Goals

Well, it's goal-setting time again. For the past 4.5 months I've hidden myself away in survival mode, struggling to make it through each day, then fall asleep, exhausted, to fitfully 'nap' through the night, only to wake up early and do it all over again. Every new mom knows how I feel, especially working moms. Every last drop of energy that is not used up at work gets squeezed into those precious few hours each evening with my amazing gift from God. I can't remember a time in my life when I've felt more scattered, less organized, and completely worn out, with more responsibilities looming on my to-do list.


No more. The goals set below are designed to help me strike a balance between the old me and the new "Mommy." This written goal technique worked really well for me in 2011. We're half way through '12, so it's high time I re-vamp!


In no particular order:


1. Paint and finish decorating one room in the house each month until done. Obviously, decorating and furniture rearranging is a constantly changing thing, but I've got to come to some sort of end point before moving forward with another project.


2. Have all boxes unpacked (or re-packed) by the end of the summer. This includes moving all of our belongings from both storage sheds to our new house and going through them. I think I'll make that the official end of Summer, in September.


3. Spend some time each day excercising, be it a brisk walk, working in the yard, weights or Pilates. To spare my milk supply, I think I'll stay away from any super intense cardio, although an elliptical machine may not be out of the question. Explanation: breast feeding burns about 500 Calories a day, so my intake needs to be somewhere around 2500-2700 a day. Because I struggle with maintaining my supply, it seems risky to burn too many calories and try to loose weight.


4. Breastfeed Coleman for one year. For so many reasons, breastmilk is best and recommended instead of cow's milk until one year of age. Because I work [more than] full time, this is a struggle, but I'm determined enough to make it happen. Specifically, by next week, I hope to provide him with three 4.5 ounce bottles daily, and in three week's time, three 5 ounce feedings. How's that for a measurable goal?


5. Get Coleman's sleep schedule under control. Not only does the poor guy have to work around me for his eating schedule, but he has to rely on us for bedtime as well. Again, with my on call schedule so erratic, it can really throw him off. By the time he is 5 months old, we will have a very established bed time and routine. The biggest challenge will be to have him follow it with someone other than me, since he relies on nursing to fall asleep.


6. Dig stickers out of the yard. Sort of a goal, sort of a to-do, but we've got to get them out of the yard!!! They are located in the largest, most open section of the yard that I had hoped to make Coleman's play area. I am launching an all-out war on the evil little things, and I WILL WIN!!!!!


7. Read the Bible or a devotional and spend time in prayer and worship every day. This seems more important now, not only because I'm a mom, but also because I rarely get the chance to study and worship with my congregation (because I'm a mom). I sing all manners of church songs to Coleman when I'm getting him down for the night and pray over him an dpraise God for him, but not every night and not with purpose.


8. As always, make it a daily goal to be a loving and devoted wife to Scott. This has been more challenging as of late because we are both so tired and busy and have a lot going on. We also have a somewhat uncertain future professionally, so we're both feeling a bit unsettled and up in the air.


9. Keep a cleaner house and cook more. One the one hand, I'm kinda too busy for this; one the other, I'm a slacker. Via Pinterest, I have found all of these wonderful cleaning schedules, so while my house may not be immaculate all the time, it won't be several weeks before I finally get around to cleaning the bathroom. Also, I need to get back to planning weekly menus and shopping ahead of time. If I can accomplish Goal Number 5, it will be much easier to cook dinner for Scott, have lunches and snacks on hand, and, bonus, save some money.


Finally, and maybe this should be Number 1:


10. Find a way to carve out 30 minutes each week for myself. Be it a pedicure, soak in the bathtub, sitting on the porch with some lemonade and a magazine, or a haircut, MAKE TIME FOR MYSELF.


That should do it. I'll try to check back in each month with updates.