Friday, December 31, 2010

New years resolutions

In honor of New Years Eve, here are my family resolutions for 2011:

1. Create a better weekly routine. Rosemary and I had a great thing going before morning sickness hit me over the head and I spent most of this past year either sick or exhausted and it's time to get back into a good routine. This includes giving Rosemary more responsibilities including making her bed and brushing her teeth on her own every morning.

2. Add more physical activities to our daily routine. I'm going to start back on my almost-daily walks, find some sort of structured activity for Rosemary (I've looked into dance classes and gymnastics and am leaning toward the gymnastics for starters), and planning at least one activity for the whole family to do together on weekends, be it hikes, theme parks, or even just a day at the playground.

3. Stick to our budget. It is very important to me for our children to learn to be responsible and understand the value of a dollar. Last year I went a little nuts in the spending department and realized it wasn't setting the best example. I think this is going to be the most difficult resolution to stick to because I've gotten used to our almost daily Target retail therapy outings (hey, with a colicky newborn you'll do almost anything to get out of the house!). Hopefully it'll help me stick to the resolution to be more active. I can substitute walks and playground trips for the Target excursions and lunches out.

Some highlights of 2010:

- Finding out I was pregnant, finding out it was a boy, and giving birth! That was definitely the biggie of the year!

- Ryan and Carrie's wedding. Joe and I love spending time with the Brown's. We're still working on a way of officially becoming part of that family, but I'm pretty sure the next generation will find a way of making it happen.

- Trip to Ohio for Jess's wedding. It made me miss the hell out of her but also reminded me that there are awesome people in my life that will always be there, even if we don't get to be together often. Terra and Malachite joined us and Rosemary loved spending time with Malachite!

- Michelle's wedding 3 weeks postnatal. I honestly wasn't sure if I'd make it, but I'm so glad I did! This was another wedding that helped me to realize that people are in my life for a reason.

- Trip to Disney with a newborn. This was a much needed weekend getaway after 2 months of colic!

- Christmas with my family. That's always an important part of the year, made extra special by the fact that there were 3 grandkids there this year.

Things to look forward to in 2011:

- All of Xander's firsts (crawling, walking, birthday, etc)

- Rosemary will be starting preschool next fall!

- Getting my car paid off!

- Hoping for Joe's next big promotion at work.

- I'm planning on spending about a month this summer with my parents.

I also set a goal for myself- I want to learn how to play kid's songs on the guitar! Rosemary got a guitar from my parents for Christmas and I want to be able to play She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain on it. Rosemary loves that song and I need a new hobby that doesn't cost money so that's my personal goal!!
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Friday, December 17, 2010

Homeschool

Right around the time I found out I was pregnant with Xander I started an at home preschool curriculum with Rosemary. The basis was one letter and one number a week, along with books, songs, and nursery rhymes. I got to the letter G and the number 6. To make up for lost time, I've started doing things when I can find the time. Poor Rosemary found the counting book we started and got really excited. So today we got to number 10.
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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Happy birthday to you, my little Rosamaru!

We decided to make Rosemary's birthday this year a celebration all about her. We let her decide how she wanted to spend her special day, and boy, did she have some good ideas!

On Friday, we invited Rosemary's friends to our favorite park for cupcakes. If you ever need an easy way of entertaining a bunch of 1-3 year-olds, give them cupcakes. It is messy, funny, and adorable watching them tear into them. I'm pretty sure most of them wore more of the cupcake than they ate! Here's the birthday girl enjoying her cupcake!

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On her actual birthday, we let her choose what she wanted for breakfast. If you were a three-year-old, what would you choose? Rosemary felt spaghetti was the only way to start the day. Birthday girl wants spaghetti for breakfast, birthday girl gets spaghetti for breakfast.

