Well, Just like that, even with the extra day this year, February just flew by! Probably because it was such an eventful month over here… so today I’m recapping my February tending list and providing an overview of what I’m focusing on in my Powersheets this March!
February Monthly Goals:
*HAVE A BABY!!!: YES YES YES! I am so thankful to have my baby here in her own time- right on her due date! (Even though I thought for sure she’d be early like her siblings…) and everything feels different and impossibly changing each day and like it was always supposed to be this way all at once
*Final Baby Prep: As mentioned above, we got about a week extra to prepare for our newest little one, and aside from some ridiculous organizing/cleaning goals that never really should have been on our prep list, we got everything done!
*Establish Nursing Routine: This is still in process, but made a really good start in spite of having to battle a stomach virus that attacked our whole family less than a week after arriving home from the hospital! Still, I am guarding my recovery time carefully to be sure I am hydrating, spending lots of time with this new little love, and keeping my nursing areas big kid toy free!
*Final 2019 Scrapbook pages ordered/plan for 2020 scrapbook: Not ordered, but uploaded to where I will order them in the next month or so and I have kept up on our 2020 scrapbook so far and keeping a look out for which physical products we’ll use since Becky Higgins discontinued so much of their product line.
*SLOW DOWN and REST: This was one of the hardest tending list items from last month. The last thing I wanted to do the end of my pregnancy was to slow down- I was living on so much anxiety and just wanted to be DONE, if anything I wanted time to SPEED UP! I have so many thoughts on that I might have to make it a whole other post… but post partum I would be really bad at this too if it weren’t for my sweet husband reminding me over and over that he gets more time at home than he ever did and that we don’t have to do anything right away. He’s trying to put the breaks on my compulsion to be productive and it is so wonderful to just stop and stare for an hour at both the miraculous new person in our family as well as our other kids and each other and just cherish this time as our family grows. It isn’t a splashy accomplishment, but it does feel deeply right.
*Plan and possibly plant spring garden: Some of this happened- we have all the garden beds prepped and parts of them planted, but it is much less planned than any garden in the past, with my hubby and the kids kind of taking over and letting their imaginations run wild and you know what? WHY NOT?! If we have one hodge podge season with stuff growing too close together or not quite planted in season that is OK!
February Weekly Goals:
*Legacy Journals: I was doing great on this until the baby came and hoping to pick up the habit soon!
*Baby Book/Family Scrapbook work: The baby book once again totally fell by the wayside. Probably best to wait until I get some brain clarity back anyway!
*1 on 1 time with each family member: YES! my favorite of my weekly goals and so worth setting aside that time.
February Daily Goals:
*Hydrate: Didn’t do a great job the end of my pregnancy, but have made it a top priority since then and done a great job of following through.
*Time Outside: YES! The sunshine really is such a game changer and the weather here is so perfect that even a little time outside is helpful until I’m feeling well enough for some longer family walks (again, trying to focus on not jumping the gun and overdoing it this time around! I know the time will come when I can be more active…I just hope the weather is still this beautiful then!)
*Coffee & Jesus: Still trying to find a new time that will work for this since nursing sessions are all over the place and I’m still a bit in zombie mode, but the return of coffee has been SO WONDERFUL.
*Gratitude/Attitude check: Aside from the last few days before labor, I did a pretty great job with this!
And now March- the focus this month is finishing out my post partum time- which lasts pretty much all month (and still technically lasts after this as I’m a big believer in accepting the need for recovery all of “fourth trimester” not just six weeks… but I know this is the biggest chunk of physical recovery needed and I’m looking forward to the paternity leave my husband gets to help us through this transition!
March Monthly Goals:
*Discuss/Plan Family Values and Routines: As we adjust to our “new normal” as a family of five, we want the kids to be invested in the new routines we need to keep the house running and to share with us WHY we want to make sure certain things happen- so we want to have discussions that revisit values we should all be familiar with as well as adding responsibilities and adjusting to new expectations.
*Cherish Paternity Leave and Family Time!: I’m already feeling the pressure to get “back to business as usual” and go to all the things/feeling guilty for how much I’m staying home… but I’m intentionally not giving into that and focusing on nursing, creating family bonds, and looking forward to the time my husband gets at home to bond with the kids as well. Family time this month will also include planning for Spring Break for the older kids and what kind of simple but sweet memories we want to make with them during that week off of school.
