Middle of the Week Randoms & Goals

•  My life has been extremely chaotic for the past year and a half
• I hope 2015 will be my year to catch up and get it together...or at least improve.
• Brielle is still up many times a night.
• Nathanael has also been getting up in the night lately
• The last time I slept for 4 hours in a row was 10 months ago...and only once or twice. 
• All I want for Christmas, my birthday, anniversary, holiday....etc. is sleep. Uninterrupted 5 or 6 hours of sleep. This is my dream. I hope dreams really do come true. I'm dog-tired.

Meals for this week include tacos, bbq chicken salad, and Moroccan chicken lentil soup. I need to get back to real-deal menu planning. Most nights are throw-it-together nights. Lots of pancakes. Lots of tacos. Lots of simple meatless pasta dishes. That's okay for now but not forever.

I have several goals for 2015. Some of these include...

Wean Brielle....get this kid sleeping through the night! (within a month)

Potty train Nathanael completely (he is partly trained)....get this kid sleeping through the night! (within 6 weeks)

Lose 25 pounds (by summer)

Get back in shape and exercising again

Take better care of myself in every way...get back to feeling "me" again.

Catch up on pictures

Catch up on baby books

Purge and organize every nook and cranny of this house. Minimalism people, minimalism!

Start piano lesson planning (So I have a solid plan in place for September). This is with the goal of teaching Elianna lessons and also teaching myself how to be a piano teacher...Something I'm considering dabbling in, but I need a plan! 

Get a solid routine in place for the kids & home schooling

Have Elianna reading well by summer

Get a chore system in place for the kids

Consider finding a way to make a little extra income (maybe a part time or casual job, maybe babysitting/child care, blogging for income, piano lessons...these are a few of my ideas)

First priority...no surprise here...sleep! This will likely go hand in hand with weaning Brielle. This process is beginning today and will hopefully be completed by her 1st birthday. 

The likelihood of getting all this accomplished is slim....but I'm hopeful once I get sleeping better and start exercising, my productivity and energy during the day will sky-rocket.

When Life Is Loud - Family Update

Wow, this blog has been quiet lately! I suppose that is because real life has been rather loud. We have a lot going on these days, and it has been a very busy season of life for us. Here`s just a short update on our life. (More for my memory`s sake than yours!)

Elianna  - LOVES to draw pictures and tell stories to go along with her pictures. Her pictures are just the best and really crack me up. She definitely seems like an artistic, imaginative, free-spirited type of kid. She loves animals. She is very social and outgoing...definitely NOT shy. Her favourite subject right now is math. She is also starting to enjoy reading a bit more, so reading lessons are also a fun time for her rather than a chore. I have been quite laid back about the reading and not pushing her too much, which I think has been a good idea. My goal is to finish our phonics book this year (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons). I have about a third or so left of the book to go through. Some weeks we do a few lessons, some weeks we skip a lesson. I`ve been pretty unorganized this year, which I hope to change soon. Still, she is learning all the basic Kindergarten-type stuff she needs to learn. She recently learned how to write her first and last name with proper upper-case and lower-case letters. She has workbooks for printing that we are also going through, and she has really improved her printing lately.

Nathanael - He is almost 3 and is quite the character. He loves to build things with blocks...especially towers. He is a bit of a goof-ball and a jokester. He wants rice crispies for breakfast every single day. He can eat 3-4 pieces of pizza already! His age brings its own set of challenges... One of his favourite things to do is play in the bathtub. He loves to surprise me. For example, he will build a tower or draw a picture and then come find me with a twinkle in his eyes...close your eyes, Mom. Close your eyes. SURPRISE! It`s super cute. We are still working on potty training him...oy.

Brielle - Still doesn`t sleep at night. Started taking her first steps at 9 months old. She is walking like a champ at 10 and a half months old and prefers to walk instead of crawl now. She can even stand up on her own from the middle of a room and start walking without any help. Earliest walker....worst sleeper. Favourite word these days is Mum. Trying to get her into her high chair or car seat is like wrestling a wet fish. Her stubbornness and get-er-done attitude is interesting and a bit frightening. Loves to drink out of a straw. Eating mostly table food these days. Favourite baby food is peaches. Loves to clap and play peek-a-boo.

We have struggled with a lot of illness this year. Colds, flus, and stomach bugs have seemed to plague our family ever since I gave birth to Brielle. We were sick over Christmas and then sick again 2 weeks later with a stomach bug. We were also sick with a stomach bug the week after Thanksgiving. (No, it`s not food poisoning! Haha). Now, my kids just got over some other sort of flu that included sore throats and a fever for Brielle. All this sickness has been frustrating, but we try to count our blessings that it is not worse.

It has been a hard year for many people in our circle of friends, church, and family who have gone through tremendous hardships this year. Accidents, loss of infants, heartbreaking diagnoses, tough decisions. It has been a really difficult year for many people we know. It has also been a difficult year for us in many ways. Being an adult changes your perspective, for sure. You realize how much difficulty and heartache there is in life. All this just makes me long even more for my heavenly home and reminds me to try to live my life for the Lord while still here. This is the theme of my life and blog....homemaking pilgrim. Pilgrim...one who journeys in a foreign land. This world is feeling more foreign all the time. We just can`t get too comfortable here. Life can`t be taken for granted. Make each day count for the Lord. This world is not our forever home.

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim though this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand;