Schedule vs. Routine

I recently read something that made a quick explanation between a schedule & a routine and I immediately was like yes!!!

• A schedule has times, times that must be hit to make it successful. Times that cause stress when you miss it.
• A routine is a pattern of things that happen but don't have a specific time they must be done, it allows flexibility.

When you enter parenthood, you start to use these words 'schedule' 'routine' in your regular conversations. But they shouldn't be used interchangeable.

There are the parents that are stuck on a time schedule, baby must eat at these times, sleep at these times...blah, blah, blah. It leaves little flexibility for unplanned events, times when something is out of your control and it starts to raise anxiety in them. Which as a parent isn't good, let's be honest the babe probably can't tell until it senses something different in the parent. Ride it out.

With a routine, there is flexibility in the time. Babe knows rocking with a bottle and jammies is right before bed, doesn't matter the time. And so much less stress on the parent when they day has been hectic.

Okay, truth I was a little OCD on certain activities and times for the first part of my little guy's life. It took me a while to realize it didn't matter if bedtime was varied by 20 mins because something threw us off, or if we had to push bath time back a day. It happens life is hectic, babe doesn't realize it, they just want you to be there and love them. And if you are stressed you aren't full there for them.

Just a fresh perspective on your day - are you a schedule or a routine?

Starting The New Year

It's been a while since I have written, like truly written. I do find it to be something that allows me to get my thoughts out, but 2017 was busy and good in so many ways while also being a bit gray and emotional test as well.

Being a mom for the 1st time is beautiful & ugly. You're learning something new at the same time you are doing it. No manual, but so many opinions coming at you on how 'they' used to do it, or your own thoughts questioning you the entire time. It's tough. It's draining. And you will get through it. And learn many new lessons and so much more about who you are. It tests your relationships and how you are able to respond says a lot about you.

Looking back at 2017, I have reflected on low areas, the high areas & the relationships. While I wish I could have handled certain parts better, I wouldn't change them because they have led me to where I am now and the ability to recognize it and grow from it. At the end of 2017, I took some steps towards making 2018 a less stressed & happier year. And set some goals to do so.

~Reduce the Comparisons
So many of us get caught in the rut of so & so got this or so & so's kid did this. Why do this to ourselves? As a parent, I found myself doing this far too much with people who had a kid the same age as my son & it wasn't productive! And it just causes you stress. Social media hasn't helped this. I have slowly started eliminating people I follow or am connected with, if I don't regularly interact with them I don't need to follow them nor do they need to see what my family is up to. Every family has their own style and every kid develops differently.

~Reduce Electronic Time
I didn't read a book in 2017. This is odd for me. Well, I read many, many children's books because I do find reading with my little to be important and he loves it too. Many times I'd find him either flipping through a book by himself or bringing us books to read. In 2018, I want to reduce my mindless scrolling of social sites (which should help with less connections) and do something more relaxing and eye saving and just read a book, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, or even sit in silence. It's about disconnecting.

~Create Time for Myself
This is so so hard as a mom & so so critical. I didn't do well at this within the little man's first year & am looking to improve it. As a working parent you only have a set amount of time with them in a week & you want to take advantage of the time you have and not give it away by going away for 'me time' or on a date night. But it is critical for your health - focusing here on your mental health. One for sure time I get is grocery time, I may wander the aisles a bit longer, get myself a coffee & sit in my car enjoying silence, but it's a reset I need!

~Being a Do-er more than a Say-er
So many people talk about how they're going to do this or that. But then never do it. Don't say I'm going to start walking or running to make yourself sound like a dedicated exercise person, because if you don't do it you're word starts to drop. Or say we should meet up, but then never reach out to someone. If you have no plans to do something, don't say it. There is a reason there are so many sayings out there that say something related to "I don't trust words, I trust actions". Let's be honest if you aren't doing the small things like saying you're going to start walking more and then don't, how can you be trusted in big things. My plans include reducing the talk & seeing more action. If I don't to do something, I'll let you know.

If I look at my plans for the year it looks like it's focusing on being a better me, aka. it looks like a self-help book. However, if I am not helping myself, I can't fully be there for other people. Your own health and happiness is critical in all your relationships and if you aren't working on those along the way your relationships will suffer. So, yes, they may be focused on 'me' but in the larger scheme they are base I need to grow my relationships.

Nursery Furniture

To finish off the nursery, I wanted to redo some furniture that we had. The changing table was the hardest to come with. My mom & I pinned a bunch of different options before finally determining the desk was the right option. I brought home a ton of paint samples and eventually went with Bermuda Bay. I love my mint green, but knew it wasn't quite right, so had thought about teal before finding this color which is kind of a mix of both.

