February Goals

Where the heck did January go?! Typically I always feel like January is a 'slow' month after the Christmas craziness and such, but this year it seemed to disappear right before my eyes! Today I am reporting on my January goals that I set for myself, as well as posting my February goals. This may be boring for you to read, however I need all the help I can get these days to keep myself accountable! 

These were my January goals...

I feel like I did a really good job accomplishing my January goals!

1. I managed to work out at least twice every week in January! The weather was VERY mild this month, so we were able to go for lots of walks as a family in the evenings. Sophia and I also started our Mommy and baby aquasize class, so that was a bonus workout each week! 

2. I created two separate 'play' areas for Sophia. One area is in our main floor living room. We used to have a decorative chair and side table in this corner, but I got rid of those pieces to make room for our growing toy collection! 

I also moved this Ikea shelf from another room in our house, and converted it into another toy shelf up in our bonus room! I put some of her toys in the wicker baskets from Ikea, and other toys will stay out on the open shelves. I added chalkboard labels to each basket, and drew a picture of what belongs in each basket. Eventually I will erase the chalkboard picture and just write the word, however since she is only 9 months old...we will stick with picture association for now! ha! 

3. I finished organizing the basement! And oh my word, this was a BIG job!!! I didn't take any before pictures...which is too bad, because it would show a HUGE difference. Just picture a GIANT mess of things...with a small path through the middle to navigate through. It was a HOT MESS! Things are MUCH more organized now, and hopefully we can keep it that way. 

Just SOME of my teaching stuff...ugh! 

4. I feel like I spent a little bit more quality time with Damian this month...though I have discovered as new parents, this will be something we will ALWAYS have to work at since there is so much on the go now! We did manage to get out for dinner just the two of us one evening. And we also had quite a few hot tub dates and movie/TV couch nights! Success!

 And now onto my February Goals...

1. I figured I should continue with the exercise goal this month, until it becomes part of my daily routine again! 

2. I love to cook. Thus, I have a TON of cookbooks. I also have a TON of loose recipes that I have printed off or ripped out of a magazine. This month I need to figure out some sort of organizational system for my mountain of recipes!

3. I had gotten into a groove with a few sewing projects back in the Fall, and haven't had a chance to work on anything since then. I have quite a few sewing projects on my 'to do' list, so this month I am hoping to find time to at least complete ONE of them!

4. Eat breakfast! Yikes...It's sad that I need to make this a goal. Plain and simple...I have never liked eating breakfast. And since having Sophia, I find that noon comes around and I realize I still haven't eaten anything yet! Soooo I'm planning on working on that this month! 

5. Read! I hate to admit this, especially because I am a teacher...but I hate to read!! I love children's books, and short stories, but as an adult I have never found reading to be enjoyable. However, there are a few books that have peeked my interest lately, so I plan on picking a few up this month! 

The Nursery!

I've been meaning to blog about Sophia's nursery for MONTHS! And i just never got around to it!! I LOVE her nursery and am so pleased with how it turned out! When we found out that we were having a girl I knew right away that I DID NOT want a PINK girly nursery for our daughter!! Perhaps someday she will want a pink girly bedroom, but until then Mama got to pick and that is not what my vision was! I wanted the room to be clean, simple and calming. So instead of picking a 'theme' for the room, I chose a 'color scheme' and went with white, grey and yellow. Those colours are very 'in' right now, so I didn't have too much trouble finding items to accessorize the room with. 

Welcome to Sophia's nursery...

This is the view from the door.

 The main focal wall is grey and white stripes, and the rest of the walls are solid grey. 

I spy a baby in that crib!

We lucked out and found a dresser that doubled as a change table! There is a serious lack of wall space in this bedroom so I knew we didn't have room for a separate change table and dresser. This works perfect!

I made this fabric 'garland' after seeing something similar on pinterest! Sophia loves looking at it and it serves as a great distraction during diaper changes. That is until she is strong enough to try to rip it off the wall...Ha!

The chair was our biggest 'splurge' in the nursery and my goodness am I glad it was!! I have spent ALOT of time sleeping and feeding in that chair and it is EXTREMELY comfortable! Plus, when we no longer need it in our nursery it will make a great addition to our bonus room furniture! 

Ottoman and basket FULL of swaddle blankets! 

Its shocking how many of these I go through in just a single day!

Because I went with a very specific colour scheme, I knew I wasn't going to be able to find a mobile that would match the room. So I decided to make my own! It was a fairly easy project and only took me about 2 hours to make! And I LOVE how it turned out!!

On the 'closet wall' I decided to paint some trees with three small yellow birds. This took me FOREVER and a few times I wondered why on earth I thought this was a good idea!? However...I am glad I finished it and really like how they turned out!

The last wall in the nursery is quite small as it has the door to the hallway, as well as the door to her en suite bathroom. I decided to just put a small bookshelf in this space to store her books, toys, and shoes. The chevron bin is her laundry basket! 

On her bookshelf she has an apothecary jar FULL of all her bows and headbands, as well as a teacup to hold her hair clips and barrettes!

I painted that piggy bank for her before she was born! 

And that is Sophia's nursery! Like I said before, I LOVE how it turned out!

 And I think Sophia is pretty fond of it as well! Ha!