Peace + Courage + Gratitude

Peace.

Courage.

Gratitude.

These are my words for 2016.

Let me break it down. Peace - to find the calm within myself. To slow down. To take time to do the things that I enjoy, that fill me up, that refuel me. Courage - to parent. Consistently. Including discipline. To find the balance of being the "bad cop" and the "good cop". Gratitude - to remember that I have so many blessings in my life. To take the time the reflect and thank God and the people around more often. Everyday.

Slowing Down for Reflection

151 blog posts. Last published post was February 11, 2014. Obviously quite a bit has happened since I've last updated this little blog world... but I won't bother playing catch up. 

I'm here to try writing as therapy. Positive therapy. Not "my life is in the shitter" therapy. In fact, I'm so grateful and surprised by my family's little life every day. This "therapy" I'm about to embark on is to help me slow down a bit, reflect, and remember to be present. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I'm rather enjoying this phase of life! More than I thought. But I also feel like I'm crashing through it all, at a breakneck speed. I want to take the time to soak it up. Each night. Just a few minutes to be thankful, acknowledge the highs and the lows, and be ready to do better tomorrow. As I tell my trainees - I want to be proactive, not reactive! I don't want life to happen to me... I want to make life happen. 

Wine. My personal writing assistant.

I know this all sounds philosophical and "nice," but I'm asking you to hold me accountable. I'm not sure what I will write about, or if it will even be worth reading. But my goal is to post at least once a week in September and October, and twice a week in November and December. Maybe more. 

Why haven't I been writing? Time and perfectionism. Social media is a part of my job and I have a pretty good feeling about why certain sites, blogs, insta accounts, etc. do better than others... the content, yes... but the photos! The tutorials! The perfectly coordinated layouts, fonts, colors! I just couldn't compete. And that's where I drew the line. I quit. I'd start a post, start editing photos, then realized I had to take more photos, then never came back to finish and publish. I don't want to spend hours pouring over my blog. Instead, I am committing to one hour a week. Whether that's 15 minutes a night or all crammed into one afternoon during nap time. I'm scheduling it in my planner. My old-school, paper & pen, solid, thick, lovely planner. And... maybe the shared family Google calendar as well ;)

My personalized Erin Condren planner.

Looks like my time is up for tonight. Thanks for tuning in! More to come soon... 

Cheesin' with Cheez-its

I've been living for the weekends lately. Each week seems to be flying by, but during the weekends, I try to slow things down and soak it up a little. I'm going to be sappy for a moment...

Tony and I are so lucky and blessed by these two munchkins. Everyday is a new adventure through their eyes. Some nights I get frustrated and I have a short temper. I'm not perfect, and it's really hard sometimes to remember that they are only this little for a short time. These photos were all taken from my phone, even though we have a fancy camera and I've started teaching myself how to use it. But the phone is quick and available and helps me to capture the moment. And I always have my phone with me, so I get to glance back at these babies anytime I need a little sweetness in the day. 

Someday I'll post pretty pictures. Today, I'm posting life at the Conary household. Take off your shoes, get comfy, and I'll give you a glass of wine. And probably some Cheez-its. 

Miss Mae loves to smile, coo, and talk with you!

Brody trying out some funny faces with Mama.

These boys are obsessed with hockey!

Cheeks, polka dots, and stripes. A few of my favorite things.

This kid! Eating a snack in Charlee's chair and making Burt & Ernie hold hands.

Have a great week people!

Countdown to Christmas

Wait, what? We just got done with Christmas! Why are we starting the countdown already?!

Apparently Tony and I are on an every other year financial trend of being awesome with our money one year and then completely losing it the next year. Rewind to Christmas 2012... we saved up at least a $1000 in cash and did not put a dime on our credit card... in fact, I think we had even paid off a few cards that year. Last month, Christmas 2013, was quite the opposite. Sure, I can blame it on maternity leave, our home purchase earlier in the year, career changes, etc. The fact is, we were lazy. We forgot to tell our money what to do. We forgot to give each dollar a job. 

Not this year baby!

What's the latest craze in savings? Among all of those New Year's Resolutions posts on the FB a few weeks ago, many of my friends were sharing this one:

(Not sure the original source since it's been shared so much!)

