Happy New Year everyone!!

By the time this post goes live, our little family will be on our first family road trip of the new year! In reflecting on 2024 and jotting down my intentions for 2025, I thought it would be nice to share my thoughts here in hopes that we might have / want some of the same things for the new year!

I hope that if anyone out there is looking for a fresh start, I hope this new year brings it for you. I hope that this new year serves as a reset for us all and that we all find time to really center on what matters to us the most and how to achieve the things we envision for ourselves this year!

I know one of my main intentions for the new year is to just slow down and soak in each moment, mainly the moments that I’m home or with my kids. Sometimes (especially during the work week), I tend to visualize my day as a checklist – school drop off, get to work, work, pump, work, pump, work, school pick up, baths for both kids, dinner, bedtime routine (potty, brush teeth, read 3 books), and until it’s all completed I don’t give myself a break or time to relax. I’ve been intentional lately with more or less romanticizing even the tedious of tasks, and rather than rushing through my mental checklist, enjoying the moments more. For instance, Avery and I spend her bath time talking about her day or what she learned at school, I no longer rush through it, and Jaxson and I work on exercising his legs a lot while I’m doing his bath and I let him really explore and enjoy the water for longer than usual just for the sake of it. I’ve had to remind myself that moments are truly fleeting and that even the ones I loathe (like getting to that 3rd book in the bedtime routine), won’t last forever and I will eventually miss them. I really came to this realization a few weeks ago when I officially stopped waking up overnight to pump (hallelujah!!) My body finally regulated and at 7 months, (might be a TMI), but I stopped leaking everywhere and feeling engorged. I went three nights in a row where I didn’t wake up to pump and then it hit me that Jaxson is getting older (has already started solids btw!), and that my breastfeeding journey will also eventually come to an end, so while it’s an enormous amount of work, and exhausting I might add, it too will come to an end, sooner than I’m sure I realize. SO, as much as I’d love to light my breast pump on fire, I will continue to use it while away from Jaxson in order to continue giving him what my body can.

Rather than resolutions, which are great, and I definitely have a few written down in my day planner, my bigger focus for the new year are intentions, and what I really want to focus on throughout my days. Here’s a few of my intentions for the new year:

+ focus on quality time with those I love/enjoy— emphasis on enjoy! No more wasting time on being around people that drain me or feel like obligations to me. Life is too short! Be intentional on who gets your time and energy!

+ stop mindless scrolling!! I want to be intentional with the content that I am consuming. I actually deleted and muted a lot of accounts because if I’m on my phone, I only want to see things that actually matter to me, you know?

+ more self care things! I need to really nail down a self care routine for myself, something simple like a bath once a week to really allow myself some me time that is non-negotiable. I tend to have this great idea of sitting down for even 10 minutes by myself to do a face mask or something, but by the time I’ve got the kids down and done all the prepping for the next day, I find myself scrapping out those 10 minutes and just going to bed instead. I want something that no matter what, I stick too! I know it’ll pay off in the end and I’ll feel good doing something for just me.

+ be specific with things in the kitchen – I’m looking forward to doing a total pantry reset and designing a consistent grocery list/meal idea list full of healthy and colorful options! I also want to really spend more time cooking! If you know me, you know that my husband does the cooking for our family, but this year I really want to try to take it on more!

+ listen to my body more – I want to allow myself the space to rest and relax if my body is feeling more tired than normal, or a little sluggish. I tend to push myself harder on those days because I hate feeling like I’m “slumming” it, but I’ve realized it isn’t bad to have an off day and on those days, I just need to give myself a break! Be intentional with how I treat my body!

+ INTENTIONALLY PLAN THE BEST FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER FOR BABY BOY!! It wouldn’t be a list of mine if it didn’t include some sort of party planning, now would it? 🙂 you already know the theme has been chosen and the pinterest board has been started.

Well what are some things you’re looking forward to in this new year?