A Victory!

I wanted to take a moment and share a little victory I'm having today.  After all, this blog is all about Girls Making Goals and reaching them, so I think every small goal should be celebrated along with the big ones.

Today is my six week postpartum appointment with my obstetrician. When my son was born, I gave myself a goal to be at a certain weight by the time this appointment rolled around.  Yesterday, I stepped on the scale and found out that I met my goal!  I am 13 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight!

Since I have met this goal, I'm ready to set another: by New Year's Day, I want to be within five pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight.  I think this is very realistic because I should be able to pump up the exercise after my doctor clears me.  All I've done up to this point is walk.

I believe my body has returned to its pre-pregnancy shape due to several factors:

1. I was healthy when I got pregnant.  I wanted to be in great shape when my husband and I were trying to conceive.  For some reason, I just felt that the entire process would be easier.  And in my case, it was.  We conceived within two months of trying to have a baby.

2. I kept up a walking routine.  Both my doctor and my mom constantly encouraged me to keep walking while I was pregnant.  And it seems that some research indicates walking throughout pregnancy not only helps you feel better during the pregnancy, but also aids in an easier delivery.

3. I am nursing.  Obviously, the nutritional benefits for my baby were enough to encourage me to nurse.  But I have to admit, rather selfishly, that when I read that nursing burns up to 500 calories a day, I was sold! I thought it would be the easiest exercise program ever!  Ha!  It really is hard work, not to mention, my son likes to eat A LOT!  But now that we've both gotten the hang of it, I wouldn't do anything differently.  It's convenient and cheap and nourishing to my baby.

4. I believe that my body will, in time, return to its healthiest weight.  It's easy to get stressed that my body is not the same as it was a year ago, but then I remind myself that it just did this amazing job of carrying a baby full-term!  Anyone who has carried a baby should be commended!  You are a rock star!  Isn't it amazing that your body can handle so much?  What an innovative Creator we have!  And in time, if well cared for, a body can look as good as it did before pregnancy.  I have many friends who are proof of this!

I'm not seeking to brag or toot my own horn in all of this.  I just wanted to share what has worked so far for me.

All I can say is that every extra pound and new stretch mark was worth it when I snuggle my precious son.  I would do it again in a second!

This is my first pregnancy picture at eight weeks. I was still at my pre-pregnancy weight.  Hoping to get back to this by January 2014!

Bloom Where You're Planted

"She was a wife and mother, in love with the life she lived." -Nicholas Sparks, from A Bend in the Road

It is not very often that I run across a quote in a novel that stands out to me.  However, I just finished reading this wonderful novel listed above by Nicholas Sparks and several pages from the end, I read the line above.  And it caught my attention, probably because that line very much describes my life right now.

If someone asked me what I do today, I would say my job is "wife and mother". Even though my profession is a musician, being a wife and mother in this period of my life far outweighs anything else going on.

But the second part of the quote is what really inspired me: "she was...in love with the life she lived." What a beautiful line.  How many of us can honestly say we're in love with the life we live?

Go ahead and be honest with yourself: are you?

I believe a huge part of loving your life is looking for the opportunities to flourish right where you are.  I live away from my mom (very far away, about 800 miles), and for the longest time, I wasn't content with my life because I didn't live close.  Finally after several years, I stopped fighting myself and began to set goals and dream about what could be right where I am in Florida.  And that is when good things started happening and momentum began to take me to greater levels of personal and professional success.

One of my favorite quotes is "Bloom where you're planted".  You may not feel like you have the resources around you that you would like, but you can always take what you do have and make something with them.  Wherever God happens to have you in this moment of your life is where you are supposed to be.  It's easy to fight it and hope that things will change, but I challenge you to bloom where you are.  You can flourish, even in a desert season.

Can you imagine how much better our world would be if more women rose up and decided to truly love the life we live?

My wish for you is that you would find contentment in the here and now.  Live today.  It's all you really have anyway.

Mini Goals

Well, I realize that it's been over a month since I posted anything. As any of my readers may know, the last time I posted was days away from the birth of my son.

I am happy to report, Landon Christopher King was born on Tuesday, September 3rd, weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces.

He has quickly become the center of my world!  Since coming home from the hospital two days after his birth, there has been little time to do anything besides feed, burp, change, and cuddle my little munchkin.

One thing that has been difficult for me is realizing my limitations within a 24 hour day.  There is just not enough time to do the things I used to do.  Heck, sometimes I barely have time to choke down lunch!

Enter the mini goal.  A mini goal is a single step goal that I can accomplish in about ten minutes or less. This little trick has become my lifeline this past week.  I wake up in the morning and jot down no more than five mini goals that I want to achieve during my day.

Today's mini goals were as follows:

1. Bathe
2. Journal
3. Figure finances
4. Walk
5. Pick up the clutter in the living room

Now I realize some of these are basic, basic things.  But, now that I have little time to myself, I feel pretty amazing when I get to check off "bathe" on my list (and I do it while my son is sleeping!).

Mini goals are all about instant gratification.  Right now, I'm not at a place where I can work on major life goals.  And that's ok.  Because one of my unwritten goals is to spend this time working on becoming the best mommy I can be.  But having mini goals still allows me to see what I've accomplished during a day, all the while straddling a cutie in my arms.

If you are like me and are facing a very busy time in your life, maybe it will benefit you to work on mini goals as opposed to a big life goal.  All you need is a post-it or an electronic device that lets you make a to-do list and you're in business.  Try not to do more than five mini goals.  The idea is to see yourself making progress, not overwhelming yourself if you're unable to finish a giant to-do list.

I hope using mini goals is helpful for you!