As you know, in the past I've typically stuck to the Dave Ramsey plan. But this year I've decided to branch out a bit and try a few other techniques and philosophies. Along with YNAB, I decided to try this challenge as well, but do it backwards! I wanted to get a running start and then have it impact my pocketbook less and less the closer we got to Christmas. And just an FYI, I don't plan on spending all $1378 on Christmas gifts, but it's nice to have the option and/or a financial cushion.

We just finished Week 4 and have $202 in our Christmas Fund!

I think we will be able to stay on trend... as long as this kid doesn't bust our grocery budget...

As we wrap up January, have you had any successes with your New Year's Resolutions? Or if you didn't make resolutions, did you have any small life victories this month to share?  

My Focus in 2014

Hi again! Sorry for the delay in posting. Life happened.

Remember when I posted about where to focus my New Year's Resolution energy? Two days before returning to work from maternity leave, I decided. Our family's finances are going to be my top priority for 2014.

I've said it before. We've worked the plan before. We've succeeded and failed before.

So what's different this year? Who knows. But I have high hopes and that's the best you can ask of a girl at the end of January, stuck in the "polar vortex" world of Minnesota.

Although we have used Dave Ramsey's method in the past, I have opted to try YNAB's method this year. Very similar with just a few strategic differences. And when I say "I have opted," I truly mean "I" and not "we." Tony is definitely on-board with budgeting and being smart with our finances, but he is more of the free spirit, as Dave would say. I am the budget nerd. As in, I've created a whole set of excel worksheets, merged into one giant document and titled it "Ultimate Financial Workbook." So I'll be driving this bus and I'm just hoping to stay motivated enough myself that Tony doesn't tuck and roll out the sliding doors or emergency hatch!

How have the first few weeks been going? Hmm... eye-opening would be the best term to describe it. More on this next time.

Personal finances have always been a taboo topic. My parents have very different views about money (probably one of the reasons they divorced) and I've always felt that talking about money is difficult with either of them. Then you have your friends... now that most of us have "real jobs" with real salaries, it's like a little tap dance around the nitty-gritty stuff. You don't want to step on anyone's toes and ask the big question, and often make over-exaggerated assumptions about what people are making and what they are spending their money (or credit cards, loans, etc.) on.

People say to avoid talking about politics. And money. Screw it... I'm talking this year!

Working on My Fitness

Well I'm officially back on the Zumba train and loving it! I've been going to Zumba off and on for several years now. It's an awesome workout. When I wore my HR monitor previously, I would on average burn about 500 calories per class. I have to find that HR thingy... ugh. My house is a wreck. You'd think it'd be spic and span from all this "time off" but I forgot how needy a newborn can be. But I'll take a needy newborn almost any day over a clean house. 

Source

Besides Zumba, I want to get back into yoga as well. I've also been doing yoga for years, including up until about the last month of pregnancy. I haven't done it in over three months and I'm missing it. I prefer to attend classes at the gym, but with two littles and one hockey-playing hubby, that's not always feasible. Does anyone have any yoga DVDs they recommend? Or any freebies on Netflix or YouTube? 

This year, I want to try weight lifting. I don't want to "hulk up" but I definitely want to tone up. I quickly made it back to my pre-pregnancy weight (yay!) but my clothes just aren't fitting quite right. I think a lifting program can help me get to where I want to be, body-shape-wise. If you have any recommendations on how to create my own program, or about lifting in general, please send them my way! I have done very little lifting in the past. 

PLEASE ignore my icky, un-manicured feet!!!

Before I started this new fitness journey, I wanted to do a little research about mixing it with breastfeeding. I plan to try to make it to a year with Charlee, but I'll be okay with anything longer than six months. Not much came in up in google when I was searching about weight lifting while breastfeeding. I tried reaching out to a couple online mama groups, so we will see. One thing I did keep encountering was plugged ducts from repetitive upper body movements. After talking with my midwife about starting to lift, she basically just said that I was good to go and to be very conscious of my core. She reminded me to keep it tight to support my back. She also told me that squats work just as well, if not better, than kegels! Good to know mamas!

