As I've mentioned before, I absolutely love the idea of lists, goals, and self-assessment. So when I heard of the concept of decision fatigue, I became obsessed! Decision fatigue is basically the idea that you become more tired after making too many decisions, and then you make poor or irrational decisions because of it. Instances of this in my life are many, and include:
-Why I can't make myself do the dishes at night. Because I'm so tired (I'm definitely a morning person) and I can't force myself to make the right decision to do the dishes, so I make the easy (irrational) choice.
-Why I sometimes look at my meal plan for the week and decide I hate everything on it and that we should just eat out all week (or, alternatively, eat grilled cheese and pancakes the rest of the week). Making a new meal can be a hard decision to make/follow-through, whereas the decision to make pancakes (and the process of making them) is so ingrained in me that it's easy!
I love the idea of making most of my decisions super easy, and making myself happier in the process. I've been listening to the Gretchen Rubin podcasts lately and I'm sure I'll post on those eventually too. But first, here are my ideas to implement so I make fewer decisions. Also known as...how I plan to become a robot so I always make the right choice and don't hesitate! I love reading blog posts like this from other people, so I guess that's why I'm writing these down. And so I can look back on it later!
-Do my hair the same way every weekday. When I realized I should do this, it was a major lightbulb moment. I have never had a go-to hair style, and because of that, I don't really know how to do my hair well or what looks good on me. But I did start noticing that if my bangs aren't pinned back somehow, it drives me nuts all day. So I decided that every weekday I will wear my hair straight with bangs back somehow and that's it. That way, I can begin to perfect my regular hairstyle! I still branch out on the weekends when I have more time to get ready.
-Put snacks in tupperware in the fridge. Okay, I haven't implemented this yet, but I do plan to! I think I've always had this goal, but I've never had a side-by-side fridge until now, so I can finally see my food rather than bending down all the time. If I keep fruits and veggies in the fridge in tupperware, I hope that it will be a no-brainer decision to just eat them!
-Keep the house clean all day long. This obviously involves a bunch of mini-decisions but I think it will add up to far less decision making overall! I've started following Gretchen Rubin's "1-minute rule" where if a task takes less than a minute, you do it right away. For me, this means
*putting dishes in the sink right after we use them
*picking up Roy's toys and my own things whenever I leave a room
*.....maybe that's it! But in general, just picking up and wiping things down, and cleaning up little by little.
The reason this one is so important to me is that the messier my house gets, the more able I am to live with just a bit more mess, and the less motivation I have to clean up anything. So if there are dishes in the sink, then it doesn't matter if I leave a mess on the table, or don't sweep the floor, etc. Whereas if my house is clean except for dinner dishes, it's a no-brainer decision to do the last of the dinner dishes before bed to keep the house all clean!
I'm still working on all of these, and trying to implement even more automatic things to reduce my decision fatigue. But I can say already that these are working wonders!
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Roy: 10 Months
A ten month old? I can't believe Roy will be a whole year old in just a couple of months. Roy has really started moving and "talking" more this month, and I love it! Here are some more notes:
-He got his two top teeth and now has four total. When he first got his top teeth, he would grind his teeth all the time. The sound drove us crazy! But now he's used to them and doesn't do it anymore.
-He chews his tongue. Apparently this is genetic, because I have always been a major tongue chewer. Who knew it began so young! He sticks his tongue out the front of his mouth and just chews away all the time.
-He loved it when we were packing up and moving our stuff out of the Orem apartment. He would just go from box to box and try to climb on them, move them around, everything. One time Shenli caught him on top of one box and trying to swing his leg over onto another box to ride it like a horse. So hilarious.
-Now that we're in Texas (and a neighborhood where I don't fear for my life when going for a walk...), we bought a stroller to take Roy around. He LOVES it. And not just being in it for walks. He loves sitting on the ground inside the house playing with the wheels of the stroller. He can move it around the family room and he'll play spinning those stroller wheels for such a long time.
-I am back to work full-time (I was at 30 hrs in Orem) now that Roy can be contained without access to the kitchen and family room all from my "office". So in the new house, Roy gets the whole upstairs to play around in without getting into too much trouble! But what that does mean is he gets to entertain himself even longer while I work. He has a toy basket that he plays around with most of the day - it's amazing to see him just go, get a toy out, and play with it all by himself.
