2012, Here I come!

I don't know if it was the time off over the holidays, finishing two big soul-sucking projects, or what it was, but I feel absolutely restored to my full self here at the beginning of 2012. We'll see if that feeling lasts, now that I'm back to the daily grind. (I really hope it does, and I'm working to make it so!) I feel like I have the energy to take on this year and make it my best yet, which is saying something, because I have had some pretty great years!

Aaron and I have both felt like we've put ourselves on the backburner in recent years. Two kids in 2.5 years will do that to you, I guess! Anyway, we talked about our resolutions this year (something we've never really done before) and they center on taking better care of ourselves, our relationship, our family, and our home. Here are my resolutions for 2012!

1. Read more - 26 books at least!
2. Be a better friend - that means go out with friends, make new ones, and call or write people more often.
3. Get in better shape - I am going to do that couch to 5k program this year. I'm going to!
4. Do something new - this is starting out with a cake decorating class. I can bake delicious cakes, but they sure are ugly. It's time to do something about that (and perhaps make new friends in the process?).
5. Spend at least 15 minutes a day cleaning the house - I tend to procrastinate, and save it all for the weekend, and then on the weekend I'm so exhausted from the week that half the stuff I want to get done
6. Read more to the kids - we have a ton of books, and while I read to them nearly every day, I want to start a bedtime routine of reading a book or two before they go to sleep every night.
7. Be present when I'm at home - no playing on my phone or the computer until after the kids are in bed and my chores are done!
8. Communicate with my husband - I know this is last on the list, but it should be number one as far as priorities go. Far too often we expect each other to just intuit what we need, but that obviously is not the best method for keeping a relationship going. We are going to work on using our words this year.

Now She Is One

I don't have enough time in the world to do justice to describing Sophie and her first year. She is my soul, and I can't imagine life without her. It's not surprising that the second child gets her happy birthday post more than a week late, but that's mostly because I've spent the past week playing and snuggling with she and her sister, time that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

Here she is a year ago:

And now:

Happy, happy, happy Birthday my sweet girl. I love you to the moon and back!

Gabbie's Horrible, Awful, No Good Week

Poor Gabbie has had a rough week, for many reasons, including:

• Croup - She was fine on Saturday evening when she went to bed at eight. Three hours later she had a barking cough and a fever. She spent Sunday through Tuesday resting and recouperating, even though she was not happy about it. On Tuesday she was suffering more from Cabin Fever than the Croup (but she still had to stay  home from school because the last time she was running a fever was less than 24 hours before), so we went out for lunch - Chinese food, her choice. She got vegetable fried rice, and I had the most amazing Pho Ga. (Also, Gabbie ate all my cilantro. Plain. It is so weird to me, a cilantro-tolerater-because-my-family-likes-it kind of person, when she does that.)



• Then she had a temper tantrum at the grocery store because she wanted to hold the yogurt covered pretzels, and I had the nerve to put them in the cart without thinking that possibly she would rather hold them.
• Then, I had the nerve to make her take a nap (she finally submitted when I offered to rock her to sleep).
• Yesterday she threw a fit when, after she asked me what kind of animal we are, I told her that we're humans. She doesn't want to be a human!
• She has been testing out the whole lying thing lately, and I am amazed at how stupid she obviously thinks I am. I will catch her doing something, (SEE IT WITH MY OWN EYES!) and then she'll deny it. ARGH!
• The toughest part for me was today, after her preschool Holiday Party, when she had to stay instead of going home with me, and she lost her shit in a spectacular fashion. She had to be peeled off of me by a teacher. It didn't help that I forgot something in the room and couldn't get another teacher's attention so she could hand it to me, so I had to slip in real quick to get it and she saw me again.

There's only one more day left this week, and I'm hoping I can make it a good one for her. Then this weekend, she gets a mommy date, and we're going to bake cookies with the rest of the women in Aaron's family. Gabbie's no good week needs turned around, and I think those two things may just be the way to do it.

Reason 193 That I'm Sure She's My Child

If we let her, she would subsist solely on food that consists of carbs and cheese.