Haley2018 was quite the year—though I feel like I say that every single year. We kicked off the year with a pregnancy announcement about baby No. 4 and it’s been full steam ahead ever since.
Family
The majority of our year was marked by Grady—in and out of utero. This fourth pregnancy humbled me even more than those in the past, pushing my body to the limits at the end. But I’m grateful that I did manage to stay fairly active between workouts and keeping up with my older kids.
Postpartum recovery and caring for a newborn again have been fairly smooth sailing, but I still struggle with being Mama to four kids of varying ages. I’m still finding the balance of tending to all the needs of the baby at the same time as my older kids. Fingers crossed it gets easier as Grady gets older and we all adapt.
Health
I was itching to get back in the gym postpartum for both physical and sanity reasons. I have been working out since 4 weeks postpartum, but my frequency and intensity have been all over the place. Some weeks, I’ll make it to the gym only once, and other weeks four times. Some weeks, Grady will get fussy and I’ll only have 20 minutes before I’m called to the childcare area to get him. Some weeks, he does great. Some weeks, I’m running on empty because of night wakings or multiple kids waking up, and my workouts are simply light lifting and light cardio. Other weeks, I am able to up the intensity and do Crossfit-style workouts with other people.
When it comes to eating, I was doing much better before the holidays hit and the sugar monster emerged. Grady is very intolerant to dairy right now, so I’ve cut that completely out of my diet. We still rely on our hydroponic gardening to provide delicious salads for us nearly every day. I’m working on continuing to up my healthy fat intake to help sustain me while nursing and being sleep deprived.
Professionally
I was in a great groove with freelancing as a social media manager until school let out in May. Then the third trimester hit during the summer months when my kids were all home with me. Time to myself to think—let alone work—has been limited. Thankfully, I got a couple months ahead with my work before Grady was born. I keep thinking that I can work more once he’s taking longer, consistent naps, but I am still waiting for that to occur!
Blogging
With three somewhat older kids (ages 6, 4 and 3 during the first half of the year), I did manage to blog more the first half of 2018. I got in the groove posting about everything from pregnancy to healthy eating to allowing my husband to take over the blog. I even kept up posting the first month after Grady was born, when he was still super sleepy. But between school starting for my oldest boys and a baby who prefers cat naps, blogging fell by the wayside the last quarter of 2018. And as much as I wanted to follow through on all these great post ideas, my philosophy is still: family first. So sure, I have blogging goals for 2019, but in the end, I have to make sure my priorities are in order.
Some of my most popular posts continue to be:
- Shingles in Your 30s
- Ask the Experts: Fifth Wheel vs. Travel Trailer
- Nesting Tips for the Third Trimester of Pregnancy
- The Ins and Outs of Kroger Clicklist
- 7 Pregnancy Symptoms No One Talks About
I love the fresh start of a new year, and have spent the past two months thinking about some mini goals that I hope to share soon.
How was your 2018?
