Progress Report on My letter to Myself

Dear a probably very tired me,

You're now the mother of a nearly 1 year old bubs and you're at the end of what was probably the most challenging and rewarding year of your life. Fingers crossed you managed to not lose bubs anywhere... in which case win! Honestly, if bubs is happy and healthy by this point then this has been successful year. Bubs should have also had most of the Harry Potter series read to bubs already :)

Lily is now nearly 4 months old! (Where did the time go?). Haven't managed to accidentally leave her anyway. So we're doing well. She's also growing really well (15ibs 14 oz when we had her weighed last Wednesday!) and giggled for the first time on Saturday night. Not much progress on Harry Potter - but we do like the Gruffalo. 

Hopefully by next year the blog will have also grown. In 2016 we hit the 100 followers milestone, the plan is to double that by the end of 2017. If we can get there then that would be awesome. With the arrival of bubs I would like to start earning a little bit of money off the blog so that I can start funding advertising and get the blog it's own URL. With bubs there is unlikely to be any money to self fund much. The hope is that I can do some guest blogging and potentially get some paid gigs out of it. If I am funding my own craft habit by the end of 2017 then the other half will reward with serious brownie points :)

Currently hovering between 115 - 118 followers. Need to start posting and advertising more content to keep the numbers up. But not panicking about this too much at the moment. 

So on the job front: the plan is to start back at work around the end of March/ beginning of April time line. By then bubs will be about 3 months old and should hopefully be sleeping through the night (fingers crossed). The plan is then to start hunting out a promotion at work by about the middle of the year. My plan is to have a career, being a working mum is going to be really hard, but I know it'll be worth it in the long run.

So, as planned, I am back at work. Been back a month now and still settling in. But involved in some really exciting events over the next few months. So watch my Instagram feed for more information on that one!

By the time you're reading this, that book will be finished and actually published on Amazon. Because this is getting seriously ridiculously stupid if not as if this is still not done by now you have definitely need to take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror. This has now been in editing for half a decade and it needs to be published.

No progress on this yet... Will need to tear myself away from knitting for a month I think and focus edit this one. 

I don't have any massive hopes for my knitting this year (I'm pretty sure that in my sleep induced haze I'll be struggling to count rows and stitches). But if I can get in a few cute knits for bubs then all will be well. The plan is also to really improve my sock knitting - I'm thinking by now I'll have knitted at least 12 pairs (1 a month on average). They'll have been good sized travelling companions this year and I will hopefully have a few cute pairs of pretty socks. Recently I heard of a woman who donated a load of blankets she's knitting to the Salvation Army, so that would be cool if I could have some spare knits by now to donate.

#Edit to knitting plan (Caused by my addiction to buying yarn!)

- Finish the Red/Blue Pram Blanket

I did manage to finish this. It has been used a lot. Baby blankets are a super useful gift (if anyone needs inspiration for a friend's baby) as the baby doesn't grow out of it. Lily also loves the texture and spends most of the time holding it when she's using it. 

- Finish the knitted patchwork blanket

Also done and so pleased with myself for this make :) 

- 12 pairs of socks

Not started this challenge yet. On the to-do list. 

- This jumper for bubs. It's mainly ribbing and stocking stitch - so not a massive stretch of the imagination to get this finished! 

Also on the to-do, but not started yet!

- Get started on this pattern for bubs

To do but not started yet

By now you should have actually completed your first 10K race. After having to put the first one off from April 2016 (turns out that exhaustion was due to bubs!) you should now have got your fitness up enough to be able to run 10K again. If not then I am very disappointed as I feel like the exercise will help keep the stress levels to a minimum and keep some sort of sanity together. You'll also be going climbing at least twice a month in an attempt to tone up some core muscles again - and climbing is super fun.

#Edited Run Plan: 

June/July = 5K Race - Need to Book

My husband and I have booked a 5K park run on the 3rd June. Need to do some serious training. But I'm hoping for an under an hour time. 

August = 10K race - Need to book

End Sept = Half Marathon - Need to book, but would like to do the New Forest one

Nov/Dec Time = Marathon - Need to book

Financially I would really like to reduce how much I spend. If I could do that then we could save a lot more. So hopefully by the time I'm reading this I will have some savings and reduced how much I've been spending. But fingers crossed... I might have even be able to siphon some off for yarn...

Really need to work on this... Addicted to buying baby clothes in Charity shops at the minute! But, on the flip side, I've found Nescafe flavoured coffee sachets at about £1.50 for 8 in Asda. Very tasty and spending less on 8 coffees then I used to spend on 1 from the Starbucks upstairs at work. Also buying snacks in bulk from a local wholesalers and bringing in my own dinner to work. I was spending about £50-£60 a month at work, so the money on food for work is hopefully a lot less now! 

So future me, I hope you've managed to at least meet most some of the above. With bubs keeping you busy I imagine you've had some sort of serious adjusting to do. But fingers crossed you've managed to stay on top of most of it!

Bye me and I hope you've had an exciting 2017!

MrsKirstyHoll

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So I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far. But I think I will check in with this one again in a few months time. It's a good way of making sure I'm staying on track! 

Love to you all and happy knitting!

MrsKirstyHoll

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