*Post Partum/Baby doctor appointments: I forgot how many of these there are in the early days! And I’m grateful I don’t have to drag the older kids with me for most of them.
My nursing station- Pump, lots of drinks, things that make me smile… all within reach of my little glider we got when I was pregnant with my second baby
*Build Pumped Milk Stash: Now that little one is on the right track for her growth, I can start pumping for when we need to leave her with someone else (like a few special date nights we have coming up!) and I want to prioritize this because I already pump to supplement her feedings, I really hate pumping, and it is so easy to put off an extra session.
*TBD- I may add more monthly goals depending on how the first part of the month goes- I’m leaving space for flexibility which is something I love about how the Powersheets are designed!
March Weekly Goals:
*Family Meeting/Budget Check In: It is so easy to go over budget in these tired early days. Hoping that the work we did to prepare will help us stay focused so we can finish paying off medical bills for this birth earlier than the last one!
*Photo Back Up/ Photo pages and projects: I have taken probably thousands of pictures in the weeks since our new baby came and I want to be vigilant about backing them up because I can’t imagine many things more upsetting than losing those early baby pictures!
*Self Care Time out: It is so easy to forget myself in all the focus on the new baby and I want to be sure I’m taking more time out than just escaping for a shower or to eat a meal. This can be as simple as a walk around the block alone or a cup of tea and a few favorite songs etc.
*Social Media Free Day: I’m trying hard this time around not to do too much multi tasking like I did with my other kids… to just tune out all the other noise and stare at this beautiful new person, at the way the siblings interact, at the sweet moments of stillness that go away so SO fast.
*Blog to process post partum: Aside from this goals post… I anticipate most of the posts this month to be baby/pregnancy related in some way, so apologies if that isn’t your thing and feel free to check back in next month! I have found a lot of friends in this same life phase at the moment and that sometimes sharing what I’ve gone through is really helpful for them, and I also KNOW it will be really helpful for me to help process what is almost a year of my life that is drastically impacted by pre and post-natal hormones!
March Daily Goals:
*Hydrate/Prioritize Sleep: They are such simple things but oh so important. I’m not anticipating getting a ton of sleep, but I do anticipate intentionally sleeping whenever I can and creating the best sleep environment possible. The hydration is just so essential for breastfeeding that it is a non-negotiable this month and will hopefully set up good habits as we get toward the hotter months here in Phoenix.
*Record Step Count: Again, giving myself plenty of time to heal, but want to get an idea of my base step count while focusing so much on nursing so that I can set future goals realistically and in a steady manner instead of trying to go 0 to 60.
*Document this time, but also daily delete: We aren’t sure, but this could very well be our last newborn so I am giving myself permission to take all the thousands of pictures I want, but I also know that I will feel totally stressed by that number later if I don’t do a daily evening delete of what I’ve taken to get rid of the blurry/duplicates/etc. so that it is easier to go through later to organize and select photos for this kid’s baby book!
*1 on 1 time (x3): The goal is 10-15 minutes of quality, non-multitasking, uninterrupted time each day with both my older kids as well as my husband. Time to talk or read or play a game or have a dance party- time away from the baby, away from my phone, away from to-do lists or homework or bedtime routines. This might be the most important thing on my tending list this month… OK, maybe tied with hydrate…
*Coffee & Jesus: I’m so happy to have coffee back in my life. Lent started the end of February and while nursing moms are not called on to fast, I do want to make sure I’m taking this liturgical season to prepare and reflect so I want to take a little time each morning for writing the word or praying a novena or reading a devotional. I’m fine with it being something a little different each day depending on just how sleepless the night before was…
And now that I look at it all together… that’s kind of a lot! Going to try and go easy on myself for whatever does or does not get “accomplished” this month and remember that this time is important and will go oh so fast. (I know, I know, I sound like a broken record saying that… but it is true and I just feel it so much more acutely the third time around…)
Anyone else have goals or focuses they are really excited about as we head out of winter and into spring?! I’d love to hear about them.
Alphabet Resolutions 
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