Week 45 of Healthier Living in 2015

11/25/2015
For Week of: 11/18 - 11/25/2015
Weigh in Weight: 162.8 lbs
Previous Weigh in Weight: 162.6 lbs gain of 2 oz.

Week 45 was a good week.  I accomplished all of my goals I set for myself amongst the chaos of preparing for our youngest son to be born on Monday, November 30th.

I think my favorite goal was completely some more handmade crocheted scarves, taking the photos of them and advertising them on my Facebook page and Pinterest.  I've caught the small hobby business bug.  I think I'm going to save up some money and open an Etsy shop and see if I can get more sales that way.  I currently have one order for three scarves.  Two in my favorite gray yarn and one in a fun multicolored white yarn.  I'll post a photo of it on this blog when I am finished.

I also did some more advertising for my book and might possibly make my goal of selling 7 books this month.  So far, I have sold two from my own stash and at least one more on Amazon.  Hopefully I will be able to sell 4 more tomorrow at church and then I will make my goal.

I continue to struggle getting our 3 year old son to do his speech therapy exercises some days and with my energy level in the toilet, preschool activities have gone by the way side for now.  We did stick to story time though and then I'd let him watch a movie or TV shows for a bit for his quiet time so I could take a nap. 

It was a chaotic but good week.  For week 46, my goal is to be patient with our guests, my in-laws and to finish getting ready for baby boy to arrive Monday, November 30th.  And since my post for week 45 is halfway through week 46, I can say we are as prepared as we are going to be.

I go into the hospital Monday morning and have to be there before 8 am.  I hope the weather doesn't suck and the roads are decent.  As for goals for week 46, patience, recovery, joy, love, express when I am feeling stressed and need help, and love on both my sons as much as humanly possible. 

I am currently watching my oldest sleep as I type this.  The second to last night I get to do this with it just being the three of us.  It is such a blessing, these small, quiet moments.

I might not post again until we get home from the hospital with baby boy, so until next time, Keep on keeping on!!!

Goals for Week 46: 11/25 - 12/2/2015
1) Patience
2) Recovery and relaxing as much as possible
3) Snuggle and love up on my two sons as much as possible
4) Be joyful and spend quality time with my husband as we are awaiting my release from the hospital

Week 44 of Healthier Living in 2015

11/18/2015
For the week of: 11/11 - 11/18/2015
Weigh in Weight: 162.6 lbs
Previous Weigh in Weight: 162.2 lbs gain of 4 oz

Week 44 was a good week for working on and completing my goals I set for the week.  It was an emotional week.  My moods were up and down.  Dang pregnancy hormones.

But despite that, I made time to read everyday, I wrote several times during the week.  I completed one crocheted scarf and one crocheted decorative belt.  Both I am going to take photos of an post on my hobby Facebook page and Pinterest.

I didn't get as much exercise as I wanted to, but I did get some form of daily activity in each day.  As far as speech therapy and preschool activities with my son, it was a challenge to get him to do it and I didn't have the energy to argue with him about it.  I will continue to work on doing more fun activities with him and find some that he can get into and have more fun with.

This is going to be a short post this week.  My energy level is not what it was and I don't have much to add at this time.

Since I am a week and a half from my c-section with my second son, week 45 is going to be all about getting as much rest as possible while being in charge of taking care of our oldest son.  Until next time, Keep on keeping on!

Goals for Week 45:
1) Get as much sleep each night as I can while dealing with insomnia
2) Do some form of physical activity each day
3) Work on book selling strategy and hobby business strategy for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday
4) Take quality photos of items for sale and post them on my Hobby Business Facebook page and on Pinterest

Blessing in the Midst of Transition

Very soon, in fact, two weeks to be exact, we will be welcoming our youngest son to the outside world and our family.  In the midst of this upcoming transition in our lives, our oldest son has been displaying some strange behavior due to anxiety about his whole world changing.

But even though it has been challenging lately with keeping up with our 3 year olds ever changing moods, it has been a blessed time too.  I am enjoying the little moments with him, snuggling watching a movie, his daily bedtime ritual complete with story time and more snuggling. 

We lucked out with our oldest.  For the time being, he is still a big snuggled, hugger and overall compassionate, caring kiddo.  Of course he can turn into a bear at a moments notice, but it helps to remember the snuggly times in the midst of the chaos.

