2012 Goals Check-Up

Well, I thought I would take a little look and see how I am doing with my goals 3 months out...

1. To continue to share our story, on this blog, and with people that I meet. Our story has brought us in contact with some really great people that we wouldn't have met otherwise. I feel like something good will come out of this, in time, and hopefully letting other people share in our journey is helping someone, somewhere.



Still blogging, so still sharing our story that way. We continue to meet people in our community and in the online community that we have been sharing our story with.

2. Continue to see God working in our lives. He has brought us through so much and we continue to have hope in him that he will see us through whatever is next for us.
I know that God continues to work in our lives. He has been preparing and paving the way for us long, long ago before we were even born. We don't know what is next yet, but we will keep looking to see what God has in store for us.

3. Money. Sigh. We are SO thankful for all of you who have chosen to help our family financially. Honestly, we would be bankrupt if God hadn't taken care of us the way that he has. We have gone from a two full time income household, to one and a little, tiny bit. Thankfully, we have two cars that are paid off. They aren't pretty, but they are ours. When we bought a house we set the price for what we wanted and then found a house whose price just happened to be lowered that day to something less than what we had planned. We are thankful now for those house payments instead of the ones we would have been making on a more expensive house. We tried to put Cohen on both of our insurances and it just wasn't working out. And so we had to pick a different option, and thankfully, it covers all of Cohen's medical bills. It's not what we had planned, but it has been a blessing in disguise. The reality of that hit when we got an $890,0000 bill in the mail. And that was just ONE of them (and he is worth every penny!) and doesn't include Carter's or my own bills. I'm telling you this because God has provided for us in huge ways through circumstances and also through some generous family, friends, and even strangers. Our goal is to take care of this money as best we can. This year our prayer is that we will be good stewards of what we have.
We have put ourselves on a budget using the envelope system. We have only been doing it for 2 months so we are still getting used to it. It's so easy to swipe that debit card and not really think about it, but when you have cash in your hand and you see how fast it goes...it makes you think a little more about whether you really need something.

4. This kind of goes along with the above and we will see how this one goes. I have been trying to practice this a little bit already, but I really want to give this a try for the whole year. I am not buying Cohen any clothes over $5. We have been giving some of Cohen's clothes that he has outgrown away and taking some to the local consignment store. I have found that I can get some nice clothes there, some still with tags, for a very reasonable price. At this age Cohen goes through clothes so fast that I'm not sure I can justify spending a lot on brand new clothes. I will probably make a few exceptions, like a "birthday boy" shirt on his birthday or if there is other special occasions. But I am going to really try to do this all year. So if you have any boy clothes you want to get rid of...I know a very cute boy who would wear them
I am happy to say that this has probably been my most successful goal! :) We have been given some hand-me-downs which have been a huge help. I think the only thing I have spent more than $5 on has been plain white onesies. It's hard to find them at the consignment store, probably because they don't stay white for very long. So, I bought a pack of onesies...although I guess if you count the price individually, they are under $5 each!

5. I mentioned my Project Life album earlier and that is something that I really want to keep on top of this year. I think it will be really neat to look back at our year this way.
Started out well, now I'm way behind...like  back in January. Gotta jump back on the wagon with this.

6. Clean out our extra room. Ugh. It started out as my craft/sewing room and has now become a junk room. Things we haven't had time to deal with or organize end up in there or in the garage. So my goal this year is to clean it out and organize it.
Yeah, this hasn't happened. I need a professional organizer.

7. To keep perspective. Losing a baby changes you. Having a baby sick and in the hospital changes you. It changes the way you view things and what you make important in your life. One of my personal goals is to try and continue to focus on what is important and let the rest go. Sometimes I have high expectations of myself and I get frustrated if things aren't done how I think they should be or when they should be. But, there are things in life that matter, and there are things that don't. There are things that are worth my time (Jesus, family, friends) and there are things that aren't (getting grumpy about long lines at the grocery store, the house not being spotless etc.)
Well, this is kind of hit or miss. Sometimes I just really don't have the energy for other people's drama, but sometimes it is a nice break from my own.

8. To give back. We have been given so much and we want to continue to pass it on however we can. We aren't sure what that will look like yet, maybe another project like the stockings. We will see...
Finding little projects to work on is a nice distraction for me. It is also really healing for me to work on things that I know are going to hopefully help another family. We have another NICU Care Package project in the works. I also have about 200 diapers to make to donate to local hospitals (St. Joe's, UW, and a local NILMDTS photographer) who have expressed interest in teeny, tiny cloth diapers for babies that have passed away. I have been working with this wonderful family who started this idea. The little diapers are handmade and given to hospitals. Families are given a set of diapers, one for the baby and one for the family as a keepsake. There are two sizes, tiny (up to 34 weeks) and tinier (as small as 20 weeks).

9. Oh, and to eat more vegetables. 
I don't want to talk about it. 

It's good to look back and see how I'm doing and remind myself of what I wanted out of this year. I'm off to work on those diapers!