Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Goals Check-In~ July, August, September
July
Rest, concerts outside, enjoy the sunshine
~As evidence by a blogging absence and a rested family unit. 
Write birth story
~Started this.

August
Celebrate our 8th Anniversary
~Low key for sure. But sometimes just being together is more than enough.
Go on a date, alone
~ Thanks to our amazing support circle we were able to check this one off the list.
Throw Rowan's 2nd Birthday Party!
~ This was so much fun and will be blogged about later. A ton of work but oh so worth it for our little sir.
Start jogging
~ Lightly. Running after a newly initiated 2 year old is proving to burn many calories.


ADDED:
Declan's baby shower
Trip up North for a very special wedding
Trip south for the Cousin's reunion


September
Take family photos
~Moved this to October.
Plan Kevin's birthday
~Planned, but not fully cemented. 
Read: Re-read Babywise and Babywise II by Ezzo and Bucknam
~Success! Didn't end up wanting to re-read the second one yet as it wasn't as applicable.


ADDED:
Celebrate My Birthday
~A week of brunch, picnics, flowers and ending with a sleepover and crafts. Perfect.
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Goals Check-In~ June
June (9 month Prego)
Celebrate Caitlin's birthday early!
~ Sweet Caitlin ended up sharing a birthday with our newest addition!
Wash and put newborn clothes away
~ In the nick of time.
Finish putting away newborn essentials
~Done
Walk, walk, walk, walk....
~ All the time. 
Have hospital bag packed
~Success, but just barely. 
Car seat installed
~My husband rocks
Bring this sweet baby home
~ In case you missed the post it is found here.
Read: Really? Not sure that will happen!
* Baby arrives!
This was taken in the waiting room on Caitlin's birthday, our sweet sons birthday twin. The caption:
"I am living a Friends moment"
SO grateful to be so surrounded by love.

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An Elegant Affair
I was honored to be able to co-host a baby shower for my best friends sister, who I also consider a sister as well. We threw this shower at the beginning April and now that sweet Baxter has arrived I thought it would be fun to share a few details from this wonderful celebration.
The colors in his nursery are Lime Green, Black and White. Going with those we decided to make the baby shower more bridal than baby, an elegant affair if you will. 
I found the invitation kit on clearance in the Bridal Section of Michaels Craft Store.  The information about the shower was on top with instructions to fill out the bottom piece (that was removable from the pocket) with a prayer or hope for sweet Baxter and to please bring it with you to the shower. 
 Then the Sweet Notes were attached to the safety pins we had hanging off ribbons from these long tree like branches. 
We found this awesome bird for a few dollars at Michaels and it was a wonderful addition to our tree of sweet wishes and dreams.
The tree in all it's glory.
Water bottles with specialized labels created by yours truly.
The incredible cake designed by a friend of ours. 
A specialty drink concocted for the occasion, something I am known for, my love of tasty drinks. They make a party, am I right?
The drinks were set up on the left hand side of the cake table, the water on the right side. The umbrellas were handmade as well. (I found a tutorial here, but made many, many changes to the directions.) The tiny details are so much fun!
Marshmellow Pops
My solution to keeping the Pops upright on different parts of the table, stab them into an apple!
Recognize the stand? Yep my trusty cupcake stand became a holder for wontons and peanut sauce. We put them in these wonderful little cupcake cups. Made prepping more for refills a breeze.
Part of the food table. Since it was in the early afternoon we thought we should have a variety of sweet and savory items. We are glad we were prepared because the food was loved by all!
These were little tags that were intended to be used on the invitations but we thought would be nice in decoration. We used strips of black paper and ribbon to tie in the vases with the color theme of the shower.
The diaper "game". We had these diapers and pens out in the middle of the room where the gifts were and encouraged the guests to write funny sayings on the diapers. Then the Mom To Be picked the one she thought was the most humorous as the winner. The fun part was that these diapers went home with her to chuckle at later when changing yet another diaper at 3 am.
Gifts! Notice the lovely puffs? Handmade and super easy, slightly altering the directions found here. I loved making them for the shower and they will most likely make an appearance at my parties this summer.
Party Favors. Sugar Cookies with those sweet labels from above. Easy, inexpensive and with a little practice a sweet homemade addition to any party.
The party planners and best friends.
Megan, the sweet Mommy To Be.
We also requested that the guests dress in the colors of the invitation and gave a prize to the most festive and decked out guest. Having everyone dressed in the same palette made the pictures look so great together!

The trick for a shower like this was to gather all of our found items that were black and white and then accent with green ribbon or in this case were used some great cheap green apples and limes that we found at Costco. Combining this idea with some tricks found online and making most things ourselves really made this shower more personal and less expensive. Win Win! So blessed to be able to do this for my sweet friend and excited that our little boys will get to grow up as buddies.
Declan and Baxter meeting each other for the first time. Buddies for sure!

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Happy Three Weeks!

We were struck with pleasure when we realized that our sweet sons birthday was on a Thursday, a very Thankful Thursday 3 weeks ago. How fitting that he was born on a day of the week that we have devoted all year long to finding something to be truly thankful for and share with you guys. So today we celebrate his last "week" milestone and prepare to transition to the month milestones. In a few short months Baby Love will no longer be in the phase of life where his age is determined in months. It is a sobering realization of how fast time flies when you are on this side of life. We are exceedingly grateful for every moment and memory made and vow to continue to try and capture each one. Happy Thursday, tell someone how thankful you are for them!

