A Bust

So this was my first full week using this awesome window command center that David hung up for me last week.

(The black boxes are over Little Miss' name for her privacy.)

 The idea is that I look at it every night before bed to remind me of my to do's for the next day. It is also in a convenient spot so I can refer back to it throughout the day to help keep me on track. I've written things that always need to get done in permanent marker (which can be removed with nail polish remover if/when needed) and then use a wet erase marker for smaller to do's that change weekly.

I suppose I can say that my first full week using it was kind of a bust.  Not a total bust because I definitely looked at it often and got to cross things off my list everyday, but I still didn't accomplish everything I planned to... We'll call it a work in progress.

Since I believe that self reflection is the best way to improve oneself, instead of being disapointed, I'll look at my efforts and where I fell short and try to determine why so that I can do better next time.  There are two main things that I could improve that would help me complete more of my to do's:
1) Staying focused - I often get side tracked, either with Ayden or by randomly remembering or stumbling across another thing I need to do, etc. The best thing to do in this scenario would be to put my current task on pause, tend to Ayden or just jot down the other to do and then return to my previous task and finish it.  What I actually do is leave the task partially completed, forget about it and move onto something else.  After doing that a few times, I end up with a bunch of partially completed tasks, half of which weren't even on my to do list to begin with, and no time to finish the other items on my list that I had actually planned to do.
2) Time management - If I don't set some sort of timer or have somewhere I need to be that limits my time, I tend to "piddle" as my mom accused me of doing time and time again as a child.  I just mosey along at a snail's pace.  It makes things a little more therapeutic when I take my time but it is far from efficient!  When I set a timer or am pressed for time I get so much more done and though the fast pace isn't always enjoyable at the time, I always feel more accomplished at the end of an efficient day.

So those are my goals for next week.  Stay focused and manage my time wisely!  Hopefully I can cross every single item off of my board next week!  I will break the board down in tomorrow's post but to sum it up, it is FlyLady inspired.  I am far from "flying" as she would say, but I do have morning and evening routines in place which keep our house from being completely out of control.  It just isn't feasable for me to do all of the deep cleaning and whatnot that the FlyLady has you do with a young baby but someday I hope to use the FlyLady program to it's fullest potential.  Once I obtain June Clever status, ha!

Ayden had a wonderful day today!  I can actually blame him a bit for my not getting everything done on my to do list.  When he fell asleep nursing for his morning nap, I just couldn't put him down.  I was blissfully caught up in the moment and soaked up every minute of his nap, watching him sleep.  It wasn't a super long nap, about 40 minutes, even though he was napping on me which usually helps him sleep longer.  While he slept I did get a few things done that David had added to my to do list this morning from my phone so at least I was a little productive...

So much better than any to do list!

 Maverick has been one of Ayden's favorite things for a while now but I think Maverick might finally be starting to like Ayden back.  Mav's always been pretty indifferent when it comes to Ayden but we've been having Ayden give Mav his treats lately and Ayden is always crawling over to Mav to touch his feet or just sit and look at him with wonder.  I had to hang the diapers in the sun this morning after our walk and brought Ayden and Maverick outside with me.  I sat Ayden in the only shade that we have in our backyard from our tiny maple tree and started hanging the diapers.  I was keeping an eye on Maverick because he tends to get in to mischief in the yard, and of course kept an eye on Ayden.  Ayden doesn't really like to crawl in grass so the yard is one place he'll actually stay put these days.  Maverick found the trail of the rabbit that lives under our deck and spent the whole time enthusiastically following it all around the yard.  I hung a few more diapers then turned to check on Ayden only to find Maverick had plopped down right next to him in the shade.  Ayden just looked over and touched one of his paws with a cute little smile on his face as if to say, "Hello, friend, you are just so cool!"  I love it!  I'm so glad that Ayden gets to experience the love for a dog during his childhood.  Dogs are a lot of work for adults but to children, they are magical companions.  I always loved having dogs, or any pets for that matter, and always wanted my children to have those relationships in their lives.  Maverick will be the dog Ayden talks about to his friends at school and will be his primary playmate for the next few years.  I just love seeing our little boy with his best friend :).

Now Ayden is in bed and David and I are getting ready for movie night!  I believe we are going to watch Hugo.  This is our kind of date night these days <3 .=".">

~Sarah