Happy new year!! It should not be surprising to any long time readers that as we enter the year of Gs one of the focuses of this blog will be GOALS (Because hasn’t it always been a focus anyway?) I’ve finished my Powersheets prep for 2020 and I’m ready to share my goals for the new year! This year’s powersheets prep was a bit different as we know there is such a big change so early in the year. I tried to think of what it was like to do this prep work just before my second child was born but I must have blacked out that period of time because I have no memory of it whatsoever!

After really giving myself a lot of time over several days to approach the prep work, I came up with my goals for this year. I know they will change as the year goes on because I specifically chose them based on adjusting to being a family of five and it’s impossible to TRULY predict how that will go. But I also chose them based on really big picture ideas and what is most important in the long run as well as in this particular season. So with that in mind, here are my Goals (all of them connect to my word of the year) I’ll be updating on tending list/monthly posts with the disclaimer that they are definitely subject to change as the year goes on:
1. Create Space for BABY and other GOOD things:
We have a pretty small house. It’s not some sort of extreme “tiny house” situation, but with soon to be five people we are definitely running out of space. And I was NOT interested in trying to move while pregnant and insanely sick, and I can’t imagine moving during those early postpartum days either so we are going to need to be extra intentional and creative to make our current space work for our family. This is going to include continuing to simplify and it is also going to require we set up some more solid routines and living spaces to be sure everything has a place and no space is wasted. This also includes keeping spaces open for other activities we value and opening up space in the garden by purging old things so new things can grow.

One of my favorite hashtag to sue with my kids is #pleasestaybestfriends and I pray that deeply, and that having a third sibling will just increase the love… my hope is that taking our time during this transition helps lay that foundation…

2. Focus on Family- These are the GOOD days:
This is a top goal because I know it is going to be so easy to let the newborn days slip away since I’ll have two older kids who need my attention. I want to be sure I’m slowing down, documenting memories, and giving myself time to just BE with each precious member of my family as we transition from four to five. And I don’t want to waste time feeling guilty on the things I have to say NO to to make that happen.

3. MEND- Return to GOOD HEALTH and recover physically and mentally from pregnancy and birth and don’t rush the postpartum time:
Very much linked to the previous goal, but this one is more focused on me. I have no interest in “bouncing back” or “losing the baby weight” as fast as possible, but I think it is deeply important that I be sure to let my body heal and encourage good health, especially since I’m hoping to have a long nursing journey again and will need my body to sustain my baby! I also do miss being able to do some things I could before I got pregnant and look forward to making running and yoga a part of my routines again once I get the OK from my doctor.

4. Make GOOD choices about my time- maintain margin:
As I was doing my prep work, something that came up over and over again was stress, feeling stretched, and wanting to have less frustration and yelling when it came to transitions with the kids… I KNOW that one of the best ways to do this is to build in margin to my schedule. The one time we HAVE to be out the door fast is the time one of the kids will need an extra ten minutes. it’s just the way the world seems to work. So I’m going to work hard the first part of the year to build in those extra ten minutes (or twenty or thirty) whenever possible. This also relates to community in general as I hate the feeling I get when I have to leave at an exact deadline and cut things off. This means I can’t let events or conversations naturally come to a close.

A throwback picture… because I super miss coffee but it still makes me sick right now…

5. “Taste the GOOD Word of God”:
With getting pregnant I missed out on a lot of scripture time because I lost out on my morning time and the “coffee and Jesus” routine I had became “morning sickness and sadness” time instead. I’m looking forward to taking that time back in a variety of ways- definitely getting back to some Write the Word journals but also some daily readings/Bible studies and maybe even Bible journaling later in the year.

6. Be GOOD stewards of our resources/finances:
Needless to say, going through healthcare costs of being pregnant again and dealing with a ton of morning sickness and then needing to get a car that would accommodate 3 carseats/a growing family made our finances take a hit. And the hits will keep coming the beginning of this year! (One of many huge bummers about the way healthcare is set up here is that if you have a winter baby you hit or almost hit your deductible one year and then you hit or almost hit it all over again in the new year after it re-sets with labor and delivery costs. It cost WAY less to have our summer baby when almost all costs were on a single deductible year!) But we want to work on coming back from that and rebuilding savings while continuing to do what we can with what we have through values based budgeting.

7. “Now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be GOOD”:
The wording of this goal comes from one of my mothering mantras- a phrase from Steinbeck’s East of Eden that has been a key phrase in my battle against perfectionism. It is impossible to be a perfect mother (or a perfect person in general) but there are truly so many ways to be a good one. So this goal is about continuing to fight that perfectionist instinct. It is also a reminder that I must not neglect self care and personal growth in a crazy quest of trying to have this family of five thing down right away…

So that’s the overview of goals for now! I won’t lie… I might just throw them all out and rewrite them as one goal for these first few months- SURVIVE… but hopefully I can take little steps for now and bigger ones in the months to come.