Resolutions and updates for the end of 2012

I just can't believe this year is coming to a close!!  It has gone by so fast!!  Now that the holidays are behind me, I am starting to think of all my new year's "resolutions" I want to make for this coming year.  Usually I don't have any, but there are a few things I want to work on this year.  I want to blog more.  About anything.  Life goes by so fast, and there are so many memories we are making each day, I don't want to forget anything!  I want to make photo albums.  I have so many pictures in a huge tote, I would love to just have a photo book to pull out and look at my pictures instead of flipping through each one.  I want to be less uptight.  I feel like anytime things get just a little out of control I start worrying.  How am I going to get this done?  I can't do it all!!!  that's right, I can't.  and I need to focus on what's important and take things one thing at a time.  I want to lose weight, and even more importantly, be healthy for myself and my kids.  For so many years I have struggles with this, with trying to reach goals, only to give up over time and feel bad about it, bad about myself.  Then I try again, only to give up...it's turned into years of a vicious cycle.  and i feel i am totally DONE!!  I just want to do it and feel proud of myself everyday that I AM doing it!!

I know it's going to take time, and I have to take it one thing at a time.  I've learned that about me.  Baby steps, not bombardment of everything at once.

So before I move on to next year already, Im feeling the need to reflect on what's been happening the past few months.

Landen has started Gymboree, and he is doing so well with it!  He participates in the activities the teacher has the kids do, he dances with everyone, he has a blast!!  It's so interesting to see his reaction to it, and when Vivie was in that same class at his age, maybe even older, she wanted NOTHING to do with any of the activities, songs, etc.  He is so much more outgoing then her.  But I think it's a great balance.  She calms him down and he helps bring her out of her shell.  She has been doing so much better this year in preschool!!  I feel so great about holding her back just one more year before kindergarten.  She loves school, remembers all her classmates names, enjoys playdates with them and gets involved, and she's talking about how she's excited to start kindergarten.  The one thing they have in common though is their sensitivity to sounds.  Vivian has gotten much better, and knows to cover her ears if things are or might be too loud.  But Landen is having a hard time, especially with public restrooms.  It's at the point where if he knows we are going in, he does not want to.  He cries and tell me "NO MAMA!" "I NO WAN IT!"  poor baby :-(  I hope its a phase, but it's taken Viv this long to get better on handling the sounds.  I wonder if I should bite the bullet and have them evaluated??

We have been going to T or C more and more, now that our place is set up really nice.  It's so great to get away from the city and relax.  We also got a new travel trailer and we can't wait to use it this spring and summer!!!  We plan on taking it to San Diego and camping on the beach for the reunion this year.  it's going to be awesome!!!

So many things to look forward too this year!!  I feel really good about things, and most of all just want to enjoy my life and my kids...ups and downs :-)

Playing ball is hilarious!!

This video cracks me up!!  Chris is playing outside with the kids and he was throwing a ball on the roof and they would watch it roll down.  This is Landen's reaction:

Vivian's Hair Salon

Vivian almost gave me a heart attach a few months ago.  While Landen naps, she usually will rest and watch her "show" or play quietly while I get some chores done.  On this particular day...she was quiet for awhile, but I didn't think anything of it because I was busy.  Finally I took a break and sat on the couch to watch my "show" for a bit.  After my show was over, i STILL did not hear her.  My curiosity was in overdrive, so I searched the house to see what she was doing.  This is what I found:

She is playing hair salon with her ponies...and cut ALL their mane and tail hair off!!!  She looks upset here because when I walked into the kitchen and saw this...i just instintively yelled "OH MY GOSH WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!"  then I had to laugh...but by that point she thought she was in trouble.

After I assured her she wasn't in trouble, she just surprised me, she was happy again and smiled for the camera

How could I be mad?  She was so cute, playing Hair Salon.  Yes, it's a waste of ponies because she doesn't really play with them anymore...but it's better than her own hair!!  And thrift stores are awesome to replace the ponies and not pay too much.  That's where most of these ponies came from.

She is something!!!

School time 2012

Right before school started, I decided it was time to get Vivian her first professional hair cut.  All this time I've been trimming it, and let me tell ya...it was looking pretty interesting!!  She was so excited, and we went together so we could both get a hair cut!

Here she is waiting for her turn! 

In the chair...

and the after shot!  She did so good and said she loves getting her hair cut by the "hair lady"

So grown up looking

 On the first day of school, she rocked her new do-and was so happy to be back and already made friends!  I"m so proud of her and how much she has matured since last school year.  This is her second year in preschool because of her shyness...we were worried she would not thrive socially in kindergarten.  Now that school has gone on for a month or so, I can see we made the right choice.