I did find a few good things to remember while working on your fitness goals during breastfeeding from this website: http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/articles/nutrition-exercise-and-weight-loss/4. "Eat anything you want to in moderation, and remember that many mothers lose weight while lactating even without modifying their diet or exercise routine." and "You will usually keep about 3 pounds of extra tissue in your breasts as long as you are nursing, so factor that into your weight loss goals. Enjoy nursing your baby, eat a healthy diet, and you most likely will lose weight while eating more food than you were used to eating before your little one arrived." 

Finally, here is a cool calorie calculator I found that factors in breastfeeding: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/breastfeeding_calorie_calculator.htm. 

Although it would be nice to lose a few pounds, I'm comfortable with my number right now. In the past, I've lost the most weight through counting calories, NOT through exercise. To me, working out is more to shape my body, whereas eating right fuels my body and keeps the weight in check. So for now, I won't be counting cals. If my weight starts creeping up... I might change my mind. 

Source & Source

Stay tuned! 

What are your fitness goals for 2014? Have you tried weight-lifting? Any advice? 

Parenting

I'm not sure what direction this blog will eventually take (focusing on parenting, money, fitness, etc.) but I want to put a quick "disclaimer" out there. This quote pretty much sums up how I parent and learn about parenting. 

"The true joy of parenting comes when we are empowered and can follow our own inner voice of guidance. Keep your eyes open, become informed; consider all options, all styles of parenting. Then make decisions about what's right for you and your family."  - Tracy Hogg

Although I question myself often, I am not generally an anxious person and therefore, I try super hard to relax and let life happen, guiding my kids when possible but also letting them take the reins once in a while. 

For example... 

This morning, Brody and I had an impromptu dance party. He is quite the dancer, but today he wanted mama to hold him and dance. I indulged him and got a great little workout in too! We both had a blast.

Another example, Charlee was very sleepy today. We have been trying to use a three hour routine of eat, play, sleep, but today she just seemed to want to sleep. We went with the sleeping thing. I have less than a week left of maternity leave, I couldn't help it!

Finally, dinner. I applaud the mamas out there that can get organic, healthy, fancy-shaped food on the table EVERY night. We have dinner together almost every night. That's our best. It might be tacos, grilled cheese, or even frozen pizza... but we eat at home. Together. Someday we'll eat healthier. Maybe. If I can convince my husband ;)

To close, another awesome parenting quote I found recently gives advice about balancing a newborn and a toddler: 

"Be creative, patient, and hold tight to your sense of humor!" - KelleyMom.com

Weekend Recap - Bitter Cold Edition

If you're reading this, it means you are currently surviving this ridiculous winter. Good for you. Now, can we PLEASE get these temps, but without the negative sign in front??? My kid I am going stir crazy! So much so, that I took my one month old to church yesterday and then out for bagels... not my smartest mommy move but everything went fine. Except for the brief scream-cry episode when the boob wasn't immediately available because I had to take off about 17 layers first.

Let's stop talking about the weather. For real. I know we are Minnesotans and this is what we do, but everyone knows it's freaking cold. I don't need a screenshot of your phone. I have a weather app too. 

In other news, Brody will be TWO in less than a month. I wouldn't say he is a "terrible two" but it's a fine line. He is funny, very bossy, loud, talkative, somewhat short-tempered, loving, energetic, needs his alone time, and hesitant of new situations. Oh, and we really better start watching out mouths! It's so hard not to laugh when he repeats us! For example, just this morning, Tony was trying to put on his boots and mumbled something about how fat his feet are... and then Brody yelled "fat!" and laughed. Oops! What Daddy really meant to say was "These boots are hard to get the cute. chubby, baby feet that you still have."

Miss Mae (aka Charlee) has been spoiled during the holiday season! We have been spending the last few days working on sleeping on her own and getting into a routine. It was going really well... until today... when Brody is back at daycare and I thought I'd have time to get stuff done. Haha... silly mama... these babies must already be scheming against me!  Thank God for the Moby wrap.

Our weekend was pretty much spent doing whatever Brody wanted to do: playdoh, hockey, hiding in his tent, going up and down the stairs, and ELMO! I almost feel like something is missing today without the Sesame Street karaoke playing in the background. Almost.

We did get to have some adult fun after Brody went to bed. Friday night I went to my first Pure Romance party (eek!) and Saturday night we watched Hangover 3 (much better than #2).

Until next time... 

Eggs & Baskets

2014. 

The New Year.

Resolutions. 

Big Ideas. 

