It’s a milestone. Kind of a big one, although I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because 30 seems so…adult. So…old? Nah. I don’t feel old. I mean, I’ve been living like a grandma for years, but I feel great.

Nevertheless, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on this birthday. Kind of evaluating my life, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it is fantastic. I’m healthy. I’m married to a man with a heart of gold who loves me like I never dreamed I would be loved. We have an adorable, healthy baby who gives us endless joy. We have amazing families who are our best friends. I have a steady job that is challenging and fulfilling. These and many, many other blessings.

My life isn’t perfect. I wish we were out of debt and had money to travel and save for retirement and Meredith’s future. I wish I didn’t have to work so much and that my job wasn’t so far away. I wish I had more time for hobbies. I wish I could figure out how to cook on a regular basis. Like anyone, my relationships have their struggles. But all of these things are trivial compared to the good in my life.

I wish I was at a point where I could make some concrete goals for the next year, or even month – but I’m trying to be true to myself and right now I know that would just stress me out. I’m happy with the way things are going, though. I’m doing really well documenting life lately – I’ve started Project Life, am taking lots of photos, capture at least one good thing a day as well as writing down what happened that day. I’ve lost over half of the weight I gained while pregnant and am back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I find time to read. I soak up my time with David and Meredith. We are looking hard for a new church.

I’m just really, really happy to be alive. And I think thirty is going to be the best year yet.

It’s a milestone. Kind of a big one, although I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because 30 seems so…adult. So…old? Nah. I don’t feel old. I mean, I’ve been living like a grandma for years, but I feel great.

Nevertheless, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on this birthday. Kind of evaluating my life, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it is fantastic. I’m healthy. I’m married to a man with a heart of gold who loves me like I never dreamed I would be loved. We have an adorable, healthy baby who gives us endless joy. We have amazing families who are our best friends. I have a steady job that is challenging and fulfilling. These and many, many other blessings.

My life isn’t perfect. I wish we were out of debt and had money to travel and save for retirement and Meredith’s future. I wish I didn’t have to work so much and that my job wasn’t so far away. I wish I had more time for hobbies. I wish I could figure out how to cook on a regular basis. Like anyone, my relationships have their struggles. But all of these things are trivial compared to the good in my life.

I wish I was at a point where I could make some concrete goals for the next year, or even month – but I’m trying to be true to myself and right now I know that would just stress me out. I’m happy with the way things are going, though. I’m doing really well documenting life lately – I’ve started Project Life, am taking lots of photos, capture at least one good thing a day as well as writing down what happened that day. I’ve lost over half of the weight I gained while pregnant and am back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I find time to read. I soak up my time with David and Meredith. We are looking hard for a new church.

I’m just really, really happy to be alive. And I think thirty is going to be the best year yet.

>Ergo baby carrier (mine is in sienna sunset.) - I’ve tried a few slings and wraps and such, but this is my carrier of choice. We couldn’t use it until Meredith could hold her head up well, but there is an infant insert if you want to use it earlier. Anyway, I love that it goes over both shoulders and has tons of lower back support, I love that all you do is clip her in, I love all the pockets, I just love it. I find it very easy to put on and much faster than the stroller for quick errands. Meredith is happy in it, too.

>iHome. Our nightly routine that usually works is that we bathe and change Meredith, then around 7:30 I sit down with her in the rocker, dim the lights, and nurse her. Hopefully she falls asleep and I place her in the crib, and I go about my business. We use this iHome to play this album of lullabies for her. It changes colors (although we don’t use that feature much, it’s still neat), is small and cute, and has good sound. We actually used the seahorse for awhile, which worked great too, but sometimes I need more than 5 minutes of music, and with this I can just leave it on repeat. We do take the seahorse with us if we’re traveling though!

>Video monitor. We have this really nice one thanks to some generous church ladies, and it’s been great. We use it after we put Meredith down for the night. We set the big screen next to our living room TV, and thanks to the open layout of our house we can see it from the kitchen and laundry room. I take the handheld set with me into the craft room if I’m going to spend some time in there. Anyway, we need the video because with the music playing in the room the sound monitor is all thrown off. And our house is big enough that I might not hear her if I’m not close by.

>Jumperoo. We are borrowing this from a friend, and I am so grateful for it. Meredith loves it to pieces and it’s extremely adorable to watch her bounce up and down and play with the toys. We use it almost every evening while we do chores to get ready for the next day.

>Teethers. She doesn’t have any teeth yet, but she certainly loves to chew and drool. We use these things constantly, along with bibs. (But we haven’t gotten into any serious teething yet, so no recommendations there!)

She:

>Weighs 18 pounds even and is 26.5 inches long, which is 75th percentile for both. She wears all 6-12 month clothes now. Nice and chubby!

