meyouhealth

So it's time for New Year's resolutions again (actually a few days past) and for the first time, I've actually made a few of them. Here's mine:

~The normal, lose some weight.

~Budget better and actually follow it sometimes.
~Read books more. I am looking at C.S. Lewis, Madeline L'Engle, Tolkien, George MacDonald, GK Chesterton, and Skippyjon Jones :)

~Read my Bible a LOT more. I'd like to read through the whole thing, but it's not always easy to find time to read for any length of time lately. It's worth a try though!

~Stop biting my nails. This will probably never happen though. I just really don't want it to be something Xander picks up.

~Do better! Clean my house, take care of my husband, love my baby, be a good friend, all of those of course!

I signed up for a daily challenge email thing yesterday. It's supposed to help me live better and I guess just think more consciously about daily decisions. It seems like most of them have to do with sharing my answers and this is where I have chosen to do it.

Today's Challenge:
How do you start your day? Share a healthy breakfast idea.

Well, today it was a banana and coffee. Does that count as healthy?
One that I've tried that definitely counts is quinoa and blueberries. yum, yum!


On the baby front, things are going great! Xander is babbling up a storm and bouncing around on his hands and knees trying to figure out what this crawling stuff is all about. And, he's got a new friend from church to play with! She's here a few days out of the week and they are so cute to see playing together!

So far, January is treating us well and I hope it's doing the same for you!



When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries; May Jesus Christ be praised!
Joseph Barnby

Having Fun!!!

"A cheerful heart is good medicine." (Proverbs 17:22)

"I'm not rich, but my life is full.

I wear cheap shoes so I can buy expensive cookware.

I can do the splits, rap with the radio, & text while biking.

I make regular date nights with my husband,

& I never hesitate to tell anyone my age.

I celebrate silliness, make my own good times,

and always remember my happiness starts with me" 

~Stefania, Palo Alto, CA

So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

~ Ecclesiastes 8:15

Getting Started

It's morning and everyone is still sleeping, except me :( My boys still look super cuddly downstairs and I wish I could join them, but in about 6 minutes, my daycare kiddos will get here and the crazy day must start! I've had enough time to myself this morning though to get my coffee (1 pt), straighten my hair (a rarity), and take a few deep breaths. Here comes today!


My list for today:

1. I got half of my Christmas cards mailed out yesterday, need to sit down and finish them.

2. I need to finish cleaning my kitchen, a job my wonderful husband started for me yesterday. While I'm at it, I should probably do the living room and bathroom too.

3. I want to go to the gym tonight!

4. We desperately need new light fixtures in the living room and kid room. I'd like to knock that off the list too since it's been on the list for months and months....and months.



Wish me luck!

MommyWife Life

Here are some new pictures! And stuff that's been on my mind...

1. I haven't blogged in a while and I really want to because I think it could be fun and it's nice to pretend I'm talking to grown ups for a change.

2. I haven't counted points (weight watchers) in a while and I really want to because I want to get back in shape! On the plus side, I am back in my pre-Xander clothes and I have maintained this weight for a while.
I am determined to keep going though. The number on the scale is back to where it was, but the shape is nowhere near right! I have started counting again (10 pts so far today!) and I am trying to convince myself to hit the gym a little more often too.

3. My baby is pulling himself up on his hands and knees now and it's really freaking me out! I don't know what happened to the limp noodle I brought home from the hospital! He is five months old already and so much bigger and stronger! Part of me wants him to stop, but most of me is just so excited for all of the new things in his life! 

I've been thinking about before Xander, before I knew I was pregnant, and even when I was going through a miscarriage. I am just so thankful to God and my husband for this beautiful little boy! He is ten times the joy (and twenty times the trouble) I'd imagined and I love him with all of my heart!!!

Being surrounded by babies has really been teaching me a lot. Xander is so fearless! That probably has a lot to do with the fact that he doesn't know yet what there is to be afraid of, but I hope that even as he grows, he will stay strong (like his daddy). I, on the other hand, am terrified of my own shadow. I always have the worst case scenario running through my mind and it gets a little ridiculous sometimes. I am really working on letting Xander be my role model in a lot of ways.

"The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a child shall lead them."
Isaiah 11:6

I need to focus a little less on stresses and fears and focus on all of the amazing, wonderful things that are happening in my life!

4. I have a great, supportive, amazing, hard working husband. God knew what he was doing when he introduced us in the sixth grade! He knew I would need someone just like him and how right he was!

We have been skimping on our weekly date night plan and I have decided to fix that also. We bought the 2011 Entertainment book with some great coupons and I found Orpheum film series tickets for only $20 (16 movies)!!! So, we're definitely doing that and now we should have no excuse, even if we're completely broke!

5. I want to improve myself every day! I know that I am far from perfect (or even remotely good many days). I like to complain and be lazy a lot, and I really don't want to be that way at all anymore! So, I am trying to do better.

"She is neither hindered nor demeaned by serving others. Rather, she is fulfilled by it,
because godly service is the source of her nobility."

C.S. Lewis

"And you can always, always give something, even if it's only kindness."

Anne Frank

These are the words of wisdom I am trying to commit to memory this week. We'll see how it goes!

6. I need to art more. I want to art more. I am afraid to art more because it's been a while...

And for fun...

More pictures!

Happy Tuesday Everybody!!!! Hope you're having a great day!

I am trying to figure out my camera still and have wanted to share this video forever!

This is Xander, not quite two weeks old.

He just hit the 8 week mark yesterday! Wow, how time flies!!!

Skills!

So besides taking care of tiny Xander, I have had time to work on a few other hobbies and it's been really nice! Mostly, I have been cooking. I'm making lunch and dinner every day and trying out a lot of new recipes! This is the beginning of a spaghetti sauce made with Lemon Boy and Early Goliath tomatoes from our garden. It was super tasty! I used some deer meat that my grandpa brought back from his hunting trip in North Carolina. MMMmmm!

I also have finally started pulling all of the books we've been buying off of the bookshelf and actually reading them! Mostly, I've been reading books that I probably should have read in Middle School (or maybe before). But they've been fun anyway and I have books that are a little more challenging to read also. For now, I'm not in school anymore so my only purpose in reading isn't to push my vocabulary, I can sit down and enjoy an easy read and not feel bad about it! Yesterday, I finished A Wind in the Door. It is the sequel to A Wrinkle in Time and I think I liked it even more than the first one! I'm working on number three out of five now, then who knows what!

                                     

Today, Xander has been asleep most of the afternoon and it's naptime for the girls I am babysitting, so I decided I'd try my hand at drawing again. Because of Adam's little "x-man" nickname for Xander, I decided once he gets older, we should decorate his room with x-men, so I started drawing up some plans! So far I've just got wolverine, we'll see how many more I get done today. I forgot how much fun it is to draw; I really love ink drawing the best of any medium I've tried.


Not too bad I guess!!! Time to try some more!


Last week was my first week with daycare girls over, they are really pretty easy and I'm happy to say, I still get to spend a lot of time with my baby. That was the plan all along, right? It's been pretty fun and I am optimistic and have a lot more confidence that I will be able to work things this way so that I get to stay at home with my little boy rather than leave him with anyone else while I go work for someone else. Tonight, Adam goes back to work though, so we'll see if things get even harder than they have been with him doing just school. I'm sure I can handle it, but I will miss having him around 24/7. He's pretty good company you know!

For now, I've got a clean and quiet house to relax in while I wait for the kiddos to start waking up.

He's a fun little cuddlebug in the mornings!

And loves bath time!