2013 Goals: January Check-in

For the first time (ever?), I decided to write up some goals for the year. (Click here for full full 2013 goals post).

I thought it would be good accountability to do monthly 'check-ins' here to see how I am doing.

So, here we go...

Goal 1: Intentional in my relationship with God
Still not where I want to be/should be. I did make some strides...but I'm at like a once a week place with this. Definitely need to keep working at this.

Goal 2: Date night with Jason 1-2 times/month
We finally had our first date out together without Jack!
We went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and then walked around the outdoor shopping plaza near the restaurant. Great to have some one-on-one time...but still felt like we were missing our little man. I don't know why...since we both leave him while we are at work every day. I think we are just used to him being with us when we are out together. 

Goal 3: Family day dates once a month
We didn't do a formal day date this month...but we did lots over Christmas time, so I feel like we just got lots of quality family time in.

Goal 4: Try two new dinner recipes a month and one new dessert/baking recipe
I was the most successful here! (Maybe I need to spend less time in the kitchen and more time in my Bible!)
I made 3 new dinner recipes and 3 new baking recipes.
For dinner I made:

Trader Joe's Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken


Pioneer Woman's The Malboro Man Sandwich
 

Pioneer Woman's Meatloaf 

 My three baking recipes were all muffins (I have been really into muffins lately).

 Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins


Snickerdoodle Donut Muffins


Almond Poppyseed Muffins
(Sorry no picture...I made these twice and still couldn't get them how I wanted...I think they need more butter because they were too spongy both times)
Goal 5: Check 3 things off my 30 before 30
Nope...nothing new here.

Goal 6: Blog more
I'm still no pro-blogger, but I have made improvements.
I have 7 posts for January...which is only once/twice a week, but in all of 2012, I only had 14 posts...so I think I'm making some strides! Haha. 

We'll see how February goes!
By the way...How is it already February?!

1.21.12

The day we realized our lives were about to change.

The  day we found out this little guy was on his way.

One year ago today.

Here's the story of how our baby boy came to be...

At the end of December, I decided to stop taking birth control. 

Over the previous year, I had been on 3-4 different kinds and didn't like any of them.

I hated the way it made me feel...

and my cycles were even more irregular on the pill than off.

When I went off the pill, Jason and I decided to just see what happened.

Jason REALLY wanted a baby...I wasn't quite there yet.

I couldn't wait to be a mother, but we had only been married 9 months, and I wanted some more time just the two of us.

Plus, I thought it would be good to save a little more money before starting a family.

A week or so after I stopped birth control, we found out my sister Mel was pregnant.

We kinda went into panic mood at the thought of us also getting pregnant. 

While it would be so fun to have a kid at the same time as my sister, we knew it would make things difficult because my mom would have to watch both our newborns when we went back to work.

We thought that would be way too much for her to take on (in addition to my sisters two other kids).

Just not the right timing.

So, we bought some protection with great intentions of using it.

That never happened...

A few weeks later, I was pretty sure I was pregnant.

I wasn't 'late' yet, but I just had this feeling that I was pregnant.

I even bought some pregnancy tests...but didn't take one for a few days because I wasn't even late yet.

Well, then I was late.

It was a Saturday morning, and we were lounging around.

I decided that I was going to take the test. 

Jason said that if I ever thought I was pregnant, he wanted to be there when I took a test. (This actually wasn't even the first time I thought I was pregnant...I had taken a test two other times because my cycles always left me wondering due to birth control making them crazy ...one was a few weeks after we got married. Haha. Yes, I'm a freak.  Both tests were negative).

When I saw the word pregnant on the test, my heart started racing...

Jason started crying and embraced me.

He was very excited to be a daddy!
 

Two hours later, I had to go to a birthday party for my niece. Then, that night we had a going away party for Jason's cousin.

His entire extended family was there.

So hard to keep our secret quite!

We had 3-4 different people ask us that night about having a baby. 

One person said we should get on it tonight.

Jason's grandpa gave me a hug and said I needed to get pregnant so he would have more to hug...even funnier is that our due date was his birthday!

Quite the day!

And now, a year later, we have our sweet Jack.