The transition of going from three to four is going to be challenging and exciting for all of us.  It will be hard and a blessing for each of us in different ways.  And once our youngest is a little older, we'll all really get to have some fun, especially our oldest son, because he will be able to teach his brother so many things, both good and bad. ;)

Transition always has its scary moments and blessings.  It is focusing on the blessings in the midst of transition that make transition easier for all involved.  Thanks be to God for all the blessings he has given our family and continues to pour out upon us daily.

Week 43 of Healthier Living in 2015

11/11/2015
For Week of: 11/4 - 11/11/2015
Weigh in Weight: 162.2 lbs
Previous Weigh in Weight: 160.6 lbs gain of 1.6 lbs

Goals for Week 43:
1) Sell 1-3 of my books for the week, continue to build $1000 emergency fund through various avenues
2) Read book and magazines for 30 minutes to 1 hour each day
3) Spend less time on facebook and pinterest
4) Finish Samantha's baby blanket and start crocheting more scarves to sell online, etc...
5) Write for 15 -20 minutes at least 3 days a week
6) Do more fun preschool activities with my son as well as speech therapy homework

I completed and worked on 4 out of my 6 goals for week 43.  I am changing things up a bit for week 44 because I need a change of pace for the next couple of weeks until baby boy is born on November 30th unless he comes earlier.

I have to make an adjustment to my completed goals for the week of Oct. 28 - Nov. 4.  I got confirmation that the lady at the local coffee shop would carry two of my books to sell but wasn't paid for the books until week 43, Nov. 4 - Nov. 11.  Therefore, I was able to sell 2 of my books during week 43 and accomplish my goal of selling 1-3 books for the week.

As for the $1000 emergency fund, I have decided to put it on hold for a little bit, unless I end up getting some money from my publishing company, sell more books I have on stock or sell a decent number of scarves and baby blankets.  The money I've saved up so far is going to go towards paying off some of the credit card debt I accrued for marketing costs to publish my book.  So I will have a lot of work to do to rebuild the emergency fund but for now, the money needs to go elsewhere and pay off debt.

Each day I made time to read for at least 30 minutes and I made time to write 15-20 minutes 3 days out of the week.  I was able to finish our great niece's baby blanket and will be starting to make more scarves to sell online and maybe even at the local holiday walk in town.

I failed at my goal to spend less time on facebook and pinterest.  I spent too much time on both over the last week, mostly when my son was having quiet time or wanting to have alone time.  I need limit my time of both facebook and pinterest to 30 minutes a day and not allowing myself to be on either at least one day a week.

Doing preschool and speech therapy activities didn't happen as much as I would have liked with my son.  My energy levels and his energy levels were pretty lacking during week 43.  I am going to make more of an effort to do more crafts and fun activities with my son, instead of allowing him to watch tv shows and movies for quiet time in the afternoon.  He and I both need to get back into the routine of story time, fun activities and quiet time with minimal tv in the afternoons.  He seemed to be much happier and more confident when we were doing those kinds of things together.  I'm hoping that I have the energy to get back into it the next couple of weeks because my son deserves it and I love the bonding time with him.

Speaking of lacking energy, it has taken me almost an hour to finish this blog post because I keep zoning in and out.  I better get my act together so I have enough energy for the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening to take care of and interact with my son.

For my goals for week 44 of my healthier living journey, I am going to focus on the different aspects of my health; intellectual, mental, emotional and physical.  I'm sure there are others but these are the ones that help me get through the day and be an overall healthier person, wife and mom.  Until next week, Keep on keeping on!

Goals for week 44: 11/11 - 11/18/2015
1) Read 30 + minutes a day (intellectual, mental, emotional)
2) Write 15 -20 minutes most days of the week (intellectual, emotional, mental)
3) Do preschool crafts and speech therapy exercises with my son (bonding time, emotional, mental)
4) Be creative about getting daily exercise (physical, mental, emotional)
5) Crochet/make scarves to sell online and other venues...and take good professional looking photos of them to post (emotional, intellectual, mental)

Week 42 of Healthier Living in 2015

11/4/2015
For week of: 10/28 - 11/4/2015
Weigh in Weight: 160.6 lbs
Previous Weigh in Weight: 161.8 lbs lose of 1 lb, 2 oz.

