New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! 2009... so full of promise, so full of promises! What are mine? Well, I decided my resolutions will focus on the kids. Here they are, from youngest to oldest.


First, Max. Poor Max, my resolution for him, ahem, I mean, my resolution involving Max, is getting rid of the nuk. 12 months and one day for the other kids, 18 months for him. Geez! It's time. And, actually, this one should be done soon. I took it away yesterday upon waking (Happy New Year, Max!) and didn't give it to him for nap or bedtime. Nap he cried for about 10 minutes, bedtime was about 45 minutes. But, once he was asleep, he didn't wake up at all all night for it. That surprised me, since he often cries for it if he can't find it on regular nights. Today's nap started in the car (sans nuk), and he woke up after 45 minutes. But, I got him back down for another hour. And then, tonight, we read books, he cried for 30 seconds, and that was it. Will it really be this easy? I feel like I should make another resolution for him!


On to Nolan. I'm going to try to spend more time with him. I mean, I'm home with him every day, but yet, I still don't get into the things he gets into. He loves playing Wii Star Wars Legos. He plays with his Bionicles. Crossbows and Catupults is his favorite game. Ugh. There's just gotta be something I can do with him that we can connect on. I'll find it!


And finally, Abby. I'm going to try to keep her young this year. I know I often lament about how quickly she's growing up, but still she's only six. I can't help her maturity too much and what she learns in school, but I can control her clothes! She's recently grown out of the size 6 clothes she has, which are mostly in the little girls' section of clothes that have princesses, Dora and pink fuzzy outfits, into size 7/8 clothes, which seem to be in the grown up section of clothes that have half shirts, short skirts and high heels. Geez. It's really tough to find clothes that cover things, don't have suggestive messages, and don't advertise shows that are made for high schoolers and marketed to 5 year olds. But there are clothes out there... I will find them!


And that's it for me this year. Sounds easy, huh? Maybe it is. I'm sure I'll add plenty as the year goes on, but hopefully, next year at this time, I'll be able to look back at this post and feel like I at least accomplished this.

On to the pictures. I haven't gotten our family pics off Dave's camera yet, but here's some from mine...

Max was exhausted and fell asleep in his macaroni and cheese. The other kids did this when they were little, he waited until he was 18 months. Still cute!

This is a lot of snow. Luckily, some of it melted now, but man! Could we catch a break between the snow and the cold?

Christmas at the cabin... We were at the Dells this past weekend with my mom and dad, my sister and her husband and three kids. We stayed at a log cabin, which was pretty nice, and had a nice Christmas, with access to a water park, which is always a good thing! Here are the kids with their new Quillows, which my sister made.

Max got a new scooter that was a hit with everyone.

Cole got a soccer goal, which he and Nolan thought was a tent so they camped.

What did Santa bring in her bag?

KIDS!

Over new years, my great friend Renee and her husband Jon came in from New York. They have one son, Ben, who's five days older than Max. Ben is a hugger (and sometimes a biter!) and Max is more of a rogue toddler. It caused a little dissention at first, but then they started hanging out and playing together.

Ben says all kinds of words. Max? He squeeks like a pteradactyl. Gotta love it.

Our great neighbors Rocky and Jenny came over with their boys, too. Here's Abby and Rocky with matching tiaras.

Ben loved crawling on Abby, which means Max decided to crawl all over her too. Poor Abby!

Happy New Year!

Abby and Cody made it till midnight. The picture I forgot to take was Nolan asleep on the couch!

Hope everyone had a safe and fun celebration... Enjoy 2009 for all it's worth!