New Year's Resolutions (Of a Sort)

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

I've been debating whether or not to do New Year's Resolutions.

I love the thought of having fresh goals in mind to work towards. 

But also, there is SO MUCH happening for us in 2013.

And with big change comes excitement, but also some fear, which I'm trying to squash as much as possible. 

So, instead of resolutions per se, I thought it would be good for me to imagine my life the way I WANT it to turn out this year.

Everything--every single thing--could go very, very right, you know.

So here's what things look like (when everything does go perfectly right):

1. We move to a great new city (so excited to be in a city again!), and find and move into our dream home:

2. Our first FET is a big fat success, and towards the end of the year we welcome a new baby (if the first FET doesn't work, we're going to try one more):

3. I cut down my work hours, so I'm truly working part time (right now I'm working a little more than I'd like, but that will change once my husband starts his new job). And, I'll be working from a new office--fun! I'm SO ready for some sort of refresh to my work space:

4. I make lots of new friends. Local friends who I can see in person:

5. I finish my San Francisco book. (Wednesday nights are going to be for me to write):

6. I make holidays etc. really special for my family. (My husband thinks I'm ridiculous, but I'm already planning the twins' first birthday party, which will happen in March):

7. Everything works out great with my mother-in-law coming to live with us and help with the kids--she's happy, we're happy. (And I'm so excited about the fact that she likes to garden...I wish I liked to garden, but really, I don't. But I do love being surrounded by the RESULTS of gardening):

8. We see my parents and my brother and his family lots and lots and lots (we're not sure where we're moving yet, but the choices are both just one state away. They'll visit, we'll visit...it'll be good):

9. Everyone is happy and healthy. (I've been having a LOT of anxiety about people I love dying lately. A LOT. And everybody's fine, so it's not at all rational. I need to figure out a way to get a handle on it):

10. I learn how to properly use my camera (SO ready to go from point-and-shoot to manual, and have my pictures better reflect what I see in my head):

11. Buck Up, Buttercup comes closer to the vision I have for it:

12. I spend some time with my best friend...miss her so much!

I'm feeling excited now, not scared. :)

2013 is going to be amazing, amazing, amazing...

XOXO

Image Credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12.

And also, thanks to Elizabeth over at E Tells Tales for the idea of having photos be part of this list. :)

Oh, and BTW I made a little Pintrest Board of all this...fun to see it all together...

The Third Trimester: Two Pieces of Advice I Needed to Hear

Hi Everyone!

So this has been kind of a tumultuous week as far as being pregnant. Nothing bad's happened, I just feel like I'm moving into a different phase, maybe it's all in my head as this week is the official start of the third trimester, or maybe there's more of a physical basis for it, I don't know. But I've been VERY tired and feeling like it's harder to move around and definitely harder to get anything done, from sleeping to errands to exercise to work...I feel in some ways like I'm hitting a wall. And I talked about this earlier in the week, how I want to make the most of these last weeks of my pregnancy--meaning, I don't know, enjoy it, keep things as safe and healthy for the babies as possible, etc.--but I'm not really sure how to do it.

Two things in the past 24 hours have helped:

1. I read this post from the lovely blog Dear Baby last night, and have been thinking a lot about it. Specifically, how the author talks about being in the moment and appreciating it, even if it's hard (eg, for her, her infant son screaming all hours of the night).

I've been thinking about how at night, unable to sleep, I sometimes get so frustrated with how incredibly uncomfortable this pregnancy has been. But last night I tried thinking, "My babies need to be inside my body right now, this is the best place for them, and yeah, I sure don't feel that great physically because of it but this is how things are today, this is what they need now and I'm so grateful to be able to provide this for them." It feels good to be thinking that. I know it's kind of Pollyana-ish and whatever, but it beats being stressed out over something (insomia and the fact it's pretty much impossible to get comfortable at this point) I have no control over.

2. I talked with a woman I know casually through work today...she has 8-year-old twins and her advice to me for the third trimester of my pregnancy was to slow down, spend more time in bed, quit trying to exercise, get rid of my TO DO list to as much of an extent as possible. She said she had gestational diabetes too and found that it was an extra drain. (I've just been acting like it's no big deal, like it's not affecting me at all...of course I have made no allowances for the fact that it might be maiking things harder.)

And I'm sure this hasn't been everyone's experience, but she was saying that the last couple months of being pregnant were harder for her than after the babies were born. I've been assuming the exact opposite, that I need to get everything done NOW, because after the babies are born life will be so much harder.

Even before talking with this woman, I've been thinking a lot about needing to rest more. My Type A personality has been fighting it (besides the fact I already feel like I'm taking it pretty easy), but maybe it's time to take a step back and really, really acknowldege the fact that I'm pregnant and I can't do everything, I need to rest, I need to stop having 30 things I'm trying to get done every single day, I need to ask my husband to help more (and he totally will, I've just been trying to do more than my fair share knowing the day is coming when he's going to have to do more than his).

So:

Being really present, even though it's hard.

Resting more and accomplishing less.

These are my strategies for third trimester.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Thanks for spending some time here this week.

XOXO

The Little Things...They Add Up

Happy Monday, Everyone!

I've been thinking a lot about the things I can do to get as healthy and happy and ready for what I hope will be our next (and finally, finally successful) pregnancy this summer. Something I read over the weekend in a book called {The Fertile Female} has really stayed with me. It's this: 

A snowflake weighs next to nothing. But if too much snow accumulates on a tree branch, the branch will break. In other words, all the little things I can do in and of themselves may not do much, but it is the cumulative effect of everything that will (hopefully) bring me the desired outcome.

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

XO

Image Credit: {lucysnowephotography} via Etsy.