Day 1: Accountability

I have, with Matt's help, created a pretty intensive spreadsheet of the things I would like to be doing with my time and energy. I don't expect to do any of them perfectly and that isn't my goal, but I would like to have them regularly on my mind and make an effort. So, my goal for the month of July:

Perfect accountability.

Every evening I will go through my spreadsheet and mark off what I did. To be clear, my goal is NOT to do each thing every day, but to pay attention to what I'm doing, give myself credit for what I'm already doing and stretch myself to do a little more.

	7/1/2014
Cam's Perfect Month	Tuesday
Wake up at 7:00
15 minute clean
Prepare for the next day
Take Iron
Give Tina her vitamin D	X
At least some outside Time	1.5hrs
At least some play with Lilly time	X
Be on time	X
Cross at least one thing off to-do list	X
Write in journal
Laundry (on laundry day)	X
Exercise
Visiting Teaching
Something for my SS class	X
General Conference Talk
Date Night
Scripture Study
Bed by 11:00
Call a Family Member	Tina, Mom
Play with Tina	X
Not go to McDonalds

I will work on finding a better way to display my spreadsheet in future posts, but I needed to get this done for tonight so I can go to bed. Zzzzz.....

Day 2: Sleep

I confess I went to bed at 11:01 or possibly even 11:02 last night. That's how seriously I'm taking this. It won't happen again. I'm learning that an important part of my get-ready-for-bed routine is getting Christina ready for bed. Turns out she likes to eat before going down for a nice all-night sleep. (Yes, she does sleep ALL night. We're talking from 11-7:30. I know I am so spoiled).

Two nights ago, I was proudly swaddling my full-tummied baby at 10:55pm and was about to set her down in her crib when...you guessed it...SPIT UP!!! And not a little. She needed a full outfit and blanket change. I enlisted Matt's help to get Tina to bed so that I could rush to brush my teeth, change and say my prayers and still hop into bed w/ lights out before 11:01. Matt is awesome. Of course, right after he got her changed and re-swaddled, she decided it was time for a diaper change, too.

Last night I was one or two minutes late because we started "Chuck" a little too late. (My new favorite Neflix addiction). Humor+Action+Plot+Romance+More Humor=Blissfully happy Cam

So I'm learning already. The things that are making it difficult to make it to bed before 11:00 are also the things that were surprising me (every night) and causing me to go to bed at 12:30 or 1:00 instead of a reasonable 12:00 like I'd planned.

Lessons so far:
Feed baby at least 30 minutes before I want to go to bed
Allow myself 10 minutes to brush teeth, get changed, say prayers, etc.
If we're going to watch a show, watch it early in the evening
Basically start getting ready 45 minutes before target bed time. Oh boy.

She looks so innocent

Side note: Lilly has been giving herself a new name every few days. It's always a name from/based off of a book or movie that she likes. She refuses to respond to Lilly (I don't think she's responded to Lilly for about a week now) and instead informs us that her name is _____ not Lilly. I figure, for fun, I'll document her names on this blog.

These are not Lilly and Christina

 
Past names
-Big Wish Bear
-Mike
-Jake
-Little baby Lorax

She is currently: Tender Heart.

Matt, Christina and I have also been receiving new names every few days.

Matt:
Grumpy Bear
Fix It Bear
Onceler
Sully
Cubby
Jason

He's currently "Nicholas."

Me:
Sunshine Heart Bear
Izzy
Sully

I'm currently "Kim."

And finally, Christina:
Sleepy Bear
Baby Boo
Baby Captain Hook (my personal fave)
Scully


Please comment on the blog (especially if you've been working on early to bed and early to rise!) I'd love to hear from you. It helps my morale and motivates me to do this 100%

Day 1: Sleep

Before I typed a word of this entry, Matt and I had a quick discussion.

Me: Okay, here it goes: Day 1. Wait. Is today day one or was yesterday day one? I went to bed at 11:00 last night, but that was just a half-day.

Matt: I guess that is a standard that you get to set.

Me: You're right. A half day doesn't count. Today has to be day one.

Matt: (Laughs)

Me: (Confused about why he's laughing and almost assuming it's whatever he's reading/doing on his phone). Why'd you laugh?

Matt: I said that you could choose whether it's day one and you said, "you're right. It has to be day one." That's not at all what I said.

Me: Hmm. But I said "you're right." That's nice, isn't it?


aaaand impromptu woman-made border--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm happy to report that I made it to bed by 11:00. I'm a little less happy to report that minutes after I went to bed, Matt came in with Christina (my baby, not my sister...that would be REALLY weird) and she cried for milk. So, I didn't have time to fall asleep before I got back up, but what can you do when you're a mommy? Tonight I'll try to make sure Tina's fed before I go to bed.

After taking care of Tina, I went to bed with excited dreams of working out, reading my scriptures, and cleaning the house, all before anyone else woke up.

When my alarm went off at 6:30 I didn't want to work out. Imagine that. So I took a nice warm shower/bath and started the day in a less-jarring way. (Baby steps). Once I warmed up to the idea of morning, I called our friendly neighborhood job center to clear up a problem with our application for child care tuition assistance (Lilly's was set to end 6 months earlier than it should). Turns out without the county's help, I lose money by working. Thank you, government. I will pay you back when I'm rich.

That was a mini-tangent.

Also, LOOK! I magically know how to do a french braid now that I'm a mom! Cool. :)

If you are trying to do this Perfect Month along with me, comment and stay accountable. I'd love to hear how it's going for you!

Announcing a new Perfect Month

I'm back! And I'm announcing a new Perfect Month, starting tonight. (In 17 minutes, actually). Now, I know what you're thinking, but I REALLY REALLY AM gonna do it this time. This month has been in the beta testing phase for two weeks already so it's all set and ready to go live.

With that, I need to get going because my new Perfect Month is:

Early to bed and early to rise!!! (I tried this one before, didn't I? I think I posted my favorite Youtube video on the topic and got a complaint from my good pal Jeni. True? Dig through the archives).

Babies have already done this to me, so no problem.

The rules? In bed, prayers said, lights off by 11pm. Out of bed at 6:30am. It's that simple. I need to seriously hurry now, if I don't want to blow it on day one.

Peace!

Day 1: Relationship Building

Whoa! I blasted you with a kissing photo on day one! Booyah!!!

This is on the ski-lift at the MN state fair from last month. We thought we'd get an early start on our perfect month of relationship building by displaying our affection publicly, then taking a selfie so that we could display it even MORE publicly all over again. This is the start of some major relationship growth. I can feel it. (In fact, where is that hottie? I want to kiss him more). Just kidding. Just trying to weed out those who are too weak to read this month.

Tonight was a nice start to a perfect month. We did this sit-outside-after-Lilly's-asleep thing once last month and decided that it was really nice. I was amazed at that time, and again, tonight at how much Matt has to say! For whatever reason, when I ask him about his day at dinner, he gives me the 30 second version, but when we're sitting out under the stars, I hear about his excitement, fears, anxiety, hopes...it's really fun.

Tonight he started things off by asking about how I'm feeling about next week. I described to him a few things that will make it an exciting week for me (Monday Matt stays home since it's Labor day, Tuesday I watch three two year olds, Wednesday is work, Thursday is our 20 week ultrasound, etc) and then I asked him about his coming week. He went on to tell me all about his current project with his research group and how things are progressing, his final class that starts on Wednesday, his thoughts about his research and progress in his PhD in general, etc. It was really nice and I realized that I need to make more of an effort to listen and understand what is going on in Matt's work-life. When we were first married, I could explain his research about as well as he could. I've lagged a bit on giving it the attention necessary for me to grasp it. It is really fun to hear him talk about what he's learning, though, and I do feel closer to him when I know he can talk to me about it and I will understand what he's saying.

Announcing: September's Perfect Month!!!

Welcome September! This is the first September in a LONG Time that I haven't been in school. And as much as I love school, it does feel kind of awesome to not be gearing up for another semester.

Sometimes it's hard for me to think of a topic that I care about enough to commit myself to a perfect month, but this month's goal is one that I have been thinking about for a long time and I feel extremely committed to and excited about.

I think cutting my hulu/netflix viewing down prepped me for this month by helping me realize how much time I have in a day and how I can better use it. This month, I've decided to spend time every day working on my relationship with Matt.

Here're the specifics:

• We will spend time daily talking, just the two of us, after Lilly goes to bed. If the weather's nice, we'll grab our camping chairs and sit outside. (We'll open Lilly's bedroom window, lock the apartment, and sit outside within earshot of her window in case she needs us). If the weather's not so great, we'll do this in the living room on the couch.
•  We will have a date every single week. A specific, planned, intentional date.
• At least two of the 4 dates will be sans Lilly with a babysitter watching her 

 

Basically, we want to be these guys.

We had three awesome road trips last month and I'm happy to report that Lillian is now a pro. Matt and I had such a fun time talking with each other, I thought 'why can't we do this all the time?' Minus the 600 mile drive, of course.

Also, Matt and I hang out basically every moment that we're not working and often end up doing impromptu "dates" rather than really setting a specific time aside for US. I suspect that having a night that is officially a "date" rather than a "let's get dinner out tonight because I don't feel like cooking" will feel different. Like the good old days when I would dress up cute and wear body spray and all that adorable date-prep stuff. (Though I doubt that prep experience will be the same without 110-ers).

