2017 Goals | 2nd Quarter Check-In

At the beginning of this year, I published my 17 Goals for 2017. In March, I did a first quarter check-in and managed to cross four goals off of my list. Now that the year is officially halfway over, here's where my goals stand:

PROFESSIONAL- Done!

1. Submit a grant proposal. (May 19, 2017) I submitted a funding application for the farmers' market I manage last month. We already knew the funds were ours and it was a short, pretty straightforward application so this was like a grant proposal with training wheels. But, I did it! It was the perfect first proposal to dip my feet into the waters of grant writing and fundraising and I'm so happy I had the opportunity to do it.
2. Continue working with my former employer. (April 7, 2017) I've been back for about two months at my old employer in a part-time, seasonal position. It's pretty much the perfect setup for me since I only average about two days/week and can spend the rest of my week at home with the boys. I kind of forgot how much I loved my work family and I'm so happy to spend some time with them all again.
3. Apply for Advocacy Corps. (January 12, 2017) I found out mid-May that I didn't get the position. Although it never feels good to be rejected, I know it was for the best. Just weeks later, I landed a perfect, fabulous new job (if you're nosy and want to know more, subscribe to my newsletter!).

READING

1. Read 52 books in the year. (In progress) 14/52 completed. Somehow, Charlie managed to break the CD player in my car so no more audiobooks for me. I can't begin to tell you what a bummer this is when I'm driving to far away work appointments. Reading hasn't improved very much as I've taken on more work. This is definitely one goal I won't be reaching.
2. Hit the pause button on reading challenges. (January-June 2017) I took a six month hiatus from reading challenges which was good for me. I wanted to get back to reading for the sake of reading. But eventually, I found that I like these challenges. They motivate me to read, when I otherwise might choose to slack and binge on Netflix. Overwhelmingly, I think these challenges are a positive thing for me and I can't wait to participate in Erin's Book Challenge 7.0 that starts TOMORROW!

FINANCIAL

1. Pay off a credit card. Oy, this category is depressing.
2. Open up college savings accounts for the boys. Ditto.

BLOGGING

1. Publish at least 3 posts per week. I did so well in April and May, but then we went away for Memorial Day weekend and I kind of checked out from all blogging, social media, etc. When we returned, life was just so busy that I never really recovered. I averaged 2.7 posts per week this quarter.
2. Have one of my DMB posts garner more than 1,000 pageviews. (January 30, 2017) What I Wish Someone Told me About Postpartum Sex remains my most popular DMB post to-date. Now, I need to top it!

HEALTH

1. Do the splits. Ha!
2. Run 13 miles.  Haha!
3. Hit my goal weight. (March 28, 2017) I've stuck around my goal weight of 120 lbs since my last update, but my fitness level hasn't improved by much.

HOME

1. Convert basement into playroom. Technically, I consider our basement a playroom, but it still needs new flooring, some paint on the walls and some decor that's a little more "playful."
2. Finish painting and designing upstairs bedroom. (In progress) I really haven't made any progress on this since my last check-in, but I did update our dining room, so I'm not a completely lost cause! This will be our most expensive room to update since we have to install a window, likely some more insulation, and some wall boards. Charlie's future big boy room has been put on the back burner while I shift my attention to transitioning our upstairs guest room into Crosby's nursery since it's a much more doable project.
3. Plant a backyard garden. (March 23, 2017) In May, we were able to start harvesting some lettuce, spinach and kale. Yum!

MARRIAGE

1. Go on monthly dates. (In progress) In April, Chuck and I attended a dinner for the Ohio Farm Bureau and counted it as a date night. In May, we drove up to NY to visit family over Memorial Day weekend and left the boys with their Grandma and Grandpa for a night while we checked into a hotel. In June, we used a gift certificate we had to grab a quick lunch while the boys were with their Nonnie and Papaw. Three months in a row?! Wahoo!
2. Take a weekend getaway for our fifth anniversary.

> > >

Seven out of 17 isn't as far as I thought I would be halfway through the year. It seems my personal aspirations have been put on hold while I pursue my professional aspirations. And I'm okay with that!

How have you been doing at your goals for the year?

41 Weeks

Last week, Crosby hit a bit of a milestone- 41 weeks old. It seems a little of a random number except that he was at 41 weeks gestation when he was born. My baby boy has officially been out of the womb longer than he was in it! Rereading that makes me sound a bit crazy, but as a Mama, I like to think I have the liberty of celebrating each and every milestone, no matter how silly it may seem.

I remember feeling so antsy and impatient for Crosby to make his arrival. Everyone had told me my second baby would come early so I took my maternity leave a week early. My Mom arrived to help me with the baby and she nearly missed him before she had to return home to go back to work. As babies do, Crosby arrived on his own time. And when I jokingly posted to Facebook that I hoped he wouldn't be born on Labor Day because well, of all the "Labor Day" jokes that would ensue, I obviously sealed his fate.

My sweet seven-pound bundle of joy came the morning of Monday, September 5 (Labor Day) after about 9 hours of labor. He was eight days past his due date.

Now that I've had the sincere blessing of getting to know my Crosby Loren over the past nine-ish months, it all makes perfect sense. They say that how babies are in the womb will predict their personalities outside and I'm a total believer. Crosby was never quite as active as Charlie in utero. He made me sicker (which led me to believe he might be a girl), but I think may have been an indication of his sickeningly sweet temperament. He has yet to start crawling, preferring to move at his own speed- much like he did with labor. And above all, he is a lover and cuddler to his core. This beautiful boy loves on anyone and everyone, but Mama will always be his favorite. I think he took his time coming in to the world because he was just plain cozy.

If Crosby Loren had a spirit animal, I swear it would be a koala bear. Completely content to just cling to its Mama and spend the hours sleeping and snacking on eucalyptus. While Charlie has so many of my physical attributes and personality traits, Crosby might as well be Chuck Jr. In the way his sparkling blue eyes slope slightly downward at the corners. In the way, he just wants to love and snuggle on everyone. In the way he lights up for practically everyone and radiates joy and goodness. He is his father's son 100% and I fall more in love with him every day because of it.

These 41 weeks have been the slowest and fastest of my life. I can't wait to see what the next 41 will bring me.

Our Trip to the U.S. Air Force Museum [2017 Summer Ohio Bucket List]

There were two major things that led to my trip to the U.S. Air Force Museum two weeks ago. The first was that everyone and their mother kept telling me how awesome this museum was (not to mention FREE!), so I added it to my 2017 Ohio Summer Bucket List. The second was my desire to give back to the Mamas in my life. Motherhood can be an overwhelming and isolating experience, regardless of where you are in the journey. I mentioned in my vlog on working motherhood how I was starting to think about ways that I could support other Moms in my life who are going through their own uphill journeys.

My dear friend and fellow Dayton Moms Blog contributor, Suzanne recently welcomed a 10-year old foster daughter into her home. She was the perfect candidate for some much-needed Mama time! I texted her to see how she would feel about me taking her toddler for a playdate and it just so happened to fall on her birthday! Suzanne got the birthday blessing of some toddler-free time, and I got the blessing of getting to hang out with her sweet girl for a few hours! (Side note: Please know that I'm not sharing this to try and convince everyone that I'm some super awesome human being. I'm just hoping that sharing my own "random acts of kindness" initiative might inspire someone to think more about how they can support the Moms (or anyone, really) in their own life.

We left early in the morning and arrived shortly after they opened. We passed through the majority of the museum and bee-lined it to the last hangar so that Mommy could see all the old Presidential Air Force One's, which is what I was most interested in. The great thing about this museum is that it is a HUGE space and perfect for letting energetic little ones run around. There were volunteers stationed all over and ready to help at a moment's notice. Charlie and his playdate had a blast climbing the stairs into all the old planes and Mommy just tried her best to keep up with them with a baby on my chest, no less. (Which is why there are few pictures to document our trip).

All in all, it was a great experience. I have zero interest in military history, but it was the perfect place to take young kids and makes for a great rainy day activity. If you live in or around the Dayton area, I cannot recommend it enough.

Once Ohio bucket list item down, 9 more to go!

10 Books on My 2017 Summer Reading List

At the end of last year, I took stock of my reading habits and posted my 2016 reading stats. Although, I read a ton of books and surpassed my goal of 50 books read in 2016, I found that I didn't enjoy a large percent of them. I attributed this to the fact that a lot of the books I disliked, I read to meet a category for one of my various reading challenges.

When I set my 17 goals for 2017, one of them was to take a hiatus from reading challenges. For the past six months, I've been book challenge-free and it's been liberating, in a sense. I've read only what I wanted to and I gave myself the freedom to close a book when I just wasn't feeling it.

But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it. I have read very few books this year. Mostly because I've lacked the time and mental energy. But I'm hoping that by jumping back in with Erin's 7th Book Challenge, it might re-light my fire and motivate me to pick up a book instead of binge-watching more Hart of Dixie. 

