Here are the goals I set for myself for 2009, let’s see how well I did at accomplishing them!!! I have a feeling that making goals as a pregnant woman and trying to achieve them as a new mom may not end up to great, but we’ll see!
1. Keep God first in my life, Zach second, Clover third: Well, I failed! This needs MEGA work. I feel like often Kye is used as a reason why we don’t attend church functions and we really need to do more things with our church. The Babywise Blog Lady keeps her kids on a super schedule yet she is at her church when the doors are open and her church is one of those all day event type things. I also think I need to do better at putting Zach higher on the totem pole. All mother’s can relate at how easy it is to let the baby’s needs come first…he’s a baby! He can’t wait! While I agree with this, I do think going on dates and such is important for our marriage and helps remind ZACH that he comes first! I may know he does in my heart but I need to show that more.
2. Be the best mother I can be: Duh…I rock! haha! Seriously though, I found a new confidence in myself as a mother and feel I’ve done a great job meeting this goal!
3. Make our home one that Zach wants to come home to each night: It’s hard to say that I’ve accomplished this as I sit here sick as a dog but I feel I’ve done a better job at it. I cook WAY more often and the house is WAY cleaner now too. I work hard at being good at my job, and those are parts of my job. I DO need to work at having a happier face about it all though and greet Zach with a smile!
4. Travel, just the two of us and with our baby: Well, Zach and I on our own went to such places as Paris, New York, North Carolina, and more. With Kye we traveled to Melbourne, St Augustine, Cancun and more. I think we FOR SURE achieved this goal and I know traveling will be something that always remains a priority for us.
5. Complete 2 scrapbooks: haha. When I thought about how I needed to go back and see my goals I thought I’d said ONE scrapbook. Two? Was I kidding? I DID start on one (our wedding) but it’s not near completion. I’ll continue to work on it slowly but blogging is my main source of memory keeping now.
6. Keep up with this blog: Score! I think I did this great!
7. Show Zach my love for him more: Again this is always a work in progress. I do think the non-pregnant Emily is a LOT nicer than the pregnant one though 🙂
8.Continue to grow closer to God and draw my strength from Him more: With Nana’s passing I think I did lean on God more but it also opened up a BUTT LOAD of questions for me. I need to work at answering my questions and solving my little doubts and insecurities b/c I feel that through those questions can come growth.
9. Breastfeed for at least 6 months: Check! Check! Check!
10. Become better friends with Zach: Again…this is probably something only he can answer. I feel like our friendship will always continue to grow and evolve with the changes in our lives but I do feel like nothing bonds you closer than becoming parents.
11.Lose all the baby weight by the end of May: Did I do that? I think I did! Yeah I was wearing a bikini when Zach and I celebrated our anniversary at the end of May so good for me! We are BOTH getting back hardcore to Weight Watchers though as we let it slide a little and I’m telling you, it’s waaaay easier to gain than lose and I wanna look smokin’ for my little brother’s wedding in March!!!
12. Be there to comfort and care for my mom in the event that Nana passes away: Well, it happened. And I’m very proud of myself for how strong I was and how devoted I’ve been to helping my mom through this whole process.
13. Teach others about God: still needs work!
14. Have a date night every Monday (or at least once a week): I know you’re thinking I’m going to say it’s hard to do that with a baby, and it’s true it is. The REAL reason I think it’s hard though? We have more people that we try to spend time with now than we used to. We use up one night of the week for church, one for Zach’s parents, and one with friends, that leaves the weekend and one other night. A lot of weekends we travel and it’s important to have at least one night of family night! We’re just trying to do TOO much and I think it’s wise to cut back and focus on our little family!
15. Use the YMCA Membership: I never set foot in the place and we ended up canceling it to save money, oh well.
16. Stop using Lord’s name in vain: I think I’ve done better at this…only do it when I’m REALLY upset for the most part now. Still needs work though! Gotta be that good example for Kye!