Love him more than I ever thought possible.

Jack: 4 Months Old

Jack turned 4 months on Saturday!

Today we had his 4 month check-up...

We have one growing boy!

I thought last month was fun from 2-3 months!

But, we've definitely been having even more fun with him during this 3-4 month period.

I think it's just going to keep going that way as we see his personality come through more and more.

About a week after Jack turned 3 months, he started going through sleep regression.

He began to wake up after 2 hours or less of sleeping. 

Ugh.

The only thing that would calm him was if I nursed him.

I thought maybe he was teething because he had/has all the symptoms (waking up screaming, drooling like crazy, chewing/gnawing on everything, nasally, cough, etc).

Not sure if the teething really is happening...

But, we did start doing some hard core sleep training.

We've started putting him in his crib in his room (he had been in the pack n' play in our room...I definitely cried the first night he was out of our room. Why is it so hard having him 20 feet down the hall?!)

If he wakes up after being asleep for less than 3-4 hours, we make him cry himself back to sleep. I've told myself that I will only get up once in the middle of the night to get him/nurse him. Clearly the boy does not need to eat.

So far it's working.

Now we are going to start pushing for the whole night of sleep. He has done a few 5-6 hours stretches in the last week, but we got to get him in a habit of this. 

Our little guy is so close to rolling over. He can get all the way on his side, just can't get the rest of his body over.

He can sit on his own for a few seconds, as long as he has his hands to support himself.

He is talking like crazy and starting to laugh out loud a lot. Not just a coo laugh, but a real chuckle.

So cute!

Here are Jack's Facts for 4 months:

Weight: 16 lb 8 oz (50th-75th percentile)

Height: 26 in (75th-90th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17 in (50th-75th percentile)

Eating: 3 hrs. during the day

Sleeping: 3-4 hour chunks

Clothing Size: some 3 months, but mostly 3-6 month/6 month

Diaper Size: 2

Firsts: laughing out loud

Likes: standing up (with our support), chewing/gnawing on anything and everything!

Dislikes: tummy time (funny how this is what he used to love) 

And here is a 'Jack is not impressed' look to send you off!

Looking Back...

...at these.

And in tears.

Wah.

Look how small he was!

How has it already been almost 4 months?!

That's a third of year.

 

They grow so fast.

Jason and I were out shopping yesterday and were looking at newborn sized clothes. We both couldn't believe that Jack was once that small!

 

Now I see why people keep having babies.

There is something so precious about that newborn 'tinyness'.

 

Jason has dropped the number of kids he wants to have since Jack was born. Haha.

I have increased the number I want.

I guess I'm a baby person.

But, I don't have baby fever enough to get pregnant again ANY time soon.

For now...I'm enjoying the one I've got :) 

2013 Goals

This is a week or so late...

But I normally don't do these kind of things.

However, this year I thought it would be good for me to write down a few goals for the year.

Our life is in a period of huge change right now.

And that makes me reflective.

And forward thinking.

I don't like change, but life is full of it, so I figured I'd better learn to deal with it.

And attempt to embrace it.

Which makes me think about goals...and things I want to change for the upcoming year.

Just a short list...don't want to overwhelm myself or anything :)

1. Intentional in my relationship with God

Having a baby has definitely hindered this. I've found that this has gone on the back-burner as I've started juggling life with a newborn...and then returning to work...but there are no excuses. So, this year I want to get back to that intentionality of being in the Word and having a stronger prayer life.

2. Date night with Jason 1-2 times/month

Obviously a major part of the huge change I was referring to above was having Jack. Anyone who has kids knows what a struggle it can be to find quality time with your spouse. Jason and I have not gone on one date since Jack was born. We just tow him along wherever we go, but when we do that, our focus is on Jack and not each other. Another huge change is that Jason started working part-time at our church (in addition to his full time job) and he started seminary this month. So, he is extra super busy...giving even more reason why we need to make date night a priority.

3. Family day dates once a month

We've been able to do this a good amount of times since Jack was born, and I love it when the 3 of us are out together as a family. However, now with Jason in school (and his class is on Saturday mornings), it will be harder to find time for this, so we have both talked about the importance of keeping this as part of our life in the upcoming months.

4. Try two new dinner recipes a month and one new dessert/baking recipe

I got this idea from my sister Mel, and I for sure need to start doing this. We've definitely been eating the same foods recently...and pretty boring foods. Having a baby has taken away my desire to cook, plus, Jack needs the most attention in the evenings, so we've been eating things that are super easy to prepare. This usually means boring meals. I've been really into baking though (because I can do that at any time of the day...and just enjoy it more than cooking), so I want to keep trying new, yummy recipes there. I have so many things pinned on Pinterest...need to starting pinning less and cooking/baking more.

5. Check 3 things off my 30 before 30

I don't want to forget about this. I know 3 things is not much, but it seems ambitious considering the current nature of our lives. I haven't really thought about which 3 I want to try and do...but hopefully there are 3 that are reasonable to do amidst this season of change.

6. Blog more

I'm an awful blogger. No consistency. Boring. I just don't make it a priority. But, I love looking back on my previous posts and reading about our life and the things we did throughout the year. I was huge into journaling throughout high school and college for that exact same reason. I also process through writing, so I think it will be beneficial to blog about what are life looks like as we journey this next year. Plus, I'm realizing a blog can turn into a baby book for Jack...it's a fun way to track things :)

Nothing too crazy...but I can't handle crazy right now. Just a few goals that I think will better me and our family. 

Happy 2013!

Re-Evaluating...

...the '30 Before 30'.

And, I'm realizing it has all backfired.

When I started 3 years ago, I wrote, "I think it's easy to put boundaries around our life and to imagine that our life might (or should) look a certain way at a certain age or point in time. I know that for myself, I had certain expectations about what my life might look like when I was 30. True, I still have four more years until I turn 30 and a lot can happen in four years, but I don't want to live life holding onto an expectation."

And by certain expectations, I meant...get married, buy a house, and start a family.

Well, to my surprise, those things happened.

I was recently single when I came up with the idea of 30 before 30, but waited a few months to start. By that point, I had just started dating Jason. I still never would have thought my life would change so much in 3 years.

And that change....

Well, it has interfered with my '30 before 30'.

In the first year of my '30 before 30' I accomplished nine things on my list.

In the second year, the year I got married, I accomplished three things.

And, this past year, the year I bought a house and had a baby, I accomplished zero things. (I did buy a camera that I can learn photography with and I did eat at 2 new ethnic restaurants, but those are only partial completes).

So, my life has taken a whole new direction.

Just because my life's where it's at today doesn't mean I can't still do the things I strove to accomplish on my list.

However, some things aren't that realistic anymore...

My time is much more limited compared to when I was single, and I can't just go on fun adventures whenever I want.

Here is my list as it stands:

Travel

1. Austin (completed June 4-6, 2010)

2. Boston
3. Thanksgiving in New York

4. Greece

5. Canada

6. Cruise (completed January 2010)

California Tourism

7. Alcatraz

8. Wine tasting in Wine Country (completed January 9, 2010)

9. Monterey Bay Aquarium (completed April 7, 2010)

10. Hearst Castle (completed August 8, 2010)
11. Lighthouses of California (from San Francisco to Santa Barbara)

Adventure

12. Skydive

13. Hike Half Dome (completed June 17, 2010)

14. Run a half marathon (completed October 3, 2010)

15. Triathlon

16. White Water Raft

17. Hot Air Balloon
18. Ski in another state

Intellectual/Spiritual

19. Read The Chronicles of Narnia ('Attempted' Summer 2011)

20. Memorize a chapter of the Bible
21. Take a Bible class

Entertainment

22. Sharks Game (completed November 20, 2010)

23. NBA Basketball Game (completed December 31, 2011)
24. Live orchestra/symphony
25. Circus
26. Eat 30 ethnic cuisines that I have never had before (Added 9 new countries in 2011 and 2 new in 2012)

Personal Development

27. Cooking/Baking Class (completed October 2011)

28. Learn to sew

29. Start a blog (completed January 1, 2010)

30. Learn Photography (bought the camera in 2012)

I turn 30 in 13 months and have a 3 month old.