I have no doubts that I will not likely complete this challenge. There are a few categories, in particular that I'm not excited about. But I'm really happy to be jumping in again, and anxious to share my selections:

10 Books on my 2017 Summer Reading List

• 5 points: Freebie – Read a book that is at least 200 pages | Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

• 10 points: Read a book that starts with the letter “B” | Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

• 10 points: Read a book that has a (mostly) yellow cover | YYoung Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

• 15 points: Read a book that has a picture of an animal on the cover | The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking

• 20 points: Read a book that was published in 2017 | The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

• 20 points: Read a book with a compass or cardinal direction in the title | Kitchens of the Great Midwest by Ryan J. Stradal

• 25 points: The ALA’s “Banned Books Week” occurs while our challenge is happening. Read a book from this list of the most commonly banned books in America | Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

• 30 points: Read a fictional book about mental illness | Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson 

• 30 points: Read a book with a non-human main character | Cinder by Marissa Meyer

• 35 points: Read a book a Disney movie was based on OR a book based on a Disney movie | Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

> > >

What's on your summer reading list?

CROSBY | 9 Months

Happy 9-month birthday, Crosby Loren! Your official check-up isn't until Friday, but I'm impatient and couldn't wait to post this update because I'm just in disbelief that you're going to be ONE in a matter of months!

CROSBY'S 9-MONTH UPDATE

STAY-AT-HOME MOTHERHOOD

I talked about what I'm doing to supplement our family's income in a vlog a couple weeks ago. I've made my peace with the fact that I will likely be returning to work full-time in the near (or distant?) future though I'm not entirely sure when or what exactly it will look like for me. I love our life right now and I am constantly surprised by how much I genuinely enjoy the company of my little ones. They set my schedule and I work random hours here and there when I can. We have a super-sitter who comes to our house and watches the boys when I have to leave the house for work and it's a wonderful situation.

But, as we all know, all good things must come to an end. As much as I love being home with my boys, being poor is hard and stressful. I have a few close friends/family who have weddings on the horizon and I keep thinking- how am I going to afford their weddings?! Obviously, that's not the only factor in my decision, but I really am tired of missing out on opportunities, constantly being behind in bills, and just the general stress that being a one-income family carries with it.

BREASTFEEDING

Crosby's transition to solid foods has been great. We've taken the baby-led weaning approach (which deserves its own post!) and Crosby has been doing fantastic. His nursing schedule has remained the same, but he's eating more and more regular meals with us. He eats breakfast and lunch with Charlie and I, and then is usually in bed by the time Charlie eats his dinner, so he may or may not get an evening snack.

He's also been sleeping through the night! We have had some issues since transitioning Charlie from a crib to a bed. The boys share a room, so Charlie will sneak out of his bed and steal Crosby's binky which means that poor Cros can't self-soothe and get himself back to sleep when he wakes. Aside from that pesky little issue, he's slept until around 6-6:30am every night and I'm so excited that a normal sleep schedule might finally be in the cards for me!

BABY FAT

I've plateaued in terms of my weight, which is fine with me. I'm at a weight I'm comfortable with, but I know I need to do more to get fit, and not just weigh less.

As for Crosby...

LIFE

It feels horrible to say this, but this was the month when I finally had that overwhelming, all-consuming, head-over-heels in-love feeling with Crosby. That's not to say that I haven't loved him since the moment he was born. But I've felt like my whole focus in the last nine months has been keeping myself and my boys alive. I've been operating in survival mode and it's taken me longer to feel connected with Crosby. Up until this month, I just felt like I didn't quite know him yet. Then boom, this month happened and I feel like, "Oh, there you are!" I've been waiting for you! Guys. This kid. He is just sweetness. I can't even put into words what a sweet soul I've been blessed with. He loves everyone, is rarely without a gummy smile, and just wants to be cuddled all day, e'ry day.

Chuck and I talk about how as they get older the more we feel that Charlie is mini-me, independent, not affectionate, and a just a little bit mischievious. Crosby, on the other hand, is totally mini-Chuck. He is just so sweet, loves to eat, and just wants to love on anyone and everyone. Gah! I'm just so in love with these boys of mine.

MILESTONES

I don't know if you can consider it "talking," but Crosby has started making the "muh muh" sound all the time. He's also realized that we react to it, so anytime he needs the slightest bit of attention we hear "muh, muh, muh, muh, muh." He also cut his bottom two teeth this month! He's been so sweet, I didn't even notice he was teething until pop!, there they were!

STATS

Crosby's nine-month weigh-in is on Friday, but I'm guessing he's around 18-19 lbs. We're in Size 3 diapers and 9-month clothing, but he'll be in his 12-month hand-me-downs any day now.

> > > 

Crosby Loren,

I am so gosh darn in love with you. I have loved getting to watch you and your big brother interact more and more and can't wait to see the relationship you forge over the years. I hope you always remain the sweet, good-natured boy that you are and know that Mommy will always love you like crazy.

Love,
Mommy