The last item is a bit radical. We probably average a date without Lilly every 4 months, if that. I'm kinda pumped about that particular part of this goal.

Alright, I'll keep you posted. Feel free to ask awkwardly personal relationship questions because I'm about to be a LOVE GURU.

Days 22-31: Extra Time

I'm baaa-aaaaack! And I didn't fail! Woooohooo! Despite epic failure to blog this month, after today I will have completed my perfect month of extra time. And honestly, I have gotten SO MUCH DONE!

Lilly has a dentist appointment, I have a dermatology appointment (when I finally set it up I found out the referral was expired--my doctor referred me there a few days more than a year ago....oh boy...). Basically, to spare you from a list of things I've done, I'll just tell you there are a lot of things like that that I've been putting off for a YEAR and are now officially crossed off my to-do list.

I have something way more exciting to blog about, anyway!

Last weekend, Matt, Lilly, and I (and baby-in-my-tummy) went on a roadtrip to St. Paul for one of my best friends' wedding! It was a blast and I have pictures to prove it!

We left Friday morning at about 5:30am, sleepy Lilly in tow. We fully expected her to sleep for at least a few hours, but.... NOPE. We fully expected her to cry and squawk and plead to get out of her carseat but....also NOPE. She quietly cuddled with her blankie the entire 4 hour drive to the hotel where Em had her breakfast. It was amazing! Matt and I felt like we were newlyweds again, talking and enjoying each others' company the whole way there! And I remembered...I love road trips! (Under the right circumstances, of course).

We got a little turned around in St. Paul and wound up about 20 minutes late for the breakfast, by the time we'd changed into our formals. Also, we realized we forgot to bring ANY shoes for Lilly and we'd forgotten to grab her dress from the car. So poor Lilly looked like a dirty little rag-a-muffin with messy hair and the white, stained t-shirt she was sleeping in. That did not keep Dave from being a complete lifesaver and holding her for us while we ate. Lilly LOVES him. The two bonded and played while we hung out with Emily and Jeremy, Deb, and the rest of the table.

The food was delicious and the hotel where the breakfast was held was breathtaking. Emily and Jeremy seemed so happy and it was fun to see them together.

After the breakfast, we headed over to the temple, but on the way swung by K-Mart to buy Lilly some shoes. She was so excited about her "Pwetty new white shoes!"

The temple sealing was beautiful and, yes, I cried. It felt to me like the sealer's words to Emily and Jeremy before the sealing were so specifically what the Lord wanted them to hear on this important day. Lilly got to hang out in the waiting room with Emily's sisters and cousins. (So sweet of them to watch her for us!)

Here's Lilly playing her favorite game of the day:

 And here are Em and Jeremy exiting the temple right after getting married! So cute. I love Emily's "now what?" comment.

Here is a Here are some pictures from after the wedding:

During the reception I decided to be the videographer, which left Matt taking care of Lilly all by himself (bless him!). They quickly found themselves at the playground across the street from the church. :)

Here, Lilly made her appearance at the reception and quickly found her favorite person there: Emily's dad, Dave. :) 

And her second favorite person, "Pwetty bwide Emiwy in hew pwetty white dwess!"

The three amigas reunited! We are ALL off the market now. Sorry, boys. It was also fun to see many other old friends who I haven't seen in a long time. Unfortunately, I was so busy with the video cam that I didn't get many pictures.

Now, in order to maintain some pretense about this post having anything to do with my goal, I'd better update: Friday night, IN THE HOTEL, with the BIG FLAT SCREEN HD TV, we watched one and only one tv show. Wooo hhoooo! I'm amazing. And Lilly was SO exhausted after her non-stop-from-5:30am-on-day, that she fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel from the reception, stayed asleep when we plucked her out of her carseat, and didn't wake up until 8:00am the next morning. :)

Speaking of the next morning, we had a great time with my brother, Mark. He joined us for a morning swim in the hotel pool (which was sooo warm and comfy), then we spent the day at the Mall of America and the evening at his apartment where he made us a DELICIOUS homemade pizza.

Here we are at the MOA. Lilly was ecstatic to see a life-size (bigger than life size in her case) robot wandering the halls. She has been very into robots lately and even has her own costume, which I believe has already been featured on this blog.

We decided to splurge and check out the Aquarium while we were there, too. It was a blast! Unfortunately you can't see much of the fish in this picture, but it sure is a cute bro/sis pic!

Here we are at Mark and Len's place. We told them pretty last-minute that we'd be in town, and she had plans already, so we didn't get to see much of her, but Lilly loved every  minute that she was home. :)

And there she is bonding with her uncle, Mark, or as she called him: "Muncle."

Alright, I hope you'll all excuse my travelog, but I figured at least Emily and Mark would enjoy it. I'll do another post to wrap up what I learned from this perfect month, since it is officially complete!