11 for 2011

11 resolutions for 2011. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions. And I've heard the statistics on how these things usually turn out.

Here I am anyway, writing a resolution post. I think it is only human to be inspired, to hope, to grow. 

This has actually been a long time coming. It's been a process. Many of these are things I have been thinking about over the past 6 months or so.  I think it started with reading a book called Breathe, by Keri Wyatt Kent, which centers on the idea of creating space for God in a busy life and was capped off on Sunday by a teaching. In between, I've done a lot of thinking through the ups and downs of life, the successes and the failures.

I'm aiming high and hoping praying that some of these actually stick - at first glance, some of these are your run of the mill New Year's resolutions, but I think what I'm really after is a shift in my thinking, perspective and values.

People over stuff. Things that have lasting value vs. things that are fleeting. The person I want to be, not the person I just say I am. Being a good steward of the resources God has blessed me with.

The main thing, I believe, is to have a plan. I have already made good strides towards #8 {exercise} through a combination of accountability and a friendly side bet and lots of planning...each week I think through the days and try to figure out when I can fit a workout in, what it will be, where it will be, etc. I now own exercise clothes, DVD's, equipment. My social time during the week is with friends who share my same goal.

I am working out plans for some of the others and you might hear about them later (or see them on my picture blog). These are my 11 for 2011. What are yours?

1. Drink more water. 

2. Try to enjoy cooking. 

3. Be more intentional with my time. 

4. Invest in my home team, our families, my marriage. 

5. Spend less time on Facebook. 

6. Wake up by 7am each day. 

7. Read every day to my kids. 

8. Exercise, someway, somehow. 

9. Surround myself with less stuff. Simplify. 

10. Keep a prayer journal. 

11. Practice gratitude.

miss mady

Mady has been a busy little girl lately! She went through a cranky month or two (teeth + frustration??) but we came out the other side in one piece and now her personality is really coming out. 

She started walking a day right around 13 months. She had been toying with the idea for a few weeks and finally took off one night. She still falls down a lot (her big brother and sister like to "help" her) but she is determined little girl and she's getting the hang of it.

She just started waving last week and we think it's about the cutest thing in the world and she's almost catching on to some baby signs (we try to do "more", "all done" and "please" plus "eat" and "drink" if we're lucky...it's pretty low key but it makes mealtime a little happier).

We also experienced our first girl moment with her yesterday (I know, she's starting young). If you have a little girl or were ever a girl yourself, you know what I'm talking about. I was holding her after her nap and she was cranky. Matt walked in the door and started making silly faces to cheer her up. She tried her hardest not to crack a smile but Daddy was too funny so she smiled, instantly remembered she was supposed to be cranky, gave Daddy a dirty look, and collapsed into tears on my shoulder. Classic. 

For the most part, she is happy girl. She loves her heart blankey, her thumb, and her doggy (we lost him at the mall after Thanksgiving but Mommy found a good enough replacement for her stocking and all is good again.) We are getting glimpses of her personality, her sense of humor, and her sweet dance moves. We look forward to continuing to watch our Mady grow.

2010: Looking Back

January

The year starts out right with a vacation in the Bahamas.

A new nephew, Caden Philip, arrives.

The newborn haze begins to lift.

February

Mady is 3 months old already!

It's winter, we're feeling blah.

March

We narrowly survive a long weekend in Indy for the Big Ten Tournament.

We cheer on Aunt Cara and the rest of the Eagles to a 3rd place finish at the state competition.

April

I officially become a soccer mom.

We Walk for Water.

May 

Matt starts his new job at Fox.

Mady discovers her thumb.

Ella gets her first big girl bike.

Dylan graduates from preschool.

June

Dylan learns to swim.

Ella finishes up a year of 'nastics.

July

Mady learns to crawl.

Chad and Katie get hitched!

We realize we have a life outside of kids.

August

Mady is dedicated.

I begin our picture blog.

Another nephew, Myles Allen, is born.

September

Two kids in school! Ella starts preschool, Dylan begins Kindergarten.

Dylan loses his first tooth.

Ella begins ballet.

