Goals for the New Year

So my post is two weeks late.  I was out of town for Christmas/New Year's and am just now getting back into the swing of life at home.  Don't judge. ;)

Last year, my only resolution was a reading list.  I read most of the books on it, so I'm quite proud of myself.  I think the only one I haven't finished is Jane Eyre... mostly because we moved when I was half-way through and I just kept forgetting to pick it back up. :/ It will get finished eventually...

But Drew and I made a couples' resolution apart from any personal resolution that we might make on our own.  Stop arguing.  And I like to think we did a pretty good job with it.

We still have fights and, yes, even the occasional argument.  However, I like to think we've banished the argumentative spirit from our home.  It's been a process that hasn't been perfected yet, but we're still working on it.

We still disagree.  A lot.  But we have learned that there are better, more productive ways of resolving our conflicts.  We talk.  We try not to get upset or angry when we do.

I won't lie.  It's still hard.  We are argumentative people.  I know that I still get in moods where I disagree with everything that Drew says.  (Drew calls them "contrary moods.")  But we are working, striving.

And we are succeeding, slowly but surely. :)

This year, I've decided to set some goals for myself.  Not resolutions, mind you.  Goals. The difference?  Resolutions are vague and usually too lofty to achieve.  Goals... well, they're:

SO.  Here are a few of my 2012 Goals:
- Go 'poo free... for so many reasons.
- Read a daily devotional book for moms.
- Fully decorate my house.
- Blog more, starting with once a week!- Craft (with my new sewing machine and Silhouette Cameo)!  This is broken down into more specific goals in my head... like make clothes for my kids, make gifts for my family, make custom decor for my house, et cetera.

I probably have more, but I'm running out of time.  There is lunch to be made for my hungry boy!  More details on these goals and more to follow soon! :)

Christmas

Well, I'm alive... adjusting to having two little babies slowly but surely! :) I've been so blessed to have two very easygoing babies (although Gabriel is becoming less so as he gets older).  Hallie is already sleeping 7-8 hours at night!  I can't complain!

Gabriel loves his baby sister.  At first, he didn't really know what to think of her, so he basically ignored her.  But now he loves to give her hugs and kisses.  He also loves to steal her blankets and pacifiers. :| He tries to share everything with her, including his food and drink.  I've tried telling him repeatedly that she's too little or that she doesn't like it, but it hasn't sunk in yet.

When I'm not busy with one (or both) of my little munchkins, I've been attempting to get my house ready for Christmas.  I'm going for simple this year, mainly because of Hallie, but also because this is my first Christmas to actually be at home!  Drew and I have been traveling every Christmas.  So yeah, I practically have NO decorations.  I'm compiling ideas for next year, though!

This is our first year to put up a tree.  I'm quite pleased with the finished product, although it definitely needs more lights and ornaments before it's perfect.  Somehow I let Drew talk me into getting only two boxes of lights instead of the four that were in my cart.  And, wouldn't you know, I ordered on Amazon, so it wasn't like I could just go out and buy more. :|

Gabriel "helping" decorate.  I'm so glad I didn't buy glass ornaments!

I actually did almost all of my shopping online this year.  Whoever thought up Amazon is my HERO.  I'd much rather shop in my jammies from the comfort of my home than brave the crowds with two babies.  In addition, everything is delivered to my front door, rather than me having to lug it up three flights of stairs.  Win win!

Most of the gifts were delivered today... which means I get to start wrapping!  Yay!  Christmas wrapping is one of my favorite things to do!

Baby Girl

Little Miss Hallie Ruth is here!  Yay!

When my due date (November 4) passed with no excitement, I convinced myself that my baby girl would be a week late and would make her appearance on 11-11-11!

Thus, I was pretty surprised when I started having contractions at church on Sunday morning!  I didn't say anything to Drew until after the service because I didn't want to freak him out.  He's the type that would get all worried and be all, "Do we need to leave? I think we should leave!" :)

After church, I told him that I was having contractions, but for some reason it didn't register with him that I meant real ones (I'd been having regular Braxton Hicks for weeks).  Guess I shouldn't have worried!  When he finally realized that I thought labor had started, he reacted predictably.