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When we asked Rosemary what she wanted to do on her birthday, she knew for sure she wanted 2 things. She wanted to go ice skating (she's been talking about it since July when they told us at the Countryside Mall ice skating rink that you had to be 3 years old to do it) and she wanted to see Santa. Her wish was our command! We dressed up our little ones and took them to the mall. Santa was awesome! He even sang "Happy Birthday" to her! (And doesn't my little man look adorable in his little bowtie onesie? I made the matching outfits the night before!)

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To our luck, there is now a train that goes around the mall! Rosemary loves trains, so of course we had to hop on after telling Santa that she wanted a penguin for her birthday! She was so adorable. She waved to everyone!

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By this time we were all getting a little hungry so we went to the food court and let her choose what she wanted for lunch. I was sure she'd choose a big cookie from the cookie store, but she actually chose teriyaki chicken from Sarku Japan! That is her favorite mall food!

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After lunch, it was time to strap on our skates and hit the ice! We all lasted about 30 minutes. Grandma and I both had these romantic images of all of us holding hands gliding across the ice with Rosemary in the middle. Um, not quite. The ice was a little mushy and bumpy and there were lots of 5-year-old professional ice skaters (I swear these kids were pros!) tearing it up! But we did have a really great time! Rosemary, Joe, and I made it around twice before Rosemary told us she was done. I was so proud of her! I didn't know if she'd even actually want to get on the ice when we actually got there, but she did it and she really gave it her best! The rink was packed with two birthday parties, and lessons, so it was very difficult to get pictures. I did manage to snap this one of Joe and Rosemary.

After ice skating, we went to Gymboree and let Rosemary pick out a new dress from her Lola and Grandpa. She walked up the first dress she saw, said that was the one she wanted, and sat down in front of the television in the store. It was an adorable dress she picked out, and she knew exactly what she wanted so that was easy! You'll see the dress a little further down in pictures. Before leaving the mall, we stopped for ice cream. She chose a vanilla cone with sprinkles.

After our busy day at the mall (which, it turns out is a perfect place to celebrate a birthday!), we all went home and took a nap before opening up her present. I really wanted her to have a dollhouse but after spending weeks scouring stores and the internet, I couldn't find one I liked. And I really didn't like the dolls I was finding to go with them. None of them looked like our family. So I called on my super-talented parents to help me out! Grandpa found a partially made wooden dollhouse and finished it by adding some floors and painting it in colors of my choosing. Grandma found some furniture, made others, and painted most of it herself. Over Thanksgiving all of us painted the rest together. I found some unfinished wooden peg people and had both sets of grandparents paint themselves while I painted my little family of four. I LOVE the way it turned out! There is no way we could have found a pre-made dollhouse that was as personalized (some of the fabric used for the bedding was leftover from a dress I made Rosemary) and I think when she gets older she'll really appreciate all the effort that went into it. Hopefully she can pass it down to her kids one day (a long, long time from now!).

Here's our family! From Left- Grandpa Bailey, Lola, Daddy (Xander in front), Mommy (Rosemary in front, I love the pigtails!), Grandpa Freeman, and Grandma. I'm going to bring some more unfinished pieces with me to my parents house for Christmas so my sister can paint her family. Rosemary definitely needs a cousin Malachite to play with!

I think she likes it! (We went back and painted a little more of the frame of the house sea green and I think I might add some wall decor at some point. But the house is so cute as it is that I don't want to mess it up!)

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Here she is showing off her Rosemary doll! She's also wearing her new birthday dress from Lola and Grandpa in this picture! The girl has good taste!

We had pizza for dinner (her choosing, of course) and asked her if she wanted anything else. She said she wanted a balloon and lemonade so after dinner Joe and I took her to the grocery store and let her pick out a balloon. Would you believe there was a penguin balloon?! I didn't get a picture of it, but I'm pretty sure Santa put it there after Rosemary told him she wanted a penguin for Christmas! Before going off to bed for the night, grandma had one more present for Rosemary- this beautiful "princess" nighty. When my mom told me she bought Rosemary a neglige, my mind went to places not appropriate for a 3-year-old, but when I saw what she meant, I couldn't believe how absolutely beautiful it is!


