I can’t believe I’m nine months through my personal year already.  Time is just flying by.  I’m going to have to dial up the effort on some of these things, or else I won’t get many of them crossed off in time for my birthday in October.  Yikes.

1. Spend lots of time snuggling and loving Peanut while she’s still tiny.  Most important thing on my list!  Peanut isn’t particularly cuddly right now.  She’s in a phase where she wants to sit up and see the world and be involved in everything.  If you try to hold her like a baby, unless she’s reeeeeeeeeeally tired, she’ll have none of it.  But we play together every day, and we laugh and act silly, and I lavish kisses and hugs on her, and she loves that.  She’s a cherished baby for sure.

2. Get into the habit of better skin care.  Um, well.  I’m still hydrating like a maniac and I eat tons of fruits and vegetables.  The routine is touch and go, though.  I’ve been blessed with good skin, and I’m lazy so I rarely wear makeup, and that adds up to looking decent without much effort.  I want to glow, though.  So I need to work on this.

3. Read the Lord of the Rings trilogy (long overdue).   Completed!  I finished The Return of the King in May and it was my favorite book of the trilogy, although they were all fantastic.  Look for a post on my impressions of the series coming next week.

4. Run the GW Parkway Classic 2013.   Calling this one done.  I revised this goal because what I really wanted was to get back into road racing.  My sister-in-law and I ran the Healthy Strides Community 5K in April, and I called it “my icebreaker race” because I was breaking back into this hobby after a long hiatus.  (I ran consistently until January 2012, when I injured my foot.  Then in February 2012, I got pregnant and running felt wrong, so I shelved it for the good of the baby – which I later learned was a very smart thing to do, since I was put first on activity restrictions and later on strict bed rest due to some very uncool, scary complications.)  The Healthy Strides race was my first foray back into running, and I’m looking for the next one now – a 10K, maybe, or another 5K.

5. Take plenty of family hikes with hubby and the little miss.  In progress!  We’ve been enjoying the heck out of the nice weather recently, taking lots of walks in the neighborhood and along the Mount Vernon Trail.  Soon, hubby and I are planning to bring Peanut to our favorite area park, Great Falls (the Virginia side).  I can’t wait to see her big eyes take in the incredible waterfall there.

6. Overcome my fear of baking bread.

7. See Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center, summer 2013.  This isn’t going to happen – I missed out on tickets and haven’t found a trustworthy babysitter yet (other than Auntie Em and Aunt Grace, but they’re far away, and Nana, but she’s leaving us soon.)  Bummer.  Maybe I can sweet-talk hubby into Broadway tickets and a weekend in the city next year.

8. Give Peanut a magical first Christmas!  (I can’t wait to be Santa.)  Done!  Read all about Peanut’s first Christmas here.

9. Finish reading Miss Read’s Fairacre series. Done!  I’ll have a post coming soon about this one, too.

10. Buy myself a Longchamp bag and a new wallet. — Progress: hubby got me a sweet wallet – fabric printed with a map of the London Tube, which is a conversation-starter every time I pull it out – for my birthday last year.  I might get the bag for my birthday next year.  I’m watching for a sale.  If I don’t see a sale, I may shelve this one.

11. Plant a successful herb garden.

12. Read Winnie-the-Pooh to Peanut.  Done!  I can’t even describe how much it has meant to me to share one of my favorite children’s books with Peanut.  I think she enjoyed it too: she’s been bugging me to let her write a “Peanut’s Picks” post on it.  😉

13. Take up Zumba.  I found a class that meets on my lunch hour, a block from my office, every Tuesday and have been going whenever I can.  I’m incredibly awkward and I have NO rhythm, but it’s so much fun and a great workout.

14. Knit a sweater for Peanut and a hat for myself.  Progress: I finished another little pink cardigan, but I still need to sew the buttons on (and I’d better get on that, because Peanut is growing like wildflowers).  The hat for Mom was on hold as I worked on a baby sweater for a colleague’s kiddo, but I just sent that off and I’ll be picking up the needles for the hat any day now.

15. Toss or donate the clothes that I don’t like but that are still hanging in my closet.

16. Attend Potomac Paddle 2013.  I don’t think this is going to happen, but you never know.

17. Reconnect with an old friend.

18. Have a playdate with NICU mom friends. Did this!  Two of my mom friends from our NICU brought their little guys over and Peanut had a blast playing with her friends.  And I learned something: boys and girls really are different.  Both of the boys were mobile (one was full-term and one a preemie like Peanut) and my house looked like a hurricane had hit it when they left!  They scooted all over the place and were into everything, while Peanut sat primly on her blanket like a little princess and chewed on one of her stacking cups.  It was so much fun to have little boys in the house, and I loved catching up with their moms.  I’m so very glad I made the effort to get in touch with those ladies and get everyone over for a playdate.  We’re talking about another get-together in August – I hope it happens.

19. Paint my bedroom purple. This isn’t going to happen this year.  Boo.

20. Break in and wear my silver ballet flats. Done!  Well, not my silver ones, but I broke in my black ballet flats and they’re now my go-anywhere, do-anything shoes.

21. Re-read the Anne of Green Gables series.  Starting it soon, I hope.

22. Climb Old Rag.  (This one: maybe not so realistic.  I’d need to train a lot and find a babysitter.)  Definitely not going to happen this year.

23. Knit another pair of socks.

24. Buy a fabulous pair of shoes at a great price. I found these gorgeous ladies on the 70% off rack at Shoes by Lara, an independent shoe store near my office.  Don’t mind if I do!

25. Bake a pumpkin spice cake.  I’m going to do this for my birthday in October.  Stay tuned!

26. Take Peanut to the beach.  Hoping for a weekend with Aunt R in Virginia Beach before she leaves for another extended adventure.  We’ll see…

27. Get to know the women in my neighborhood better.  Lots of stop-and-chats on walks, and I’m feeling more a part of the neighborhood than ever before.

28. Get back into a regular yoga practice.  This has fallen a little bit by the wayside as I’ve been more into Zumba lately, and of course my old stand-bys (running and circuit training).  I’m on the lookout for a convenient Mommy & Me yoga class, though.

29. Start a baby box for Peanut.   Done!  I have an adorable baby box and I’ve been keeping up with it as Peanut has special milestones.  I’m also faithfully filling in her baby book.

30. Start a frame wall in my foyer.

31.  Lots and lots of family time with hubby and Peanut.  In progress, always.  We make the most of our evenings and weekends together.  Being a working mom is tough sometimes – okay, all the time – but I’m squeezing in quality time with my sweet girl whenever I can.