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Goals Check-In~ May
May (8 month Prego)
Tour hospital
~Done. Only accomplished by the skin of our teeth, at the end of the month, with the In-Loves on hand to help with Baby Love. 
Meals planned
~Contacted the church and they are so graciously helping set them up. They are using :Takethemameal.com
Call list, etc... updated
~ Another finished near the middle/end of the month. Calling cards distributed.
Baby announcements addressed
~Nope. But addresses are updated and a list of who to send them to is done.
Take pregnancy pictures
~ Good Friend Sophie Brock came and took some amazing shots. You can see a few here around pages 29 or 30.
Plan and throw Jessica's birthday
~ It ended up being a day of celebration that was so much fun!
Read: The Key To Your Child's Heart by G. Smalley or Playful Parenting by D. Westman
~ Nope. The list of little teeny things that needed to be done and working on spending some quality time together took precedence, as it should.
* Kevin is done with classes! Rotation schedule begins.
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Goals Check-In~April
April (7 month Prego)
Run a 5k (or end of March)
Rowan's 2nd Birthday done and in boxes ready to go
~ About 50% done. Not bad!
Birthing class review
~Moved to May, after classes were done and we could do this together.
Design baby announcements
Finalize Birth plan, distribute
~Done. Made this a little more real! I liked using this website. Quick and easy.
Co-host baby shower for Megan
~So beautiful and fun! See post here for details.
Baby Moon?
~ Not possible with classes, thinking of a fun little trip in the fall with friends instead.
Read: Grace Based Parenting by T. Kimmel
~ Purchased and cracked, but no progress made. Tons of other reading instead though...see below.

Additional Goals Added:
Easter Flash Cards For Rowan
~85% done, still searching for a few of the animals. 
Flash Card Banner for Above Declan's Bed
~ Done and so perfect. See it here.
Be faithful with Bible Study
~Successful. Even if we were late we made it, and 90% of the homework was done on time!
Develop Pinterest Boards
~Loved working on these. A bit of startup, but so worth it in the end.(click on the icon in the sidebar to follow!)
Read: Water for Elephants
~Loved this book. A good reminder to treat our elderly with more respect.
Read: The Sacred Influence
~An incredible book, full of challenges. I read it with some other married ladies and wouldn't recommend an isolated reading. Having others to hold you accountable to what the book was calling out in you is crucial.
Design Mypublisher Books, this last year for us, bring up to date.
~1 of 4 done.Too many great pictures of some really fun activities to fit into 2 books this year.
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Goals for 2011
I hesitated about sharing these here, but think the accountability will do us good and might put this in a separate tab at the top, crossing them off, or commenting, as we go. My dear friend of almost a decade and half wrote a great piece on the difference between goals and resolutions here and it has stuck with me all month. So here we go, 2011 you are going to be great!


All Year Goals
* Document my own recipes, gather and sort
* Start writing actual chapters in my book...it is still a secret :)
* Meal plan consistently and creatively
* Plan and budget monthly group dates

February (5 month Prego)
Increase my running to 5 miles
Plan and throw Kate's Birthday
Inventory baby items
Return borrowed items
Get Rowan into swimming lessons
Finish Rowan's Birth Story
Trip to Olympia
Read: Shepherding A Child's Heart by T. Tripp
* Find out what we are having! (Feb. 3rd)

March (6 month Prego)
Maintain 5 mile runs, increase stairs
Family Christmas gifts made
List of other homemade items decided on
Plan and throw Shannon's Birthday
Trim/fix/gather baby items
Trip to CA to visit family
Read: The Discipline Book by Dr. Sears
* Find out where Kevin's rotations are!

April (7 month Prego)
Run a 5k (or end of March)
Rowan's 2nd Birthday done and in boxes ready to go
Birthing class review
Design baby announcements
Finalize Birth plan, distribute
Co-host baby shower for Megan
Baby Moon?
Read: Grace Based Parenting by T. Kimmel

May (8 month Prego)
Tour hospital
Meals planned
Call list, etc... updated
Baby announcements addressed
Take pregnancy pictures
Plan and throw Jessica's birthday
Read: The Key To Your Child's Heart by G. Smalley or Playful Parenting by D. Westman
* Kevin is done with classes! Rotation schedule begins.

June (9 month Prego)
Celebrate Caitlin's birthday early!
Wash and put newborn clothes away
Finish putting away newborn essentials
Walk, walk, walk, walk....
Have hospital bag packed
Car seat installed
Bring this sweet baby home
Read: Really? Not sure that will happen!
* Baby arrives!

July
Rest, concerts outside, enjoy the sunshine
Write birth story

August
Celebrate our 8th Anniversary
Go on a date, alone
Throw Rowan's 2nd Birthday Party!
Start jogging

September
Take family photos
Plan Kevin's birthday
Read: Re-read Babywise and Babywise II by Ezzo and Bucknam

October
Pick Pumpkins
Halloween costumes
Finalize Thanksgiving plans
Plan Steph's birthday party
Read: Something creative and inspiring

November
Write Holiday Letter/ design card
Thanksgiving
Outline Advent Book Plan

December
Cut tree and decorate
Plan cookie party
Read: Advent book...
*Baby is 6 months!
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