2015!
photo by Darby Simon
Happy 2015!
2014 was an epic, awesome year for our family: Dashiell turned one and started talking and walking, Erica and I launched a podcast and consistently published an episode every other week for the entire year (we're super proud of ourselves!), Chris got tenure, we found out we would be having another baby, I changed jobs at work, we minimized a lot of our stuff and even sold a car, we paid off my student loans and finally: we met Cedric! What a year!
I'm starting 2015 with a sleeping newborn in my lap and on maternity leave from work. It's my favorite start to a new year so far.
I'm feeling pulled in different directions for my goals this year. On the one hand my biggest priorities are caring for a newborn, which requires significant time and energy, while also being mama to a busy, growing toddler and finding our rhythm as a family of four, especially after Chris and I are both back to work this spring. All of that is enough to fill a whole year and I want to fully immerse myself in this year when Cedric will need me the most and achieve so many significant firsts. So my first goal/intention for the year is:
+ Be present & patient. I want to savor this year with my boys. They'll never be this little or change this much in one year again. I want to savor the fun of having a silly toddler who is quickly becoming a little boy. Cedric is just a month old right now and by the end of the year he'll have learned to laugh and babble, to roll over and to sit, to eat solid food and maybe to walk. I want to savor all the firsts. I want to make more memories than capture photos on my phone. I want to practice saying "no" when it translates to protecting unscheduled time with my family. And when situations are frustrating and feel hard - like going back to work and managing a needy infant and also a needy toddler - I want to be fully present so that I can draw on my patience and remember that a trying hour/day/week does not detract from the overall awesomeness of our life.
At the same time that I know I shouldn't expect much beyond being a mama this year, I'm feeling so energized and excited to get back to many of the things I had to put on hold as my pregnancy progressed. I know it will take time to get back to these things and to feel a wholesome balance in my life again but I hope to make progress. That balance took about a year to emerge after Dashiell was born. My hope is that by the end of 2015 my life will include, or be starting to include, the following on a regular basis:
+ Exercising / two or three times per week. I'm excited to try Orange Theory once I'm able to exercise again and I hope to get back to running and ideally would love to even mix in some yoga.
+ Blogging / weekly, hopefully two new posts per week. And of course Erica and I will be keeping up on The Girl Next Door Podcast so definitely hang out with us there!
+ Cooking for fun, such as trying out new recipes or hosting a dinner / a few times a month.
+ Completing house or craft projects / a few per year-ish.
I'm certainly a creature of habit and routine and so the prospect of finding our new "normal" is pretty exciting as mundane as that sounds. So here's to routine and normal as a family of four in 2015!
Happy new year, friends!