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Friday, January 10, 2014

Happy New Year....

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Our holiday season was a busy one, filled with LOTS of celebrations and good times. 

Jay and I both had vacation (2 different weeks, of course) and we had the boys for a full week, so there was lots of family time to be had. 

The kids all got exactly what they wished for from the man with the bag, so we had four very happy boys and one very overwhelmed little girl. 

This Christmas was great for M, as she was finally starting to get the concept. She really was in puffy heart love with the season; Learning and singing Christmas songs, helping decorate the tree and wrap presents. We really had a blast with her this year. 


Her favorite gift (and our least favorite, lol) was the Doc McStuffin's toy microphone that Santa left in her stocking. It lights up and plays "Time for Your Check-up". 

She sings it All. Day. Long. Errr damn day.

Baby M and I preparing my mom's famous cheesecake for Christmas Eve dessert. 

M opening her gifts

R opening the one gift he was really dying for this year!


All my loves together on Christmas :)

Jay had to work on NYE and the boys went back to their moms, so it R, M & I spent it with my dad, my bestie & her family. 
There is truly no place else I would rather have been. Even though I couldn't be with my hubby & the rest of the boys, it was comforting to ring in the new year with some of my most favorite people.


Now it's 2014... and we got a cat. A kitten really. 
His name is Guinness & he's super cute. Well,  I think he's super cute
Jay's partner & his lovely wife had this little cutie and the rest of his clan hiding out in their backyard. 
Jay has been considering a cat lately because he really wanted the kids (esp. M) to have a pet and we just can't do a dog right now. 

So, we decided it was fate! Since this little guy was the only one who wanted anything to do with humans, we decided to give it a go. Chris & Erin scooped him up and met us at the vet with him and the rest is history.


Our new addition!

So, it's a new year, and I've got a million things swirling around in my head. 

There are so many things I want to do better this year. So many changes I would like to make. 

Now if only I could execute.


I definitely need to have more patience with my children. I need to try harder not to let the little things get to me and stress me out so much. 

The truth of the matter is, to a certain degree life is what it is. Some things are out of my control, and those are the things that usually upset me the most. I need to focus more on taking things in stride and making the best of what we have. 

How does the saying go? When life gives you lemons.... I need to enjoy my littles, because they will only be little once.
 
The house will be messier, the laundry will go longer, but I am determined not to worry so much about these things going forward. Unless we're having company, who is seeing my messy house? Exactly. No one but us. 

I'm not talking health hazard dirty here, just not my usual OCD standards. 

I'm going to do more puzzles, read more stories, and have more dance parties.
I have got to learn to let go a bit.



I also really need to get a handle on this gluten free eating and make it work for me, because my pain has been so much better since I started dabbling in this. 

I think I'd like to try to remove most carbs from my diet altogether, rather than always looking for gluten free solutions. 

It was very extremely hard to stick with this over the holidays, but I'm more determined than ever to be pain free in the new year.



Since I've been maintaining my weight for over a year now, I need to change things up on the fitness side as well. I'm not going to focus on the scale as much as how my clothes fit and how my body looks (to me).

I would like to build muscle to become leaner, stronger, and decrease my percentage of body fat. 

I also plan to increase my distance running to a 10K and possibly a half marathon, although I'm not sure I'm ready to entertain that thought just yet!

?????


My childhood next door neighbor is getting married this July (Congrats Brooke & Aaron!!!) and my goal for this summer is to be able to wear a dress from Express that has been hanging in my closet FOREVER(!), to their wedding.

I only wore it once before I gained too much weight to fit in it again. It is so gorgeous that I couldn't part with it. For all the times I cleaned out my closet after R was born and said, "you'll never be that size again", for some reason I kept this dress. 

Since age has caused things to shift and settle, it's going to take a little a lot of work to get back into this dress - so that is my fitness mission for the first half of 2014.


This is me in the dress in question, circa 2001.
I will get my a$$ back in this dress this summer! 

Jay and I are both going to try the Focus T25 workouts, and I'm contemplating taking a stab at Dr. Oz's Two week rapid weight loss plan - mainly because of the health benefits he promotes. Less fatigue and clearer thinking? Sign me up! 
I'm thinking maybe I can tie feeling better in to having more patience and energy for my band of tiny ruffians.

Who doesn't have 25 minutes a day??? 


I'm also extremely determined to make more time for my husband and our marriage this year. 

We get SO caught up in the kids and the daily chores of life that we aren't enjoying each other and what brought us together in the first place. 

Don't get me wrong, I am more in love with Jay now than ever before. I just don't get to show him enough, and that bothers me. 

I need to focus more time on building him up and letting him know just how proud of him and grateful for him I truly am. 


1st date night of the new year. I surprised him with a night out :)




What's new for you this year? Any resolutions you want to share?




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3 comments:

Cari said...

I am totally the same w. my patience & letting the little things not stress me out. Its so hard especially when your stuck in a house ALL day!!!!

So many people suggested Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred...and you can youtube it. I was going to do the T25 but I didnt want to drop that kind of money on it when 30 day shred is similar and its has 3 levels.

I feel you about marriage...I am vowing to make at least one date night a month....sometimes we just get so caught up we forget about what started the families!!!

Unknown said...

The kitten is so sweet! And he shares his name with my furry puppy nephew :)

I love your resolutions. We are also working on cutting a lot of gluten from our diets and I am working on getting healthier in general. I've also got a dress in my closet I am vowing to fit into again! Someday...

Erin LFF said...

Happy New Year to you!! :) I definitely am resolving to make more time for fitness and being active this year. I don't want that to take a back burner just because "I don't feel like it!" AND! I also have a dress I'm dying to fit back into again, so right there with you lady!!!