10 Weekly Goals

Source:  http://moneysavingmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/4564135255_23e3aee2ac211.jpg

I have struggled all throughout this pregnancy to get things accomplished in a timely and orderly fashion.  I make my "To Do" list every night or early morning and then proceed to maybe do one to five things (based on my nausea/energy) for the day.  There were quite a few good days throughout the summer and a few this fall, but overall, it's been quite discouraging to consider how little "get-up-and-go" I have in me (this is even more true in this 3rd trimester).  I've been a long-time reader of Money Saving Mom and she has been posting on Mondays her 10 Weekly Goals.  I really like this idea.  Now 10 might be too much for me in this stage of pregnancy, but I'm still going to try.  I like that they are "goals."  The word doesn't feel as constraining and I know if I don't get to them all, it won't be the end of the world.  I know that 3rd trimester is just a season and there will come a day when I regain my boundless energy (I can hope, right?!!!) and my nausea will fade to just a distant memory.

Pregnancy Goals:

1.  Continue reading The Jesus Storybook Bible to the little guy each night

2.  Relaxation/labor practice each day

3.  Finish reading Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way

4.  Set up interviews with pediatricians
 
Personal Goals:

5.  Exercise twice a day (no matter how little) for 5 days this week

6.  Finish reading A Thousand Gifts

7.  Morning Bible reading/prayer before I turn on the computer

Home Management Goals:

8.  15 Minutes of Decluttering each day

9.  Spend 10 minutes/day picking up the entryway, dining room, living room

10.  Get budget caught up and have budget meeting w/Ciaran

A Thousand Gifts: #201-218

My nausea has left me groaning and moaning on the bathroom floor yet again today.  It didn't set in until about 11am though so I was able to get a bit done this morning which was really nice.   Since I am feeling quite frustrated about my nausea, I figured it was time to chronicle all that the Lord has blessed me with.  I need an attitude change really badly right now. 



Thank you Lord for....

201.  My mom spending three days with us (cooking, cleaning, organizing, shopping, etc. in preparation for Baby).
202.  The comfort of being home when the nausea and vomiting becomes unbearable
203.  Seeing Baby via ultrasound on Wednesday
204.  Normal blood pressure reading
205.  Normal labwork results
206.  33 weeks of pregnancy so far for Baby to grow (even though I'm very weary of it at this point)
207.  Ice cold washcloths on my neck
208.  A freshly made bed
209.  A sweet husband timing my BH contractions for over an hour (just to make sure they are indeed BH)
210.  The sheer joy that comes from spending time in God's Word and in prayer
211.  Being able to pray for my church family, even when I can't be with them
212.  Warm,sunshiney fall weather (even when I only enjoy it through a window)
213.  Worship music playing in the background, always pointing me Godward
214.  The delight on Ciaran's face as our little guy pushes back against his hand on my belly
215.  Delicious sips of Coca Cola to help ease my nausea (don't worry, it's OB approved)
216.  Time to rest when the fatigue overtakes me
217.  Finding bassinet sheets that fit our Travel Lite crib
218.  Waking up with no alarm clock this morning

A Thousand Gifts: #186-200

Today I am clinging to the sovereignty of God as I write this post.  I am so grateful that it is He who reigns and not I.  And as it is Monday, I will continue to chronicle my 1000 gifts with which He has so generously blessed me.


186.  My husband's strong arms to hold me when I cry
187.  The wonder of our little guy kicking away so strongly inside of me
188.  God's sovereign rule over all
189.  Cool breezes through open windows
190.  Chocolate brownies this morning right when I'm feeling the most emotional
191.  God's Word to guide me
192.  The laundry clanging about in the dryer
193.  Warm showers
194.  Joy in sickness
195.  New worship songs to learn and memorize
196.  Leaves falling to the ground
197.  The shrill sound of whistles blowing at soccer games
198.  Cheering and encouraging soccer player parents
199.  My husband's calm, confident, and steady stance as he coaches soccer players from the sideline 
200.  The wonder and delight on my husband's face as he feels his son push back against his hand as it lays gently on my stomach.

In the Valley

As I laid on the bathroom floor this morning at 5am, this song coursed through my mind and drew me Godward...where my mind should be focused as I endure this 3rd trimester morning sickness (and sometimes all day sickness).  Love this song!  Hope you enjoy!

July 2011: Monthly Financial Check-up

We're stepping out in faith this month.  My paychecks are coming to an end and we'll be living solely off of Ciaran's income.  Our savings goals are going to slow down considerably now, but I'm still excited about working slowly toward achieving them.  This past month we were able to finish saving for Ciaran's fifth and sixth graduate classes, set up an appointment to meeting with an investing ELP, and put some more money toward our house downpayment fund.  We're praying so hard that the Lord will continue to help us to be wise stewards of the funds he has allowed us to manage.

2011 Financial Goals

1.  Pay for Ciaran's first grad. class with cash 

2.  Finish Babystep 3 (6 months fully funded emergency fund)

3.  Meet with an investing ELP Meeting set for Thursday 7/14

4.  Begin contributing to a Roth IRA 65.8% saved toward initial investment

5.  Pay for Ciaran's second and third grad. class with cash

6.  Save for Ciaran's fourth grad. class (tuition due in December)

7.  Save for Ciaran's fifth and sixth grad. class (tuition due in April 2012) 

8.  Save $5,000 toward house down payment fund 20% done

9.  Pay for all birthing expenses in cash

Baby Names Update

On Tuesday, July 5, Ciaran and I spent about six hours in the car together so we had a lot of time to talk.  We have now narrowed our girl names down to one with the others being alternates in case our little one and the name don't quite fit.  And although we're pretty set on our boy name being Ciaran Jack and have been since the beginning, we added one more name to the pile. 

So our girl name is Claire Elizabeth (with Madelyn Sinead now an alternate, along with Emily Christine).
Our boy name is still Ciaran Jack (with Liam Carter, Eamon Louis....and now the new one which we both absolutely love Declan Gabriel available as alternates). 

**All middle names are family names.

A picture my brother sent me from Germany...

OK, so I know this doesn't represent what I am doing this summer since it's a picture my brother took in Germany, but I so love it and had to share.

1000 Gifts: June 2011 Edition #171-185

I was listening to a John Piper sermon entitled "Sustained by All His Grace" and this quote really stood out to me.  "The function of gratitude is to worship the Lord for yesterday's grace and in that worship to have our faith in tomorrow's grace strengthened."  And that is so why I catalog my gifts.  I find my faith strengthened as I read through my gifts.  I know that His mercies are new every morning.  And cataloging these gifts opens my eyes to Him and His work all around me.

171.  God's grace
172.  Adorable little baby clothes and toys from my students
173.  Softy, fuzzy blankets
174.  Pale yellow colors
175.  Peanut butter cups
176.  The crunch of green, green celery as I slice it up for salad
177.  Sermons online to listen to as I rest and as I work
178.  Strength to get work done around the apartment
179.  Encouraging Christian women
180.  Coupons and blogs to help me save us money
181.  Family stopping in to visit
182.  My husband making me dinner when I'm too sick to cook
183.  FlyLady to help keep me from becoming too overwhelmed
184.  Chocolate milk
185.  A full to do list

Reading the Bible in 90 days

 I have taken up a new challenge.  I'm going to read through the entire Bible in 90 days.  I have been praying about getting involved in a Bible study this summer, but all of the classes that I'm interested in here in my town don't start up again until the fall.  Then I read about the 90 Day Challenge on a blog I like to frequent and I knew this was the challenge for me.  Be praying for me, dear readers.  This is a huge commitment and I'm going to need a lot of prayers to keep me going.  But I'm so excited!  Anyone want to join me in this challenge?

Here's the link to the blog and the official sign-up post. 

My bucket and Febreeze

I was so sick today.   There is no air conditioning in my classroom and so my vomiting returned in earnest.  My bucket and Febreeze were my constant companions as I taught today.

My desk at the end of a 13 hour work day...feels so good to get a lot accomplished!

Breakfast at Ciaran's parents' home

Ciaran's dad, uncle, aunt and guests from India (and me, preggy belly and all). 

We're packed and ready to head off to visit family and friends for the weekend!

Thermometer for our House Down Payment Fund!

As we have progressed through Dave Ramsey's baby steps, we found creating wall thermometers to be really motivating.  Our first one was for our debt and we colored it in with red marker.  Then once we started working on our fully funded emergency fund, we switched to green (because we were finally paying ourselves instead of paying debtors).  For part one of our house down payment goal, we're doing green again.  It was so fun creating this today and then hanging it up in our little laundry area.

Couponing

Another day of no school because of storm damage and my pregnancy sickness is now confined to only being severe in the morning hours...so I actually started to catch up on my couponing today.  So much fun!

June 2011: Monthly Financial Check-up

I have been meaning to post some updates on our financial journey for quite a few months now and have yet to find the time to do it.  Crystal over at Money Saving Mom gave me the motivation to finally do so.  At the beginning of this year, Ciaran and I came up with quite a few financial goals and we're still determined to meet them...even though we're now expecting our first child in November and I am transitioning from full-time employment outside of the home to SAHM status (i.e. no paycheck coming in any longer).  We so want to honor the Lord with the finances He has blessed us with. Here's our 2011 progress so far.

2011 Financial Goals

1.  Pay for Ciaran's first grad. class with cash 

2.  Finish Babystep 3 (6 months fully funded emergency fund)

3.  Meet with an investing ELP

4.  Begin contributing to a Roth IRA or an IRA

5.  Pay for Ciaran's second and third grad. class with cash

6.  Save for Ciaran's fourth grad. class (tuition due in December)

7.  Save for Ciaran's fifth and sixth grad. class (tuition due in April 2012) 89% done

8.  Save $5,000 toward house down payment fund 5% done

9.  Pay for all birthing expenses in cash

We have power!!! Wonderful, glorious electricity!

We have power!  After 48 hours without it, I'm delighting in lamps that are cheerily glowing all throughout our apartment tonight.  Thank you Lord for electricity!

Summer 2011 in Pictures

I love pictures.  I am not very good at taking pictures, but oh how I love them.  I love how it's another way to chronicle the gifts the Lord has blessed me with.  I love how pictures can usher me into His presence, quiet my soul, make me rejoice in the beauty of the world He has made, and remind me of His unwavering faithfulness.  How do pictures do this?  Well...I hope to show you this summer.  Last summer I tried this little project with little success because I grew frustrated with my lack of quality photography skills.  I'm not going to be bound by perfectionism this summer.  I want to use these pictures to help me grow in thankfulness and it's hard to be caught up and held captive by my own perfectionism when I'm clinging and delighting in the perfection and beauty of Christ and not my own.

So my goal is to share one picture with you from each day of the summer, spanning from Memorial Day to Labor Day 2011.

So here's today's picture...on what I consider the first day of summer (even though the school calendar and my yearly calendar hanging on my kitchen wall say something a bit different).  :-)

This is where we woke up this morning...in a lovely Holiday Inn hotel room.  We lost power in a bad storm yesterday and since severe pregnancy sickness and no power don't go too well together, Ciaran checked us into that room for Sunday night and Monday morning.  Such a blessing!

Counting It All Joy

My nausea rages on.  Even though I am 14 weeks and 1 day into my pregnancy, I woke up this morning yet again unable to even get out of bed without holding back vomit.  Ciaran had to once again trek out to the kitchen to grab me some ice cold lemonade to wash down my prescription anti-nausea med.  I then laid perfectly still for 30 minutes praying and focusing on all the ways the Lord has blessed me (this is the only way I don't begin to cry in frustration).  Once the 30 minutes had passed, Ciaran once again got up, fixed me some cereal, and still trying to lay perfectly still, I consumed said bowl of cereal.  Even with food in me, every movement triggered gagging.  All morning long.

It's easy for me to start throwing a pity party for myself and bemoaning why I have to be the unlucky one to be so ill in pregnancy when so many of colleagues and friends sailed through their pregnancies without vomiting even once.  I loathe our current morning routine.  I'll admit it...somedays I even resent the fact that I can't roll out of bed without gagging or vomiting.  But honestly, this does me no good.  It doesn't alleviate the nausea.  And it certainly doesn't make me a pleasant person to be around. 

So I've decided...I'm just going to count it all joy.  The Lord is growing a precious little child inside of me.  And if I have to be ridiculously ill every day of this pregnancy to bring this child safely into this world, then I'm going to count it as joy.  Every time I get sick, Ciaran reminds me I'm doing this for Baby and that this is just for a season. And he's so right.  I need to deeply ingrain this in my brain.  It's not as if I'm going to vomit like this for the rest of my life...it's just for a season.  So pray for me, dear readers, that I will count it all joy and serve the Lord joyfully in this season of pregnancy...a pregnancy that Ciaran and I have been wanting for a long time. 

Pregnancy Update: 14 weeks

And the nausea rages on, but I am so grateful to be at 14 weeks. Hopefully relief will be coming soon. I am so amazed at how much love I feel for this little peanut.  I can't wait to meet this little one!


Size of Baby:  Somewhere between 3 and 4 inches long and weighing about an ounce

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  I've started to gain weight!!!!  I'm fluctuating between 108 and 111 lbs; I'm so stoked!!!

Maternity Clothes:Going to be needed fairly soon.  The hair ties aren't working as well any longer to hold up my pants and I live for the time of day when I get to come home and change into loose fitting pants or shorts.

Movement:  Baby was kicking away at our doctor's appointment on Wednesday!  Woohoo!

Sleep: I'm still waking up about four times a night to use the bathroom and I still feel quite a bit of fatigue all day long, although it not nearly as bad as it was earlier in the pregnancy when I could have slept all day and all night.
 
What I miss: I still really miss my energy and the novelty of going through an entire day without vomiting or feeling like vomiting.

Cravings:  Simply Lemonade...I can drink an entire bottle of it through the course of one day!   And chocolate milkshakes.

Symptoms:  Nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and headaches.


Best Moment this Week:  Hearing Baby's strong heartbeat and hearing the little peanut kick a ton at our OB appointment on Wednesday.