New Year Resolutions: 2013

I can't believe another year has come and gone, and this one seems to have disappeared more quickly than usual! That might have something to do with being pregnant though! I can't believe I'm 30 weeks and have just 10 weeks remaining! It still seems like I just found out and just announced to family. It's true… time speeds up as you get older. 

With any new year - in my case - means a new set of visions/goals. Even if they're silly and I don't achieve them, I like to have some things in mind that I want to do and I like to write them down to have at least some sort of accountability (even though it doesn't really hold me accountable, it feels more achievable to have said it out loud or to document it).

Alright, let's take a look at how I did for my 2012 Resolutions:

• Try adopting an ovo-lacto vegetarian or flexitarian diet.
• Did it! I'm so proud of this one. I did drastic changes to my diet. Unfortunately, once we were pregnant my protein and blood-sugar was being too low. My doc recommended adding some kind of meat source. So, we did (in November) start incorporating some fish into our diet (about twice a week). Which, as of current, makes us technically Pescatarian for the time being. Not sure if we'll keep that up or return to Ovo-lacto vegetarian after the baby arrives. We'll see. I'm not one of the psychos that try to argue fish isn't a meat. Fish are animals and thus certainly meat. It's arbitrary, I know but we had to make a change somewhere.  
• Losing the 15 pounds!
• Let's get real… I think I was just at the weight my body wanted me to be at (heavily supported my laziness and lack of motivation, of course). I tried hard to accomplish this before getting pregnant. No such luck. I was still about 7-10 pounds short of my goal weight. #sigh
• Work out!
• I think I did well with this one - even well into the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. However, in late October I had a series of Asthmas flare-up, Bronchitis, and then Pneumonia… trailed by the early labor scares. So… I guess I haven't done so great since then. 
• Learn something new
• I learned to crochet (for real). Not sure I'm a fan though. Maybe I just don't have the patience for it or maybe I just don't understand patterns well enough or the different stitch types. Either way, it didn't become something I think I'll do often. I also learned a bunch of new skills to use for photography and photo editing which I was super excited about and have started utilizing. 
• Spend less time on computer. 
• I'm really proud of myself on this one. I started reading so much more! Or doing craft projects and other DIY projects in the house.

• And... one that I am choosing to keep private.
• This one might seem weird as I know a lot of beliefs imply you have no control over it, but it was to get pregnant. I went to like 4 doctors at the beginning of the year (OB, Maternal/Fetal Counselors, Pulmonologist, Family Practitioner) to make sure I was ready/able to get pregnant, check on medicines; I even had blood work done testing nutrient levels, cholesterol, etc. After I got through all of that I started using ovulation kits in March to track my ovulation (in hopes that I would/could get pregnant in June 2012 - because I wanted my baby to be due in March 2013). And, we were amazingly and overwhelmingly blessed by conceiving on the first time we ever tried.

• Finish my book! 
• I'm so sad this one didn't happen yet. I did get much further along. But, I think my "stay off the computer" mindset limited my success in this area. I started training myself not to go to my computer just because I had free time. So, I found myself not really wanting to write in my book when I had free time. The good news is I did fish the plot-line and know how I will end it. Maybe I can tackle this one this year. 

I'm not too dissapointed in how I did. Sure, I could've and should've been able to do better, but ya know…

Alright, my New Year Resolutions for 2013 are:

• Finish out my pregnancy (I'll admit, this one is a freebie… clearly I'll finish my pregnancy this year)
• I guess the small details of this one would be to stay healthy, keep doing my prenatal workouts, attend the remaining classes offered by the hospital that I want to, do what I can to eliminate the early labor scares, etc
• Breastfeeding
• This is so important to me. I'm such an advocate of breastfeeding. I think it's different if you have problems with milk supply or some other medical/physical condition that hinders your ability to do so… but let's face it… it's why we have breasts ladies. I've even spoken to the OB and Pediatrician about supplementing goats milk if something happens and I can't breast feed. Because goats milk is the only other natural, raw milk that comes very close to exactly matching the nutrients and antibodies found in human breast milk. If I'm physically able to breastfeed, then for me personally, there are no excuses not to. I'm well aware of the discomforts this goal can present, but I also know that you have to do things you don't want to sometimes. 
• Establish routine
• I'm pretty routine oriented anyway. But, as someone who studied Child Development and is a strong personal advocate of the theories, I know how important routines are for infants. Part of deciding to have a baby is also deciding to change my life in order to be a good parent. My baby will always come first. When I say establish routines I mean feeding every 1-3 hours (like you're suppose to with infants), changing diapers every 2-4 hours (or as needed), getting on a nap schedule, developing a pronounced (and steady/consistent) bedtime routine, etc. 
• Lose the baby weight and reach goal weight
• At this point, this one might be a lost cause. Lol. But, I'm not losing hope just yet! I'm so determined to raise my child in a way that health/fitness/exercise is all that he knows. We always were pretty active as children, but admittedly my parents didn't stress health and fitness very well in our childhood. I'm a role model to my son. He will learn from me and he'll mimic me. It's important to live my life the way I'd want him to live his. 
• Learn something new
• I'm probably making this one a yearly event. Learning new skills/things is good. It teaches me discipline. I'd like to push this one outside of my comfort zone this year - try to learn something I'm not already acquainted with in some way. 

• Finish my book! 
• I have the setup just right now. If I can conjure up the time to write, I know I'll have no problem with this one, this past year I hit a writers block. I wasn't sure how I wanted it to end, but now that I do I'm so ready to finish it!

My son certainly shaped the previous year of my life and as you can see he'll certainly be shaping the coming year (and years). I'm so thrilled to see how parenthood greets me.

Last night was the first New Year's Eve since Cory and I have been together (so in 10 years) that it was just me and Cory. It was awesome. We had a bunch of snacks, - even made some punch (watch out) - watched a movie, played games… it was great. Cory remarked towards the end of the night, "This'll probably be our last New Year's Eve just the two of us too."   (for quite some time anyway)

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have great ambition and fresh visions for the new year and that you achieve your goals