Goals for Week 42:
1) Sell 1-3 books and continue building up $1000+ emergency fund
2) Do fun preschool activities and work on speech therapy homework with my 3 year old son
3) 15 to 20 minutes of writing 3 days this week
4) Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night


It was another mixed week for me this past week.  It was very emotional and at times I felt like I was going crazy.  At other times it was peaceful and everything seemed to be right with the world.  Many discussions were had that moved things forward in a positive direction for certain things and other things took a step backwards.

My 3 year old son has been very unwilling to do certain things that I know he can do on his own the last few days, which is very frustrating.  He knows how to get himself dressed for the most part, but in the last few days it is like he has forgotten or is just too lazy.  He won't listen to simple directions and purposefully dumps snacks on the floor.  He wants attention but he is trying to get it in a negative way and see how far he can push before he gets into trouble.  I know it is a phase and my husband and I are dealing with it in an appropriate manner, but I hope it ends soon.  It's really starting to piss me off.  He is also getting very anxious about his little brother arriving at the end of the month.  He knows something is going on that will change a lot of things around here and he isn't the best at dealing with change.  Frankly, neither am I, so I can empathize with him a great deal right now.  I just wish he would knock it off with the attitude.

As for the goals I set for myself for week 42, that too was a bit of a mixed bag.  Since my son was being defiant most of this last week, doing fun preschool activities and working on his speech therapy homework went well some days and were a total bust other days.  I think he'll get back into doing his speech therapy exercises once he starts doing them again with his teacher.  Lately she has been doing some testing with him to see how extensive of services he'll need as they continue to work together.  So he's really gotten out of the groove.  At the same time, his verbal confidence is growing leaps and bounds which is so wonderful to witness and be a part of.

I completely failed in my goal to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night.  I was far too anxious about what was going on with our son as well as things being continuously put off by my husband because he wouldn't set aside the time to finish it.  After several break downs and discussions, he has finally finished and we can finally move onto the next step.  It doesn't help that I caught a cold and for a night or two was so uncomfortable that I didn't get much sleep.  And this whole being pregnant thing is such a drag.  I can't get comfortable and baby boy likes to get his dance groove on from 2-3 or so in the morning.  Not only am I excited to finally meet this kid, but I'm excited to get my body back too.  November 30th can't come soon enough at this point.

Okay, the two goals I did do and complete for week 42 were to sell 1-3 books this week and continue to build our $1000+ emergency fund and to write 15 to 20 minutes 3 days this week.  I ended up selling by consignment 2 books to one of the local coffee shops in our town.  She still has to pay me, but I'm counting it because she said yes.  I'll be dropping them off today and getting paid for them.  I plan to talk to the owner of the local clothes consignment store as well to see if she would be willing to carry a few copies of my book in her store.  I also have to check back with the drug store to see if they sold the last copy they had and if they would like to try and sell more.  So overall, slight improvement on the book selling front.  I would like to try and get a table during our local Winter Walk this year, but I think it will be too soon after baby born is born for me to participate.  Bummer too because I'd not only be able to display my book but also try and sell some of my scarves that I am in the process of making to sell for some extra holiday income this year.

My 15 to 20 minutes of writing 3 days this past week went well.  One of my pieces was the blog post last week for my healthier living journey and for the two other writing exercises, I wrote in my journal.  I want to start working on some more creative writing like short stories or outline novel ideas.  But mostly, I want to start working on researching and outlining my next big nonfiction project that I am pretty excited about.  I'll have to stick to the outline for now because I don't have access to the resources I need at this time to do any decent research.  Hopefully that will happen within the next year. :)

For week 43, I have pretty much the same goals as week 42 with a little added on.  At this point, the more goal oriented I am the less time I have to think about or be anxious about baby boy's arrival.  Again, I can't wait to meet him and not be pregnant anymore, but it is still an anxious time for me, for all of us.  Hopefully this week, with a good attitude adjustment on my part will be less of a mixed bag and more of a peaceful week.  Until next time, Keep on keeping on!

Goals for Week 43: 11/4 - 11/11/2015
1) Sell 1-3 books this week, continue to build $1000+ emergency fund through various avenues
2) Finish our great niece Samantha's baby blanket and start crocheting more scarves to eventually sell through my new facebook page and at various holiday shows
3) Spend less time online on my phone, especially pinterest and facebook
4) Read the book for book club and my Time magazines for 30 minutes to 1 hour each day
5) Write for 15 to 20 minutes 3 days this week
6) Attempt to do more fun preschool activities and work on speech therapy exercises with my son.  But if he refuses, don't pick a fight about it with him.