Patting myself on the back....

With a revolving sickness going through our house on top of my surgery that happened a week earlier than I expected housework has kinda fallen to the wayside.
Normally I would run around frantically and try to get everything done in one day and end up overdoing it and getting really tired, frustrated and crabby....not a good combination when you are a mom.
So today I fought my instincts and brought out my cleaning schedule, and just did what Monday called for....dusting the dining room, cleaning the front door and mopping the entrance way. I also did my deep cleaning for today, cleaning the vents and picture frames in the living room. Other than finishing up the laundry...another Monday chore, and general upkeep that you do during the day when you have two children my housework is done.
My schedule is designed so that by Friday the house it clean, and that is really good enough for me since we are having family over for Reagan's birthday. I don't have to have everything done in one day...I am not Super Mom, I would look silly in the cape! (and yes, I do have to repeat that to myself multiple times during the day!
Doing things this way ment that I had both time and energy to sit on the floor and play Little People with my little people. And I discovered something, I would rather have a few spots on my floor then loose out on this time with my little ones.

Happy February!

I know I am a couple of days late with this post. I had a bit of a longer recovery from my gall bladder surgery than I expected.
Looking over the month of January, I am kinda pleased with myself. I was pretty consistent in working out and the other physical changes I wanted to make. I am actually looking forward to getting back to working out, which shows that some changes have been made.
Now onto February.
This month I want to focus on my marriage. My wonderful husband and I do have a really strong marriage, but things can always get stronger. This month I am focusing, not on changing him, but changing the way I respond to him and my general attitude overall.
I have a very bad habit of trying to "keep score". I my mind I tend to keep a running tally of, "well, I got up with the kids this morning, so there for my husband owes me a morning of sleeping in", or, " I took out the garbage today, so therefore he should do the dishes". One of the problems with this is that I don't share my expectations with him, and then I get irritated when he doesn't "read my mind." Not a good cycle to have, and doesn't help either of us.
This is the big change in my attitude I want to change. To help with the change I am going to wear a rubberband around my wrist and snapping each time I find myself "going to the scoreboard."
I am also starting a Bible study with a group of friends. It is based on the book, "Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be" by Donna Partow. It is based on Proverbs 31. It looks like it will be a wonderful, practical study, which is what I need.
In my mind I see the kind of wife I want to be, and yes, you can laugh, because the woman I see is wearing pearls while vacuuming! But with all seriousness, I want to be the best helpmate for my husband that I can. The challenge is going to be striking a balance between the perfect "June Cleaver" image in my head, and what I can actually do, since I am not a TV character, but a real life wife, who has her bad days along with the good.

Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate. ~Barnett R. Brickner

And another week begins.....

Well, it is Monday, another week begins. I am working really hard on keeping an optimistic attitude, because my family is sick....again. It just seems like we can't keep healthy! I have a feeling that my week is going to look alot like this:
Anyway, in regards to my January resolutions, I have kept up pretty well! Last week the name of the game was moderation. My body has been rebelling quite a bit because I think I have been overdoing the exercise a bit. In the same way I had gotten a bit crazy on my diet, and found that I am a happier person when I don't cut out the things I like completely, but just moderate what I have.
I found some definitions for moderation that I really love.
quality of being moderate and avoiding extremes
easing: a change for the better
temperance: the trait of avoiding excesses
the action of lessening in severity or intensity
It all seems to point to the fact that if I make changes using moderation, the changes will stick. I love the second definition, "easing: a change for the better". I tend to get very enthusiastic and want to change things all at once, but the thing about that is that I tend to burn out!
I yearn for balance in my life, I don't like extremes, they make me tired! Yes, extremes make adrenaline flow, just think about your last ride on a roller coaster, but then think of how you feel when you get home from the amusement park....you are exhausted!
This year I am learning to ease into things, and I really think that that will make the changes last. My goal is for my resolutions to become habits.

