Philip and I decided to get serious about changing a few things around here with our version of Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project. I wrote about it here. Basically, we’re doing small things to improve our own happiness to in turn increase the happiness of those around us. Philip and I decided to touch base last night before bed to see where we thought we were with our October Happiness Project Resolutions. To help hold us accountable, I thought I’d share our thoughts here. In case you forgot, our October Happiness Project Resolutions were:
Philip, running or elliptical 3x per week before leaving for work
Sleep
9:00 p.m. get ready for bed
Lights out at 10:00 p.m.
Faith
Weeknight family prayer time after bathtime before bed
1 decade of the Rosary followed by bedtime prayers at the dinner table
Let’s tackle these one by one… 1. Exercise
Catherine: The 6:00 a.m. routine worked a few times, but my exhaustion got the best of me most mornings. The combination of the “big kids” waking up at 5:30 most mornings and Harry needing at least one feeding in the middle of the night made for one tired mama. I’m switching my routine to gain some snooze time. My new routine: Tuesdays and Thursdays once I get home from dropping Jane off at preschool and Saturday mornings, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, level 1.
Philip: My sweet hubby was so supportive trying to get everyone dressed and fed in the mornings that he put himself last most days. Unfortunately, he has a tough rotation on the docket for November, so we’re still brainstorming ways that he can get his exercise in daily. For now, Philip’s goal is to run or do the elliptical 2x per week.
2. Sleep
Harry has changed his feeding routine since his last pediatric visit. (Translation: He’s low on the percentile chart and my pediatrician would like him to fatten up before his next weigh-in. This means he’s eating longer and more frequently.) He’s having his last feeding around 9/9:30. We start getting ready for bed immediately afterward, but we should get ready for bed before I start that feeding. We’ve been in bed most weeknights before 10, but we can work harder to reach that goal. Perhaps we could try to make Harry’s feeding closer to 9, make it a goal to be in bed by 9:45, and lights out by 10:30.
3. Faith
We have said 1 decade of the Rosary followed by bedtime prayers at the dinner table *almost* every night since making this resolution. We missed a few times because of Philip’s work schedule, date nights, events with extended family that kept the kids up too late, etc., but the family Rosary is definitely a habit. On the rare nights that we missed it, the kids asked about it. Hooray for a regular family prayer routine that is sticking!
Things that helped our family Rosary time be successful:
Routine
Low lighting and candles (with the promise that each child can blow out a candle at the end if they do a good job praying)
Rosaries with cord and plastic beads for the kiddos
Picking battles and accepting baby steps toward reverence
Laminating & displaying an image of the mystery of the Rosary that we are praying on a stand (flanked by the lit candles)
Our family prayer binder that holds our materials
Our prayer binder tabs & pockets with prayer materials
One of our laminated images we display while praying the Rosary
Here are few photos from our family Rosary time:
Baby steps toward reverence… Saints in the making, right?
So, overall, I’d say we’re doing well. We can improve each area, but we are making strides in the right direction. Our Happiness Project is off to a great start, and we already have ideas for our November resolutions.
Do you have any suggestions for a future resolution? What’s something you’re doing to boost your own happiness & the happiness of others?
My good friend, Nicole, is going to deliver her third baby (and our godson!) any day. Since she already has all of her baby gear, I thought I’d make her present all about her and her hospital stay. I decided to put together a hospital “survival kit” to pamper her, her husband, and all of the sweet nurses that will care for her during her stay.
Nicole’s Labor/Delivery/Postpartum Survival Kit in all of its glory
Here are a few pictures of the contents:
Non-smelly lotion, room air freshener, hand soap, mints, hand wipes, gum, tissues, chapstick
Scented foaming hand soap for visitors to use before holding the new baby. “Please scrub before snuggles! Thank you!”
In addition to the contents for Nicole, I included a fun surprise for the nurses. I wish I could take credit for this brilliant idea, but like most creative ideas, I found this one on Pinterest! The general idea is you fill a container with goodies, label it “Nurse Bait” with a cute little poem, and use it to lure the nurses in to take extra good care of the patient. I decided to use a pail and shovel for the “Nurse Bait” container. I found the poem here, printed it off on cardstock, and laminated it before attaching it to the pail.