>Is so grabby and purposeful with her movements now! She can pick things up, pull things toward her, and manipulate them in her hands much better. I especially love when she’s nursing, her free hand reaches up and plays with my hair, twirling it, caressing it, and eventually yanking it. However, she has also tumped an entire glass of water over at restaurants twice now. I am learning my lesson!

>Can basically sit up on her own now, although we still have to watch her because she’ll get distracted and topple.

>Makes all kinds of new sounds, and enjoys being extremely vocal when she wakes up in the morning.

>Sometimes starts crying around certain people, like David’s father and grandfather. I don’t know why she’s scared of them! But she warms up to them again very soon so it’s not too bad. It’s also unbearably cute to see her lower lip jut out when she’s afraid.

>Enjoys playing with toys (especially her new Jumparoo) and throwing them down on the ground too. She cracks up when we play Patty Cake!

>No longer sucks her two fingers. I can’t believe that phase was so short; it was the cutest thing and I miss it.

>Sits in the high chair for meals with us sometimes. We’ve tried giving her some food, and once she swallowed a bit of banana, but she’s mostly uninterested.

>Has a new baby cousin as of January 18 named Lily! I’m so excited that they’re going to grow up together and I hope they become good friends. Lily is tiny and perfect, and I absolutely cannot believe that Meredith was ever that small, and so recently.

I:

>Am dreading the start of solid foods. I keep postponing it. I want to do Babyled weaning, but even that low-stress approach is overwhelming to me. Breastfeeding (even with pumping at work!) has just been so easy for us, and even though I plan to continue for a good while I’d rather not have another thing to think about.

>Made up a little game where I say, “All aboard the Mermaid Express!” then I bounce her up and down on my knee making train sounds. She smiles every single time we start to say all aboard! She also for some reason really loves it when David sings “Mama said knock you out” by LL Cool J.

>Still love cloth diapers. We use mostly Fuzzibunz but I was surprised at how much I love the Flip system and want to get more of them.

>Have gotten serious about losing all the weight I gained, mostly because I want to fit in my old clothes again. I started counting calories a couple weeks ago using My Fitness Pal, and it’s definitely working. The first few days were SO hard, but my body has already adjusted a lot. I feel much better, am less bloated, and no longer need as much food to feel full. So far I haven’t noticed a change in my milk supply, either.

>Exercised for the first time since before I was pregnant (shameful) over the weekend by doing the 30-day Shred. I nearly passed out and am soooo sore now.

>Am still looking for a new church. We’ve tried out two different places fairly thoroughly, and neither feels quite right to us, although they both have great things about them. It’s hard because I’m ready to settle into a new place and get connected, but I want it to be right.

>Haven’t been as emotional or anxious this month as last. I think a lot of it is because I’m learning how to take care of myself better now; how to avoid my triggers and how to train my thoughts.

>Am planning on starting Project Life on my next birthday in two weeks. I’ve become kind of obsessed with it. I wish I had known about it before the new year, but I’m not going to stress. I’m just excited to get into a nontraditional, consistent way of scrapbooking that won’t take TOO much effort. The Smash Book is fun to carry around and collect scraps, and I’ll still use that for random things, but Project Life will be more of a reflection of the day to day.

>Can’t get enough of holding Meredith. Even if I just put her down for a minute, I’m always so excited to pick her back up again.

>Want to have more babies, but I kind of wish I could just have Meredith all over again.

For reference:

No months
One month
Two months
Three months
Four months
Five months

She:

>Weighs 18 pounds even and is 26.5 inches long, which is 75th percentile for both. She wears all 6-12 month clothes now. Nice and chubby!

>Is so grabby and purposeful with her movements now! She can pick things up, pull things toward her, and manipulate them in her hands much better. I especially love when she’s nursing, her free hand reaches up and plays with my hair, twirling it, caressing it, and eventually yanking it. However, she has also tumped an entire glass of water over at restaurants twice now. I am learning my lesson!

>Can basically sit up on her own now, although we still have to watch her because she’ll get distracted and topple.

>Makes all kinds of new sounds, and enjoys being extremely vocal when she wakes up in the morning.

>Sometimes starts crying around certain people, like David’s father and grandfather. I don’t know why she’s scared of them! But she warms up to them again very soon so it’s not too bad. It’s also unbearably cute to see her lower lip jut out when she’s afraid.

>Enjoys playing with toys (especially her new Jumparoo) and throwing them down on the ground too. She cracks up when we play Patty Cake!

>No longer sucks her two fingers. I can’t believe that phase was so short; it was the cutest thing and I miss it.

>Sits in the high chair for meals with us sometimes. We’ve tried giving her some food, and once she swallowed a bit of banana, but she’s mostly uninterested.

>Has a new baby cousin as of January 18 named Lily! I’m so excited that they’re going to grow up together and I hope they become good friends. Lily is tiny and perfect, and I absolutely cannot believe that Meredith was ever that small, and so recently.

I:

>Am dreading the start of solid foods. I keep postponing it. I want to do Babyled weaning, but even that low-stress approach is overwhelming to me. Breastfeeding (even with pumping at work!) has just been so easy for us, and even though I plan to continue for a good while I’d rather not have another thing to think about.

>Made up a little game where I say, “All aboard the Mermaid Express!” then I bounce her up and down on my knee making train sounds. She smiles every single time we start to say all aboard! She also for some reason really loves it when David sings “Mama said knock you out” by LL Cool J.

>Still love cloth diapers. We use mostly Fuzzibunz but I was surprised at how much I love the Flip system and want to get more of them.

>Have gotten serious about losing all the weight I gained, mostly because I want to fit in my old clothes again. I started counting calories a couple weeks ago using My Fitness Pal, and it’s definitely working. The first few days were SO hard, but my body has already adjusted a lot. I feel much better, am less bloated, and no longer need as much food to feel full. So far I haven’t noticed a change in my milk supply, either.

>Exercised for the first time since before I was pregnant (shameful) over the weekend by doing the 30-day Shred. I nearly passed out and am soooo sore now.

>Am still looking for a new church. We’ve tried out two different places fairly thoroughly, and neither feels quite right to us, although they both have great things about them. It’s hard because I’m ready to settle into a new place and get connected, but I want it to be right.

>Haven’t been as emotional or anxious this month as last. I think a lot of it is because I’m learning how to take care of myself better now; how to avoid my triggers and how to train my thoughts.

>Am planning on starting Project Life on my next birthday in two weeks. I’ve become kind of obsessed with it. I wish I had known about it before the new year, but I’m not going to stress. I’m just excited to get into a nontraditional, consistent way of scrapbooking that won’t take TOO much effort. The Smash Book is fun to carry around and collect scraps, and I’ll still use that for random things, but Project Life will be more of a reflection of the day to day.

>Can’t get enough of holding Meredith. Even if I just put her down for a minute, I’m always so excited to pick her back up again.

>Want to have more babies, but I kind of wish I could just have Meredith all over again.

For reference:

No months
One month
Two months
Three months
Four months
Five months

Tumblr

I created a site dedicated only to Meredith, and for now it is password-protected because it makes us a little bit nervous to have her out there like that. I try to update it every day with a picture or at least a sentence or two. I think it’s a good place for my family to keep up with her, and it’ll be fun to look back on later, too.

Journaling

I got the Mom’s One Line A Day 5-year journal for Christmas, and since the first of January I’ve been diligently writing a tiny bit about each day before I go to bed. I love this; it’s so easy, barely takes any time at all, and encompasses almost everything we do.

Smash Book

My mom bought me this little scrapbook which I already love. The pages are pretty and it comes with a pen/glue stick combo and the idea is to just smash everything in, no stress, do it as you go. I’m not positive how I’m going to use this yet, but I’m thinking of making one for every few months and using it for our life as a family as a whole. So far I just put in a little memento from the wedding we went to over the weekend, but I have lots of ideas. If I like how it’s turning out, I’ll share my progress with you.

Instagram

I’ve also been neglecting Instagram, but I plan to start using it a lot more and printing the pictures with something like Printsagram to add to the Smash book.

Book blogging

Reading has always been a huge part of my life, and it’s still my primary hobby. I’m working on reviving my book blog, and one of the rules I’ve imposed on myself is that I can’t start a new book until I’ve written up the last one. I’m getting better at taking notes while I read, which helps, and I have other ideas for the blog too.

Please tell – how do you document your life?

Tumblr

I created a site dedicated only to Meredith, and for now it is password-protected because it makes us a little bit nervous to have her out there like that. I try to update it every day with a picture or at least a sentence or two. I think it’s a good place for my family to keep up with her, and it’ll be fun to look back on later, too.

Journaling

I got the Mom’s One Line A Day 5-year journal for Christmas, and since the first of January I’ve been diligently writing a tiny bit about each day before I go to bed. I love this; it’s so easy, barely takes any time at all, and encompasses almost everything we do.

Smash Book

My mom bought me this little scrapbook which I already love. The pages are pretty and it comes with a pen/glue stick combo and the idea is to just smash everything in, no stress, do it as you go. I’m not positive how I’m going to use this yet, but I’m thinking of making one for every few months and using it for our life as a family as a whole. So far I just put in a little memento from the wedding we went to over the weekend, but I have lots of ideas. If I like how it’s turning out, I’ll share my progress with you.

Instagram

I’ve also been neglecting Instagram, but I plan to start using it a lot more and printing the pictures with something like Printsagram to add to the Smash book.

Book blogging

Reading has always been a huge part of my life, and it’s still my primary hobby. I’m working on reviving my book blog, and one of the rules I’ve imposed on myself is that I can’t start a new book until I’ve written up the last one. I’m getting better at taking notes while I read, which helps, and I have other ideas for the blog too.

