1. Continue breastfeeding. 2. Go to the library.  3. Take Claire for walks at least once each week. 4. Log all food in MyFitnessPal. (This was helping tremendously, but I got sick of logging...and quickly gained weight.) 5. Make a weekly healthy meal plan for the whole family. (Every time we have overnight guests, our food routine is blown, and I have a really hard time getting back into it. But we're giving Baby Led Weaning another try, so planning healthy family meals is vital. If we eat crap, we can't share with Claire. Then she won't have anything to eat. So. Time to get this toget ..read more

May was tough. Claire had a rocky month- lots of difficulty falling asleep, night waking, extreme clinginess- which left Matt and I both ragged. I spent a lot of time on the road to my hometown, going to OBGYN appointments for some new pelvic issues. Matt had an accident on a ladder in our backyard. Our financial woes escalated. It just hasn't been great. That's my disclaimer. 1. Continue breastfeeding. ✓ We made it another month! 2. KonMari Claire's clothes and toys. MEH. I went through her clothes, shoes, and diapers, moving things she's outgrown to a pile...that is still sitting there ..read more

1. Continue breastfeeding. 2. KonMari Claire's clothes and toys.  (Yeah, she's only seven months old, but we already need to do this.) 3. Read to Claire daily. (I've gotten lazy with this. We only have so many books, and I'm already sick of the ones we have.) 4. Go to the library. (For both new options for Claire and me. I don't know why I never take advantage of this amazing free resource.) 5. Complete one 5K each week, in addition to a "power mile" each week.  (Power mile= run just one mile as fast as I can.) 6. Continue weekly yoga and strength-training routines. 7. Go outside d ..read more

1. Continue breastfeeding. ✓ Claire now has two teeth. Yeah. I've managed another month despite being bitten a couple of times a day. It's getting to be a real challenge again, a lot like the early days. 2. Baby-proof bedroom and finish baby-proofing kitchen (trash/recycling bins, stove and fridge locks). ✓ Claire is crawling now, and she picks up speed daily. We had to jump on this pretty early on in the month. The main solution: baby gates everywhere. 3. Plan one special playtime activity for Claire each week. ✓ This was...interesting. It probably deserves its own post, but I'll keep ..read more

Sustainable is stylish.  In some ways, this is great. People are more likely to be mindful of how their lifestyles affect the planet if doing so is seen as cool and trendy. But the idea that to create less waste, you have to go out and purchase more stuff to do it- albeit sustainable, organic, bamboo stuff- is a bit paradoxical.  Take these beautiful zero-waste kits for instance: Each one contains everything you need to have in your car to reduce waste on the go. These are all wonderful, high-quality products from reputable companies. But they're expensive (like $100+). And of course, every ..read more

1. Continue breastfeeding. 2. Baby-proof bedroom and finish baby-proofing kitchen (trash/recycling bins, stove and fridge locks). 3. Plan one special playtime activity for Claire each week. (Things like water play and other sensory activities that require a bit of planning and setup.) 4. Get below 200 pounds. (I'm close enough now for this to be a reasonable goal. It would require a lot more effort and work than I've been putting in, for sure, but I could do it!) 5. Complete my custom workout challenge. (Week One: Team Body Project's free one-week program; each subsequent week: 1-2 fre ..read more

1. Put Claire first. Focus on providing childcare, not "getting things done while I have a baby around." Be mindful and thankful for the ability to be with her daily. MEH. I think I've gotten better at this. I try to get as much as I can done in the mornings before she wakes up, so I can pay more attention to her during the day. As for the second part, I'm still really struggling to be grateful and present in the moment, because I spend so much time worrying/crying/anticipating having to go back to work and put her in daycare. Our unstable financial situation is a constant threat. I can sc ..read more