December in Review

12/1 was an early morning. My mom and I took AJ to the festival of trees. He did not want to stay in his stroller and of course wanted to touch everything under the trees. We ran a lot of errands: Trader Joe's, pirate O's, dollar tree, and raising cane's. I ended the day with lots of laundry and cleaning. 

12/2 was another early morning. I lifted weights, and took AJ with me to Donut Star, Smith's, and Dutch Bros. I also took him to five below.  

12/3 we watched Polar express and made a good breakfast it was a lazy day as we watched Elf as a family and took a nap while AJ was napping. I went to Barnes & Noble to buy myself a paperback book. It was lovely.

12/4 I lifted weights and went to work. I thought a lot about potty training and things we would need for it. I had a really cool Yelp event at a local spot called Synchronicities. 

12/5 was another early morning and busy workday. AJ and I went to the ward Christmas dinner. 

12/6 I lifted and went to work. I made spam musubi. Matthew came home for a little while so I could go to Waffle Love after doing bedtime. 

12/7 I was off work. AJ woke up early. I walked on the tread, showered, made him breakfast, and had a call with a local doula photographer about helping her with some back end work. 

12/8 I was up early with AJ. I had a call with a local Doula photographer to do some work for her on the back end. I started laundry, and took AJ on a lot of errands. I baked cookies for a family cookie exchange. I made dinner did bedtime, and did lots of cleanup, laundry, and other tasks.

12/9 I lifted weights and started my laundry. AJ and I went grocery shopping, put everything away, and got back in the car to go to Orem for the cookie exchange. Unfortunately his nap got really messed up because we left too late. I wrapped presents. 

12/10 Who was a well-deserved lazy day. AJ and I made him some banana oat donuts. I got breakfast with Rachel. I watched a movie. I took AJ outside. Matthew went and got us firehouse subs for dinner.

12/11 AJ woke up early. I lifted weights. I had a somewhat busy day at work. We went grocery shopping for our potluck activity. I got gas on the way home and had a normal evening. I got my first few Secret Santa gifts at work.

12/12 I did a video workout since our clubhouse is not open before 7. I took my car in for ball joint repairs which was a super fun expense. It was a normal evening at home. Matthew and I watched Doctor Who.

12/13 was an insane day at work. I made food for our potluck, and had teach backs for some leadership development I am doing. I made icing for gingerbread houses. We had our potluck, secret Santa reveal, and two meetings. It was a fairly normal evening at home without Matthew. 

12/14 we had a rough night with AJ awake from 11:30-3:30. I worked from home. AJ and I went to the Habit to have dinner with Brittney and Blakely. 

12/15 I was awake all night coughing and blowing my nose so walked and went to Starbucks. I met with a local business owner on Zoom to help her with some work. Lots of cleaning and laundry. We got Little Caesars. 

12/16 AJ and I went to smiths, Starbucks, and Gardner Village for some milk. He wanted to run around, but I was not prepared. He needed snacks, a diaper change, and mittens. He was so sad when I made him leave. I started Christmas baking with some movies on. 

12/17 I finished Christmas baking and assembled plates. Lots of work. We went to Texas Roadhouse as a family which was fun. Still was coughing a ton. 

12/18 AJ turned 20 months old. I lifted and went to work. Did the evening alone with AJ while still feeling like garbage. 

12/19 AJ was not feeling well. He wanted lots of snuggles in the morning and was really warm. I went with my team to sweet Lake biscuits and limeade for brunch which was really fun. I came home and Matthew went off to work. I listened to Christmas Carol while tidying. 

12/20 I walked on the treadmill and had a busy workday. It was just a normal evening at home while Matthew was at work. 

12/21 AJ and I went on a walk and had a good breakfast together. We dropped off a plate to a friend, stopped at Smith's and Dutch Bros. Did a little bit of work during AJ's nap and wrapped some presents. I did some laundry and got ready for us to go to the start of Christmas party in Orem. AJ had fun, but we left much too late. 

12/22 I lifted weights and Matthew went to work. AJ and I went to honeybaked ham to pick up stuff for Christmas Eve dinner. I took AJ for a haircut which was on the wrong day. The appointment was for the next day. So they rushed and fit us in, but even after much conversation about his curls, she cut them all off. I cried for two hours. I did lots of laundry and tried to start cleaning. AJ and I went to dinner at panda express and had a normal evening otherwise while Matthew was at work. 

Curls gone

12/23 AJ slept until after 7 o'clock which was a miracle. We got groceries and went to Dutch Bros. I took AJ outside. Matthew went to get milk from Redmond. The evening was really hard for me emotionally as I just was really hungry all day and overstimulated. I had a hard time regulating myself. 

12/24 I was up at 6:30, walked, AJ, and took him to church with me. Our neighbor came over to fix our hallway bathroom lights that were out for a couple of weeks. I went to a movie by myself. Matthew made Christmas Eve dinner from honeybaked ham. AJ took a bath. I watched it's a wonderful life. Still had a cough. 

12/25 A good Christmas day. It took us a long time to get through presents because AJ just would get interested in whatever we had opened for him. We went to brunch at Dan and Dianne's which was really yummy. After AJ's nap we went on a walk. I rushed to make some mac & cheese for dinner. We got to my aunts house at 5:35. But dinner did not start until 6:45 or so unfortunately. we left home later than I wanted again. I got ready to start potty training.

12/26 I slept really badly because I was having anxiety about potty training. The first day went pretty well all things considered. He did some self initiating and also pooped in his body. Matthew was gone from 130 on. I started watching the crown after putting AJ down for bed.

12/27 Was a hard day of potty training as expected. It's usually the day that holds a lot of resistance. There was a lot of crying and fussing and clinging. At the end of the day he really did great.

12/28 I slept poorly. AJ slept until 7 o'clock which is awesome. AJ wore pants without a diaper most of the day with one accident. We went outside twice and also drove through Starbucks; he did great! I was so proud. I watched the Crown after bedtime. 

12/29 I did a walk on the treadmill. AJ had only one small accident but stopped himself and finished on the potty. We took our first outing to use a public restroom. He did great. I got my windshield replaced. I ordered a new modem. AJ and I spent over an hour outside. He did great. I did three loads of laundry and all of the cleaning. Watched the Crown after bedtime. 

12/30 I got to sleep in, but it wasn't really great sleep or anything. I got groceries and Dutch. We went to Gardner village to get milk and let AJ run around. We got lunch. During his nap I did client check ins, worked out, put away my clothes, and showered. We watched Jumanji after dinner. It was a nice family day. 

12/31 AJ was up at 6:10, which was a real bummer. I walked on the treadmill and did AJ's breakfast. Matthew was struck by a back spasm and went to bed. I drove us through Starbucks, did AJ's lunch, and put him down for a nap. I made Lil Smokies and sour cream dip for the evening. It was a good day with potty training; he stopped himself after starting to have an accident and finished on the potty. No accidents at grandma's house or in the car either. He was well adored by cousins and aunts at grandma's house, and had a much later bedtime than planned. 

Books I listened to this month: 

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt

The Danish Way of Parenting by Jessica Alexander

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens