Resolution Update

So it's been MONTHS since my last update. And how have I been doing?

1. Find a new church home: DONE! We have decided to join the Methodist Church we started attending earlier this year. I've been singing with the Praise Team and they even have a couple's group we are attempting to join. Maggie loves the Children's Sermon and we even debated sending her to VBS. It was going to be an ordeal as it ended at noon, so we decided to just wait for next year. But she did join in trying to sing the songs during the Children's Sermon that Sunday.
2. Lose weight/exercise more: Okay, I'm back on schedule. My goal is to be down to 160 (that's right, I'm putting the number out there) by the time we are able to start trying for another baby -- so that's about 7 pounds in 6 weeks. Which is doable in a healthy manner.
3. Eat healthier: We jump on and off this bandwagon. Last night I made a tomato and cucumber salad that was really good (and would make a great salsa with some garlic). I try to keep frozen veggies in the freezer and add them to a meal. But tonight, I'm making fried chicken . . . Double battered . . .
4. Eating at the table: We are kind of back. I like it as it keeps me motivated to clean up after supper. I even, gasp, WASHED the dishes after supper last night. Sure, there are still dishes "drying" on the counter, but they are CLEAN. The other night, after the blessing, Maggie turns to her Dad and says "So, how was your day, Dad?"

Resolution Update

1. Find a new church home: We attended a downtown Methodist Church last weekend. It started out really well and rather exciting. The pastor (or who we THOUGHT was the pastor) was energetic, the music was fun. Then we found out this was just the opening act. We think he was the Youth Pastor, which begs the question: why are Youth Pastors the only ones trying to make church fun and creative??
2. Lose weight/exercise more: I took a few days off for the wedding and am back on track. I LOVE Wii Fit Boxing, but I need more work to get enough points for the trainer to stop telling me "You can do better than THAT!"
3. Eat healthier: I'm trying! Of course, I really really want to try this 5 cheese and Mac that was showcased on "Ultimate Recipe Showdown." And it doesn't appear to be "healthy" eating. I think it might be good with some spinach, but Rocky has already asked me if I'm going to make the recipe or if I'm going to attempt, but just use what I've got in the kitchen (if I did, it would only be 1 cheese, so I do have to get a couple more cheeses first).
4. Eating at the table: It's so nice to eat at the table. Maggie loves to help set the table and got a little upset with me the other night when I put the plates on before she could. We are working on manners and we are requiring Maggie to ask to be excused before she leaves the table. Usually it goes:

Maggie: I'm done! (starts to get down from her chair)
Rocky: Maggie, how do you ask?
Maggie: Please! I'm 'cused! I'm done!

Resolution Update

1. Get Maggie in her own bed more often: I think I've kind of said, "aw screw it" on this one. Maggie is only little for so long and she won't want to sleep with us or ask to snuggle forever.
2. Find a new church home: Kind of on hold. Rocky had to work a few hours last weekend, so we didn't go. I think there are a few other churches I want to check out again before deciding on one.
3. Lose weight: I've been very good about getting on the Wii Fit at least every other night. My work out days are Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, but last weekend I was also able to get in a workout on Sunday. Maggie "helped" me do the hula hoop and run. Maggie likes to hula hoop, but needs my help to get her little hips going, so she thought she should help me as well. As for running, well, she just ran around me in a circle while I ran in place. There are 3 women at work who also use the Wii Fit to work out, so we are able to talk about our progress and see who has opened up what games. I'm really getting into the aerobic boxing. However, I wish there was a way to turn off the hints, especially in yoga and strength. The trainers are helpful, but they can get repetitious. And I don't like being chastised for skipping a day (Too busy to work out yesterday, eh, Wendy?)
4. Eat healthier: I'm trying!
5. Eating at the table: There are very few nights that we do not eat at the table. Maggie loves to pray (Bwess us oh Lawd!) and Rocky has her asking to be excused: "I'm all done. Pease! I'm cused!" I'm also now in the habit of cleaning the kitchen -- at least getting the dishes in the dishwasher -- right after supper. This is a HUGE step for me :)
6. Turn the TV off night: Maybe when it's warmer and we can go outside . . . Though, last weekend, Maggie was in her room and when I walked by she hollered out at me "Mommy, want to play a game with me?" and we played the Brown Bear game on her bed.

Resolution Update

I figure if I'm going to make resolutions, I need to track my progress so here goes:

1. Get Maggie in her own bed more often: Little progress. Though Rocky put her to bed the other night and she slept there all night long. I put her in her own bed last night and she slept until around midnight, when I was woken up by Rocky telling me she's awake and calling for me. I laid by her for a little while until she asked to go to "Daddy's room." She tossed and turned there until she finally told me she had to go potty. I think that's a pretty good reason to wake me up, especially when she really did go potty and it wasn't just a stall tactic.
2. Find a new church home. We attended a Presbyterian church on the other side of town last weekend. It is small, but very friendly. The crowd seemed older, but they only have one service (11 am) and football starts at 11 am here, so I'm curious to see if the crowd changes when football is over. We couldn't find a church we liked with an early service, so we are expanding our criteria.
3. Lose weight/eat healthier: Slow progress and I should probably split this out. But for now . . . I'm tracking my food on spark people.com and have been for a few months. It also allows me to track my activities, but I don't believe their calorie burning counts, so I try to just keep track of my time and disregard what they say about calorie burning. My tracking has been lacking lately, and I find I eat better if I have to account for it! I did skip my work out last night with a lame excuse: I wanted to use the Wii and Maggie was watching TV there.
4. Eating at the table: We are doing great on this one! Every work night we have eaten at the table. I was a little lax this weekend, but right now Maggie loves to help, so she will start setting the table for me while I finish up dinner.
5. Turn the TV off night: I think I might try this tonight. It is Rocky's workout night, so I think I will bring out Uno and Candyland and see if I can entice Maggie. I don't enjoy Wednesday night TV, but if the games don't work, I am going to try to get her into the Planet Earth shows on Discovery. I've DVR'd a few and I think they are cool. She did like seeing the humpback whale on one episode. So at least it would be "healthy" TV tonight.

2009 Resolutions

I've been thinking about resolutions the past few days. I seem to make the same every year: lose weight, eat healthier, etc. While those are still in view, I thought there are a few others that I should pursue:

1. Get Maggie in her own bed more often. Maggie used to be a pretty quiet sleeper. Not so anymore. She's a very warm blooded little girl and when she gets hot in the night, she starts kicking the covers off. She is usually snuggled close to me, which means, my covers get kicked off as well. My hesitation is that she still wakes up in the night and isn't good at getting herself to back to sleep, so I get "Mommy, where are you?" through the monitor. Which means my sleep is disrupted. And the most important thing here is that I get my sleep!
2. Find a new church home. We've been on this search really since leaving Michigan. We loved our church there -- it was a great fit for us. We had a pretty good church in Virginia. And now, here we are in Montana, back in the search. We need to stop looking for another Westminster and just look for a good fit.
3. Yeah, well, I'm going to keep losing weight and eating healthier on the list because they need to stay there. I did set up a work out schedule for Rocky and me and I did about 40 minutes (total) on the Wii Fit last night. I like the Wii Fit because I'm not doing the same thing for 20-30 minutes and I still feel like I get a good workout.
4. Along those same lines, we need to eat more meals at the nice dining table we have and not in front of the TV. We all eat better that way, and it seems like Maggie actually eats.
5. I would like to establish a game night and turn the TV off, but Maggie is still a little young for board games. We could make it a Wii night as Maggie loves to play "The Wheel Game" (MarioKarts), "Make Music" (Wii Music) and "Do Strong Legs" (yoga on the Wii Fit). However, it's not always fun for us to play those games with her, but maybe that's just all part of being a parent.

I think that's a pretty good list, pretty long. I'll have to check back on this list in a month to see how well I'm doing.