Here she is after she finished her first day.  She already had artwork for us to hang on our pegboard!

She is so much more outgoing and really happy!  I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will be like!

Daffodil in August

During this summer, Vivian was saying how much she wanted a pet bunny.  We put her off for awhile, because we weren't sure how she would do in taking care of an animal.  After asking for about 3 months straight, we made a deal with her...We told her if she stopped sucking her thumb for a whole month she could get one.  So for the whole month of August, we marked each day she did not suck her thumb.  By the first of September, she was thumb sucking free!!  We had to live up to our word (of course) and started getting things prepped for the bunny. 

Here is Vivian and Chris painting her bunny cage stand together. 

Again them working on the cage.

And here is sweet Daffodil!!  She is such a good pet.  She's great with Landen too. 

Here she is the first day we brought her home.  She was so excited, she wanted her to sleep in her room.  

As of now, Vivian has taken such good care of Daffodil.  I am really proud of her!  She feeds her everyday, we get her out pretty much everyday and it's gotten to where Daffodil will sit on the couch with Vivian and cuddle her while she watched her shows.  They are the best of buddies!!

Sweet summertime...

 This summer seemed to fly by for us.  We were either in T or C at our river house, or doing something outdoors here in Albuquerque.  It was SUPER hot, but we made the most of it!  I was going to sign Vivian up for a dance class and swim lessons, but sadly never got around to that.  Next summer when she is done with school we will definately be doing more things like that.  She is really coming out of her shell this year so i'm feel more confident about getting her into more group activities like that.  It was a real treat to have the kids all for myself and we were able to do what we wanted without the schedule of activities for one more year!  It will be hectic soon enough ;-)  Here's a recap of some of the fun things we did this summer.

Landen is such a polar opposite of Vivian!  At this age for Vivian, there was NO WAY she would even get close to the water spraying out of the fountain! She always sat on the side and watched the other kids. But he was all about the water and got right in there to play!!  This water fountain  is near our house in a shopping plaza called "Uptown" I love coming to this area because it's all open to walk around, they have yummy restaurants, it's close to a Trader Joe's, and of course the water fountain!  Most the stores are too rich for my blood, but a girl can dream right? ;-) 

He's getting wetter and wetter by the minute!!

As you can see Vivian does not have a drop on water on her ;-)  But I was super proud of her on this trip because she at least walked through the fountains...but she went when the water was NOT shooting up.  It became a game for her to make it before the water got her wet ;-)

She took a little time out to twirl :-)

This is the new addition to our family of animals!!  Her very own pet rabbit named Daffodil.  She is really a sweetheart!!  We made a deal with Vivian to get this rabbit, and it was to quit sucking her thumb for a whole month.  We told her if she can do that, then she can get a bunny...and guess what!!!  We are so proud of her, and she doesn't suck it anymore.

They also play so well together, and they always have lots of fun playing outside when we go to T or C.  They decided to have a "picnic" under the carport with some yummy fruit snacks.  Vivian spread out a blanket so her and Landen could sit down.  Of course wolf had to have some fruit snacks too!!

This was a MAJOR accomplishment for Vivian this summer.  She wanted so badly to climb to the top of the "spider web" but she was too afraid.  Well...she finally built up the courage and she DID it!!  I was so proud of her :-)

My kiddies :-)  They are truly best buds.  I just love this picture and had to share

I also wanted to let everyone know that I opened an account on Shutterfly so I share easier with you all when i take LOTS of pictures.  If your interested in following my page, just let me know on here and I'll add your email address to my list.  It's lot of fun to do!!  and I love sharing with you all.  I really want to try to blog more, there's so much the kids do each day that make me laugh!!

Outings are fun!!

Monday and today I decided to take the kids somewhere before I have to go work.  I get so tired of work work working, either keeping the house clean, or at the shop, that I told myself before work of any kind I want to take some time just for me and the kids.  So yesterday we went to a park by my house and the kids played on the swings and climbed on the jungle gym, and went down this slide that is like a huge line of rolling pins!  It feels funny on the bottom!!  heeheee....Landen loved it!!  He sat on my lap as we went down, and once we got to the bottom, he discovered they turned.  Since he is so fascinated with wheels and whatnot, he stood at the slide and played with those rolling pins for quite awhile!!  it was so fun to play!!

Today we started out planting some flowers and herbs we picked out this weekend.  Then after breakfast we went for a walk in our neighborhood and ended up at a park close to the house.  I played hide and seek with Vivian, which was super fun!!!  And we watched and ran with Landen all around the park.  Then me and Vivian layed in the grass and looked up at the sky.  She was so cute, saying her teachers told her that she should lay in the soft grass and look at the beautiful sky.  

