Monthly Goals - July 2011

Here we are in July.  Summer is in full swing.  Looks like it's going to be hot 4th of July weekend.  A new month means new goals.  Of course I'm still plugging along with my GAPS goals.  And adding things here and there.  In addition to my goals for this month I think sometime soon I'm going to do a mid-year update on my yearly goals.  I looked at them recently...and a lot has changed since then.  Not to mention I didn't really set any goals past May when I wrote them in January.  So it's time to update.  Hopefully in the next week.  This month looks like it's going to be pretty busy both at home and away from home.  Here's what's happening.

FOOD

1. Eat full GAPS-legal food.  I want to start including broth at most meals - which means I need to start making more broth!

2. Make bedtime snacks less sweet - more veggies, broth, etc.  I can eat non-sweet food all day.  But I struggle at bedtime.  I feel like I need something sweet at the end of the day (usually fresh or dried fruit).  I want to get out of that habit to continue healing fully.

3. Eat plenty of healthy fat daily (coconut oil, butter, lard, EVOO).

4. Avoid foods that I'm sensitive to or that Abram is sensitive to - coconut flour, ice cream, tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, gassy food - brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli.  Not sure yet about all dairy/yogurt/kefir, coconut oil and coconut milk.

5. Continue Sunday night fun/finger food night, and do breakfast one night a week.

6. Add kefir back into my diet regularly if I think it doesn't bother Abram.  Start slowly since I haven't been eating it much lately.

7. Fermented veggies - Continue eating sauerkraut regularly. Try fermenting other veggies.

8. Food preservation - summer produce is in full swing.  I'll do my best to keep up with food preservation.  Early summer is mostly fruit...which is easier to do thankfully.  Next week should be cherries.  Can't wait for blueberries!!

9. Eat in season - enjoy things fresh while we can (even if they show up on the menu almost every night of the week :P).  Let's see if I can be creative with some of our produce this month :)

HEALTH

1. Sleep - nap when possible (which sadly isn't often).
2 Adjust to baby/new routines - look for some routine, but also stay flexible with Abram.  Make his needs the focus.  Continue on demand feeding.
3. Exercise daily - whatever fits in my day.  Focus on leading an active life instead of just specific exercises.
4. Healthy lifestyle series - baby wearing, cloth diapering.
5. Psychologist appt. - my psychologist appt. last week was my last one for now.  My Dr. said come back in 6 months, 1 year, 3 years...whatever I think I need.  So now I need to keep myself on track and use the tools I've learned in the last 5 years.
6. Continue to push  myself out of my comfort zone/defeat OCD
7. Continue taking full dose of miralax.  This is kind of an odd goal.  But every now and then when I'm doing really well I get brave and start cutting back my miralax.  And after a couple days I feel it...like today :(  My tummy is in knots.  I hope it doesn't take too long to get back on track now.  I tried doing 1/2 - 3/4 dose the last few days instead of a full dose.  Not such a good idea.  As much as I hate that stuff I have to remind myself that I have to take it right now.  To keep making progress.  To continue to feel good enough to take care of my kids properly.  I'm hoping that when I do GAPS intro I can phase it out.  But for now I need to stick to it.

FAMILY/PERSONAL

1. Activities and Outings

a. MOPS playdates at various parks throughout the summer
b. Edward Jones Picnic - July 28
c. Whitecaps game w/ Justin's work - July 29
d. Anniversary - July 26 - no set plans for this yet
e. Baptism/party - July 17
f. Dentist - Rebecca's first check up! (I have one the same day) - July 11
g. Abram's 2 month check up - July 12
h. Bridal shower for my cousin's fiance - July 9
i. Grassfield's farm tour? - July 23
j. 4th of July - parade/fireworks
k. Summer Potentials - Michigan's Adventure (August and Labor Day), John Ball Zoo, local parks, library, family vacation (Double JJ, Wisconsin - August), Whitecaps game(s), Lake MI/beach, farm tour

2. Rebecca

 
a. Keep working on potty training. Hopefully at some point soon we can work on doing away with diapers while she sleeps. But no signs of that so far.  And lately she's been having quite a few accidents again.  Not sure if it's an attention thing or what.  So we need to focus on the basics for now and be laid back about it.
b. Keep working on letters, numbers, spelling/sounds, counting, math, writing, etc.
c. Adjustment to baby - this will get easier as Abram gets bigger/she can interact with him more/he is less needy.  Rebecca is doing better.  And she really loves her little brother.  But she's still making it known that she wants more attention :P
d. Make sure she gets plenty of attention/some one-on-one time/let her know how important/special she is.
e. Start a reward chart.  We've tried various things to get Rebecca to behave - time out, taking toys away, etc.  We're trying to work with her personality.  And I think she is very reward driven.  So instead of focusing on the negative behavior I want to focus on the positive.  See if she responds better to that.  I want to make some kind of daily chart where we can track the things she does well.  And then come up with some kind of reward at the end of the day based on how she does.  If she's working towards something all day I hope she's more likely to stay focused on doing good things, instead of being punished over and over for bad things.  I just need to come up with the chart/reward now.

3. Abram - a few goals with Abram...I got a jump start on some of them :P

a. Start cloth diapering - I actually started this a few days ago.  So far it's going really well.  I was very nervous about it, but it's not hard at all.  I still have to get things organized/set up better so that clean up is faster.  Justin brought the pack 'n' play down yesterday so that will really help.  We now have an actual changing area downstairs instead of having everything all over the floor.  I need to get into a rhythm with washing and stuffing diapers.  And I have a few unopened diapers that I want to get ready (now that we know we like them).  I also need to get stuff set up upstairs so we can use cloth diapers at night.  Abram has woken up with wet jammies the last 2 nights.  Disposables just don't cut it for him.  So we need to get him in cloth at night asap too.

b. Plan baptism/party - July 17 - this is mostly done.  Just need to figure out a few odds and ends.
c. Keep trying to figure out reflux/sleeping/eating issues.  Overall he's been doing pretty well lately.  But yesterday was another rough tummy day.  Then I have to analyze what I ate, etc.  It's a big guessing game.

d. Work on development/milestones
e. Baby wearing - wear Abram when we walk, go out, around the house, etc.  I'm finding that I'm getting a lot more use out of the Moby than I had expected.  Apparently Abram likes to nap on me :P  At least when he's in there I can still get stuff done.  Yesterday I did laundry, made a batch of strawberry jam and walked on the treadmill while he napped on me:)
f. Move him to the nursery.  We got a head start on this as well.  Abram has slept in his crib in the nursery the last 3 nights.  He's doing very well in there.  And it's much easier to change and feed him in the nursery...with an actual changing table and rocking chair.  He seems to be getting into a bit of pattern.  Most nights he wakes up twice to eat (once between 12 and 2, then again between 3 and 4).  Then he's ready to eat when I get up at 6.  I think all 3 of us are sleeping better now that he's in the nursery (especially Justin :P).  One of the best things about having him in the crib is that we can have him sleep in different positions (like on his side).  We had issues with Rebecca with a flat head in the beginning.  She was lying flat/with her head against something so often...all night, when playing, in the car seat/stroller, in the swing, etc.  I want to avoid that with Abram.  So I'm glad he's not in the same position in the bouncy seat (where he was sleeping in our room up until now) for so many hours now.  And he often naps strapped to me.  He's only ever in the car seat in the car (so not much at all).  And we try to do plenty of tummy time.  I try to limit his time with his head flat against something as much as possible.  Anyway, I guess that's kind of 2 goals in one - nursery and no flat head :P  I'm glad we made the switch and that he's doing well so far.  Hopefully it will continue.