2007 in the house! (Then there were three…)

Jason • 29th Dec 2006 • General

As you may have read on Little D’s blog, we are expecting our first child this summer. Pretty exciting news for us and our families!

The baby is due in late June, which works out perfectly for her job, as she won’t have to miss much of the school year — being a tenure track teacher and all. It will also be nice that she can spend July and August with the baby, without having to worry about missing work or having to take time off. I’ll be saving my vacation for this time too, in order to spend as much time with the two of them as possible.

And as Little D mentioned, we’re not going to find out the baby’s gender before the birth. At least we’re planning on it. I have a feeling a certain someone will change her mind at the last minute! But, as of now, we don’t know, which makes planning (names, room color/design, etc.) a little hard. We’ve come up with a gender-neutral theme for the room (we’ll share pictures once we get it done) and have a few names we like so far:

Girls Names

• Lucy
• Nora

Boys Names

• Liam
• Owen

Not sure if we’ll go with those in the end, but as of now those are the ones we are leaning toward. We’ll see — I am sure we’ll come up with some last minute names that will make the decision even more difficult.

And, this means big changes for 2007! Budgets, baby supplies, planning, painting and prepping. Lots of work and I am glad that we still have 6 months to get it all done. Lots of spring-time projects, I imagine!

With that in mind, I really need to focus on some goals for 2007, especially in the first half of the year. Here’s what I am thinking so far:

1. Stick to our budget! We have to do this, otherwise we’re going to have a hard road once the baby is born. We’ve tried (and failed) in the past, but it needs to happen this year.
2. Get that side business going. The Joe Switzerland Agency has been stagnant for awhile now, so I need to re-focus on building the business during the first half of the year. The extra income would be nice!
3. Get organized. I am a slacker. There, I admit it. It needs to change, though. A baby and a side business will mean I need to manage my time better. In 2007, I will really implement GTD (Getting Things Done) in my life and stick to it. I’ll write more on that later, with more detail on why I’ve struggled in the past.
4. Exercise. Yeah, I know. Another time consuming goal. But, I need to at least make more of an effort. Even once a week would be an improvement!

Any time management tips for a first-time father?

I’m very excited about what 2007 will bring — I just hope I can accomplish all I need to before the baby arrives, so I can devote enough time to focus on the Little D’s in my life!

PS– This is my first attempt at cross-posting between Vox and my site, so if things are messy, I apologize!