-But my favorite part about him playing at work is when he plays with my office desk. Because the printer is now at his eye level and he's learned to turn it on and off! It's so hilarious - he found which button makes the noise by turning it on, and then he tries to make copies before turning it back off to do the process again. He seems so smart nowadays! I'm sure he's no smarter than any other baby, but it makes my heart so happy to see him do things like this.
-While this house may be better for him playing around at work, it also has more dangers for sure! Or rather, we have to be more vigilant. One of the first days we were here, I let Roy play in the pantry while I made dinner, thinking it was totally safe. Well, it didn't take long for him to reach up for the glass jars and make one fall on top of him! It was empty and he didn't get hurt at all, but I think it scared him pretty bad when it shattered. And it scared me too! So the pantry is off limits at least until I baby proof it! We've also had to baby proof the outlets and of course the stairs.
-He now eats much more food than ever before! At our last doctor's appt, they said Roy was slightly anemic, but nothing to worry about. And he's been dropping percentiles each visit (now in about the .6%....yep) but still nothing to worry about. But one day it hit me - I bet other kids eat a ton more food now than just milk, and that's how they get bigger! (Duh.....). Up until now, I'd still just been feeding Roy some of our dinner each day, so not very much. But then I got up the courage to buy real baby food, and set us a rigorous schedule. He eats three times a day, just when I eat, and he eats some cereal, baby food, water, and part of our meals too. The baby food has made all the difference, and I hope it helps him grow big! I feel terrible having basically starved him for this long, but I feel slightly more confident now as he starts weaning from formula soon and gets all his nutrients from real food!
-Ever since we got to this house, Roy has only done real crawling. No more army crawl! I am so glad too. And he's also started a new trick - standing up by himself. He pulls up on anything nearby (I tend to be a favorite pull-up toy..haha) and then lets go and stands for a second or so. Now he's worked up to maybe 10 seconds max at times! He doesn't seem to want to take any steps yet while standing, but he loves the actual standing part. Soon this boy will be walking by himself - I can't believe it.
-Just one last thing that has started happening the last few weeks. When I'm working, or anytime Roy plays upstairs, sometimes he'll just disappear and be gone a long time. I finally peeked in at him one day and he was....reading! Or looking at books rather. He has a big stack of them in his room (we need a bookcase...I'm thinking the wall book display things from ikea!) and he just pulls out various books and turns the pages. It's SO adorable. I've started giving him a book in bed for naps and he loves that too. Hopefully this boy turns into a book lover!!
That's it! Here are some pictures this month. We didn't take very many compared to previous months...I need to get back on that! Hopefully with summer we'll have more swimming pictures and things.
-He got his two top teeth and now has four total. When he first got his top teeth, he would grind his teeth all the time. The sound drove us crazy! But now he's used to them and doesn't do it anymore.
-He chews his tongue. Apparently this is genetic, because I have always been a major tongue chewer. Who knew it began so young! He sticks his tongue out the front of his mouth and just chews away all the time.
-He loved it when we were packing up and moving our stuff out of the Orem apartment. He would just go from box to box and try to climb on them, move them around, everything. One time Shenli caught him on top of one box and trying to swing his leg over onto another box to ride it like a horse. So hilarious.
-Now that we're in Texas (and a neighborhood where I don't fear for my life when going for a walk...), we bought a stroller to take Roy around. He LOVES it. And not just being in it for walks. He loves sitting on the ground inside the house playing with the wheels of the stroller. He can move it around the family room and he'll play spinning those stroller wheels for such a long time.
-I am back to work full-time (I was at 30 hrs in Orem) now that Roy can be contained without access to the kitchen and family room all from my "office". So in the new house, Roy gets the whole upstairs to play around in without getting into too much trouble! But what that does mean is he gets to entertain himself even longer while I work. He has a toy basket that he plays around with most of the day - it's amazing to see him just go, get a toy out, and play with it all by himself.
-But my favorite part about him playing at work is when he plays with my office desk. Because the printer is now at his eye level and he's learned to turn it on and off! It's so hilarious - he found which button makes the noise by turning it on, and then he tries to make copies before turning it back off to do the process again. He seems so smart nowadays! I'm sure he's no smarter than any other baby, but it makes my heart so happy to see him do things like this.