Don't see a trip to Canada or Greece in that time period...and certainly not going to make it to both.

But, I'm okay realizing I'm not going to check every item off in the next 13 months.

Are these still things I want to do?

Yes.

Are they things I'm still going to try and do?

Yes.

Am I gong to do them all before I'm 30?

No.

But I hope to do some in the next year.

And the rest...

They will just be the starting point to my '30 AFTER 30' list.

Gotta keep on living...living to the fullest.

2012 Recap

This is the post where I recap the year and tell about the things on my '30 before 30' list that I accomplished and share my 2012 highlights.

Well, funny...

....because while this was probably one of the most eventful years of my life...

I don't think I checked one thing off my '30 before 30' list.
Ok, I don't think I didn't...I really didn't.

So goes life...

Normally I spend half this post reflecting on my '30 before 30', but I'm going to skip out on that this year. I feel like that 'ambition' of mine deserves a post of its own at this point...which will be coming soon.
 Instead, I will focus on the 2012 recap...(which will be fun for me since I pretty much didn't blog about anything that happened in 2012. Thank you, pregnancy)

January

We sure started the year off with a bang.

On the 21st, we found out we were pregnant!

And on the 30th, we found out an offer we put on a house had been accepted!

 

February

Oh, lovely February.

I turned 28 this month...and celebrated my birthday nauseated on the couch.

My birthday was the first day I threw up from pregnancy, so that was an awesome birthday present. 

 But, less than two weeks later, we got to see our baby for the first time and hear that little heartbeat. Made all the morning sickness worth it.

 

The next day we took a trip down to San Luis Obispo for a couple's weekend with two of my best friends from college.

March

We closed on our house on the 15th!

And then moved in with my parents for three weeks while we re-modeled our place.

(For our remodel before/after, click here)

We spent the next few weeks making countless trips to Home Depot, Lowes, Kelly Moore, Carpet One, granite stores, etc. Ugh. (Extra ugh when you feel like you're going to puke)
Sober champagne tasting in Napa for my friend Catie's bachelorette.

And then at the end of the month we celebrated Catie and Craig's wedding.

 

April

We facebook announced our pregnancy on April 1st.

No April Fool's joke there.

And the next day we 'celebrated' our one year wedding anniversary.

(By celebrated, I mean we went to Thai food because that was all my nauseous body could take and then hungout with my parents since we were living with them). Basically, my birthday and our anniversary need a big redo in 2013!

On April 7th, we moved into our place. Hooray!

Two of my friends got married in April, also.

Janet and Jeff's wedding

Chrissy and Matt's wedding

 

May

We had our 20 week ultra sound and found out we had a healthy baby.

The next day, we had a gender reveal party with our families...

and found out a little man was on his way!
(gender reveal post here)

June

I finished my 5th year of teaching.

Jason's cousin got married in Tahoe.

We went to a Giant's baseball game with my college friends.

 

July

We took a little babymoon down to Southern CA and visited Orange County, San Diego, and Santa Barbara.

My sister threw me a 'Little Man' baby shower.

 

I entered my third trimester!

August

My sister had a baby BOY!

Welcome Luke!

Our friends from church threw us a baby shower.

I started my sixth year of teaching.
 

September

We waited in anticipation for our September 28th due date.

Jason's family had their annual family picnic in Loomis.

And our little man arrived on September 19th.

 

 

October

Grammy turned 101, so of course we threw her a birthday bash!

So glad Jack got to meet her. He is her 10th great-grandchild.

Jack's first Halloween.

November

We headed up to Apple Hill for some Fall festivities and met our nephew Austin, who was born on October 27th (Grammy's birthday)

My sisters and I threw my mom a surprise party for her 60th birthday.

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of three.

(At Jason's grandparents house)

December
Jack's baby dedication was on December 16th.

We enjoyed the holidays with a little baby around.

Jack had a wonderful first Christmas!

And, he had his first visit to San Francisco.

My sisters and I finished 2012 off with some winetasting in Napa.
 
An exciting year!
I feel beyond blessed as I reflect back on this year.
God is so gracious and loving as he pours out his blessings to us.
I look forward to what 2013 holds in store.