7 days until Christmas...

There are 7 days left until Christmas and all I can think about is my New Year's Resolution. This year I have decided to set a few different goals for myself.

The first one is a parenting goal. I have caught myself yelling a lot and that was something my mom did that I swore I would not, but it is hard to have two rambunctious kids who haven't quite developed their listening skills, let alone being extremely exhausted from this pregnancy. Today on Pinterest I found the blog of a lady who has vowed to do 365 days without yelling (http://theorangerhino.com/the-challenge-details/). So, I am technically starting today because there is no reason to allow myself to yell for the next 13 days, but I will not start my official 365 day count until January 1, 2013.

The second one is a personal goal. I know that this goal is very cliche and one that many people make at the beginning of the year, but I have not gotten back to my original pre-pregnancy weight after any of my pregnancies and I believe it is unexcusable. I will be starting TurboFire by Beachbody as soon as I get the okay from my OB after Baby S is born. I want to pair this with healthy eating, meal planning and making sure I drink at least 4- 8oz cups of water each day (or two water bottles). I know the recommendation is 8- 8oz cups per day, but right now I am going days without even drinking one, so making a goal of 4 sounds reasonable to me. This is probably going to be my most challenging goal, but I am working on a plan to ensure follow through before the New Year even begins.

My third goal is for my marriage. I want to make sure that my husband and I are spending some time together, without the kids to focus on ourselves. I am planning on setting money aside to hire a babysitter and have one night out a month to do something just the two of us.

My final goal is for my girls. I will create a routine that encourages independence and responsibility for them. I cannot believe that come March they will already be 2 and 3 years old. With that being said I have been a little relaxed when it comes to chores and fostering independence because it was easier for me to do what needs to be done. But, here we are with K being whiny whenever asked to help out and also frequently using the line "I can't". This has started to wear off on R who was my little helper, but now thinks it is easier to just wait for me to help her, which leads to lots of reminding and yelling. I will continue to update everyone on these goals as the year progresses.

I also wanted to post some pictures from our Christmas adventure from yesterday. We went to the Winter Wonderland and our local skating rink. The first part was in 3D and required 3D glasses and the second part was mostly Christmas lights and different Christmas scenes. They gave us some cool glasses to keep that turn Christmas lights into stars and snowflakes.

 My favorite picture (besides the ones of them in their glasses) are the two of K by Santa on the bench. She told us she was scared so she put her Gaffee on his lap and said "but Gaffee is not scared". We had a lot of fun and will probably make another trip next year!