“Nurse Bait”
NURSE BAIT
When one’s in the hospital and feeling sick,
The very best thing is to get well quick.
The nurses are wonderful and take good care.
They can’t stay long. It’s just not fair!
To lure them in to check on you
Even more often than they usually do,
This bucket of NURSE BAIT should do the trick,
To get them to see you often and quick!
So, with extra visits and extra care
Hopefully you’ll soon be outta here!
Cute, huh?!
Here’s what the note attached to the crate says:
Friend’s Name’s
Labor/Delivery/Postpartum
Survival Kit
Pamper yourself during your hospital stay with the following items:
“Nurse Bait” (Bucket full of goodies to keep the nurses coming back to take extra good care of you!)
Soothing lavender room spray for when things need freshening
Burt’s Bees lotion – a non-flowery smell so that you can pamper yourself without overwhelming Baby’s Name’s nose!
Honeysuckle-scented foaming hand soap for visitors to use before holding Baby’s Name. “Please scrub before snuggles!” It smells better than the hospital stuff, too!
Tissues for the gamut of emotions
Wet Ones – because you never know when you can use more hand wipes
Kashi Cherry Dark Chocolate granola bars
Dove Dark Chocolates
Tic Tacs
Extra Spearmint Gum
Non-slide headbands and hair ties to keep your hair out of your face during labor & delivery
Chap Stick
Cute notepad for scribbling down notes, recording gifts, etc.
Baby-themed “thank you” stationery
Pink crate to help haul it (and other gifts you receive) all away
Originally, I was going to put it all into a cute basket, but I decided the crate was the way to go. With a crate, your friend can use it to haul away whatever loot they get in the hospital (gifts, diapers, formula samples, etc.) and reuse it in the future. I don’t know about you, but I forgot to bring containers to carry everything home our first time in the hospital with a baby, so I thought this might be helpful. Please, please, please feel free to copy and paste anything I typed up here and steal any of it to pamper your friend in the hospital. Having a baby is tough work, and us mamas need to make sure we’re all being pampered through the process!
I started facilitating “The Bible Timeline“study by Jeff Cavins and Tim Gray this month. Holy Toledo! I am learning so much, and we’re not even halfway into Genesis. Not only do I feel like I’m growing in my head knowledge of Sacred Scripture, but the structured study is instilling the desire to read Sacred Scripture as my own personal love letter from God. I love, love, love it!
– 2 –
As fantastic as “The Bible Timeline” study is by itself, I’m learning so much more by doing the study with Jeff Cavins’ book “Walking With God: A Journey Through the Bible” at my side. Basically, the book breaks down the story of salvation history into 12 periods (the same 12 periods explored in the Bible Timeline), and draws you into the story.
For example, have you ever read the story about Noah getting drunk and passing out naked in his tent? Then, remember how his son Ham shows up and “uncovers his nakedness”? Yeah, I know. I thought it was strange, too. Well, that whole story would have thrown me for a loop had I not had Jeff Cavins’ book nearby. I wouldn’t have known to explore the passages in Leviticus that explain that this Hebrew idiom (“uncover your father’s nakedness”) actually means to have an incestuous relationship.
Having this book as my reading companion (as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church) is helping me to confidently read Sacred Scripture within the heart of the Church.
– 3 –
My hair dryer of 3 years broke, and I got a brand new one. It’s nothing fancy, but I had no idea how terrible my old one was until I got this new one. Am I the only one that was just introduced to the hair dryer retractable cord?! Wow! That feature is amazing! I just push a button on the hair dryer and *zoom* the cord is gone. Even though I carefully kept my old hair dryer cord untangled, it managed to twist itself so tightlythat it ended up being more like one of those old school spiral telephone cords. With each use, it would wind itself up more and more, and I’d end up untwisting it at least once a month.
Not only am I loving the retractable cord, but new dryer cuts my hairdrying time in half, and my hair seems less frizzy. When your getting ready time is limited with little kiddos, this is a big deal! Have I dedicated an entire paragraph to my new hair dryer? Yes, yes I have.
– 4 –
We found a steal of a deal on Craigslist for Jane’s new big girl bed. We picked it up the other day, and Jane was so excited that she asked all morning, “Is it naptime yet?!”
