The arrival of February 2021 brings me back to a handful of other months–namely, February 2020, when we were eagerly awaiting Azelie’s arrival, and September 2017, the month we celebrated Charlie’s first birthday. I’m continually astounded by how much my kids mark the passage of time so impactfully and undeniably. Even through those seemingly endless days of 2020, time indeed marched on. Charlie went from a stint with the pretty-terrible threes to being a hilarious, kind, brilliant, full-blown little kid. Azelie was still three weeks from being born on this day last year, but now, she’s a sassy, sweet, and determined soon-to-be toddler. When I think about the fact that Dave and I have the front seats to watching these two little people grow and change, I’m practically brought to my knees by the privilege of it. I don’t think of it in such grand terms in the day-to-day of diapers and snacks and books and Hot Wheels. In fact, for me, I suspect that would be an unhealthy thing to dwell on every single day. But, from time to time, on both big milestones and some little moments in between, a zoomed-out perspective can be an incredible gift.

Between Valentine’s Day, Azelie’s first birthday, and Dave’s parents spending some extended time in town, we are looking forward to a sweet and special February! I’m pretty happy with my January goal progress and eager to keep plugging along with my 2021 goals.

January Goal Progress
1. Get back into a rhythm of morning prayer (for me, this means a 6 A.M. alarm, or, if we had a rough night of sleep, spending time in prayer as soon as I put Azelie down for her morning nap instead of jumping right into work).
2. Make a list of the pain points or challenges in our weekday schedule that I want to improve.
3. Do a Tone It Up workout after putting the kids to bed three times a week. Choose which workouts to do on Sunday night so I don’t waste time browsing the options. Also, buy a new yoga mat! (The week the kids were sick doesn’t count, but I did okay on this. The most encouraging part was that this timeframe seemed to work well!)
4. Map out a plan for finally completing my Catholic mindfulness course.
5. Make a list of both indoor and outdoor spots we can explore as a family that we can refer back to (and go on a few adventures!).
6. Research online dance class options. (Researched, but haven’t found a great option. Considering changing this goal’s direction/timing to an in-person class in the fall.)
7. Bake something delicious from scratch. (Oatmeal cream pies!)
8. Curate photos for our 2020 family album.

February Goals
1. Build trips to the adoration chapel (try both solo and as a family) into our weekend rhythm.
2. Come up with possible solutions to our weekday schedule pain points and experiment with implementing them.
3. Keep up with three Tone It Up workouts per week and buy a new yoga mat.
4. Complete weeks 1-2 of my Catholic mindfulness course.
5. Pick one family adventure from our list to go on each week.
6. Celebrate Azelie’s first birthday!!
7. Schedule photography and editing training for Dave and me with a photographer friend. So excited about this!
8. Curate photos for our 2020 album.