What an awesome way to start my days!! 

Mother's Day 2012

This mother's day was so amazing.  It really felt like I was a MOM for the first time and the kids and Chris could really pamper me ;-)  The last few years it was mother's day, but I was still tending to babies.  Granted Landen is a baby, he is much more manageable this year.  So I got to sleep in until breakfast was ready...almost 10am!!!  Chris and Vivian made me french toast, then chris did a sinkful of dishes for me.  The rest of the day we hung around the house and I just enjoyed my family!

For dinner we went to EL Pinto...delicious mexican food in an amazing setting!!  Down by the Rio Grande, big cottonwood trees everywhere, a huge waterfall in the front entrance...it's seriously one of my favorite places to eat.

I had a little too much of what they call "the turquoise trail" margarita...and got a little too emotional when I opened my gifts from my mom.  She got me the most beautiful picture of the kids, and a necklace with my little family's birthstones and a heart pendant. 

It was one of the best days this year so far!!  I'm so proud to be a mom, and so grateful for all I have.

Summer time...bring it on!!

I can't believe it's almost summer!!!  We have lots of fun plans, and it's getting more and more fun with the kids getting bigger.  Vivian's vocabulary and understanding of the world has just grown incredibly this year, especially since she's been in preschool!!  We are going to have her screened for her hearing and to see if there's any sensory issues that are contributing to her sensitivity to sound, and her anxiety about people watching her, or paying any attention to her.  Even if it's not something, I sure hope they can at least give us some ideas to help her deal with her anxieties so she can be a happy girl!  I am leery to sign her up for anything because of her issues with sound, and people watching her.  I want her to enjoy things she loves to do, like singing, dancing, playing ball. So we shall see!!

Landen has just seemed to blossom overnight.  He is saying words now, not just babble to us with what he's trying to say.  So far he has said "Ball" "Hi" "Dada" "sissy" (kind-of) He also responds when we ask him to find things like his truck, and he is so so curious about things now.  He will bend down to look at a bug, or a rock and hand it to me so I can be as amazed at it as he is!  We recently went to Florida and we took him to the beach.  he was not too excited about the sand on his bare feet, but with is little sandels on, he was off and running!!  He is such a little ham, he is going to be a funny kid.

Viv has also developed quite the personality.  She says things I can't even imagine where she got it.  I'm such a proud mama!!

Like I said, my little Ham!!! 

Look at my beautiful baby girl.  5 years old already!

February Update

February crept up on me!!!  It was Christmas...the new year came, and now we are into February!! Gosh time has flown!!  I have had so much to tell, but so little time to jot it down :-)  I have had some stressful moments, lot going on with work, and the kiddies.  I have taken on 2 jobs at work, since we lost our receptionist in December. We haven't found someone else yet because we are completely renovating our office!!!  I'm so excited for it to be done, it's looking SO AMAZING!!   I feel I've been running around like a crazy woman with taking Viv to school, working, and making time to be home and with my kids, I tell ya it's been a challenge! But it will be worth it in the long run.

We have had a setback with Vivian's school...ever since she went back after Christmas break, she has not wanted to go.  She cries and says she misses me.  At first I thought it was because for a few days a week I had her stay a little longer because of my work, and it seemed to freak her out.  Plus my mom was picking her up most days.  But for the last 3 weeks I have taken her and picked her up at regular time, and she still has some anxiety about it.  She is always telling me that she will miss me, and always asks If i will pick her up.  She also asks if I will ever leave her at school.  I always reassure her that that will NEVER happen, and that I will pick her up.  This afternoon when she asked what we were doing tomorrow, and when I told her she had school, she started to get upset again.  I asked her if there was something about school that she is not liking, and she said there is a boy that gets too loud.  We have been dealing with this "loud" problem since she was about 1 year old.  It has hindered her from doing things she loves, like Little Gym, anything sports because of the cheering, and even her birthday parties are difficult when it comes to singing happy birthday because the cheering afterwards is too loud.  I have mentioned it many times to her pediatrician, and she keeps saying to keep an eye on it.  But i am truly starting to worry about it, especially since she is starting kindergarten next year.  I want her to be happy, and I don't want her to miss out on things because of her anxiety.  I sure hope I can figure out what to do to help her!


Landen has become quite the peanut!!  He is so funny and cute and cuddly.  Such a good boy!!  He is into everything though...so he keeps us on our toes!!

We have a trip coming up in April to Florida, and I can't wait!!!  The kids are going to love it, and it will be wonderful to get away.

Through it all, I am loving life and am just so grateful everyday for all I am and all I have!!  No matter how hard it gets, it's all worth it!