New Year Goals

I don't usually do resolutions.  It seems like they are made to be broken.  But I would like to set goals for this next year.

• Don't be afraid to speak up about what I believe in. 

I am a very opinionated person, but most people that talk to me probably wouldn't know it.  I think I am more on the reserved side.  I find myself regretting not standing up for something I believe in way too often.

• Be more efficient and productive with my time.

I have been working on this, but I still need lots of improvement.  I would like to have more free time (who wouldn't?) but still have a clean and organized house.

• Show more love towards my hard-working man.

I really need to show my husband some more love than I do now.  I am usually so tired by the end of the day that we rarely have "us" time.  My goal is to get most of my work done while he is working and be rested enough to spend some quality time with him at the end of the day, while the Punkin is (hopefully) sleeping.

• Be a better budgeter.

 I admit that I am not good at all when it comes to budgeting.  That's not a good thing considering we are a one-income family now.  I really need to work on budgeting and cutting back on things where we can.  First step: get rid of this mortgage!

• Lead a healthier lifestyle.

This is a daily thought for me.  There are lots of things I want to change under this category.  Overall, I would like to be more self-reliant.  Once we move out of Suburban Hell and back to the country, I want to garden and provide most of the food that we will need as a family.  I also want to avoid overly processed and preservative-filled foods.  This will mostly be solved by growing our own food.   What food I buy, I want to buy locally if possible.  I also want to spend more time outside in the fresh air.

These are my five goals for the new year.  Lets see how well I do!

The Big Switcheroo

At 21 weeks pregnant, I decided that I no longer wanted to be with my OB group.  By this time, I had immersed myself in research about pregnancy and childbirth.  Some of the "policies" they consider routine were not in line with what I wanted for our birth.  One that really bothered me was the mandatory induction at 42 weeks (I don't think babies read calendars while in the womb).  I began researching other options.  I decided that I wanted as little unnecessary intervention as possible.  I ultimately decided to go with a home birth midwife in our area, from Believe Midwifery Services.

I think this was a turning point for me.  Changing care providers was one of the first significant conscious decisions I made about birth and parenting.  I decided that if I was going to be paying someone big bucks to be my care provider, I wanted to get what I want.  It's not every day that you get to birth a baby.

I know that home birth is not for everyone, but I do believe that every woman should have the opportunity to have an enjoyable birth experience.  If there was one thing I could pass along to every childbearing woman, it would be this-- you can have control over your birth and enjoy it; educate yourself and stand up for yourself!  If something doesn't feel right to you, do something about it!

Adventures in Mommyhood

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do with this blog.  I'm getting bored of my own posts, and I want to do something more cohesive and also informative.  My husband is always telling me, "You need to blog about that!" in regards to the some of the crazy things I do.  I think he is right.  But you didn't hear that from me.

Heeding my hubby's advice, I've decided that I would like to share my journeys through pregnancy and parenthood.  I started my pregnancy as a soupy mama and am getting crunchier with each passing day.  I can't say that my philosophies can be perfectly labeled in any category, but I think that is what makes you a parent; you make a balance of things that work for you.

So here begins my adventures in mommyhood.

Treasury, Treasury

I decided today that I would try my hand at making a treasury on Etsy.  Since I love architecture and antiquing, I wanted to make a series of treasuries based on those two things.  My first one is based on a country farmhouse kitchen.  I had a lot of fun doing it, and I love the way it looks.  It's like window shopping from my computer.  I didn't even have to put shoes on or leave my house.  What could be better than that?

Happy Half Birthday, Punkin!

Today is Punkin's half birthday.  It doesn't seem possible that it's been 6 months!  We told our birth story to fellow Bradley students on Sunday, and I realized that it had been quite a while since I had really thought about our entire birth experience for a good while.  I've been so focused on the postpartum mess, with her being in the NICU.  Yeah, it sucked.  But, I think that things worked out well overall.  I may have to post our birth story on here sometime.  We'll see.  :)

I guess I need to stop worrying about what happened 6 months ago and get on with things!  Sure, I'll take those events into consideration with future children, but right now I'm going to enjoy what I have, a beautiful, healthy, happy 6 month old.  Happy Half-Birthday Punkin!

Organization Falls Upon the Riddell Household

When I became a stay-at-home mom, I never realized how busy I would be!  I didn't really think I would be able to just lounge around all day and watch soaps, but I've been feeling like I am going 90 mph from the minute my feet hit the floor in the morning.  I had so much to do and not enough time (so I thought).  Something had to give.

I decided that I needed to budget my time, or at least divide up my housekeeping tasks to give me some structure.  I started thinking of things that needed done each day, and things that needed done less often.  While checking my Twitter, I found a lovely post by Money Saving Mom about a homemaking binder and thought: WOW-that's what I need!  I printed off her free downloads and personalized it for our household, and felt so organized!  I got today's daily docket ready last night and started my new organized life this morning.  Already, this helps so much.  I haven't been running around all day trying to get a bunch of random stuff done, I have gone through my list and done what needs done today.  I think this system could make me more productive and a little less frazzled.