Hello 2015!

January 01, 2015

Hello 2015!

Happy New Year!

I love the idea that a New Year brings a fresh start. As we flip open new calendars today, we reflect on the adventures we had in 2014 and look forward to the ones 2015 will bring.

2014 was a pretty exciting year for us. We found out we were expecting baby #2, and welcomed Emmett Henry to our crazy clan in August. He's completed our family of 4 and Harper has proven to be a perfect big sister.

Sadly, this year we also lost my sweet Grandma Josie to ALS. It's indescribable how much we miss her wit and big heart. I think of her daily, and continue to teach Harper the things she taught me. I have no doubt she's busy watching over us, in-between gambling of course! :)

At the start of a new year, I know it's custom to set resolutions. The idea of this is great, however; I'm terrible at following through. Let's look back to my "goals" for 2014 and see how I did.

1. Drink more water, less Diet Coke!

This goal I was great at, until September. Once I had Emmett, I gladly welcomed at least one can of pure goodness back into my life per day.

2. Learn to knit.

Attempted this once on January 1, 2014. Haven't picked up my knitting needles since. Let's keep this one on the list.

3. Get Harper signed up for 2 different organized activities throughout the year.

Check and check!

4. Be better about attending church.

This one is still on the list. We were on a roll for a while, until Harper had a meltdown during service. Sadly, I think that scared us away. I'm committed to making this one happen in 2015!

5. Read more.

Breastfeeding and pumping at work has allowed more time for me to read. So I'm going to say this one has been accomplished!

6. Eat better, & work out at least 3x per week (I know, isn't this on everyone's list?)

No comment.

7. Start monthly family field trips.

We've done a pretty good job of this, but it's something I'd like to continue.

8. Cook more homemade meals.

Umm, yea. 2015 is a New Year - right?

9. Be better about laundry! :)

Don't ask Mitch about this. I still have my ups and downs. Maybe next year, I ask for a laundry services for Christmas.

10. Get Harper to try vegetables! (this is by far my most challenging!)

Project "get Harper to try new foods" has actually been a semi-success. She's willing to at least take one bite of new foods and we're not cooking special Harper meals any more. I'd say that's at least progress.

I do have a couple goals to add to my 2015 list.

1. No iPhones at the dinner table.

2. Work on this post-baby bod.

3. De-clutter our house.

4. Volunteer more. (It would be great to do this as a family! If people have volunteering ideas for families, I'd love to hear them!)

5. Run another half marathon.

6. Call my out-of-state family more.

7. Get together with friends on a regular basis.

NYE has certainly changed for us since we've become parents. The days of 9pm dinners and drinking until 2am are a thing of the past. If we make it to midnight, I consider that an accomplishment.

Last night, Mitch and I took the kids to Which Wich for a fancy NYE dinner. Harper had no complaints. Afterwards we came home and spent a couple hours having a major jam session in our living room. We queue up YouTube videos and we all dance around and sing too loud. Harper has a new obsession with Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off." She love love loves the song and the video. Below is a snippet of video I recorded last night. It'll give you a glimpse into our regular dance parties! :)

Mitch and I decided to go to a late movie to ring in our New Year. Bob and Deb were sweet enough to come over and hang with Emmett while Harper was sleeping. We walked in to the Rogers Theater, bought 2 tickets for The Theory of Everything, a medium popcorn, a large Diet Coke and headed to Theater 12. Apparently no one else wanted to see this movie at 9:40pm, because we had the theater to ourselves. The movie was incredible, I would highly recommend it. It's such a sweet story and Stephen Hawking proves to be an amazing individual.

We raced home after the movie, trying to make it in time to see the ball drop. We missed it by 5 minutes but heard it on the radio. We shared our NYE kiss at a red stoplight. :) It was the perfect NYE!

Cheers to a great 2015!

Last week was Christmas (it feels like it was so long ago!) and it was such a fun time! The kids were both great at church Christmas Eve and Harper was excited to leave milk, cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

We woke up Christmas morning and Harper immediately ran downstairs to check her cookie plate. She was so excited to see the cookies were practically gone and the reindeer had nibbled the carrots. Santa even left a special sake with a gift for Harper and Emmett. Her eyes were huge and she ran upstairs to tell Mitch the news! SANTA CAME! We opened stockings and gifts at home as a family and it was so fun to start our very own traditions.

Mitch had to leave the house by 10:30am to pick up Nick from the airport. He was flying in from Oklahoma City to surprise his parents for Christmas. He found out they had the 26th off from training and booked a flight home. Mitch picked him up and we headed over to Bob & Deb's with their special "present."

Deb lost it when she saw Nick and it was pretty heart melting. Below is the video to prove it! :) The rest of the day we lounged around. Watching movies, eating too many cookies and sneaking in a nap here and there. What a wonderful Christmas.

Matt & Jen came down from Fargo for the weekend and we decided to plan an unconventional family field trip. Since the forecast was bearable and the sun was actually scheduled to make an appearance, we decided to all go ice skating downtown St. Paul. Harper got to lace up (or buckle) her new skates for the first time. We had a blast at the Wells Fargo Winter Skate and think we should start making this an annual tradition!