Pretending to sleep in her big girl bed after we got it set up.
Jane and Walt are going to share a room, and Baby will move into the nursery when he/she arrives in August. (Jane will sleep in her new big girl bed, Walt will sleep in Jane’s old toddler bed, and Baby will sleep in Walt’s crib.) The day we got the bed, the kids slept in their own rooms at naptime, but they insisted that Walt get to sleep in Jane’s room that night in the toddler bed. Long story short, it didn’t go so hot, and we haven’t attempted putting them together since. We’ll wait a few more weeks until we attempt it again.
– 5 –
Speaking of attempting things again, Jane finally warmed back up to the idea of potty training. For awhile, she was absolutely terrified of the potty. I think a lot of it had to do with constipation. Thanks to a steady regimen of Miralax, I think we, uh, got that problem all worked out. Unfortunately, she just doesn’t care if she’s wet. In fact, I think she’d stay in the same pull-up all day long if I’d let her. Blech! She told me before naptime this afternoon that she wants to wear her big girl underwear, so I told her we had to go on the potty to wear them, and she said, “OK!” with a big smile. Here goes nothing!!! I never thought I’d be potty training a three-year-old, but here we are, and I’m not letting myself worry about it. We’ll get it figured out. As one mom told me, “You know, they never ask you when your child was potty trained on college applications.”
– 6 –
I officially start my third trimester of pregnancy tomorrow. Yay! At yesterday’s OB appointment, I did my blood glucose test for gestational diabetes, and I’m still waiting on the results. I’ve never had it before, but I’m a little nervous about the results this time around for two reasons: 1. I was up 5 lbs. from my last appointment, and 2. I was measuring 31 weeks instead of 28 weeks (and technically, I was still 27 weeks at my appointment). Both of those things don’t bode well. Until I get the results, I’m trying not to obsess over it. If I do have gestational diabetes, I know I should be able to manage it with diet. I guess I’m just nervous that I’ll have a baby that will be so big that I won’t be able to deliver vaginally, and I’d like to avoid a c-section if possible. Hopefully I’ll get the results before the weekend…
– 7 –
Can I break out the violin and play a sad song for my poor body?
The old mare is exhausted. After all, I got pregnant with Thérèse August 2012, miscarried November 2012, got pregnant two weeks later (yay!), and this baby is due August 17, 2013. So, by the time Baby arrives, I will have been pregnant for a year with a two-week “break” from my miscarriage. Don’t get me wrong! I am so, so, so thrilled to be pregnant, and I can’t wait to meet Baby, but my body doesn’t seem to be up to the job these days.
First, I had the back-to-back first trimesters with the two pregnancies. With both, I battled some rough “morning” sickness. The second trimester was pretty uneventful, but the sciatica keeps getting worse, so my OB wrote me a prescription for a maternity belt. If the belt combined with the physical therapy exercises I learned last pregnancy don’t help, I’ll probably start physical therapy up again. Spending any amount of time on my feet makes my legs throb, so it might be time for some sexy compression stockings. More and more varicose veins seem to be appearing on my legs. Youch! Having to sleep on my side doesn’t help matters. Whatever side I’m sleeping on goes numb after awhile, so I wake up to roll over, and I end up having to make a bathroom run. I’m averaging 3-5 bathroom trips a night. I just keep telling myself it’s all practice for the nighttime feedings, right???
Wah, wah, waaaaaaah!
All things considered, this pregnancy has been pretty darn good, and I’m counting my blessings that Baby seems to be doing great in there. I’ll gladly take the physical stuff on my end in exchange for a healthy baby. I just know my limits, and I know that sleep deprivation is the fastest way for me to become a meeeeeeeeeeeeeeean mama. Perhaps a little nighttime Benadryl is in order…
The Nebraska Cornhusker football team “adopted” 7-year-old brain cancer fighter, Jack Hoffman, under the leadership of former player Rex Burkhead (Number 22) through the Uplifting Athletes Campaign.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers and “Team Jack” continue to raise funds in the hopes of finding a cure for brain cancer. At any given Husker event, you’re likely to see a red “Team Jack” shirt on at least one fan.
