Month in Review and July Goals

I had very simple goals for June, but I didn’t quite accomplish them. I did make one more maternity skirt (and was very happy with how it turned out), but I only made one pair of shorts for Johnny instead of the two I was supposed to. I do love the pair I made, and Johnny wears them all the time after an initial meltdown that I’ll attribute to trying to get him to model at bedtime. The good news is, my absolutely wonderful 14-year-old sister will be staying with us on the weekends from now until the end of the month (another sister gets her during the week). I’m excited to get to spend some time with her - and since, to quote Emma, “Kids love Aunt K.”, I’m thinking I might be able to get a little more sewing done.

The fact that my 18-month-old owns only two pairs of shorts would be more of a problem if we were having proper summer weather instead of near-non-stop rain and highs in the low 70s. I turned the heat on at least four times in June, and we never set our thermostat above 67...

Anyhow, on to annual goals:

Find places to keep all those odds and ends that get stashed in random places: Didn’t do much on this, but my house was clean for most of the month.

Potty train Emma: Another great month in this department. In fact, Johnny used the potty four times, but it seems to have been a temporary interest. I wasn’t too keen to potty train him this close to a major family event (addition of a sibling) anyhow.

Get Johnny to eat more solid food: He’s doing really well in this department, eating most of what the rest of the family eats. And his stomach issues seem to have resolved themselves, hooray!!!

Be more patient with cooking/baking that involves a rolling pin: Thoroughly ignored this month.

Take the kids outdoors more: June was a month of rain, rain, and more rain in Massachusetts. We did go outside, but my silly children dislike getting muddy for some odd reason, so they don’t like going out in the rain. We’ll have to work on that, particularly if summer weather doesn’t appear soon!

Get the kids to sleep through the night better: They are doing great at bedtime, but naptime has become rough… They only napped every other day for the past two weeks, and they didn’t nap Tuesday or Wednesday this week. Anyone have brilliant suggestions for getting toddlers to nap? They will lie down and rest, but they aren’t sleeping – and they frequently get into mischief instead of resting! I’m really missing my “at least one child is unconscious so I have a little more freedom to do what I want” time.

July goals:

• Make some newborn cloth diapers (I may have designed and sewn my own wedding dress – including the satin and lace bits – but I’m terrified of sewing cloth diapers and procrastinated that task this month by serging baby wipes instead)
• Make Johnny at least one pair of shorts
• Wash baby clothes
• Pack hospital bags

July “bonus” goals:

• Organize some activities to keep Emma and Johnny busy once the baby arrives
• Have the baby – definitely not a given, but something I would love to see happen this month!

What are your plans for July?