Goals for 2013

I've never been a big fan of the whole New Year's Resolutions thing, but I do think it is valuable to set some goals for yourself.  Yeah, it's basically the same thing and the difference is merely semantics.  However semantics can translate into attitude and while resolutions are the things that we break, goals are the things we strive to achieve.  So without further delay, here are...

My Goals for 2013

1) Read my Jesus Calling Devotional daily.  I was blessed to be given this by my MOPS Titus Mom, Gail, and I'm excited to have something short and sweet to encourage me in this area.  I suck at Bible study and "quiet time" type things, so this would be quite the achievement. 

2) Lose half of my baby weight gain (i.e. 30 pounds).  It took two years and two babies to get this mom-bod, so I'm giving myself two years to turn it into a strong and healthy mom-bod.  This seems reasonable.  Along the way, I plan to have little mini-goals, but this is the big picture on this front.  I'm on My Fitness Pal, so come find me under the user name culpgal.  :)

3) Organize my house.  These are my specific projects: pantry org, border clean-up in the kitchen/dining and master bath, toy org with picture labels so Naomi can help and I'm sure others that I can't think of right now. 

4) Read at least 4 books this year.  I love to read, but tend to just park it in front of the tv and I have a lot of books in my q. 

5) Do more activities like crafts and stuff with my girls.  (Anything would be more, so...yeah.)  Naomi is just getting to an age where this is really starting to be a need. 

That seems a good start.  I do have a few other things that I'd like to accomplish, but want to be sure that I don't turn this into an impossible list destined for failure.  As it is, if I manage to pull this off, I'll be pleasantly surprised, but it is definitely within my grasp.  :) 

Family Photos



 

In November, JCPenney ran a free family photo session promo and we decided to take advantage of it.  So, I booked our appointment at the Allen location for a weekday that Brian was off and we packed the girls up and went.  I had a doctor's appointment earlier in the morning that I couldn't move.  I hoped that we would make it in time, but we ended up having to delay our photo session, so of course the girls were a little tired before we even got started.  However, this particular photographer was very good with the kids, so that was fortunate.  What felt like a very mediocre photo session actually yielded some really good studio photos. 

 

 A few of our good shots were used for our Christmas cards, but here is a full look at the best of our session.  

 

 

 

 

Olivia says, "Show's over folks!"

Christmas Card

Once again this year, I ran out of Christmas Cards way before I ran out of wonderful people to send them to.  So, for those of you that I missed:

1) Here is a copy of our card.  
2) I swear next year that I'm going to finally do a list so that I actually know how many to order ahead of time and so that I can print labels.  :)

So...

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

Santa Visit

Last weekend we took the girls to see Santa.  

We had a wonderful visit with Santa at Allen/Fairview (in the Real Bookstore) last year, so we decided to go back again.  We talked to Naomi all about Santa.  We waited until after Olivia's morning nap and before both girls' afternoon naps, got in the virtual Santa line, then we got them all dressed up in their cute coordinated outfits, and headed out.  

Click here to read all about our Santa trip last year and to see our wonderful photos. 

This year was a different story.  Long story short, our pictures are "classic".  

I'm not sure if Naomi would have cried on Santa's lap regardless (probably as that's just typical of her age group), but there were a few things that I felt didn't go as well this year.  


I forgot to put bows in the girls' hair.  Not a big deal, but still... I was a bit bummed about it.  

Again, we got in the virtual line, but this year the wait in the physical line was much longer.  Something in the organization must have changed.  I took Naomi to the kid area of the bookstore, which is really nice, and we worked on puzzles, etc.  After she tired of that, she just ran around the store and I'm pretty sure that was a sign of the beginning of the end.  

At this point, it was hard for me to wrangle Naomi to re-focus her back on Santa time.  By the time I did, we got pushed back one more person in line and had to wait for a crying child in front of us to get her pic done.  

Santa's handlers were not as good as last year.  Last year, we got very good instruction about putting her in Santa's lap, etc.  This year, nothing more than it's your turn.  I'm guessing some tips for putting two kids on Sana's lap would have been helpful.  Naomi started to walk up to Santa, but halted and started to freak.  She proceeded to freak more when Brian went to put Olivia in Santa's lap (she is very protective of her little baby sister).  Anyway, wheels fell off and we got what we got and a few lessons learned.  

Plan for next year:
1) Go before Thanksgiving and before the lines.  
2) Same Santa and same virtual line.  
3) Back both kiddos into Santa's lap and back away slowly smiling.  
4) Cross fingers, pray, etc.  
5) Be happy with our pic even when both kids are crying in it despite all of our efforts for a successful Santa pic.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  HO HO HO!

Olivia's Newborn Photos

A while back (obviously), I entered a contest for a newborn photo shoot with my friend Melissa Howden of Simple Day Photography.  I didn't "win" but she kindly took some lovely photos of Miss Olivia when she was about 12 days old.  They have a lovely soft and natural feel that really showcase my little bundle of cuteness.  :)  

Check out her website here or her Facebook page here.  

Below are my favorite shots:

I love this last shot because it just says, "Man, this modeling business is exhausting!"

October iPhone Rewind

Just realized that I never published this.  Ooops.  

Here are any cute random shots that I haven't otherwise posted:

Playing in her toy bin

Sitting in the pillow like mommy

More baby feeding

Feeding the baby

Baby Sad

Baby Happy

Bucket Head!

She loves to read books in her crib when she first wakes up.  

Olivia - 3 months

Stats?
Weight: guessing around 9 1/2 to 10 lbs (?%)
Height/Length: ? (?%)
Head: ? in (?%)
Clothing Size: Newborn and some 0-3 months
Diaper Size: Size 1 

Lots of question marks since there is no doctor visit this month.  We'll have better stats next month.  

How is she sleeping?
The one big change in this area is that she is sleeping in the crib in her room and has been for most of this past month.  We still usually get one 4-5 hour stretch at night, so we usually only have to get up once.  Still pleased, but looking forward to eliminating that middle of the night feeding sometime.  We are still working on naps.  Sometimes I can get her to go down for one good one in her crib in the afternoon.  Otherwise, they are still irregular catnaps that she prefers to take in someone's arms, in the swing, etc.  Looking forward to getting naps a little more settled in the coming months.  We'll keep working on it.  

How is she eating?
No change.  She still nurses regularly, roughly every 3 hours like most babies her age.  She takes a bottle periodically and does well with it, but I get the impression that she prefers breastmilk.  

Doctor Visit
We don't have one this month, but do next month.  :)

What new tricks does she do?
She continues smiling.  She also makes a few little cooing noises and we've even heard a hint of a giggle a couple of times.  She does well with tummy time and holds her head up and does a pretty good mini push-up.  This post is late, so she already has a new trick, but I'll save that for the 4 month post where it belongs (especially since Brian hasn't seen it yet).  :)

General Observations?
She's a cutie.  We are still waiting for hair.  This month we transitioned from "She's so tiny!" to "She's so alert!".  I don't think she's more alert than other babies her age, but since she looks younger because of her size, people are surprised.  Of course we get similar comments about stuff Naomi says and does, so I don't anticipate this type of thing will end anytime soon.  :)  Although, both Brian and I swear that Olivia is filling out a little faster than Naomi did.  Mmmm... guess that's about all I've got this month.  

Until next time... Enjoy!