We sanded down the old furniture we had and then painted, 3 coats later it was essentially done. I tried to polyurethane over the paint to make it shine and easier to clean and that was a failure. Luckily I had just done the drawers of the desk. Turns out if you try to do that with old wood it pulls what I can the wood oil and gives it a yellowy tint and definitely not what I wanted. So sanded down the drawers and repainted them. All was good.

Then I found new knobs for both that matched each other so they now look like a set, because they were far from a set when we started!

Here's the picture report:

Restored Country Style Table

I love country style tables & Greg hated the table we had because it was too short for him to fit his legs under. So began my obsessive pinning of country style tables and plans to have someone (preferably the little bro) build it for me this summer. Well lucky for him I spotted one on a for sale group that had good potential. I made my father-in-law & hubs drive up with me in the wind & rain to take a look and pick it up. It fit Greg well and 3-5 tarp wraps later we were cruising back to our house.

The table sat in our garage for a bit waiting to get it's facelift. The plan was to sand it down, reinforce weak areas in the legs and table top as well as fill in some of the cracks. Then stain and polyurethane it. All went very smoothly.

Suggestions for supplies:

• Electric detail sander
• Minwax stainable wood filler
• Minwax gel stain (this stuff is awesome, it goes on easy & you truly just need a small can!)
• Minwax polyurethane - gloss/high gloss (read the gel stain can to get suggestions on which one & gloss will wipe assist in wiping the table off.)

My mom was a trooper doing this, I had ideas, but this far into pregnancy wasn't really able to help much. She sanded, stained & polyed it all. We do suggest multiple layers of poly to make sure it is solidly covered and can handle being wiped off. 

Then I had to find some chairs to match. At 1st I was thinking of trying to match the wood, but a suggestion from a friend to do a solid color & not match changed my mind. So I looked for darker chairs that actually match our kitchen island stools. Couldn't be happier with the results!

Sanded & ready to stain

Half stained

Ready to go!

Prepping for Baby

We've officially had a baby shower and are in the homestretch. I am not a huge fan of showers, I hate having all the focus on me, I know it's friends and family that are happy for you, but boy is it out of my comfort zone.

But my sister put together an awesome shower and am grateful to have the love, support & gracious gifts of my family & friends.

Up until now I knew I was getting bigger and the baby was there, but with all the things filling up the nursery it is now sinking in that this is real. And we will have a little one joining us soon. We are in the 'safe' zone of this pregnancy.

After the shower, I used some of the decorations and gifts to get the nursery decorated. I started pulling things out of boxes and trying to organize. It blows me away how many items a baby uses at the start of life and what will be used during their development through the 1st year of life. It is incredible how far they come, how much their personality will change and how it will change you as a person.

Every night and on the weekends, I have been leaving the nursery room door open to allow the cat and dog to come in & sniff around. I don't want them to be locked out of it and reach shock when we introduce a new family member. The cat is currently in love with the stroller and the dog loves one of the super soft blankets. Sadie also feels the need to know where I am at all times, she makes sure she knows where I am before she takes her naps which is typically right next to me on the floor. Her dog senses are kicking in and she's protecting me and the baby, pretty sure she's going to be a good fur sister. And I also sense she will know when I am in labor before I do.

I can't say my nesting has hit in full effect, but I definitely have decided to have the nursery ready and also my hospital bag. If I am anything like my mom there is a chance we will be going early and I don't really want to have to have a neighbor pack my bag the 1st time like she did! :)

Reading Nook

Never stop the dreams, little one.

Backyard Refresh

Well it was a long time coming. We planned to get the fence & deck stained & repainted early in the spring but rain & work schedules haulted that plan. So after a couple months of storing all the paint & stain the garage we can say it's done! My mom & dad took on the deck with the thickest paint I've ever seen...specifically deck paint so makes sense. While Greg took on the fence...the whole fence...in one day. I believe he now regrets the one dat thing but boy does it look good!

After nearly 2 years of dogs running across the decktop a the paint makes it look brand new. And the fence took on its first stain well. It's amazing what a coat of paint  or stain can do to give it all a facelift.

Glucose Test

Okay, this was one test I was nervous about, not that I would have Gestational Diabetes, but that it wasn't a fun test.

From what I had heard it was a long test, the drink was awful and I'd probably get sick or lightheaded from it.

Wrong.

The fruit punch we had in Bible School all through elementary school definitely had more sugar in it than the fruit punch glucose drink I had to drink.

I made sure I didn't over carb before the test and just had a bit of fruit before I headed in. Took one sip of the drink & was shocked that it wasn't a thick syrup of sugar gross-ness.

The only part that kind of stunk was sitting in the waiting room for an hour until I could have my blood drawn. The rest was a piece of cake.

Everyone reacts differently, but this is definitely not anything to get worked up about! :)