I have never been big into making resolutions but I really want to go into this new year with focus and purpose. I know the next year is going to fly by (like they all do) so maybe if I have some specific goals set out I will do a better job of moving my life in the direction I want it to go, instead of just going along letting life move me...if that makes sense.
Anyway, here's my list....
1. Spend at least 15 minutes alone with God everyday. Praying/reading the Bible.
2. Develop friendships with other women/couples
3. Have a date night with the hubby once a month.
4. Run more miles, more often. - Run 3 races, one 10k or longer.
5. Commit to healthy eating/cooking. limit sugar and processed junk.
6. Be better organized. (toys, clothes, paperwork, schedules)
7. Limit casual internet time (fb mainly) to only during the girls naps/bedtime.
8. Create weekly meal plans and stick to them.
9. Stick to our budget to pay off car and student loans early.
10. Take a family vacation.
So there it is...by the end of 2012 I hope I can look back on this and say I've accomplished all I set out to do :)
Happy New Year!
12/31/11
12/29/11
10 months, and counting
Kara is 10 months old, and finally a crawler!
She started crawling about 2 weeks ago and she is making her way around the house great now. Which also means she is getting into everything, and bugging her sister more by trying to take her toys. Kirsten has been really great with her so far, and shares pretty well. Sometimes her sharing means saying Kara is finished with whatever toy it is she wants, and trading her for something else. For now Kara just goes along with it, we'll see how long that lasts.
Kara loves to babble, she says mama, dada, baba, nana...all of those kinda sounds. She also loves to shake her head "No!" She says no when we notice her getting into something she shouldn't, when you ask her a question, and of course when she doesn't want anymore to eat.
She loves to sing "If you're happy and you know it" and actually claps her hands and stomps/moves her feet at the right times :) She even sings ""la, la, la, la" to the Elmo's world song!
She is really getting the hang of drinking from a sippy this past week too. I am hoping to wean her straight from breastfeeding to a sippy cup, and skip the whole bottle thing all together. She is fighting weaning hardcore though, so we shall see. She just hates formula!
I love my happy baby girl, it's so fun to watch her grow and learn new things but I'm also a little sad that she won't be a baby much longer.
She started crawling about 2 weeks ago and she is making her way around the house great now. Which also means she is getting into everything, and bugging her sister more by trying to take her toys. Kirsten has been really great with her so far, and shares pretty well. Sometimes her sharing means saying Kara is finished with whatever toy it is she wants, and trading her for something else. For now Kara just goes along with it, we'll see how long that lasts.
She loves to sing "If you're happy and you know it" and actually claps her hands and stomps/moves her feet at the right times :) She even sings ""la, la, la, la" to the Elmo's world song!
She is really getting the hang of drinking from a sippy this past week too. I am hoping to wean her straight from breastfeeding to a sippy cup, and skip the whole bottle thing all together. She is fighting weaning hardcore though, so we shall see. She just hates formula!
12/7/11
I won!
Today I one a battle of wills with Kirsten!
After we got home from school I made us lunch: tuna salad sandwiches. Gross to some maybe, but we all actually like them, including Kirsten. But today she was not having it.
Now, you have to know that Kirsten is notorious for saying she is not hungry at meal times, and then asking for a snack minutes after getting up from the table. So when she says she is not hungry, instead of forcing her to eat we just tell her that she doesn't have to eat it right now, but that she will not get anything else until that food is gone. Most of the time that's enough to get her to change her mind and start eating.
But today that took 4 1/2 hours. She did not want to eat at lunch time, so I wrapped up her sandwich to save for after her nap. Of course she was disappointed when she woke up wanting a snack and I gave her the tuna sandwich :) She whined and complained so I sent her to her room. This happened probably 4 times before she finally relented and ate her sandwich. And she was so proud to show me she had finished! Yay! She's a stubborn girl, but I think maybe I'm just a bit more stubborn.
After we got home from school I made us lunch: tuna salad sandwiches. Gross to some maybe, but we all actually like them, including Kirsten. But today she was not having it.
Now, you have to know that Kirsten is notorious for saying she is not hungry at meal times, and then asking for a snack minutes after getting up from the table. So when she says she is not hungry, instead of forcing her to eat we just tell her that she doesn't have to eat it right now, but that she will not get anything else until that food is gone. Most of the time that's enough to get her to change her mind and start eating.
