I'm a Work in Progress

It's Progress Party time at Serenity Now!

I wish I could show you some major before and after photos of my home. But I can't, because not much has changed around here. Today I did order some art to hang over the piano, though...so that's a little progress.

The biggest project at the moment is me. I'm not changing dramatically, but I'm trying to make sure I don't lose myself in all the wonderful-ness of motherhood. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. You see, back in 2008, after Peanut was born I was not very happy.

I was ecstatic that I was a mother (Peanut's arrival answered many years worth of prayers), but I felt lost and lonely. Looking back I'm sure I had at least a touch of PPD, and it was very easy to forget about myself (which made everything worse). Now that I have two boys I don;t have time to be sad; so while taking care of them is my number one priority, I am working on taking care of me, too.

The first thing I did was promise myself that if I felt sad to tell my OB - and to do it right away (thankfully I have been so HAPPY!). I realize PPD doesn't necessarily surface in the first few weeks after baby is born, so I'll continue to monitor my feelings.

Then I had my hair cut :) It had gotten ridiculously long, and the ends were super-straggly.

pay no attention to my double chin

There was a silver lining to the long-hair-due-to-neglect -- I had enough length taken off (and the ends weren't really very bad) that my hair was donated to Locks of Love. So I felt pretty good about that (although, after doing some research, if I donate again, it won't be to LoL). I feel much sassier now.

omg - I got bangs!

Last night (wait for it) I went to the gym. I have a secret plan (which I guess is now public) to run a 5K in the fall with Hubs. I'll be pushing the double jogging stroller, so we'll see how long I can actually run for, but it's a goal :) I plan on starting the Couch to 5K plan within the next two weeks.

The next part is going to take a real leap for me, I'm seriously thinking about going back to school in January. That would mean putting the kids in day care, and taking out a student loan, and probably cutting back on some of my volunteering. But I know the longer I put it off, the harder it will be to go back. I'm not sure if I'm going to finish the STC degree I started at Tech, or if I will switch to Interior Design (that's what I really want to do) - either way it's going to be slow going. Not to mention I will be a "non-traditional student." Ugh. But I need to earn a degree.

The last bit is far less important and way more fun. I'm updating our master bedroom!

This is how it looks today (the bassinet will be gone within a few weeks, but it's a pain to move):






Right now I'm thinking - new dresser for me (the one pictured is Hubs, he found it at a farm auction and I love it!). Possibly this one from IKEA, I love it in grey. Maybe a stencil (similar to this) on the wall behind the bed. New bedside lamps. Finally do something about that awful bedskirt (a remnant from bedding which was replaced 2 years ago). And a new sitting area in front of the window - I would love two rattan chairs, but would really need to luck out and find them at the thrift store or on CL.

So that's my "progress," my totally selfish, all about me progress :)