My in-laws are coming to visit tomorrow and I know I will forget to post about my New Year's Resolutions if I don't do them now so I'm getting an early start on this (let's hope it isn't also an early start of breaking the resolutions).
Normally my resolutions center around things I want to change that don't really impact me as a person. For instance, I talk about losing weight (still a goal but not a resolution) but as a "big girl" I am the same person as when I'm "normal weight." Or I talk about trying to scale back my potty mouth but whether I use the "s" word or not, I'm still me (just a potty mouth me who will probably get a call from a teacher some day about the fact that my child dropped the "f-bomb" in class... sorry mom).
So this year I thought what could I resolve to do that would really improve the person I am and how can I know what changes to make? Well, to make the right changes I felt I should try and improve something about me and use a friend as a "model" on how I would like to be. What better way to have a goal and a path?
So, without further ado:
1. I resolve to be a better friend like my friend Joanna. I have never met someone who is more committed to her friendships than Joanna. She is truly one of those people who if you called her right now and said you needed her, she would be on a plan in a second. And how does she show she is a good friend? Well, she will travel to see you whenever she can (no matter where you are). She will be in your wedding (i.e. my wedding) and even though she is in a different state and has to shoulder extra expenses she will NEVER once complain about it or try to weasel out of something... she will make it work. She will include you in everything she does because that is what a friend does. Hopefully I can be 1/2 the friend she is. Please do not think this means I don't have other friends who are really good too.
2. I resolve to be better at staying in touch with people like my friend Robin. This woman is amazing. Whenever she goes on a trip she brings address labels with everyone's (and I mean EVERYONE's) addresses so she can send out postcards from wherever she is. She send out little cards just to let you know she is thinking of you (and she even remembers to send birthday cards WAY in advance because she might be out of the country when your birthday happens). She will call and email periodically just to stay in touch. I stink at this and as we continue to move it becomes more important... but I'm going to follow her lead this year.
3. I resolve to be a better mom like my friend Danielle. Danielle as three kids (2 of whom who are twins) all 5 or under. She is amazing with them. They drive her nuts, like any mom, but she truly enjoys every moment she has with them. And most of all Danielle lets other people's business be their business so she can attend to her children - as in she doesn't get all caught up in how other people view her parenting and she always gives the benefit of the doubt with other parents. Her children are all happy and adjusted as well (and yes, I'm sure some of this is also about her husband but this post is about me).
I'll let you know how it all works out as I'm going through it (or maybe you will know because you might benefit from one of the above resolutions).
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Kiss-Mas*
It came and it left. In between we had over-stimulated children, chaos, a trip to the Georgia Aquarium, someone who forgot to let the London Broil defrost so she had to improvise and make bacon and eggs for Christmas dinner (this forgetful person shall remain nameless), and sleeping children (with soon to be sleeping mommy and daddy).
It was our first Christmas alone (as in we had no other family around us) and there was something really nice about it (we did miss our family... don't get your panties in a wad). Mostly the nice part was that we only had to coordinate 4 people... granted, 2 of those people are rambunctious children, but they were oddly behaved (I think it was a combination of colds, exhaustion, and constant sugar highs and lows). And now it has gone. But I wanted to share some of the moments with you.
Let's start with our tree... this is what it looked like the night before once Santa had visited:
I'm thinking that to actually impress her we need to get her a pony... and while her father would gladly do that, Mommy is the voice of financial reason in these situations.
But here is the real meaning of Christmas... the materialistic overload of things and trash:
No, seriously, here is a more "real" meaning of Christmas... last week Evan and I made wrapping paper. I cut up old paper grocery bags and let him paint on them (finger and brush). I used one of his creations to wrap a gift he picked out for his Daddy:
I hope you all had a Merry and pleasantly exhausting Christmas!
*The letter "R" is still difficult for Evan to pronounce so this is how he pronounces "Christmas."
It was our first Christmas alone (as in we had no other family around us) and there was something really nice about it (we did miss our family... don't get your panties in a wad). Mostly the nice part was that we only had to coordinate 4 people... granted, 2 of those people are rambunctious children, but they were oddly behaved (I think it was a combination of colds, exhaustion, and constant sugar highs and lows). And now it has gone. But I wanted to share some of the moments with you.
Let's start with our tree... this is what it looked like the night before once Santa had visited:
And... this is a tree that only has presents for Chloe and Evan. A little obscene for a 2 year old and 7 month old. And even worse - I honestly thought I had gone light this year (I blame it on the Aunts, Uncles, and grandparents who sent gifts, not Mom and Dad). And even worse than that - Brian's parents are coming to visit this weekend so their gifts aren't even under the tree.
So, here I have this beautiful Christmas tree all ready for the children to come down and be awed by its bounty of presents. And I decide to try and make a moment of it. This morning (Christmas morning) once Evan woke up, I woke up Brian and then Chloe. Then I had Brian carry Evan and Chloe downstairs so I could videotape how animated the children will be once they see the presents... this is what I got:
While Evan was interested, it just wasn't the excitement I was looking for. And Chloe just didn't seem impressed.
Even though her pile started out like this:
And ended up as this:
I'm thinking that to actually impress her we need to get her a pony... and while her father would gladly do that, Mommy is the voice of financial reason in these situations.
But here is the real meaning of Christmas... the materialistic overload of things and trash:
No, seriously, here is a more "real" meaning of Christmas... last week Evan and I made wrapping paper. I cut up old paper grocery bags and let him paint on them (finger and brush). I used one of his creations to wrap a gift he picked out for his Daddy:
I hope you all had a Merry and pleasantly exhausting Christmas!
*The letter "R" is still difficult for Evan to pronounce so this is how he pronounces "Christmas."
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Evan's Music Obsession
I don't know if I've ever shared with you the fact that my son is obsessed with music... I mean obsessed. Everything becomes a "la-la" (which could mean music or a musical instrument). I asked my parents to buy him the band in a box from Melissa & Doug for his birthday and he plays with it at least 3 times a day if not more. He even lets Chloe play with the maracas.
Another way that we foster his obsession with music is that we attend a weekly class from The Music Class (if you have one in your area go... go now). They give you a CD of the songs used in class and because Evan is obsessed (I'm not sure I've used that word enough for you to fully understand how he feels about music) we play the CD most nights before bed.
When he was younger and we played the CD he would just make up a dance or smile. Now, he dances the way it was done in music class (mostly, he still has his own style) and he even sings. So, I thought I'd share with you some highlights from last night (I don't have the links so if you are reading this in your email you will probably need to get over the blog to actually see the videos):
Another way that we foster his obsession with music is that we attend a weekly class from The Music Class (if you have one in your area go... go now). They give you a CD of the songs used in class and because Evan is obsessed (I'm not sure I've used that word enough for you to fully understand how he feels about music) we play the CD most nights before bed.
When he was younger and we played the CD he would just make up a dance or smile. Now, he dances the way it was done in music class (mostly, he still has his own style) and he even sings. So, I thought I'd share with you some highlights from last night (I don't have the links so if you are reading this in your email you will probably need to get over the blog to actually see the videos):
(Why yes, this is Evan's room and that is an alarm clock on the floor... what, your child doesn't steal Daddy's alarm clock to play with it? And yes, Evan does control his own CD player. I've told you often, I'm only here to change his diaper.)
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Last Day of Fall Semester
So, hey... it's been a while... yeah... about two weeks. And I made all those comments about how I was going to make 4 Thanksgiving posts and I'm sure I got your hopes up. Well... sorry. It didn't happen and I can't lie, it isn't going to happen. And I have 20 excuses I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm not even going to share them. Nope, let's just move forward... together... and forget about all of the broken promises and broken hearts. 'Kay?
And let's move on to the fact that today was Evan's last day of school before his winter break. I cannot believe he has already gone through one semester of school. I cannot believe I refer to it as a "semester." But mostly I cannot believe that for the next 2 weeks I'm supposed to entertain him all the time... like 5 days a week... all by myself. Well, not all by myself, I set up some play dates and thankfully grandparents are coming to visit so I guess it won't be all bad.
The up-side of this being the last day of school was the concert... yes, my little man gave a concert. Well, not just him, all the kids got together to sing for the parents the Spanish songs they've learned in since September. Brian couldn't be there (his annual December conference) so I taped pretty much the entire event. I tried to keep the videos on the shorter side but that didn't always happen so some of pretty long.
I do have to warn you that there are some things you need to know about my son before you watch the videos... he isn't exactly a follower. And by that I mean he doesn't really listen well all the time so he tends to do his own thing. Also, he is the youngest in the class and also the smallest. Therefore his hat doesn't really fit so he gets a little distracted. And, he is just too darn cute.
I mean, look at this:
So here he is in all his glory:
And let's move on to the fact that today was Evan's last day of school before his winter break. I cannot believe he has already gone through one semester of school. I cannot believe I refer to it as a "semester." But mostly I cannot believe that for the next 2 weeks I'm supposed to entertain him all the time... like 5 days a week... all by myself. Well, not all by myself, I set up some play dates and thankfully grandparents are coming to visit so I guess it won't be all bad.
The up-side of this being the last day of school was the concert... yes, my little man gave a concert. Well, not just him, all the kids got together to sing for the parents the Spanish songs they've learned in since September. Brian couldn't be there (his annual December conference) so I taped pretty much the entire event. I tried to keep the videos on the shorter side but that didn't always happen so some of pretty long.
I do have to warn you that there are some things you need to know about my son before you watch the videos... he isn't exactly a follower. And by that I mean he doesn't really listen well all the time so he tends to do his own thing. Also, he is the youngest in the class and also the smallest. Therefore his hat doesn't really fit so he gets a little distracted. And, he is just too darn cute.
I mean, look at this:
So here he is in all his glory:
(This one is 3 minutes)
Chloe also liked watching all of the little people. I think she also enjoyed giving me a massive cramp in my arm as I had to hold her for the 15 minutes. She is dead weight people. Cute... but dead weight.
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