Promises. 

As I sit in my living room on this first day of 2014, I ponder all of the things I want to try. And then I think... I have too many baskets and not enough eggs. They say don't put all your eggs in one basket, but what if you have too many baskets? Am I even making any sense here? I guess what I am saying is that there are so many things I want to put effort into, that I can't seem to narrow it down. I don't want to do a bunch of things half-assed or maybe even quarter-assed. I want to do just one, two, or three things AWESOMELY (not a word, but who cares, grammar is not one of my top three "baskets"). But how do I choose? 

Here are a few things that come to mind when planning for 2014... 
* Financial - seriously crack down on debt, again
* Norwex - build my team and have consistent parties, aka actually make money (or do I just bail altogether on direct selling and if I want extra money, try something else???)
* Blogging - writing consistently, creating/following a theme, and maybe/possibly monetizing 
* House - keeping it clean, decorating, improving, and most of all fixing up the exterior
* Meal Planning - getting sick of the question, "what's for dinner?" as well as the almost daily trips to Target
* Fitness - I'm back at my pre-baby weight but I NEED to tone it up, I love Zumba and Yoga, but I'm thinking of incorporating some weight lifting
* Hubby - continuing to strengthen our relationship and making sure to connect daily (if only for a few minutes), have date nights, work as a team with the kids, and maybe even take a little vacay

* Brody - cut back on tv, add more easy crafts/learning play, go to the library, go on adventures
* Charlee - get into a good routine, teach her how to sleep on her own, breastfeed as long as possible, remember that she is her own person and she WILL be different than Brody
* So many more... Extended Family, Friends, Work, Photography, DIY/Crafts/Sewing/Baking, Book Club, MOPS, etc. 

Umm... can you see why I'm slightly overwhelmed??? Where should most of my focus be? How much is too much on a person's plate? Everything listed above are things that I enjoy, but I feel like I need to narrow down and focus a bit. 

Even with all of this being said, I am energized and excited for what is to come and my journey towards finding my focus! 

What are your goals/resolutions/ideas for 2014? How are you feeling about the start of another year?

Little Man's First Haircut!

Brody has been rocking the baby mullet for some time now. His hair so light and wispy that I wouldn't dare get rid of any! But then we went swimming... and dunked under... and the next thing I knew... my kid had a rat tail!!! AHHH!!! Yup, this mama knew right then and there that it was time for a haircut. Even though he still looks kinda bald from the front. Even though he has old man hair where there is nothing on top and everything is in the back. Even though he is still just a baby! It was time.

Have a mentioned I'm a procrastinator? Yeah... that swimming experience... that was weeks ago. I finally went online Monday and found a coupon and a fun place to go to get his first haircut. Numerous people had mentioned that they would trim it for me or that I could do it myself, but I wanted it to be special. So off to Kid's Hair we went!

Here is a little sample of the mullet before:

It looks especially awesome when you take off his fleece hat!

During:


Too distracted by all the people to care :)
 

And of course Mickey, Toodles, and the Hot Dog song helped too!

Starting to panic a little...

After:

Don't you dare take my nuk Dad!
 

So handsome! Kelly did a wonderful job - fast, patient, and made it special!
(even though both of us were probably in her way the whole time)

He did great! The only time he panicked a little was during the blow dryer. He thinks it's funny when mama does it in the morning, but not so much when a stranger is doing it to him.

Coming up on the blog...

* New design?

* Making a book club

* How we abuse gas stations

What other topics would you like to see? Of course I'll have a few posts about Brody, but I want it to be more than a baby journal :)

Adios amigos, thanks for tuning in!

Brody Meets Candace (aka the Easter Bunny)

About a week ago, I took Brody over to Jenn's place for a little Easter photo session. She is amazing with kiddos, we have been ecstatic about every session we have done with her so far. If you are interested and live in the area, check out her website.

So usually before photo sessions, I make sure Brody takes a giant nap and eats a full meal to make sure he is in good spirits. This time around... we had gone to church, where he had tried out the toddler room for the hour. Needless to say, he looked exhausted when I picked him up after service. He fell asleep on the way home and I tried to keep him napping a little longer but it didn't work out. We ate some snacks and then headed to Jenn's. He wasn't terribly cranky, but he wasn't very perky either so I was a little nervous about how it would go.