Our first kid-free weekend in ages.

October

Ella kicks the nighttime Pull-Up habit.

It's confirmed: Mady is the cutest baby in the world.

Our trip to Disney.

November

Birthdays one, four and six.

December

Ella struggles to say good-bye to her afternoon naps.

The Workout Challenge begins.

Mady learns to walk!

Hello, 2011! 
What will this year bring?

Christmas tree picture {the REAL story}

How hard can this be?

Mady's not happy...Dylan looks like a pirate...

Cute, but baby sister is MIA

Now it's all falling apart...

Everyone look at the camera (preferably at the same time)!

Thought this was going to be the money shot but Mady's head got in the way.

Ahhh...finally! 

{Except that was the first picture I took. Guess I should have quit while I was ahead!}

What are you willing to go through to get that classic Christmas shot?

room mom-ing

No one tells you

when you bring your baby boy home from the hospital

that someday you will be up later than you would like

(while he sleeps soundly upstairs)

baking reindeer cookies

with pretzel antlers and M&M faces

for his kindergarten Christmas party.

And no one tells you

the next day

 

you will be so glad that you did.

oh, Ella!

Here is our dilemma lately...if Ella naps in the afternoon, she's up until 10pm at night. If she doesn't nap, she either a) cries, whines and throws herself on the ground from 4pm-7pm or b) falls asleep in odd places when you really don't want her to (i.e. 5:00 at night). Here are a couple of my more recent attempts to keep her up during the day (in hopes of a little kid-free time in the evening).

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

In the first photo I had sent her to her room for time-out because she was driving me nuts (product of a no-nap day) and I was trying to make dinner. We went to call her down to eat and Matt found her like this. Hilarious, but bedtime was no fun that night.

The second picture just happened today - again I am trying to keep her up so she'll go to bed on time for me tonight (Matt always works late on Monday nights and it helps my night if I can get all three kids down by 7:30 or so). I told her she could watch a movie, things got eerily quiet, and when I went to check on her, there she was, out cold. It's only 2:00 in the afternoon and I can actually hear snoring as I type this.

Anyone out there have any ideas for bridging this nap/no-nap phase? We went through it with Dylan too but it didn't seem to be quite as difficult with him (and it didn't last this long). Help!

blogs, blogs, blogs

I've come across a few new blogs in the past few weeks - thought I would pass them along since that's how we all find the good ones...word of mouth. (I hope you are all still enjoying Young House Love and Catalog Living as much as I am).

And if you haven't discovered the beauty of Google Reader yet, you really need to climb aboard. I thought about posting about Reader *ahem* years ago but I figured everyone knew about it already. Sounds like some of my friends out there are simply sliding into their 30's, not even pretending to stay up on things ;)

• Simple Organized Living - I came across this site through some Facebook friends. I want to be that really organized person and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't. She has great tips on staying organized, time management, saving money, etc.
 

• Money Saving Mom - I go through phases where I sign up for freebies on-line like crazy and then phases where it doesn't even cross my mind. I appreciate sites like this one that list them all for you, so you can visit this site when the mood strikes and sign up for some free stuff. You have to pick and choose your offers but I've gotten some great stuff FREE in the last few months - Starbuck Via samples, a Fisher Price TRIO car, and handful of shampoo/conditioner samples (great for travel). Stick with the companies you've heard of before so you don't end up with crazy offers filling your inbox (I use my gmail account for these which filters out the spam pretty well and you can usually opt out of the email marketing right away).
 

• Simple Mom Reviews - I picked this one up from Facebook too - a friend of a friend writes reviews for this site. Most of their reviews involve giveaways so this is essentially a giveaway site. I am determined to win something fabulous one of these days* so I've been entering them a lot - especially when they are relatively easy and don't take much time. The ones on this site usually involve leaving a comment or "liking" a page on Facebook. [*I have won in the past few months, some loot from Thirty-One, a newsboy cap from Rylee's Collection and a $5 Seattle's Best gift card from Joyous Photography - these were all Facebook deals though...I'd love to win something through a blog giveaway as well...it's a simple pleasure in life).

2010 {Facebook style}