What January Taught Me

Dear reader,

How are you? Staying warm in your neck of the woods? The winter wind is absolutely howling outside my bedroom window, in chorus with the deep breathing of my youngest nestled in my bed. I was about to settle next to her with my current read, but instead saw a fortuitous opportunity to write.

(Then, a plot twist we should’ve expected: she woke up after I finished that paragraph and 17 minutes later is now back asleep.)

Let’s get right in!

• I created a meal plan for the whole month of January and followed fairly closely. There were a few days that I went rogue, but for the most part, it was so helpful! I was curious if it would save me mental energy, and it did. I’m planning to do the same for February. For what it’s worth, it did take me several hours to find the right recipes and match them with our schedule (for example, crockpot type meals for our busiest nights.) I made a list of our tried and true recipes first to use as the base and then layered in new recipes to try.

• Mid-month we celebrated my second daughter’s 12th birthday. Her requests? Lox and cream cheese bagels for breakfast, a hike at the local nature preserve, pho for dinner (we snacked for lunch), and a Black Forest cake for dessert. We eat gluten free as a family and she is dairy free, which meant I figured out how to make the cake GF/DF. It turned out pretty good! This is my go to chocolate birthday cake recipe, and it results in a fluffy crumb that feels like it’s full of gluten. Then I paired it with this simple cherry sauce and homemade coconut whip.

• The baby is 11 months old and now walking everywhere! She took her first steps over Christmas at my parent’s home, then took a break for a few weeks. Now she is back at it and I’m fairly certain she’ll be running soon! She’s also getting into all of the cabinets (we’ve added locks to the cabinets we don’t want her accessing) and climbing the furniture. Which means…I’m very tired. And also so proud!

• The first two weeks of the month I spent focused on decluttering our home and creating space for better cleaning and organization habits to take root. So far I’ve tackled part of the garage, the homeschool cabinets, and the hall closet. I haven’t reached my end vision for the house yet, but I’m so much closer.

• Right after my daughter’s birthday mid month, I fell off the meal plan wagon for a few days. We had put so much heart and energy into her birthday weekend, and I went into the next week feeling depleted and behind. One of my goals for next year — as ALL of our family’s birthdays fall between January to April except for mine — is to plan for birthday season in early fall. I think it also wouldn’t hurt to have some freezer type meals planned for the few days after a big celebration so that I can catch my breath.

• I had high hopes to write more regularly in January, but I didn’t actually plan for writing time. What I’ve learned after over ten years of online entrepreneurship, is that if you don’t plan, you won’t do it. Having a simple plan creates accountability and keeps me on track when I get distracted by the sink full of dirty dishes. I’m working on a publishing schedule for February and March, which is not so dissimilar to the kind of launch plans I created in my coaching business. Speaking of which, I'm creating a second newsletter called the Family First CEO Mom that’ll share the honest truth, lessons, and stories behind my decade of family-centered entrepreneurship. I’d love to have you subscribe to it if you’re interested!

• With how busy our January was, I realized that I have not been eating enough calories to keep up with our days and the demands of breastfeeding. It’s reflected in my energy and (let’s be honest) my crankiness. I don’t drink caffeine, so I really do have to get my energy from nutritionally dense foods. Toward the end of the month I shifted my tune, and felt so much better eating more sweet potatoes drenched in grass-fed butter, cups of warmed raw milk with cinnamon and molasses, copious amounts of fresh local citrus, and at least 80-100 grams of protein per day from eggs and meat.

  

February is going to be a VERY busy month for us! We’re going to Disney World for a few days, baptizing the baby, and celebrating her first birthday with a big party. Pray for me as I’m planning everything. I started sketching out her birthday plans at the end of December, and we’re doing a strawberry theme as it is strawberry season here. Isn’t that so berry sweet? (I couldn’t help myself there!)

I’m trying to give myself grace as I can be so hard on myself when things don’t go to plan, and as a family of 6, that’s often the case. There’s the vision in my mind of how I think it should be and then there is reality. Still, I am in hopeful anticipation of what a meaningful month February will be for our family, and I also know it’ll be a tearful one as my little one leaves babyhood. How is it possible she’s almost a year old already!?

That’s it for the January Letter!

How was your month? What are you celebrating? What lessons will you take with you into February? I’d truly love to hear in the comments as it helps us build community.