Please tell – how do you document your life?

First family picture (she's so small!)

There’s nothing else that stands out like that, and the rest of the year is kind of a blur, but going back over my archives I was reminded of some other things that happened this year:

>I started a book blog, which I have sorely neglected, but I’m glad I have it and I plan to revive it in the coming year.

>My best friend Becca, her husband Micah, and their children came to visit.

>We took a trip to South Carolina to visit my aunt & uncle.

>Our dog Oliver went to live with  my parents and our dog Eddie dealt with some severe anxiety issues.

>The church that  I have attended since high school and that David grew up in closed down due to some really sad circumstances, and we are still dealing with the after effects.

>My brother David got married to Maggie (yay!)

>David’s grandparents moved to town from Pennsylvania.

>A lovely Christmas happened:

Before Christmas Eve service with Gigi

With Aunt Maggie on Christmas morning

Christmas nap with Uncle Barry

Christmas dress

Santa baby (Christmas evening)

It was a good year.

***

I usually love the start of a new year. I always make resolutions because that kind of thing works for me. This year I’m not doing that, only because I’m still so far behind and exhausted from life in general that I’m not prepared. There are some things mulling around in my head that I want to do (revive the book blog, mini scrapbook each season, blog makeover, overhaul our budget, more time with David, cook several times a week, exercise, etc.) but I need to step back and get some perspective first.

My 101 goals in 1001 days is also coming to a close this month, and there are some items that I could complete without too much effort beforehand, but I don’t think I will. I just need to rest right now and get my bearings. Sometimes it’s so nice just to cut yourself a break.

More soon, I hope!

First family picture (she's so small!)

There’s nothing else that stands out like that, and the rest of the year is kind of a blur, but going back over my archives I was reminded of some other things that happened this year:

>I started a book blog, which I have sorely neglected, but I’m glad I have it and I plan to revive it in the coming year.

>My best friend Becca, her husband Micah, and their children came to visit.

>We took a trip to South Carolina to visit my aunt & uncle.

>Our dog Oliver went to live with  my parents and our dog Eddie dealt with some severe anxiety issues.

>The church that  I have attended since high school and that David grew up in closed down due to some really sad circumstances, and we are still dealing with the after effects.

>My brother David got married to Maggie (yay!)

>David’s grandparents moved to town from Pennsylvania.

>A lovely Christmas happened:

Before Christmas Eve service with Gigi

With Aunt Maggie on Christmas morning

Christmas nap with Uncle Barry

Christmas dress

Santa baby (Christmas evening)

It was a good year.

***

I usually love the start of a new year. I always make resolutions because that kind of thing works for me. This year I’m not doing that, only because I’m still so far behind and exhausted from life in general that I’m not prepared. There are some things mulling around in my head that I want to do (revive the book blog, mini scrapbook each season, blog makeover, overhaul our budget, more time with David, cook several times a week, exercise, etc.) but I need to step back and get some perspective first.

My 101 goals in 1001 days is also coming to a close this month, and there are some items that I could complete without too much effort beforehand, but I don’t think I will. I just need to rest right now and get my bearings. Sometimes it’s so nice just to cut yourself a break.

More soon, I hope!

First family picture (she's so small!)

There’s nothing else that stands out like that, and the rest of the year is kind of a blur, but going back over my archives I was reminded of some other things that happened this year:

>I started a book blog, which I have sorely neglected, but I’m glad I have it and I plan to revive it in the coming year.

>My best friend Becca, her husband Micah, and their children came to visit.

>We took a trip to South Carolina to visit my aunt & uncle.

>Our dog Oliver went to live with  my parents and our dog Eddie dealt with some severe anxiety issues.

>The church that  I have attended since high school and that David grew up in closed down due to some really sad circumstances, and we are still dealing with the after effects.

>My brother David got married to Maggie (yay!)

>David’s grandparents moved to town from Pennsylvania.

>A lovely Christmas happened:

Before Christmas Eve service with Gigi

With Aunt Maggie on Christmas morning

Christmas nap with Uncle Barry

Christmas dress

Santa baby (Christmas evening)

It was a good year.

***

I usually love the start of a new year. I always make resolutions because that kind of thing works for me. This year I’m not doing that, only because I’m still so far behind and exhausted from life in general that I’m not prepared. There are some things mulling around in my head that I want to do (revive the book blog, mini scrapbook each season, blog makeover, overhaul our budget, more time with David, cook several times a week, exercise, etc.) but I need to step back and get some perspective first.

My 101 goals in 1001 days is also coming to a close this month, and there are some items that I could complete without too much effort beforehand, but I don’t think I will. I just need to rest right now and get my bearings. Sometimes it’s so nice just to cut yourself a break.

More soon, I hope!