New Month's Resolutions: May

Better late than never, right?

April was a good month, friends. I celebrated my 35th birthday and did NOT freak out about getting older. Hunter went with his papi to Pennsylvania to visit my MIL and SIL. We went to the New Children's Museum. I finished reading This Raging Light, and it was really good. I love the author's voice. I actually started jotting down a few ideas for my own book. I also started reading a parenting book that my friend Carla recommended called Siblings Without Rivalry. That book is a total game changer. Best parenting resource I have read so far. I will be posting about it once I am finished, for sure. I also started writing for Red Tricycle again. I submitted one story so far and am almost finished with another. I love writing for them because it gets me out and about exploring my city (like in the photo above of Crab Carillon at the 25th Street overpass -- hit the chimes to play a musical palindrome). Finally, we enjoyed Hunter's school performance called "An Afternoon at the Movies." As for exercising, yeah, that didn't really happen. Oops. I did keep up with my cleaning schedule, more or less, and I have been doing more "special time" with Hunter.

My goals for May aren't too different from the last few months...

MIND

Write, write, write. I resolve to submit my art story to my Red Tri editor, pitch at least one story for the summer, and write one chapter of my book.

BODY

Walk, walk, walk. I can't seem to get myself motivated to do my core exercises this month, so I am going to give myself a little break and hit the reset button. I will give it more commitment next month, so this month I will just focus on taking Paloma out for a walk every morning after dropping Hunter off at school. I have found that it's easier to get motivated to do this when I plan for it. For example, if I need to return a book to the library, drop something off at the post office, or stop by CVS I will walk there instead of drive and spread out those errands over the week. The main objective is to actually get us out in the fresh air, so if going to the park or visiting Isaiah at work are on the agenda, those count as "walks."

SOUL

Balance, balance, balance. I have been so focused on being a better mami to Hunter that I have forgotten that Paloma has some important needs too, like, hey, maybe I should read to her daily instead of every now and again. I checked out some board books from the library for her which has helped remind me to read to her. I need to sing to her more, too. I will finish reading Siblings Without Rivalry and continue to use the tips I've learned so far to be better at communicating with Hunter.

That's all! Here are some more photos from April... (By the way, the ones in which Hunter is wearing his Avengers shirt were not all taken on the same day -- he is just obsessed with that shirt.)