17. Help Zach make as much money as possible without being pushy: Well, the results are in and “we” did make less than last year. I know Zach tried his hardest it was just a tough situation. I think I did a GREAT job at being supportive and helpful (taking messages for him at times and helping remind him of things) while not over-stepping my boundaries.
18. Figure up a house cleaning schedule and stick to it: I don’t have much of an actual schedule aside from Monday being laundry days but the house is clean, that’s what counts 🙂
19. Keep time with friends a top priority: I think I achieved this goal too well. Family dinner time together needs to be top priority at night, then date nights with Zach, then travel, then other family, then friends. I’ve often put the friends and travel above all else and need to work on that. Maybe the solution is to have more friends over for dinner so family dinner time can include them too!
20. Continue to love my pets even after Clover is born: I adore my dogs, Zeke (the cat) not as much but I was never as tight with him. I do still love the dogs though for sure!
21. Get to know people at church better: needs work, hope to accomplish in 2010!
22. Live my life so Clover can follow my example: I think I’m doing a good job! I need to work on a few things (taking frustrations out on Zach a big one) but overall I’d be proud of my son turned out like either of his parents when he grows up.
23. Budget wisely and save money for our future: In 2010 I want to start saving for retirement. But we did get a pretty hefty life insurance policy which was good. We budgeted beautifully this year and I’m so proud of that. Zach did his part busting his butt making dough and I did mine with keeping up with the bills and tracking our spending. I think next year we’ll do even better in this area!
24. Continue to use Photoshop and use it: continue? When did I start??? I have mastered Picasa and I think I do pretty decent at the photo editing. It’ll get better with time!
25. Get back into selling on Ebay: I did sell!!! Not as much as I need to but I did sell some stuff! I may look into consignment instead as it’d be easier on me, we’ll see.
26. Have more time for me, even if it means just taking a bath: I have only taken one bath since Kye was born. When the weather allows I spend time laying out which is for myself. Blogging is somewhat for myself but somewhat annoying too. I still need to find a hobby but who has time for that?
27. Don’t let anyone make me feel inadequate: Like I said, I found a new confidence as a parent. No one can make me doubt myself now!!!
28. Have Clover fit into our lives, don’t change our lives for Clover: Many of you (those that actually read this far down haha) probably think I revolve my life around my child. But I honestly think we have a good balance. How many mothers leave their babies at 7 weeks old to go across the country? I don’t think Kye runs my life. I think he’s the cherry on the sundae 🙂
29. Do the best I can to be close to Dad: I try all I can and that’s the best I can do! The guy moves a lot and it’s hard to keep up but he knows I love him and would love to be closer to him if possible!
30. Get into the best shape I’ve ever been in: blah blah blah. Best shape ever? After a baby? yeah rrrrright. I was my best at my wedding, and that’s when you should be your best really!
31. Be an easy-going mom, don’t freak out all the time: Yes, I’m a scheduled queen. But I’m also easy-going. I just asked Zach if he’d say I’m easy going or a freak out mom and he said easy going. I trust my husband he sees me parent all the time!
32. Live my life in a way so others can see Christ through me: I think Nana’s death was an opportunity for me to do that and I think I did a good job. I think others could tell that my relationship with the Lord helped me through my grief.
Overall, 2009 was an amazing year. My only real regret in my goals list was that when I wrote it I didn’t know about the Bradley Method yet and I didn’t have the plans for natural child birth. My two proudest moments of 2009 were how I was there for my mom when Nana passed away and that I gave birth to my first baby without ANY pain medication! Honestly, having natural childbirth is my proudest achievement ever and I am so thankful I was able to do that! I don’t think people who know me would expect me to do something like that but I did and I plan on doing it at least three more times in the future 🙂 I realize I may not have met many of my goals but when making this list I didn’t know what a baby would bring to my life! I know next year to be a little more realistic! Goodbye 2009!!!
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WOW! You achieved TONS!!!Ok, so i didnt know about your blog before your comment on mine, but now i'm hooked. And we MUST share emails so we can chat about babywise 🙂 I LOVE it! And I think that you, Rachael and myself should ALL get together so i can meet my TWO new blog friends!kelly