Simple Goals

I love making lists, I am just not very good at the follow through. Kristin recently wrote about her four simple goals, and I knew that it was something that I had to do as well. We are already almost two weeks into November, and this year is slipping by so quickly. I started off the year with a long list of things to do, and for the most part dropped them when Peanut was born. I love the idea and rules of this challenge (as explained by A Beautiful Mess), and think that this is a great way to end the year on a positive note.

Before we reach 2014, I plan to:

1. Do holiday crafts with the boys - I had huge plans for this last year, and it all fell through due to me being tired and pregnant and then sick and pregnant.
2. Build on our holiday traditions - I've always been a huge fan of Christmas, and I really want the boys to feel the same way. I'm hoping to take some of the traditions of my family and my husband's family and make them our own.
3. Create a night time routine - With not sleeping I haven't had much me time, and I need to figure out how to take care of myself and do what I need to.
4. Read a book for fun - This is something that I used to do all the time, and it's been seriously lacking recently.

Week End Reading

A busy as I've been recently, I do spend some quality time with my Feedly app while nursing. Here are just two of the things that I've read this week.

This article by Baby Rabies very nearly made me cry. I am not quite as far along in the journey as she is, as Munchkin is only in preschool and her oldest is now in kindergarten, but I understand everything that she said. I cannot believe how quickly the past eight months have flown by, so much faster than three years ago. Her words are exactly how I feel.
Tell Me How Beautiful It Is To Watch Them Fly

The fact that this has to be explained is a shame, but How To Be A Dad's article is a great dad point of view.
Boob Visibility Comparison Chart (Models vs Mothers)

In Need of Sleep

I know I've mentioned it before, but sleep is still elusive here. I hate to complain because the snuggles are nice, I know it won't last forever, and we could have much worse problems, but I am tired. Very tired. It is definitely starting to affect other parts of my life. I feel much more disheveled. Not that I was completely put together before, but now I just feel like a mess. And I am sure that there are lots of things that I could do to change that, but sleeping would definitely be the best. 

I get maybe two to three hours at night that Peanut will sleep on his own. That doesn't leave much time for getting anything done, and it seems all aspects of our life are suffering. The house is not in a state where I feel comfortable having company as I am behind on cleaning. Laundry isn't happening as quickly as I would like, and often stays clean but unfolded until it is time to do another load. I haven't been good about meal planning and prepping, and I seem to be constantly rushing and forgetting things. I am living in fear of Sunday since we'll be changing the clocks and I'm afraid that will just make things worse. I would love to simplify our lives and I think that is a step that we will have to take.

But for now, I just want sleep.

So peaceful, if only he would do this all night...

To CrossFit Or Not To CrossFit

I am not happy with the way that I look right now. I don't think I'm fat, I know that I had a baby less than eight months ago, but I do not like where I am. While I need to fix my diet, I know that one thing that I need to change is how I work out.

A little over a year ago, my husband joined a CrossFit gym (or box), and absolutely loves it. He was always on the slimmer side, but he very quickly shed the few extra pounds he had put on since Munchkin was born, and looks amazing. He has recently been trying to get me to join as well, and while I have great respect for CrossFitters, and I know that you can get great results, I am not sure that it is for me. CrossFit is something that you have to be 100% committed to, and I am just not in that place at right now. Physically, I don't feel ready for those kind of workouts, and especially with the two boys, I don't feel that I have the time or energy to commit to the classes.

I've been tempted to join on many occasions not only for the results, but for the community that I've seen open up to my husband. The people he works out with are some of the friendliest people that I've met, and very welcoming. Maybe in the future, things will change and I will join, but for now I'm looking for something different that fits into my life better.

How do you keep in shape?

Pumpkins and More Pumpkins

Over the weekend we made or annual trip up to the pumpkin patch near the boys' great-grandmother. We've always had fun, Munchkin would run around while I got great shots of him surrounded by orange before heading off to lunch and quality time with his great-grandmother.

This year did not work out exactly as planned. The weather wasn't on our side, and while I did get one decent family photo, which was very needed, Peanut didn't get to experience the pumpkins and I didn't get any pictures of just the boys since I couldn't put Peanut down on the wet, muddy ground. Munchkin still enjoyed himself putting pumpkins into his wagon, but I was disappointed in the pumpkin part of the morning.

So yesterday I took advantage of the weather and brought the boys to a local patch. It was perfect, the ground was dry, it wasn't crowded and there were pumpkins everywhere. I was able to get my shots of the boys surrounded by orange.

Peanut was fascinated by the leaves and barely looked up, and once again Munchkin was more interested in filling a wagon, but I love the pictures that I got. They are perfectly imperfect. Over the weekend most of the pictures focused on Munchkin, and Peanut seemed to suffer from Second Child Syndrome (which is a post for another time). Yesterday I was able to focus on Peanut and give him the attention that he deserves.

Linking up with Mama Kat.
5.) Pumpkin patch post!

A Summer in the Past

This past summer we made not one, not two, but three trips to the NY Renaissance Faire. While Peanut spent the entire time in either the stroller or the Ergo, Munchkin had a great time. He played games, winning many stickers and "pirate" necklaces. One weekend, on Pirate Day, he even attended pirate school which I believe was one of the highlights of the entire summer. He also got to have a conversation with Robin Hood, which left all of us a little start struck. Of course we also did the usual of watching the early joust, and a few other shows. We picked our weekends well weather-wise, but we ran into the problem of the nicer the weather was, the more crowded it got. It wasn't a terrible problem, but it made potty breaks and feeding hungry preschoolers more interesting. Although when in doubt, we made sure to get our frozen oranges, and while Hubby sought out the beef jerky, I was partial to the pickle cart. Overall, we had a great time and are really looking forward to returning next year.

Learning the pirate ropes

Pirate School graduate

Don't blink

New Season, New Start

Fall is here, and I wish that I felt that I could do NaBloPoMo since I love the theme and prompts. I know myself and I don't trust myself to post every day. My goal is to post three times a week, although with my lack of sleep, I hope I'm not just dreaming.

I look at other blogs, and I don't know how they do it. I have found myself completely overwhelmed as far as computer time goes since Peanut was born. And while writing has been hard, I'm not always the best at putting my thoughts into words, I don't like posting without a picture. I feel like I don't have the time to deal with photos, either working on my own or finding something to use. For now, I'm going to try to let this hangup of mine go if I don't find something quickly and hopefully I'll post with more regularity.

So here is to new beginnings, cooler weather and fresh starts.

Autumn at Mt Macedon by Ryk Neethling, on Flickr