Although my contractions were pretty irregular, we went ahead and called the midwife who recommended we come on in to the birth center.  Apparently with second babies, labor can pick up pretty quickly.  We arrived at the birth center around 3:30pm and Hallie was born that night at 10:48.

A few minutes old.

One day old.

Eleven days old.

So now, I'm a happy, busy, tired mommy of two precious munchkins. <3

Gabriel loves his sister!

Little Lion

We never celebrated Halloween growing up.  Oh, we'd buy the candy and hand it out to our neighborhood friends, but as for trick-or-treating and decorating our own home?  Nope.

I never felt deprived, though, as our church always had a harvest festival where dressing up was encouraged and tons of candy was given out.  Personally, I find that celebrating the harvest is much more to my taste than the creepy, spooky stuff.  But that's just me. ;)

Anyway, Drew and I haven't decided one way or the other if we're going to take our kids trick-or-treating.  He grew up doing it.  I didn't.  There has to be a compromise, right?

It hasn't been an issue yet, as both years Gabriel has been too young, so we've just taken him to our church's fall festival.  Dressed up, of course!

Last year, he was a monkey, and the cutest, cheekiest little monkey you ever did see!

This year, I knew I had to get him a lion suit.  After dogs, lions were the first animal he started recognizing.  One day last April, we were reading Dr. Seuss' ABC book and he happened to have a lion on his pajamas.  When we got to the L page -- "lion with a lollipop" -- he was all excited and pointed to the page, then to his jammies.  I was shocked that he'd made the connection.

Needless to say, when it came time to purchase the pillow pet, we got him a lion.  He LOVED it.

During the last few weeks, we've also been working on animal noises.  Shocker... after dog, lion was the first sound he made.  Out of the blue, he pointed to the lion on his high chair and said "rawr!"  (After at least a week of me making roaring noises whenever we saw pictures of lions.)  He was so obviously pleased with himself.

Now he will do puppy, lion, monkey, horse, and dinosaur.  Everything else just says "rawr."

Knowing that Halloween was coming up, I started looking for a little lion suit.  How ecstatic was I when I found one at Target?!  I had Gabriel with me and when he saw the picture of the little boy in the costume, he happily exclaimed, "rawr!"  Yay!

At first he wasn't too sure about actually wearing the costume, but after I put him in it a few times, he loved it.  Now whenever he sees it, he points and says "rawr!"  (Then he tries to cuddle it like his blankie, hehe!)

So here's a picture of my ferocious but lovable lion. ♥

 Wish I could say I took this picture, but I'd be lying.

This picture is currently the background of my phone and my desktop.  Every time Gabriel catches sight of it, guess what he does?

You got it:

"Rawr!"

Crafty Girl

Happy November, everyone!  It's hard to believe it's finally here -- the month I've been looking forward to since March!  Hallie Ruth is due in just THREE days.

Last week, I promised to share more crafts with you, so here they are!  My sister liked her birthday gift so much that I decided to make some for two more of my sisters who just celebrated their birthdays last week.  I've been itching to post about them, but once again had to wait until they were received!  Only downside to having your sisters read your blog. ;)

First up is for my baby sister, who turned 13 on October 24 (eek; still can't believe she's that old).

Kenzie is probably my most "Anne-ish" sister -- definitely a kindred spirit!  I couldn't resist using this quote.  Anyway, Kenzie has a cool zebra-themed room with purple and green accents, which inspired the color scheme.  I couldn't choose between the purple or green, so I went with both and I LOVE how it turned out!  I also picked a fun font that suited my sister's personality.  Yay for customizations!

Next up is for my oldest younger sister, who turned 22 on the 29th.

I have to admit that this is my favorite one I've made.  I didn't have a specific color scheme to follow, so I just went with what fit Destiny.  Her favorite color is purple, so I spent some time browsing in Michael's to find the perfect paper.  Everything just came together really nicely with this one. :)

I like these so much that I'm probably going to make myself some!  Gabriel and Hallie are probably going to be getting something with their names/meanings... as soon as I find the time to design them!

Click here to see where I link up!