During today’s Spring Game (the annual red and white scrimmage), Jack made the biggest play of the day. Jack took the field with the red team under the leadership of quarterback Taylor Martinez. Wearing a number 22 jersey in homage to former Husker player Rex Burkhead, Jack awaited the snap next to Martinez on 4th down. Martinez took the snap and handed the ball off to Jack. Jack ran down the field with his red team “blocking” his way through the white Husker jerseys. The crowd went wild as Jack ran into the end zone to make a 69-yard touchdown. According to an article on KETV.com, head coach Bo Pelini said the team asked Jack’s dad if he would like to participate in the spring game.
“Jack’s a young man who has touched the hearts of a lot of people. Our football team and the student body have gotten behind him, and he’s become a big part of the team,” Pelini said.
Here is another articlefrom ESPN.com about Jack’s big play. Here is the video of Jack’s 69-yard touchdown: To learn more about “Team Jack” and their crusade to cure pediatric brain cancer, please visit Team Jack Legacy Fund. Go, Team Jack! Go, Huskers!
The Nebraska Cornhusker football team “adopted” 7-year-old brain cancer fighter, Jack Hoffman, under the leadership of former player Rex Burkhead (Number 22) through the Uplifting Athletes Campaign.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers and “Team Jack” continue to raise funds in the hopes of finding a cure for brain cancer. At any given Husker event, you’re likely to see a red “Team Jack” shirt on at least one fan.
During today’s Spring Game (the annual red and white scrimmage), Jack made the biggest play of the day. Jack took the field with the red team under the leadership of quarterback Taylor Martinez. Wearing a number 22 jersey in homage to former Husker player Rex Burkhead, Jack awaited the snap next to Martinez on 4th down. Martinez took the snap and handed the ball off to Jack. Jack ran down the field with his red team “blocking” his way through the white Husker jerseys. The crowd went wild as Jack ran into the end zone to make a 69-yard touchdown. According to an article on KETV.com, head coach Bo Pelini said the team asked Jack’s dad if he would like to participate in the spring game.
“Jack’s a young man who has touched the hearts of a lot of people. Our football team and the student body have gotten behind him, and he’s become a big part of the team,” Pelini said.
Here is another articlefrom ESPN.com about Jack’s big play. Here is the video of Jack’s 69-yard touchdown: To learn more about “Team Jack” and their crusade to cure pediatric brain cancer, please visit Team Jack Legacy Fund. Go, Team Jack! Go, Huskers!
We cancelled cable about three years ago and subscribed to Netflix. Aside from a few cable shows like “Top Chef” that we can’t seem to find anywhere or the occasional Husker football game that doesn’t air on a major network, we haven’t missed cable or the bill.
Since cancelling cable, Philip and I have found some fantastic movies and television shows that we previously probably never would have given a second look.
The show chronicles the stories of the midwives and nursing nuns in 1950’s London’s East Side Nonnatus House. The women live together between making bicycle house calls to the nearby pregnant women. Each episode introduces us to new patients with quirky family members. We watch as the midwives navigate the medical and social problems hurled at them as the patients go through pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the postpartum period. The stories range from gut-wrenching to gut-busting. I laugh and cry several times each episode.
We’ve all heard that “truth is stranger than fiction.” Knowing that the show is based Jennifer Worth’s memoir makes the characters and their stories even more powerful. The memoir was previously published as The Midwife and is now titled Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times.
Call the Midwife cover image from Amazon.com
The show just aired the first episode of Season 2 on March 31. Here is a 30-second video that gives you a glimpse into the show:
In my opinion, “Call the Midwife” is one of the few shows on television that:
Convincingly and beautifully develops its characters
Conveys their wide range of emotions
Shares the gut-wrenching stories without being vulgar or explicit
Season 2 of “Call the Midwife” airs on PBS through May 19, 2013 Sunday evenings at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. I hope you’ll catch up on the previous episodes and start tuning in Sunday evenings to this fantastic show.
Once you’ve seen a few episodes, take this fun “Which Midwife Are You?” quiz! Are you Jenny, Chummy, Trixie, or Cynthia? Apparently I’m Cynthia Miller. Which Midwife Are You?
