (other than my mom, who I still talk to almost daily -- sometimes multiple times daily...). I need to get over the "fear" of calling someone. It's really not that bad. I am just more comfortable with writing things to people which isn't always the greatest.

Those are our big goals. I am positive that there are many more, smaller, things that we want to accomplish in addition to the ones listed. The neat thing about having this blog, and posting this entry, is that I will have something to refer to next New Year's Eve and see how we did!

Linked to Kelly's Korner - "Show Us Your Life Friday" - New Year's

Show Us Your Life - Baby Gear

Kelly's Korner is a blog that I read and every Friday she has a new topic for bloggers to share about..."Show Us Your Life Fridays"! This week everyone is sharing favorite baby gear...things they loved, things they hated, things they couldn't have lived without etc! I thought I would get in on it since I definately have some favorite baby items! As I am looking back on all the different things we used there are a few that stand out in my mind as "lifesavers" and I can remember Jason and I wondering many times, out loud, how people can get by without some of them!


1) The first thing to become a necessity in our house was Amelia's "donut". It is actually called a snuggle-me-cushion (found here). My mom found it a craft fair in Minnesota and I am very glad that she got one for us! Amelia spent so much time in her "donut" the first few months of her life. It was a lifesaver to me when I was on my own with her for the first time, still sore from her delivery and unable to move around much. I would put her "donut" on the ottoman, put her in it, take my time sitting down and I was able to get her out of it, to nurse, without too much pain. That alone made it one of my favorite items. She took many naps in it too. We never tried it, but it can also be used for tummytime!

2) Bottles. Since I returned to school and work a short time after having Amelia, nursing didn't last too long for us (she naturally weaned herself) and the search for the perfect bottle began! We like Wee Go glass baby bottles, especially when we were storing breast milk.


Since carrying around glass bottles in a diaper bag can get a bit heavy we also tried out a lot of different plastic bottles. We have found more that we dislike than we like, that is for sure! We like the Nuk bottles and Wal-Mart's Parent's Choice bottles (the cheap ones that cost $0.97) the best, so far.

We never had good luck with Evenflo bottles, in particular the Evenflo Comfit bottles (the ones with the angled neck). The Evenflo Comfit bottles leak like crazy 90% of the time and are such a pain! We still use them but are very careful. You have to screw the lid on just right for no leaks to happen and sometimes, when there is a screaming baby, there just isn't time for all that precision!

3) Bouncer. Amelia loved her bouncer!


We decided on the Fisher Price Precious Planer bouncer. For the longest time her bouncer was the only place she would take a nap! I loved having it because I could put her in it and take it with me wherever I needed to be in the house! It was also really cool when she would start to swat at the "animal friends" hanging over it and then one day she grabbed on of them! I still remember that day, I was really excited :) She used her bouncer from birth until around 5 or 6 months...that is when she started to get upset in it because she wanted to be rolling around!


4) Bumbo seat. Amelia's Bumbo has been a place for her to play, a place for her to eat and also a place for her to pose for pictures! I really loved having this chair for her to play in! I also have the tray for it and I would put that on, give her a few toys and she would usually play for a good length of time. I would, however, have to go and retrieve the toys that she discarded :) One bad thing about the Bumbo was that we didn't get much use out of it, time-wise. After a couple of months Amelia was escaping from it. We still use it now, a few times a week, for feedings mostly. I think that a Bumbo is a good thing to have, even if you only get regular use out of it for a few months.



Those are just a few of the things that we have loved in this house! Other things that we loved, but I won't elaborate on, were our Fisher Price Rainforest Cradle Swing, slings (once Amelia got used to them that is), Cuisinart food processor (for making baby food), Johnson's and Johnson's Moisture stick (Grins and Giggles variety, it is made by J&J, but the "brand" is Grins and Giggles, either way, it did wonders for Amelia's cheeks!) etc