A fresh start

We're just a few days away from the new year, so I'm starting to think about my resolutions for 2013. I can't even remember what I decided to do last year, so apparently I did not follow through (unless my resolution was to continue being an awesome wife + mom, which I think I did, thank you very much). This year, I'm going to make it easy and just give myself 3 things to work on:

1. Exercise 3 days a week: I got a head start on this one and broke out my running shoes twice over vacation. Go me! Now I just need to continue the trend and make time to exercise once I get back home, which is never easy. But if I can go to the gym one day during lunch, one night after Molly goes to bed, and one time over the weekend, I'll be set. Resolution accomplished.
2. Pick up Molly early twice a month: I gave up my part time schedule, but I'm thinking I can still get some good Molly time by leaving work at 4 on days where I don't have a pressing deadline. I caught the 4:13 train a few weeks ago and it was wonderful. