Where to Begin...

Oh, where do I begin....

Life has been out of control, so I have decided instead of sitting down and using my well paid for journalism skills to write Witty & thoughtful blogs, I will make lists. That is about all the time I have these days. So much has happened since the last time I blogged so here we go...

• I started back to school!
• Little Miss turned 1 year old!!! I will try to post pictures!
• We welcomed a boy into our family!! Oh, wait...we welcomed a BROWN headed BOY into our family! What do we do with him??
• Abbie made her first plane ride! Detail to come! We all know how fabulous she is at car rides!
• We spent a week soaking up time at my parents house! It flew by!
• We booked a trip to Mexico in April with The Caldwell's and soon-to-be Parcell's! (I know most people don't think it is safe to go! but it is needed)!
• I am on spring break...kind of...it's not quite the same when there is a toddler around & laundry to be done, house to be cleaned, work to be done, meals to be fixed & studying for a test the Monday after spring break!
• I'm trying to find balance...I'm struggling...
• Eric got in a accident... in my car....on his birthday...our insurance says it's 100% the girls fault, and of course her insurance says it's more her fault but some his (WHAT?) so they will only pay for half of the damages...they are fighting back & fourth...my car is being fixed & will be ready Monday!
• Little Miss is unstoppable...she walks and climbs and is a eating machine (most days). She loves the park!
• Many play dates with friends! Many more to come!

Upcoming events...hopefully to be blogged about...part of me finding balance :)

• Mexico in April
• New Mexico in May
• Wonderful Little Sister graduates in college in May
• "Adventures in Babysitting" stories...I'm sure I will have plenty come May when my mom & sister and my mother-in-law have agreed to watch Little Miss over a 2 week period while I take a class all day everyday!
• Little Sister gets married in September!!!
• Sweet friends Stephen & Brittany get married in October!
• A girls weekend get away to a local lake in a few weekends for crafting & shopping & who knows what else!

I know...you've missed me...

What can I say...I have been extremely bad about blogging (hence the fall background I still have up). And I make no promises to get any better. I will try to blog some but I don't like making promises I can't keep, so again, I make no promises.

Many factors have contributed to my lack of blogging. The biggest of all being the fact that I have gone back to school! So, my "free" time, if you can call it that, is once again dominated by reading & homework. The second reason is that, you see, I have a soon to be walking, already getting into everything little almost 1 year old monster on my hands that require attention at all times when awake. Who has been sick since Christmas Eve. An upper respiratory infection followed by some strange mind boggling bacterial infection considered "Pneumonia" by ER doctor but not by the Pediatrician or the Radiologist who looked at her x-rays & still has gone undiagnosed, and now a nasty ear infection and cold. Needless to say I am ready for the 2 feet of snow and the -6 degree weather to roll on out of here and for 80 degree weather to return. While my monster is sleeping I am studying & reading & studying some more. Working on some projects for her birthday party, trying to clean or do laundry...so if you like to see pictures of our lives I suggest you keep checking facebook because the only ones I seem to be taking these days are on my iPhone & are more easily loaded to facebook then here!!! But I will leave you some that my sweet friend Lilli @ Lilli O Photography did for valentines day!! She is awesome!!

New Year's Resolutions...

I would like to start by stating that I hate New Years Resolutions!! I never keep them & it always makes me feel bad. I always cringe when New Years Eve rolls around & I know people are going to be asking me that question (aka my husband)!! So, this year I decided I am not making any resolutions. None. There are enough things in this world to make you feel bad about yourself, I don't need the failure of a New Years resolution on top of that! This year instead, I am setting goals for myself. Some long term, some short term. Eric & I are setting some financial goals for ourselves too. How much money we would like to have in different areas by different times of the year. Some goals have to do with self improvement and some have to do with organization. Some goals have to do with enjoying life more & some goals deal with school. I am writing them all down this year! I have found my memory is failing me lately (not good to learn right before you go back to school)! But, I might share a few of them here & there.

I would love to share a picture of Abbie's 1st New Years Eve with you but I didn't take any. I didn't feel very good at all. She went to bed around 10 & I went to bed at 11. So here are a few from Christmas!

Opening her 1st presents on Christmas Eve!

She loves the little frogs that go in this bus!

Christmas morning! Loves Santas present!

Playing Baby Jesus at Nana & Poppy's house

Merry Christmas!