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All in all, Rosemary's birthday was the perfect day. Everyone needs a day that's all about them and that was exactly what her day was. I think we're going to make it a new tradition to let her choose her birthday activities from now on. We ALL had fun! Joe and I agree that December 11th is our new favorite holiday!



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Saturday, December 11, 2010

She is Three...

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

Today, my first born is a gorgeous, intelligent, funny, dramatic little princess who gives me my happiest moments, my moments of most frustration, and the biggest belly laughs I have ever experienced. There are a million things about her that I love, but here are just a few that I know I will never want to forget about my three-year-old little girl:

  • I love that every time she hears music, she drops whatever she is doing and runs to her bedroom to put on one of her princess dresses so she can dance around the living room like Tina the Ballerina.
  • I love that she has to have matching clothes every day and she will not leave the house without something glittery or shiny on.
  • I love that she loves her brother and always wants to hold him. And that as soon as he starts to fuss she puts her hands up and says "I'm done!" She always says "I like having a little brother."
  • I love that she always notices when I have a new shirt or dress or something for the house. She says "Ooh, that's pretty. I like your new princess dress."
  • I love that everything pretty to her is "princess."
  • She is the messiest eater in the world. I don't so much love this after 3 years, but I don't ever want to forget it. I still have to strip her down to her undies to eat dinner because she is such a mess!
  • I love how she gets scared at silly little cartoons, like Toy Story, but loves scary Halloween decorations and zombie movies (no, we did not let her watch a zombie movie. It was the Halloween episode of Community and she would not go to sleep so we let her stay up. The entire campus became zombies and she LOVED it. For about a week she would walk around like a zombie and cracking up at herself.) But cute things like little yellow ducky puppets scare her.
  • I love that she thanks me for the simplest things, like doing her laundry.
  • I love that she is mine. She makes me want to be a better person. She repeats everything she sees and she is very sensitive. She has made me throw out everything I ever thought I knew about children and learn a whole new way of being. The Rosemary way. She doesn't follow a book. The "correct" way of parenting doesn't apply to her. She definitely has her own agenda and keeps me on my toes. She is at the same time the sweetest, most gentle spirit I have ever met, and the most determined, head strong little girl I have ever known.
I remember bringing this tiny little thing home from the hospital and opening up all my parenting books trying to solve this mystery that is baby. I wondered how they could just send me home with this fragile, tiny little thing and expect us all to survive! And now I look at her, grown into this perfect little girl, and realize how wonderful my life is, now that she is in my world.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Neck aches and back aches, oh my!

I need to keep reminding myself that one day I am going to miss the time when Xander could only sleep cuddled in my arms. I know one day he is not even going to want me to hug him in public. I need to enjoy the quiet, sweet moments when he is snuggled up and all cozy next to me. I'm sure one day I'll forget about the stiff neck and aching back that sleeping in a recliner for over 2 months is causing me. I'll forget about the aching knees from standing up and sitting down so often (I'm really giving my age away now). I'll forget about the sleep deprivation from waking up every 2-3 hours during the night to feed him. But for now, I just want one good night's sleep. In a bed. With blankets.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Merry (early) Christmas to me!

I have been trying to figure out what I wanted to put on this wall forever. I finally decided that white shelves would be just the thing and was ecstatic when we found them half price on black friday at hobby lobby! I asked joe to get them for me as my christmas present, along with some other home accents that I will post once I get them all prettied up. Since we live in florida and don't have a fireplace, this was the perfect place to hang our stockings! This is also the look I want to bring to the rest of our living/dining room space. I love the way it lightens the space! The white just feels so fresh! My dream is to make our house feel like a beach cottage getaway. Its such a tiny little house that it definitely has that cottage feel and I think once I get everything all prettied up, I might fall in love with my house.

edit: I love that I am able to blog from my phone, but I guess the quality of the photos just isn't top notch because this looks so much prettier in person!
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