Updates, Highlights, and Goals

This will be a combination post because there's just too much going on and not enough time to dedicate to individual posts right now! We just returned from a mini-getaway to Michigan with my husband's family. Unfortunately (as with most vacations/getaways), the return home means jumping right back into our crazy routine, which is made even crazier by having to catch up on what didn't get done while we were away. I wish I had enough vacation time to be able to take an extra day off each time to at least get caught up on stuff at home before going back to work! Anyway, here's the latest:

Updates

• No additional progress in the kitchen (yet) but all I really have left to do in there is finish putting some things away. I'm hoping to do that this weekend so I can say that at least one room/area is done!
• We are seriously considering doing our house remodel this spring/summer, and are in the process of having people come out to give estimates for both time and money. I will probably have to do an entire post on this at some point, as the prospect of doing this both excites and terrifies me!
• Nathan is jabbering up a storm these days, but so far the only word he uses consistently in the correct context is "uh-oh". Ha! The other day I said "What does the puppy say? Woof woof!" and he looked at me and responded "woof woof" as clear as day. I've been trying ever since to get him to do it again, but no luck yet :) He does, however, understand the question "where's the puppy?" and will look for/point at our dog when asked. He is also signing consistently for both food/eat/hungry and drink/bottle/thirsty.
• He is officially a walker! For the past month or so, he's been able to take a couple of steps at a time on his own. But just this week, something clicked and he figured out he could take several more without holding onto a hand or the couch or one of his rolling toys. It's so fun to see him go! He looks so proud and pleased when he does it :)
• I've started doing biweekly meal planning and grocery shopping again. I did this for a few months last year and it really helped with time management and budget planning. This time though, I'm using a phone app that my co-worker showed me (Pepperplate) and it has completely revolutionized the process! In the beginning it's a bit time consuming because you have to manually enter all of your recipes (unless they are from certain supported websites, in which case they can be directly imported into your account). But once they're in, you can assign them to specific days and meals; then you can select "add to list" and the program adds ingredients to a shopping list that you can print, share, or save on your phone to take to the store. I love it!

Highlights
It's so easy to complain about things, but how bad do we have it, really? Besides which, all that negativity gets tiresome. I want to be better at focusing on (and remembering) the special moments as a parent, and recognizing them for the blessings they are. Here are some recent highlights that I want to soak up and relish:

• When Nathan is drinking his bottle at night before bed, and he's starting to zone out a bit and playing with my fingers while he stares at his ceiling fan... and then randomly pulls the bottle out of his mouth, looks up at me, and gives the biggest grin ever. Pure joy in those little moments.
• Any time he puts his little head down on my shoulder, squirms around until his little butt is sticking up over my arm, reaches down with his little hand to grab my finger, and sighs contentedly... Snuggles like that (from my typically non-snuggly baby) are sometimes all I need to feel better after a rough day.
• The first time Nathan walked, on his own, across the room to give me a hug... 

Goals
In my last post, I mentioned wanting to set some goals and figure out plans to achieve them. In the past, I've had a tendency to write out big, long lists of goals and then become overwhelmed trying to implement and achieve all of them at once. This time, I'm going to start small, with just a handful of goals that can hopefully be achieved in the short-term. I've divided these goals into categories to help ensure that I don't take on too much at once in any one area:

1. Fitness. My goal here is to work out at least 5 days a week. At this point, I'm not going to specify a length of time, or even the type of workout (cardio vs. strength training). What matters for me right now is that I get moving and get back in the habit of making workouts a priority. I'm going to give myself a month of doing some kind of workout 5 days a week, and then see where I'm at weight-wise. I will then set a new goal in this area based on my progress after one month.
2. Healthy eating. I'm going to continue using the Pepperplate app to plan my meals on a biweekly basis. Having a plan, and buying only what is needed to fulfill that plan, will help eliminate spur-of-the-moment decisions that often result in poor diet choices. I'm also going to allow myself one (reasonable) indulgence per day, because I don't believe in being super restrictive :)
3. Education. I am 90% finished with my Master's degree, and it's about time I tackled that remaining 10%. I took a hiatus from it while going through all the infertility tests and treatments. And then I got pregnant from IVF. And then I had a baby. And now I have a one-year old and I really need to get back on track and finish this degree before we start thinking about the possibility of trying for #2! My short-term goal for this is to find a new adviser for my project (my original adviser has since left the institution). I also plan to schedule some chunks of time (2-3 hours each) to devote to researching my topic and beefing up the proposal for my capstone project. I'm giving myself one month to do all of this, after which I will evaluate my progress and set new goals for the following month.
4. Organization. I really want to keep the momentum going that I've started with my whole kitchen overhaul. My goal here is to spend at least 1-2 hours per week sorting, de-cluttering, and/or organizing something. That something could be an entire room or maybe just a drawer or two (depending on the contents and what is involved in the sorting process). 
5. Finances. This is a big one. We need to do a better job with budgeting (on a monthly basis as well as with planning for future, big-ticket purchases and expenses). I have two short-term goals for this category. First, I want to figure out the best way to put our tax refund to good use. Our appointment is next Monday, which means we could very well have our refund by early March (assuming everything goes smoothly). In general, I want to pay off more debt, add to our savings and emergency funds, and still have some left over for things we want (as opposed to things we need). Secondly, I want to make a list of big-ticket purchases/expenses that we either need or want and prioritize them. Too often we get into arguments over what to do with "bonus" money (money above and beyond our regular monthly income), so it would be nice to have an agreed upon list an order in which to proceed.

That's all for now. I may add to this list, but again, I'm trying to keep it simple and reasonable. I don't want to fail before I've even begun!