But today that took 4 1/2 hours. She did not want to eat at lunch time, so I wrapped up her sandwich to save for after her nap. Of course she was disappointed when she woke up wanting a snack and I gave her the tuna sandwich :) She whined and complained so I sent her to her room. This happened probably 4 times before she finally relented and ate her sandwich. And she was so proud to show me she had finished! Yay! She's a stubborn girl, but I think maybe I'm just a bit more stubborn.
11/29/11
The Nutcracker
A friend of mine posted a link on facebook to a blog with a cute fun craft idea using glue, table salt, and water colors. I tried it out with Kirsten this afternoon and had a blast with it.
All you do is squirt Elmer's glue on a piece of paper making whatever design you want.
All you do is squirt Elmer's glue on a piece of paper making whatever design you want.
Then cover all the glue with a good sprinkling of table salt.
Shake off the excess salt into a bowl. For salt painting just have your child gently touch the wet paint brush to the salt. And watch it spread! It's pretty awesome! You have to make sure not to smear the glue. Just tap the paint onto the salt and it spreads on it's own.
First we did squiggles.
Then a happy face :)
This was a super easy, and really cool craft. Kirsten loved watching the paint magically spread across the picture! Try it out with your kids!
On to the event of the night....
Jack was away at a basketball game tonight, so I was looking for something to do with the girls. I looked on our public library's website and was excited to see that they were hosting a Nutcracker Storytime tonight. I knew Kirsten would love it! She is all about dancing lately and LOVES watching Angelina Ballerina, so seing real life ballerina's would be unreal for her!
The children were supposed to dress in the fanciest attire :) So I dressed them up as ballerinas. (most every other mom there did too) My ballerina's ready to go!
First we got our picture taken with the ballerinas. Yep, me too! Kirsten wouldn't go by herself. Then we colored a nutcracker magnet. After that we had some down time before the show started so we checked out a few books.
The show started with a reading of The Nutcracker. Followed by a ballet performance of 8 different songs from the Nutcracker. It was so fun! Kirsten was glued to the dancers and clapped like crazy for them. She is already asking to go to the ballet again :)
11/27/11
Love/Hate
There are so many random things that Kara just LOVES to play with. And there are also a few odd things she hates.
She loves to play with this plastic medicine dropper that we have. She will chew on it and mess with it forever. I've never actually used it for medicine so it's officialy become her toy.
She hates pompoms. Kirsten has some play cheerleader pom poms. If you shake them or lay them by Kara at all she freezes and starts wimpering.
Kara loves the toy light stick necklace that her great grandma gave Kirsten. She plays with the strings, sucks on it, and she could stare at it all day.
She hates leaves. We set her and Kirsten down in the leaves a couple weeks ago. Kara was okay with it for the first couple seconds until Kirsten threw up a big handful of leaves all over her head. Poor Kara was scared to death. Even just holding her while Kirsten plays in the leaves she starts crying.
Kara loves to walk. Anytime I am near her she is grabbing for my hands so I can help her stand up and walk. She goes crazy fast running around the kitchen in her walker, and if she had it her way I am sure she'd love for me to just hold her up all day so she could walk everywhere.
She hates our squishy pink puffer ball. We brought it out to play with tonight and she shuddered. Even when we put in back in the toy basket she kept looking back at it, making sure it wasn't going to get her.
She loves to play with this plastic medicine dropper that we have. She will chew on it and mess with it forever. I've never actually used it for medicine so it's officialy become her toy.
She hates pompoms. Kirsten has some play cheerleader pom poms. If you shake them or lay them by Kara at all she freezes and starts wimpering.
She hates leaves. We set her and Kirsten down in the leaves a couple weeks ago. Kara was okay with it for the first couple seconds until Kirsten threw up a big handful of leaves all over her head. Poor Kara was scared to death. Even just holding her while Kirsten plays in the leaves she starts crying.
Kara loves to walk. Anytime I am near her she is grabbing for my hands so I can help her stand up and walk. She goes crazy fast running around the kitchen in her walker, and if she had it her way I am sure she'd love for me to just hold her up all day so she could walk everywhere.
However, she hates crawling. She won't even stand to be on her belly for more than a couple minutes and makes no efforts to move around that way. She's gotten pretty good at scooting around on her bottom though :)
Kara Mae loves to play with playing cards. Kirsten has a deck of Dora Go Fish cards that Kara will sit on the floor playing with for a long time. She picks them up, tosses them to the side, then is super excited to find them again in a different spot. She's only chewed up one so far!
And this is the mess that is our living room several times a day! We love playtime :)
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