Progress: 30 before Thirty

Here is an update to my 30 things to do before turning thirty. The big day is approaching fast with two weeks to go. I feel like I have done an adequate job on the list but many of these things will have to be done during my thirtieth year, mostly because I still have a full-time nursing little one. (More about her to come.)

But here is my progress so far:

1. Lose twenty pounds: I can't cross this off completely yet, but I am happy to say that I've lost almost ten pounds since I posted this. And that is without going to the gym (guess that answers #9). So another reason why nursing is a wonderful thing!
2. Dye my hair myself with hair dye from the store (maybe brown?)  I bought a hair dye online, from esalon.com because of a daily deal, and died my hair as close to blond as I could get. I didn't take pictures, I guess I should have, but it turned out kind of golden. Not great but not bad either. I will probably continue to do this for a little while to save money. Although the process was quite a bit of work, I must say.
3. Cancel cable: Okay, I can't totally cross this one off either because I ended up downgrading instead of canceling. I just love the DVR too much to get rid of it completely right now. But because I called (initially) to cancel, they offered a package that is less than what we were paying before, but with better (and I think more) channels, like HGTV. (Oh how I love HGTV!)
4. Learn to sew and/or complete one sewing project So I can't call myself an expert by any means, but I did complete a small project and have been practicing more with sewing.
5. Teach Kaylin to read: Another half cross off. She is definitely not reading even that much yet, but we did get about half way through this book and she can read a little bit, when she tries.
6. Run in a race (this still hasn't happened yet): And it remains "unhappened."
7. Get Clara to sleep in her crib: We're getting slightly closer and plan to really work on it after we get back from our vacation.
8. Get up at 6:30 on a regular basis: Nope
9. Go to the gym at least three times a week (on a regular basis): Again, nope (although I have a legitimate reason right now that involves my youngest daughter who doesn't seem to want to gain weight).
10. Put up pictures on the walls in the house (I'm so afraid to put any nails/holes in the walls--it's so final!) Only a few so far, but making progress.
11. Paint a picture on my large canvas that I bought years ago and put up in the kitchen: I'm going to cross this off even though i'm not quite done yet. But I'm close. So i'm going to count it, especially since I haven't been able to cross off that much on here.
12. Potty train Dylan: Almost. (I'm beginning to see a pattern here.) (Also, I seem to like parenthesis.) He's definitely close but again, I want to wait until we get back from our vacation to really finish it.
13. Plant a vegetable garden: Tim did most of the work though. But we have sweet peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, watermelon and strawberry. We didn't do too much because it was getting too late in the season. But we've still had lots of growth and right now have lots of tomatoes and several bell peppers that are almost ready to be picked and the watermelon plant is growing like crazy! So fun! In a few more weeks we'll start planting the cool season crops.
14. Read through the Bible: To be honest, not even close. Really need to work on this area.
15. Refinish/repaint a piece of furniture: Spray painted a plant stand and a side table. So easy. Love spray paint!
16. Build something, with Tim's help: not yet.
17. Cook a gourmet meal from start to finish, without Tim's help: Honestly, I probably couldn't call any of it "gourmet" but I have been cooking more and trying a lot more recipes and I have to say, most of them have turned out pretty well. And Tim's only helped most of the time. He's just so much faster than I am and we're usually rushing to feed our starving, cranky children so he swoops in and finishes up. A few times I did do it all myself though.
18. Go on a trip with just Tim: Won't be able to do this until I'm done nursing.
19. Get my nails done with Kaylin: I've been meaning to do this the last few weekends. Hopefully soon though.
20. Write our will: Completely forgot about this one.
21. Spend a whole day playing with my kids without cleaning/using the computer/interruptions (and start doing this more): Sadly, not yet.
22. Complete the set up of my craft room/office: Nope.
23. Start redecorating my bedroom: This changed to redocarate the family room. We've done some, but still a work in progress.
24. Redecorate the kid's room: Just don't have the money/energy/time right now.
25. Start serving at church: Tim's been doing well at this and I'm just starting, but again, i'll be able to do a lot more once Clara's not nursing.
26. Figure out a way to serve our community as a family and then start doing it: No; ideas anyone?
27. Go on a hike as a family: No
28. Take a family portrait: I think this may be in the works, but I would like to lose a bit more weight first. Call me vain, but professional portraits can be expensive and I want to be happy with the way I look after spending a good amount of money and not be afraid to hang it on the wall.
29. Get portraits of Clara: Does it count if I do them? No? Okay, we still need to do this.
30. Visit SLO: I crossed this off because we'll be in slo before my birthday, even though it hasn't happened yet.

I'll have to do another update post in a few more months and see if I can cross off more of these. I blame my kids though. Can't get anything done with them around! ;)

Clara's milestones

Clara clapped today and learned to wave about a week ago! She's growing up too fast! I'll have to try to get some pictures soon. I also need to do an update on her weight. Just wanted to remember these little steps and growth.

Kindergarten here we come!

I posted some of these pictures on Facebook already, so sorry if some of this is a repeat, but as I've said before this is a record for me too. And I know I've said this before also, but I can't believe we're already at this stage. It's hard to believe that I have a school aged child. Thankfully she's so easygoing that she did not have a problem with this transition. Dylan actually had a harder time the first day than she did. And I missed her as well. The house is much more quiet and I miss her personality and voice throughout my day.

Although now that we're two weeks into school starting I have noticed that each day seems to go by quicker and it's been helping me get up and get dressed everyday (I was one of those moms who like to spend all day in her pjs.) So I know the school year will probably fly by.

I also have to start looking into homeschooling next year because I wanted to try one of each, public school and school at home.
Kaylin on her way out the door on the very first day of school!

Walking to school (from the car).

She's excited!

Waiting in line to go into her classroom.

 I tried to make her first day special. We picked her up and brought her a balloon and had flowers waiting on her seat in the car. I drew her a little picture that said, "welcome home Kaylin!" I think she felt special.

Some updates in pictures

I don't feel like doing a long post on what we've been up to these last few months, especially since I haven't posted in a while and only have about three readers anyway, so here is a look at our lives in snapshot (the pictures are out of order, so the most recent are at the top):

 My handsome nephew Noah

Clara LOVES her cousin. She seems so taken with babies in general.

Of course he's almost the same size as her, even though she's nine months older.

Dylan seems to like him and pays attention to him every once in a while. We're hoping they'll be close even with the age difference.

Clara began pulling up last month.

We took a trip to Ocean Beach in San Fran a few weekends ago and despite the dreary weather we had a nice time being together and exploring new places.

Water babies!

Best buds!

Family shot

It was cold as we walked on the Embarcadero and we weren't as prepared as we should've been (it's August, you'd think it would be warm!). So we made a makeshift beanie for Clara to combat the cold winds. She kind of looked like a little old lady. But in a good way.

 Just hanging out...being cute.

Helping mom make pizza. This is right before Dylan dumped the whole bag of cheese on the floor. Not sure if I'm going to ask if they want to help next time! Plus they were eating more than they were actually putting on the pizza.

Playing with the neighborhood kitties.

Slip-n-Slide on the 4th of July

Action shot

This is the best group shot of the kids; before fireworks.

 Clara's first 4th of July! She loved watching the fireworks and wasn't scared by the loud noises.