-While this house may be better for him playing around at work, it also has more dangers for sure! Or rather, we have to be more vigilant. One of the first days we were here, I let Roy play in the pantry while I made dinner, thinking it was totally safe. Well, it didn't take long for him to reach up for the glass jars and make one fall on top of him! It was empty and he didn't get hurt at all, but I think it scared him pretty bad when it shattered. And it scared me too! So the pantry is off limits at least until I baby proof it! We've also had to baby proof the outlets and of course the stairs.
-He now eats much more food than ever before! At our last doctor's appt, they said Roy was slightly anemic, but nothing to worry about. And he's been dropping percentiles each visit (now in about the .6%....yep) but still nothing to worry about. But one day it hit me - I bet other kids eat a ton more food now than just milk, and that's how they get bigger! (Duh.....). Up until now, I'd still just been feeding Roy some of our dinner each day, so not very much. But then I got up the courage to buy real baby food, and set us a rigorous schedule. He eats three times a day, just when I eat, and he eats some cereal, baby food, water, and part of our meals too. The baby food has made all the difference, and I hope it helps him grow big! I feel terrible having basically starved him for this long, but I feel slightly more confident now as he starts weaning from formula soon and gets all his nutrients from real food!
-Ever since we got to this house, Roy has only done real crawling. No more army crawl! I am so glad too. And he's also started a new trick - standing up by himself. He pulls up on anything nearby (I tend to be a favorite pull-up toy..haha) and then lets go and stands for a second or so. Now he's worked up to maybe 10 seconds max at times! He doesn't seem to want to take any steps yet while standing, but he loves the actual standing part. Soon this boy will be walking by himself - I can't believe it.
-Just one last thing that has started happening the last few weeks. When I'm working, or anytime Roy plays upstairs, sometimes he'll just disappear and be gone a long time. I finally peeked in at him one day and he was....reading! Or looking at books rather. He has a big stack of them in his room (we need a bookcase...I'm thinking the wall book display things from ikea!) and he just pulls out various books and turns the pages. It's SO adorable. I've started giving him a book in bed for naps and he loves that too. Hopefully this boy turns into a book lover!!
That's it! Here are some pictures this month. We didn't take very many compared to previous months...I need to get back on that! Hopefully with summer we'll have more swimming pictures and things.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
This recipe isn't anything new for most people I'm sure. If you haven't had a white chocolate cranberry cookie, get on that! I never really liked them growing up because I preferred semi-sweet chocolate chips over anything else, plus dried cranberries were in the same category as raisins for me (aka: not acceptable in any way). But when I had to make cookies for Young Women's last month and had no chocolate chips, these were great to use up some ingredients!
The real reason this recipe is a triumph for me is because I have always stayed away from cookie recipes that call for "weird" ingredients - in this case, cornstarch. Just like recipes that add pudding, I always thought cornstarch was basically a cheating way to make a good cookie. I don't want to have to keep vanilla pudding stocked in the pantry, and I wanted my regular chocolate chip cookies to taste as good as other people's without any of those "cheating" ingredients!
But I gave in for these, and now I'm so glad I did! I will make this recipe again and again. A lot of comments said to add macadamia nuts as well - I don't usually have those, but I bet even pecans would work!
Recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction.
The real reason this recipe is a triumph for me is because I have always stayed away from cookie recipes that call for "weird" ingredients - in this case, cornstarch. Just like recipes that add pudding, I always thought cornstarch was basically a cheating way to make a good cookie. I don't want to have to keep vanilla pudding stocked in the pantry, and I wanted my regular chocolate chip cookies to taste as good as other people's without any of those "cheating" ingredients!
But I gave in for these, and now I'm so glad I did! I will make this recipe again and again. A lot of comments said to add macadamia nuts as well - I don't usually have those, but I bet even pecans would work!
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Roy: 7-9 Months
How many times can I use the excuse "life was so busy last month" before everyone stops believing me?? Apparently I skipped Roy's 7- and 8-month posts. Luckily, it's not like he's growing and changing daily.... (That was a joke- it really does seem he learns something new every day!) Here are some highlights lately:
-Roy can pull himself up, sit back down, and walk around the couches and tables. He LOVES to stand and walk around.
-He has started stroking my hair. (Don't worry - he also pulls it sometimes too, I'm not getting out of that one!) He will grab a piece of hair and run his fingers down it, then grab again.
-He has 2 teeth. He was a little more cranky than usual one weekend, and then he bit my finger and it actually hurt!
-He has learned some new tricks - he can play patty-cake with me (he just hold his hands up waiting for me to high-five them), and he can splash in the tub. My favorite trick is that he can clap! We had been trying to teach him for weeks, and then I was at a baby shower and a guest was showing him how to clap, and then he did it! Ever since then, he claps all the time - when someone is excited on TV, when he's with a group and having fun, all the time.
-He can dance too! While standing up, he'll bend his legs and move his little bum. If sitting, he'll rock back and forth. He does it to all kinds of music, and he is always on beat too!
-He finally got sick for the first (and second!) time. He got a cold one day, and was so miserable/grumpy. He also slept more than usual. Then the rest of our family got sick after him!
-For his second sickness, he had a fever of 103 on Mother's Day. We took him to the ER, and they thought he had a UTI. Turns out (it takes 48 hours to know for sure), he actually didn't. But, the antibiotics they gave him caused an allergic reaction! He had hives all over. Luckily, it wasn't more serious than that, and now he's back to his wonderful self.
-He still isn't talking, but I hope he's getting close. I know he recognizes the word 'milk', even if he won't say it. He babbles 'mama' and 'dada' a lot. I am trying to speak to him every chance I get so he can learn some words!!
-He only weighs 14lbs. YEP he is smaller at 9 months than some babies at 2 months! But he's solid and active and oh-so-happy. He loves to follow us around the house from one room to the next.
-He can crawl the right way now! He only does it about half the time, but he gets his legs up under him and awkwardly crawls!
-He loves all foods now. I think he doesn't like olives (random...), but other than that, he loves everything he gets in front of him: pizza, stir fry, cafe rio (the spicier, the better!), cookies, bananas, and even regular baby food. I am still not great at feeding him consistently (some days it just never happens..) but hopefully I can get a schedule together soon.
-Roy can pull himself up, sit back down, and walk around the couches and tables. He LOVES to stand and walk around.
-He has started stroking my hair. (Don't worry - he also pulls it sometimes too, I'm not getting out of that one!) He will grab a piece of hair and run his fingers down it, then grab again.
-He has 2 teeth. He was a little more cranky than usual one weekend, and then he bit my finger and it actually hurt!
-He has learned some new tricks - he can play patty-cake with me (he just hold his hands up waiting for me to high-five them), and he can splash in the tub. My favorite trick is that he can clap! We had been trying to teach him for weeks, and then I was at a baby shower and a guest was showing him how to clap, and then he did it! Ever since then, he claps all the time - when someone is excited on TV, when he's with a group and having fun, all the time.
-He can dance too! While standing up, he'll bend his legs and move his little bum. If sitting, he'll rock back and forth. He does it to all kinds of music, and he is always on beat too!
-He finally got sick for the first (and second!) time. He got a cold one day, and was so miserable/grumpy. He also slept more than usual. Then the rest of our family got sick after him!
-For his second sickness, he had a fever of 103 on Mother's Day. We took him to the ER, and they thought he had a UTI. Turns out (it takes 48 hours to know for sure), he actually didn't. But, the antibiotics they gave him caused an allergic reaction! He had hives all over. Luckily, it wasn't more serious than that, and now he's back to his wonderful self.
-He still isn't talking, but I hope he's getting close. I know he recognizes the word 'milk', even if he won't say it. He babbles 'mama' and 'dada' a lot. I am trying to speak to him every chance I get so he can learn some words!!
-He only weighs 14lbs. YEP he is smaller at 9 months than some babies at 2 months! But he's solid and active and oh-so-happy. He loves to follow us around the house from one room to the next.
-He can crawl the right way now! He only does it about half the time, but he gets his legs up under him and awkwardly crawls!
-He loves all foods now. I think he doesn't like olives (random...), but other than that, he loves everything he gets in front of him: pizza, stir fry, cafe rio (the spicier, the better!), cookies, bananas, and even regular baby food. I am still not great at feeding him consistently (some days it just never happens..) but hopefully I can get a schedule together soon.
8-month pictures - I did take them, just didn't post!
Getting into all sorts of mischief
He LOVES standing
Right before this picture, he was entirely on top of the cube - arms and legs in the air.
A rare picture of us together!
Family picture May - check!
Cousin time
At the ER - a sad, cuddly boy
9-month pictures. Clapping!
9-month pictures - he wouldn't sit still very long
I really hate other people's food baby pictures. BUT I see why people take them. They are cute...only to the parents I bet :)
We had some fun visitors this weekend! And Roy just woke up... (grump!)
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