Time to Reflect and Relax

I met a ten year old boy at the Annual Swallow's Day Parade in San Juan Capistrano yesterday.  He was a great conversationalist and asked me casually when my Spring Break was.  I automatically replied with, "I'm old.  We don't get Spring Breaks."  It took me a day to consider that maybe I should rethink my approach.

I'm very thorough with my daily and weekly plans, yet totally neglect planning extra curricular activities.  I realized that I do want to have Spring Break and Winter Break to look forward to.  We hardly take vacations.  We recently booked a trip for few days in Palm Desert and it has already worked wonders to give me something to look forward to.

So here is draft one of my annual activity calendar:

• January
• Jim's Birthday Dinner
• February
• Parent's Weekend - Valentine's Trip (Vegas)
• March
• Jason & Jill's Birthday Dinners 
• April
• Spring Break - Family Trip (Palm Desert)
• Dad and Alli's Birthday Dinner
• May
• Family Weekend - Camping Trip 
• AJ's Birthday Party
• June
• Family Beach Days
• Family Picture
• July
• Washington - Family Trip - July 4th
• August
• Luke's Birthday Party
• September
• Parent's Weekend - Getaway (Havasu)
• October
• Family Activity - Zoo or Museum
• Emily's Birthday Dinner
• November
• Thanksgiving Break - Holidays at Home; Family Gatherings
• December
• Decorate the House/Tree (Dani's Birthday Dinner)
• Colin's Birthday Party
• Winter Break - Holidays at Home; Family Gatherings

To be continued.  Would love your suggestions. :)

Goals: Desired Impact

Ponder this:  If you could have any impact on the world what would it be?


I  want to leave my children with a strong set of healthy values that are inclusive and caring.  I want to leave them with the tools to deal with life's challenges and the ability to navigate them in a way that builds strong relationships and creates meaningful moments.  I want to leave them with a foundation that enables them to learn many perspectives and empowers them to achieve their dreams.  I want to leave them with the impression that their mom was someone to be proud of and inspired by, someone that they cherish the essence of, and encourage their kids to be like.  I want to leave them with the feeling that they can make an impact and the understanding that we all need them to do so.


I want to contribute toward making essential changes for the well-being of people, to set up well-organized and optimized systems that encourage high performance, and create unforgettable memories and relationships along the way.

Transitioning Away from the Bottle

This week my one year old transitioned away from his baba. :)  I know this can be tricky but the advice his doctor gave worked very well so I wanted to share it.

The first day we stopped giving him his old milk.  We started filling his bottle with whole milk.  We did this for three days.  I worried about how this transition would go as the new milk was now cold, but he was hungry and didn't care (he's not a picky eater).  We noticed no change at all with the switch to whole milk.

On the fourth day, we changed the bottle itself to a sippy cup.  First I tried one of the hard sippy cups and that didn't go over so well.  I then switched to the softer nipple sippy cup and he hasn't fussed since.  I didn't have to go back to the bottle at all.  We have successfully transitioned.

He now eats sitting up in my lap rather than laying down on his boppy.  It's nice because we have some cuddle time.  He eats fairly fast.  I didn't change the quantity at all.  As he gets the hang of holding it by himself and eating other food more, I think he'll slowly wean off how often he has the milk.  For now it's business as usual.  No transitions to the overall schedule.

I did add in some more structured meal times as the milk is likely less filling.  Here is his current schedule:

6:30am - Wakes up, has milk (6 oz. whole milk)
7:30am - Eats - usually a small bowl of oatmeal or cereal
8:15am - Has milk, goes down for a nap
9:45am - Wakes up, goes for a walk
11am - Eats breakfast - eggs and fruit
11:45am - Has milk, goes down for a nap
1pm - Wakes up, plays in his play area
2:30pm - Eats lunch - meat and veggies
3:30pm - IF he has another nap (rare), it starts no later than this
5pm - Dinner - whatever we're eating
5:45pm - Bath time
6pm - Read a book, has milk, bed time

He sleeps very well.  He's out for the night unless he loses his binky here and there.  We transitioned him to sleeping all night at 4 months per the doctor and that went really well too.  :)

With my first son I had a total different approach.  I didn't learn the value of the schedule - for the child - until much later.  I let him eat what he would eat and adjusted my food schedule to him.  He is the pickiest eater I know.  Lesson learned. :)

Chores Checklist

This is a chores checklist template that you can easily modify for your kids.  I used this for the older boys a while back.  Time to revise!  This time, it won't be a checklist - just a reminder for the fridge since they're older.

Download Chores Checklist Template by clicking this link.