New Years Resolutions

Julian and I decided to pick each others resolutions. For him, I chose that for every negative thing he says, he has to say something positive. For example, we were driving in traffic and he was being really negative about being stuck in NJ with bad drivers and bad traffic. I reminded him of his resolution and he said BUT, at least we don't live in Iraq. It's a start. For me, he chose, to do p90x 2 with him. Typical male. He thinks I'll look like a Victoria Secret model if I work out everyday. Little does he know I will.never.look.like.that. Oh well, I guess if I expect him to be more positive, I can work out more.

But besides his resolution for me, I'm giving myself one. I want to strengthen my relationship with Jesus. I have just found so much with the little I've studied so far that I want to keep learning and growing. I'm not quite sure how I am going to go about this resolution but I think it's fair to say I want to live a more Jesus centered life. It's the least I can do. I want to read more and pray more and just learn more in general about my faith.

2011 was an amazing year! I am excited for what 2012 has in store for me! I have a feeling this is going to be a great year!

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The things we do in VA

This trip has been a pretty typical Virginia trip. We started with a great Christmas celebration when we arrived. We looked at some old Christmas photos on the tree! This is something I plan on doing to my tree next year!
What a great place for a collection of photos!


This is not a Christmas picture, but I love this one! Julian is so cute



We also did our typical chic-fil-a for lunch! This is a Virginia tradition for us! It's not like we don't have them in NJ, but for some reason we never go when we are home. Honestly, it is probably a good thing we never eat it at home! But, treating ourselves is always fun!!


Julian and I also took a trip to Charlottesville and left Eloise home with her Gigi for 4 hours! (might not sound like a big deal, but for me, it is) You never know what Gigi is going to do when left alone with her grandchildren!! This time, she Gave her almond butter on bread, and put coconut oil in her hair and picked out her cradle cap. When we got home she was covered in almond butter and her head was one big oily mess. The things that happen when Gigi's in charge! But, we now have something else Eloise will eat and all her cradle cap is gone! (sidenote: she didn't have much cradle cap, but I'm glad to see it go!)


Whenever we are in VA we tend to get our oil changed and get Duke groomed. Well, the grooming went smoothly but the oil change turned out a little weird. We dropped it off at 8:45am Tuesday morning and got a call around noon that everything went fine with the oil change but when they were pulling it around, they hit another car and busted up our bumper and light! Haha! They brought it to a body shop and they had to order a part! Crazy right? So we couldn't go anywhere with Eloise because they had our carseat until Thursday late afternoon. Minor inconvenience but we got a free oil change and carwash!

On Friday, We took Kate and Olivia to the children's museum and had a great time!






During arts and crafts, Julian painted Olivia...







Another typical thing in Virginia is to have a bunch of dogs under your feet constantly! This picture is the usual Duke, Hank, and Hope. I forgot to take the picture when Tucker was here, too.




It's New Years eve tomorrow and we have nothing big planned. Maybe some drinks and games with Julians family. We are having a good time but I'm already excited about heading home! There is NO place like home.

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13 months!!

Wowzers - wasn't it just your birthday? I feel like this month went super duper fast! Anyway, these are some things you're doing at 13 months:
- You nurse only twice a day ( in the morning and before bed)
- You can find your nose, your head, and your belly when asked. You also like to point out these body parts on other people!
- You 'shh' duke when he barks! If I say, "what do we say to Duke?" you'll reply, "sh sh sh".
- I think you've been saying 'drop' to duke when he takes your toy.
-you are officially a walker! You took your first steps unassisted on November 28th and you gradually stopped crawling. You barely ever crawl now!
- you learned how much fun opening gifts is!
- you fall asleep for both naps without being rocked. Sometimes at bedtime, but not always.
- you are an extremely picky eater and it tends to drive me a little crazy. You have a hard time trying new things. You did try a cinnamon roll Christmas morning and you liked it!
- you don't like any kind of milk so far. I've tried rice milk, whole milk, vanilla milk and chocolate milk. What's been working best is sneaking a tablespoon of milk in your water. My plan is to gradually add more milk.
Baby girl, you are officially not a baby anymore! You are a toddler! You aren't big in cuddling anymore and you want to walk everywhere! I love your new independence (except during diaper changes). I can't believe how you grow and change everyday! I love you monkey girl!!
Pictures to come..




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happiness

Things that are currently putting a smile on my face:

* My early Christmas gift---A Shark steam mop. Not only does it steam and sanitize my hardwood floors but it is super easy to use and it vacuums! The best part of this is that it was on my Christmas list and Julian got it FREE using our credit card points! I love free gifts that I actually want :). I love that it doesn't use harsh chemicals and I feel like it does a much better job than a wet swifer. Anyway, it is definitely putting a smile on my face every time I clean the floors!

* The next wonderful thing putting a smile on my face is Christmas decorations around the house that have sentimental value. I have my mom's old Christmas China (about 1,000 pieces of it, but we only use a couple things as of right now). Every Christmas when Julian lugs out that huge cardboard box full of it, I look at it and smile remembering all the times as a kid we ate Christmas dinner on this china. The other thing that has memories attached to it, is my family's old Nativity. My grandmother bought this for my mom when her and my dad first got married and I remember playing with it as a child. All the arms and heads are glued on because they have been broken many times. But, I don't care that it looks beat up, it has great memories attached to it. I googled the company because it is missing the angel, but it is from 1978 and they aren't making the same nativity anymore :(. Oh well, I still love looking at it.

* Eloise being a dancing fool makes me smile! Every time she hears music she dances and its super cute. She opened a Christmas gift early from my sister and she got a drum filled with other musical instruments. She likes to make the music and dance. SOOOOO CUTE!

*Christmas cards in the mail are one of my FAVORITE things during this season. I love getting them and look forward to the mail each day. This year, I crafted a Christmas card wreath and it came out GHETTO (Thanks, Pinterest. How come things look so easy on Pinterest and then when you make them, it comes out looking like a toddler did it? ew). Anyway, I probably will try and make a new one next year or buy one I saw in a magazine that I LOVED, but for now, it works! I love all my Christmas Cards!!!

Thankful Mondays

61. I am thankful for pinterest and recipes I find there
62. I am thankful for fleece pj pants
63. I am thankful for upcoming workshops so I can get my hours in now while I'm currently not working
64. I am thankful for sothys face cream
64. I am thankful that Eloise's birthday pictures came out amazing!
64. I am thankful for the cold weather and the smell of fires outside
65. I am thankful for patience
66. I am thankful movie nights with Julian
67. I am thankful for my iPhone so I can video Eloise all the time
68. I am thankful for sweet Eloise cuddles
68. I am thankful re-usable bags can carry so much stuff
69. I am thankful for my kindle
70. I am thankful that my husband still tries to jump my bones every night even though I hardly ever shower or do my makeup.



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Christmas updates!

Lots of stuff has been going on and I've been able to knock a few things off my Christmas bucket list!

* We went to NYC and Eloise sat on Santa's lap! She hated every second of it, but it's one of those things you do, right? It was her first time in the city and I enjoyed it! Unfortunately,we didn't have enough time to see the tree or ice skaters but it'll be on the list for next year!
* We also bought gifts for some children. My dad threw a little party for some 'group homes' in Newark and we gave them gifts and Julian even dressed as Santa! It was a really fun day!

Besides that, we have started collecting items for the SPCA, so that basket of goodies should be delivered this week.

Friday is my WHOLE family Christmas, Saturday is my family Christmas at my parents house with just my siblings and then Sunday is just Julian, Eloise and myself! Then, Monday we are off to Virginia for a week. It sure is the busiest time of year!!!


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Thankful Mondays

51. I am thankful for friends who I've celebrated Christmas with for the past ten years!
52. I am thankful for a baby who naps twice a day
53. I am thankful for Josh Groban
54. I am thankful for Christmas cards
55. I am thankful for my mom's cooking
56. I am thankful Eloise gets to know her great grandmother and her great grandfather
57. I am thankful my laundry room is on the second floor.
58. I am thankful to live close to the outlets.
59. I am thankful to live driving distance to NYC
60. I am thankful that Duke is so good with Eloise.


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