New Years Resolutions....

2012 has been an amazing year for me.  I actually achieved more this year than I had ever believed possible.  

So let's start with what I have already achieved:

1.  I completed my first year at University doing a Bachelor in Midwifery, and with the exception of 1 subject, I actually really nailed it with Credits & Distinctions!

2.  I maintained the weight I lost, I managed to lose 30kg in a nine month period.  I've since lost another 5kg, even without exercising as much as I should have, and being as strict as I could have!

3.  I RAN a 12km run with my husband!  It is an event called the City 2 Bay, it's 12km from the city of Adelaide to the beach at Glenelg, we did it on our anniversary, and I ran every single painstaking step without stopping!

4.  I taught 4 little people a little bit more about life and living.

5.  I managed to save for and plan for my husband and I to go on our very much belated honeymoon!  Trip of well a couple of decades to Port Douglas!  And it was an active, adventure holiday!  

6.  I nominated myself for Weight Watchers People's Choice award and in one of the final weeks, I received the most votes of anyone else!  I didn't win overall, but I achieved!

Okay, so it's not a huge number of things, but they're pretty significant!  And for the coming year?  There's still so much I want to do!

1.  Complete at least 250 exercise classes.  Classes, not sessions, because if I do (for example) Body Pump and then Body Balance, that's 2 classes, not 1 and I'm not going to rip myself off!

2.  Lose at least 7.5kg from what I weigh today (which is 82.5kg)

3.  Make it through 2nd year at University.

4.  Budget!  It's not easy with 4 small kids, money doesn't stretch as far as it should, but I'd love next year to be stress free when it comes to buying gifts etc for birthdays and Christmas! 

5.  Have my surgery!  Hoping it'll happen in about February, but we'll see!

6.  Volunteer at Miss 5's school to do 'something', canteen duty etc!

7.  Not take on as much as I usually do!  I'm always the first to offer to have people over, to make birthday cakes etc.  This coming year I won't do that!

8.  Get Miss 5 into a better bedtime routine!

9.  Take time to relax!  I will try not to let the little things get to me!  Let the kids make mess and make noise and be kids, for they'll be this small for such a short time!  One day I'll be wishing I could have this time back!

10.  One day per week of essential spending ONLY!

11.  On days I don't have skim mocha's, I'll put the $5.35 or $5.50 into a glass jar so that I can SEE how much money would normally go on the coffee's!

12.  All silver change will go in the kids money boxes at the end of each day!

I'll leave it there for now!  But I'd like to wish the very few people who take the time to read my blog a very Happy New Year!  Stay happy, stay safe, stay healthy and stay relaxed :-)

Christmas, Kids, Kilo's and Craziness!

My Dad is from a large family, my husband is from a large family, and we've created what these days is considered... a LARGE family!  Day to day having 4 kids is generally great, we get 4 x the cuddles, 4 x the love, 4 x the tantrums etc.  But at Christmas all chaos reins supreme!  The amount of presents the kids received was extraordinary! And while both they and us certainly appreciate that so many people care enough to buy them gifts, I fear that next year I may have to speak up and ask that changes are made to the gift giving process!

We all know that kids love toys, but they have a favourite that they find and they play with that frequently, they certainly don't have more than a few favourites, and when they get new presents, maybe only 1 of them will join that exclusive group.  So, I have a kitchen table FULL of toys which remain in their boxes, we have 2 drum kits, 2 sets of boy babushka dolls, 3 play doh sets etc.  Miss 5 got a number of presents valued at $20-$30 which she'll open and put away and more than likely forget about because she has so much 'stuff'.  She did get a 2 wheel scooter which is her favourite present, but the rest she's shown little interest in.  Now what she really wanted was a DS, which we were happy for her to have, yet finances didn't allow for one.  But, if each of the people who bought her the smaller gifts had put that money in, she could have got what she 'really' wanted and would have used until it wore out!  Like I said, I'm not ungrateful at all, but 4 kids with 4 lots of presents that are given for the sake of giving a gift, and they don't need so much STUFF! 

One of the things I want to teach our kids is how to value things, how to appreciate the things that you have, and when they have so many things that's a really hard lesson to teach!

So, I'm thinking that next year, I ask each family group to put in what they would have bought, perhaps buy 1 x $50 present for Santa to hand over, but then also have 1 more expensive present that they will get good use out of!

That's the Christmas part out of the way!  Now on to kids!  3 x 2yo's all in cots and eventually someone had to figure out how to climb out of the cot, and my 6pm-7am sleeping patterns have been thrown in to complete and utter chaos!  Day naps are slowly becoming a thing of the past, and this Mumma is going a bit crazy!  I'm not sure where I went right tonight (though hubby is on an afternoon shift?) but they were all asleep in their own beds by 6.17pm! After about two weeks of 8-9pm sleep times and it's a rare treat!

KILO'S, KILO'S, KILO'S, KILO'S & KILO'S.  Yep, add them up! There's 5 of them!  5 have gone on since I went to Port Douglas 1 month and 3 days ago.  Life has been out of control, watching what I eat has gone by the wayside and exercise had become a thing of the past.  But when I hopped on the scales on Wednesday morning (I decided to get Christmas Day out of the way) and I saw how much I'd actually gained, I decided it was time for drastic action!  Boxing Day was watching my food intake, the following day was going to my new gym for a Body Attack & Body Pump class, yesterday was good eating again and today was 30mins of Body Step, 30mins of Body Pump and 30mins of Body Combat!  I'm bringing sexy back!

In February(ish) I'm due to have surgery for my abdo separation and removal of the excess skin, I'm not ashamed of my body, it's carried my 4 children (3 at once), I've done remarkable things. But the abdo separation is a medical, stability, necessary surgery, and the excess skin is a bonus of that!  But having a very good friend who is an amazing photographer, I'm actually thinking of asking her to do a 'before' photo shoot (in underwear) so that I do have a record of what I achieved all on my own before surgery, the scars that came about from surgery that saved my life, and stretching of the skin that is a result of my babies going from embryo's to healthy little babies!

Craziness! Well, life in general is crazy, but I'm doing my very best to be as organised, motivated, calm, serene, happy and active as possible!!