Week Two: A New Friend

So this week was the start of "Dump Your Plump". My competitive spirit has kicked in and I am determined to "dump my plump".
To do this I have been working out this week more than I think I ever have in my life. After I go to the gym today I will have worked out five days this week! And because of this I have a new friend....the elliptical machine!
I was hesitant to try it at first, I have always been more of a treadmill girl, but after the first time I was hooked! I can go longer and faster on it! I have been averaging four miles each workout.
I find myself missing it the days I don't go. I had always heard of people becoming addicted to exercise and seriously, I thought they were crazy! I know at this point I could just be riding an adrenaline high, but I really do want to keep this attitude and really make working out a habit.
I haven't noticed too much in the way of weight loss, but I am trying not to solely concentrate on that, but rather on how I feel. I have to say I have felt happier this week, and have more energy.
As far as my other resolutions for this month go, I am still doing better than I usually am at this point. My eating habits have improved (although I am not counting calories tonight because it is Birthday Date Dinner night). I am sticking with my bedtime routine even though it has been a struggle some nights when all I want to do is fall into bed! Overall I am pretty proud of myself!

A picture says it all....

This morning I got to go sledding, I haven't done that in years. As I was uploading the pictures I saw one that my friend took of me sledding.
And it hit me...this picture summed up the kind of mom I want to be. The past couple of weeks I have had to be "nurse mom", and that is very exhausting, it has been followed by "cranky mom", "irritable mom" and "extremely tired and stressed out mom". I don't like being those moms.
But today after a rocky start to the morning I took time just to play, to be silly, to laugh and to scream as we went down the hill.
I realized I really need to do that more often. I need to not get so caught up in the things that "need to be done" that I forget to take the time to play and have fun.
This whole year is my journey to become happier with my life. This morning I found out that one of the things that makes me happy is just playing.
As moms we have to wear many different hats, but I need to remember to put on my silly hat more often.

Week One: Going to the Mattreses!

Well 2011 is a week old now. It has been an interesting week. My husband had minor surgery on Wednesday, my son had a croup attack on Friday and my daughter has been battling a cold. I had to attach this week by basically "going to the mattresses". I had to treat this week like a war, not knowing when I would need to fight.
Even with all the craziness going on I was able to make some positive changes in my physical health. I joined a "dump your plump" team, and having other women encouraging me to work out has been wonderful. I have pretty much kept to my diet, although I did use chocolate as one of my "weapons of combat" on Thursday, but even then didn't overindulge.
I have also been able to keep my before bedtime routine, and it really has helped me fall asleep easier...(now if I could just work on staying asleep, but that is really in my kids hands!)
Have I kept each resolution perfectly this week....no, but surprisingly I do not feel discouraged. This week threw alot of obstacles my way, along with alot of stress, but I feel like I have come out of it victorious! Tired....but victorious!

Trying To Keep It Together

The other morning I woke up determined to change my attitude. Over the past couple of weeks areas of my life that I need to change have been at the forefront of my mind. I tend to get this way near the end of the year as I start to focus on how I want the New Year to be.
One of the things I want to change is the way I deal with stress. I will admit I am a control freak. I have been called a "Monica", (yes that was a FRIENDS reference). I love my daily planner and a filled out calendar makes me happy. However, lately, my life hasn't fit neatly into a calendar. I tend to "spaz out" when things come at me from left field. I do what I need to do, but don't always have the best attitude, definitely not the gentle and quiet spirit that I truly long to be.
It has been a rough couple of weeks for us. Not only was the regular holiday stress upon us, but we have been taking turns getting sick. The day I woke up with my new resolve was the day that Reagan got sick.
Between a sick baby and a husband who was working nights,I started to feel completely overwhelmed, add to that lack of sleep and I was not at my best.
Now I would like to be able to share that I stopped there, took a deep breath, got my attitude together and became a Proverbs 31 woman. But I didn't.
Instead I have spent the last couple of days wallowing in self pity, not the best place to be. I talked myself into feeling unappreciated and alone.
So what could I have done differently? Well, to start with I tried to make the changes myself. Instead of turning to the One who has all the strength I decided that I could do it myself. The other thing is that I need to realize that I need to pray continually for contentment. I think alot of my stress comes from fighting against what is going on, wanting to control the people and activities that make up my life. I need to give up that control (you have no idea how hard it was to type that last sentence!)
I have to figure out how to give up this need of control in order to be truly happy. I don't know exactly how to do it yet, but let me do a little thinking and I will get back to you!