It took some warming up, and a pair of silly bunny ears, but Jenn captured some great photos as usual! Enjoy :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Monday! Have a great week!!!

 

Reading ADD

I blame social media.

It's so easy to hop from story to story on FB, IG, Twitter, etc. so why not do it with your reading material as well?! What makes it worse? Kindle.

Love the easy access (phone, kindle, PC) but it also makes it easy to switch between books and forget to finish a book. Maybe I should take that as a sign - if I forget to finish a book, is it really worth reading?

I have always wanted to be a part of a book club, or start my own. Any takers? Then again... I already feel like there are so many activities I want to do each week. Can we really fit it all in? Here are some of the things I've been thinking about:

* Swimming lessons for Brody (weekly)
* Weekly (preferably bi-weekly, but really really preferable everyday) mama yoga
* Book club (maybe a realistic goal would be once or twice a month?)
* Practice photography and take a class to see if I really like it or I just like the idea of it
* Mama get-togethers with the babies (at least once a month)
* Visit the great-grandparents and other extended family (minimum of once a month)
* Building my Norwex business! I love it but haven't had much time to devote to it yet. I am planning on having a specific office space in our hopefully soon-to-be house will help with this.
* On top of this is Tony's softball schedule, trying to make time for friends, and vacation season!!!

These are just a few of the things I am really going to try to make happen this spring/summer. Hold me accountable mmk? Thanks.

Going back to the "can we really fit it all in" thing from above... do I want to fit it all in? Sometimes I love just being a lazy/go-with-the-flow/impulsive kind of person. Why make so many plans that you don't have time for "life"? I feel like it's such a catch-22. Is "life" the experience of plans that you choose to get you out and about? Or is about hanging out at home and letting life happen to you? And now we're getting deep...

And completely off this post's title. Writing ADD?  

Weekend Update (A day or two late)

Friday: Dinner out for Ashley's birthday! It was delicious. But I can't lie, I was a little bit jealous about the wine. I think I'm having a harder time with this no drinking thing this time around!

I was the sober cab for the drive home and of course we had to be in the middle of an ice storm! The roads were so bad. And of course I wasn't driving my own vehicle, so that only makes things worse. You trust your vehicle and know it's quirks. Someone else's vehicle - all bets are off! On the Cedar bridge crossing the river, we saw three spinout accidents. Needless to say, we took it very slow.

Saturday: Daddy headed down to Mankato for a hockey tournament. Brody and I lounged around in our PJs for the morning. He took a long morning nap while I got ready for St. Patty's Day festivities. We headed out the door around 1pm (right about afternoon nap time). I was hoping a short nap in the car would be a nice refresher for him since he slept almost 2 hours in the morning. Boy was I wrong! First of all, he probably slept for less than 10 minutes. The sun was beating into the back window (we had to take Tony's car since he had my truck out on a road trip). He whined the whole time :( When we finally pulled in the parking lot, he was pretty unhappy. We hung out with family and friends, ate some food, and tried to get Brody to catch a few zzz's in our arms, but it just didn't work out. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

He of course slept the whole way home, and then I tried to sneak him up to his crib so mama could get a little nap in (the tiredness is starting to set in). Nope. He didn't really like that idea. So I changed back into my PJs and we headed downstairs to play. I fixed my hubby's PS3, ordered some pizza, and we played with his farm toys. After dinner, we took the dog out to play which Brody always thinks is hilarious. I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SPRING! Our family needs to be outside.

Back to my fun Saturday night... I went to bed right after I put Brody down, around 8pm! Amazing what pregnancy can do to your body.

Sunday: We headed to church a little early so I could register Brody for the toddler room. He didn't fuss or even seem to notice when I left... but he didn't look so great when we picked him up! He was snuggling with one of the volunteers looking dog tired. Some days he doesn't seem to need that morning nap, but other days he craves it. I think this was one of the days.

After church, we headed over to Jenn's house for some pics with a real live bunny! Brody didn't get it at first, but after we tried on some bunny ears, he seemed to perk up. He loves to be silly with anything that goes on your head... sunglasses, hats, bunny ears, you get it.

Daddy came home around four, and Mama escaped to get a pedicure with Abby.

All in all, just another weekend in the life of the Conarys :0)