Blogging – Something we decided to pick up at the end of 2011, and something that we both wanted to do as a fun activity to do together. Something to escape with at the end of the night when the boys go to bed. Over the past few months, however, our dear boys decided that “bed time” means midnight, AND waking up in the wee hours in between. Colds, allergy issues, stomach bugs, teething, croup, you name it, the boys had it. Needless to say, blogging has been pushed into the back of our minds. We hardly had the energy to get dinner on the table, let alone minutes of “free time” to sit and write. I think every parent experiences “hiccups” in their routines with their children. Apparently we have the hardest hiccups to cure. To say this past month has been exhausting is an understatement. Every morning we wake up, look at each other and do not even need to mutter a word. “How did you sleep?” is no longer a question when we both look like hell, its obvious we’re whooped. I know this phase will soon fade away, and people say we’ll look back and laugh. I sure hope so, because at this point, were running low on humor to break up the tension were feeling. I even started this very post 5 days ago… and just now finishing it up. YIKES.
The new year is traditionally a time that people look back upon their year, remember the good times and bad, and make way to a fresh start when the clock strikes midnight. We have never been into new years resolutions, but like many, we have high hopes for the year ahead of us, and hope that it brings great things. We love writing notes, or checklists, we make them for everything! Household projects, groceries, and ideas, you can find them everywhere in our house. I am also a bit of a freak (as is Dan) – our paper is our domain, if there is one doodle, or memo from the other, we start the list from scratch. What is up with that?! Ha. We are so strange, I guess it’s our thing. This year we can actually have a combined list, things we would like to achieve by the end of 2012… HERE IT IS…..
PERSONAL GOALS:
- Get our darling little men to sleep at night. We will pull out all the stops, projectors that light up the room, alternating cuddly items, white noise machines, a zillion stories, lullabies, WHATEVER it takes to get these boys out of our beds would be great.
- Attempt to get our love life back. NO not that. Just personal time as a couple. I think we have been on 3 dates since Owen has been born. One of which was a wedding, and the other 2 were for our birthdays. Something we must fit into our schedules again.
- Find a great school for Brody to attend next Fall (Pre school already… Geesh!)
- GO ON VACATION! Dan has 2 weeks scheduled already, and we are thrilled that they will not be used up with paternity time! No babies this year.. sorry guys! 🙂
HOUSEHOLD GOALS:
- Create a kid friendly garden for the boys (mainly Brody). SO excited to have ingredients at hand, and the boys to understand how important/easy/fun it is to cook with fresh ingredients.
- Finish our basement, we’re half way there. Pictures to come…
- Our lovely kitchen, the one room we thought we were content with will be getting a complete overhaul. New countertops, back-splash, appliances, repainting cabinets and the walls.
- Changing the color of our…..HOUSE!…. Super excited about this project, not quiet sure what season we will choose to attempt this one. 🙂
- The upstairs bathroom project will be a complete DIY attempt at new tiling. Then of course switching up paint and fixtures. I am anticipating sweat and tears. haha..
Overall those are the bigger projects, our “bank breakers.” As always, we work on a tight budget, and the fact that we utilize our own skills saves tons of money. It is amazing what you can do to your home, with your own hands if you just give it a try. Yes, there will always be projects that call for professionals to do (John, Dan’s dad) but there are a lot projects every home owner can take on! 2012 is looking to be a great year. I have made the definite decision to stay at home with the boys, not returning to work until we are done having children. A difficult decision to make, but Dan and I think it will suite us best. If the boys keep up with their antics of not sleeping though, I can guarantee they will be the only children 🙂
Here is a video we made to look back on 2011. Dan surprised me with a video last Christmas and the idea of doing so just stuck. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did….