I’m a huge fan of family goals. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions.

Any day now, I will become a mommy to four beautiful and crazy little kiddos! We set out to change our lives at the beginning of December 2017 and those same things are absolutely our 2018 Family Goals & Intentions! I’ll be honest, New Year’s Resolutions as a mom have always been easy to make and easier to break. That’s why these aren’t resolutions. These are our goals and our intentions for the next year and next chapter of our lives.

Since I’ve had a ton of free time while being on bedrest in the hospital these last 10 days, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m hoping to accomplish this year from a professional as well as a personal standpoint. So, you know me, I’m all about lists especially long ones! <– Crazy lady! The one thing that has always been on my list was to have a better work/life balance. I’m a workaholic and then some. I work for fun too. It’s a weird thing I know.

Family Goals for 2018

Keep the kids alive and stay alive myself! Easier said than done right!? I still don’t know what to expect with four kids and since Liam already has me knocking on death’s door each week, I think this is totally valid even if most days I like to think of myself as Wonder Woman.
Reorganize my house and make it functional for a family of 6! The ultimate goal for the year is to move out of that piece and into something that will sustain all of us!
Don’t lose my $*%@ and have a LOT more patience with my kids and Travis
Take a shower at least every other day! Let’s be real, you don’t shower every single day either. If you do, don’t judge me!
Lose the baby weight because duh I am having a baby in a few weeks!
Get my crap together with our finances. I make too much money to be this poor.
Spend time with Travis and actually go on dates this year! Find ourselves again as a couple.
Spend less time “connected” to our phones and iPads and more intentional time with each other
Get healthy! Repair the damage my body has endured during this pregnancy and rely more on high-intensity training instead of cardio to help heal my heart and prevent issues down the road.
Quit my job by end of year. It’s hard to type this because I love my job. It’s actually harming me physically and emotionally in addition to the fact that I need to be around more for my children in the present and in the future.

Our 2018 goal ultimately is to be intentional with our children and to finally move forward in creating the life that we have envisioned for ourselves for years by focusing on our family first and everything else second. To us, that means building this blog into a profitable one through our individual strengths and experiences.

The Why Behind Our Goals

As a mom, I want to witness my children grow. I have worked in my profession for 4 years now. At 70hours a week (sometimes much much more since I am never disconnected except when I’m having babies and on LOA) that means I’ve missed 14,560 hours in 4 years.

Check this out if you want (if not skip ahead because ahhh math!):
52 weeks in a year X 70hrs on average away and working my booty off = 3,640hrs X 4 years = 14,560hrs total
365 days in a year X 24hrs a day = 8,760hrs X 4 years = 35,040hrs total
That means that I’ve spent 41.5% of the last 4 years working away from my children including the time they are asleep.
Factor in time spent asleep (10hrs/night that my kids sleep on average 9p-7a) and I’m looking at this:
365 days in a year X 14hrs a day (24hrs-10hrs sleeping) = 5,110hrs X 4 years = 20,440hrs total
That means that I’ve spent 71.2% of the last 4 years away from my kids.
It also means that I’ve spent 5,800hrs with them, which is 1,470hrs each year or 28hrs/wk. I work rotating weekends, a closing shift on one weekday, and have a day off during the week during which 2 of the kiddos are in school all day. When you consider that, I basically leave 2hrs before they get up for the day and I come home 2hrs before they go to bed. I cook dinner and then eat dinner. They go to sleep. I miss my kids. They need their Momma. Travis and I need to get time together and be a couple.