A - Z My child in one word

Constantly I'm clicking away and throwing a camera in the face of my littlelion, documenting every new moment, every facial expression, his first meal, his first steps, every outfit he looks adorable in etc etc. Every parent can relate. 

So before his first sentence is 'mum put that bloody camera away' I'm going to take a different approach this month. 

Over the next 26 days I'm going to use words to document his everyday life, I'm going to describe him or his day in one word. It will be a great exercise to document his learning in a different format. 

Over the period of a month I could throw a dictionary in the air and choose a word from the page where it falls open and it could relate to my littlelion at some point. 

A toddler is an amazing being, just think about what their little minds are absorbing, everyday they are witnessing or experiencing something new.

Please join me in this exercise, it will be a challenge to use just one word, maybe I will even learn a few new ones myself.   

AFFECTIONATE
This morning I tossed around a few words like amazing, adventurous and attitude that could easily describe my littlelion on any given day. However during the course of the day the most appropriate choice was affectionate.  He has recently mastered blowing a kiss and today chose to replace waving to random people on our walk with blowing kisses. He has been extra cuddly and emotional today, showing lots of affection towards me and getting it in return. His daddy has been away for work most of week and although he can't communicate it, I feel that he is missing him.

BLONDE

Littlelion has the most adorable blonde locks.  Today however it is now reflecting blue highlights after littlelion discovered a blue texta. 

CURIOUS

It's breathtaking to watch his mind consume everything this big world has to offer.  We could learn so much from these curious beings, the toddler and take pleasure from all the small things in life. 

DANCING
Littlelion loves to bust a move!  What a wonderful form of expression.

EMOTIONAL

Need more hugs! With four teeth trying to break free and the normal frustrations of a toddler, the tears can flow at the drop of a hat. 

FGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Mission: Merry Mama - Progress 2

The past week has been an epic fail!!!  A week ago I was so upbeat and happy with my progress and confident I would maintain and make further improvements.  Well that was all thrown out the window when I let somebody's comments affect not only my day but my week ahead.  

I took littlelion out shopping last Friday, we both dressed in our best clothes, had a little breakfast together at the local cafe and walked around the stores.  I was beaming with self satisfaction of the week behind me, so happy with the changes made and the outcomes I was already benefiting from.  

Then from nowhere a lady approached, we didn't know each other but seemed to always be on the same walking/shopping path and she stopped to admire littlelion.  We were happily chatting and then she dropped the bombshell, "so looks like you are adding to your family already"  I was gutted, after all my hard work and the fact that I felt I had looked the best in months someone thought I was up the duff!!!  I dismissed the comment with humour and continued our way.  

I was deflated by the comments and I know she meant no harm, but my heart was crushing.  

Unfortunately I let this one comment from a random stranger kill my buzz and instead of taking the bull by the horns I reverted to bad habits.  Drowning my sorrow in cake.  I didn't bother adding intensity to my exercise and on some days I didn't even bother going for a walk.  

Physically I feel yuck, bloated, lethargic and agonisingly over thinking what meals I can cook.  It's like I've lost all brain capacity to think of and cook a meal that's healthy for me.  

Mentally I am a little broken.  Whilst I am disappointed that I have deleted all my good work from the week prior, I am more angry with myself that I have let somebody else affect me so much.  I am angry that I found it so easy to just give up on myself, my goals.  It's these thoughts that make me think about how often I've given up on myself or sacrificed my wants and needs for others or because of others and then I get angrier and more disappointed with myself.  Then I eat more cake!

Generally on Thursdays I find my happy place and I know it's a new week ahead, but today I'm just feeling a little flat and pondering how I get myself out of this funk and back on track.  

Any suggestions??  

Mission: Merry Mama - Progress 1

No knickers!!! 
You heard me right, I refuse to buy new knickers, well that is knickers in the next size up.  It’s like admitting defeat.  It’s a good indication it’s time to lose some weight. 

A few weeks ago I shared how overwhelming life had become for me and the fact that I was on a mission to make some changes.   Check my previous posts Whirlwind Mama & 5kg to Christmas

Well in the background I have been working away at making such changes. 

I have certainly taken some well deserved quiet time for myself.  I have got some creative relief from a few craft projects with littlelion which has been fabulous fun as well as maintaining my aim to write daily.  But I have made weight loss a priority goal at the moment.  When I bought home some new knickers in my normal size that I’ve been for at least the last 5 years I was horrified by the fact that they were a little snug.  Yes I might be sporting a little VPL at the moment but I refuse to go up a size and give in to the flab monster. 

From little things big things grow

Recently I posted about being overwhelmed and stuck in a whirlwind of negativity and judgement upon myself.  It made me reevaluate my expectations. I need to make some changes. 

I know I won’t maintain big changes, it’s unrealistic to think that I can, so instead of setting myself up for failure and feeding the procrastination monster so much that nothing changes, I am going to be kind to myself and allow small changes. 

Here are a few goals in mind;

• Read more.  Reading is a great outlet to relax and take time for myself.  So whether it be a book, a magazine or a blog, I want to allocate some time each week to read.
• Learn.  I love to learn, but for now I’m going to learn about a passion not for employment opportunities or because I have to.  So each week I want to find time to learn about something of interest, something topical.   This will give me subjects to read!!!  For now it will be around parenting, blogging, writing, photography, craft. 
• Increased family time.  Aim to improve household systems to provide more harmony and more family time. 
•  More creative time.  Growing up I treasured the times spent with my gran doing craft, it gave me great joy.  I still like to dabble and it is something I want to share with my littlelion.  For now I am really enjoying writing so my aim is to write 100 words a day.  This might be blog, an entry into littlelion's book or just random nattering’s. 
•  Lose some weight.  I need to get more active!  It’s not so much of a vanity concern (although it will definitely make me feel better about myself) but becoming more of a health concern.

5 kilogram to Christmas - Merry Mama

Okay so one of my goals is to drop some kilo's!!!

I have never lost weight!  I have been blessed with good genes, well I was up until the age of 30 and then progressively over the past decade I’ve blossomed into a buxom mama.  So I think I am really going to struggle with this. 

Ideally I should be dropping 10kg, but I need to start small.  So what is greater motivation than Christmas and long hot summer days!!!  I’ve given myself the very realistic challenge of dropping 5kg before Christmas. 

In order to stay motivated I really need to have a clear purpose or I will find it too easy to eat more cake.

Why do I want to lose weight?