Some slightly late resolutions

I resolve:

1) Aside from my late resolutions, to stop procreating (wow Freudian slip) I meant procrastinating unless of course there is a possibility that if I ignore the situation long enough it will either a) resolve itself or b) someone else will take care of it for me.

2) To not be one of the women featured on "I didn't know I was pregnant". I consider this one my freebie but If I ever do get pregnant again I would love to have such a symptom free pregnancy.

3) From this moment onward I will deny the existence of the little decimal point on the calorie counter on my elliptical machine so when it says I've burned 28.9 calories I will read it as 289 and rejoice in my awesome workout.

4) To have more patience or start taking sedatives. I haven't decided which yet.

what are your resolutions?

Favorite Baby Words

I wish I had written down a few more of my son's early versions of words. They are so cute and funny and you think you'll remember them all, but they do slip away. I miss him saying "um-blah-blah" for "umbrella" and "stah-baby" for "strawberry." Now he says "waterlemon" instead of "watermelon" and I want to make sure I get that written down so that I can remember it later.

What are some of the mispronunciations your kids came up with?

Meal Plan

I hate the weeks when I don't take the time to figure out what we are going to eat.  Those weeks I come home from work tired and uninspired.  Having a meal plan is so much easier.  Today, I took it up a notch and made a 4 week rotation.   Maybe I will switch that up a little every quarter or something.  In 2010, I also did a resolution where I tried 52 new recipes, it was so much fun. I have felt uninspired and uncreative with my meals this year... I think I am going to do a resolution for 25 in 2012.

I hate to admit it but....

When I see another mom break down in public 95% of me feels empathetic and 5% of me feels like breathing a sigh of relief because even though I know other moms must have those kind of days there's no better proof than seeing it with my own eyes.

What are your favorite books to read to your little ones?

We have a lot of books around here and since many of the readers and contributors to this blog are librarians I'm assuming you have quite the stock pile at your house too. Here is a short list of the ones I never get sick of reading to my girls:
Big Momma Makes the World I found this one at the library and love it so much because I get to read it in a fun southern drawl that my husband finds very annoying which for me makes it all the more fun. All the World We have read this one so many times that now when I read it I'll skip every other 2 or 3 worlds and have my daughter fill them in. Flotsam I have to admit I was a little annoyed when I first opened this book and there were no words but my mind was quickly changed by the awesome story the pictures told and the upside of no words is you can make the story as quick or as long as you like.The Pout Pout Fish This is a cute story with lots of potential for using different voices with a fun ending that is the perfect excuse to shower your kid with kisses. Snuggle Puppy My 3 year old has cut me off from reading this because she doesn't like the jazzy voice I use to sing the song but at least I have a few more years before my littlest will be old enough to protest my singing.
What are your family's favorites?

Halloween Candy

It is our duty as parents to do our part to prevent childhood obesity by eating most of our kids Halloween candy right?

Babies grow fast, babies grow slow

Everyone tells you to enjoy your children while they are young because it goes by fast. I had and elderly woman stop me in the grocery store a while back to look at my 2 girls. She sighed and said "I remember those days. Its a shame they go by so fast." then she laughed and said "on the other hand we wouldn't be able to handle it if they didn't."

What I didn't know before having two is that time speeds up with each one you have. If we were to have 5 I feel like I would go to sleep the age I am now and wake up a 50 year old woman with grown children and how I got there would all be a big blurr.

And yet even with time rushing ahead of us I still feel that perhaps I push my 3 year old daughter to act older than she should. I recently took her to the emergency room for a cough and found out she had croup. I told the nurse that I thought only babies got croup and she looked at me and said firmly "she is a baby!" She is right. Yes she grows fast, yes she has learned so much, and yes she is still a baby. I am trying to remind myself to treat her like one more often with cuddles and snuggles and moments with no expectations other than to show her I love her.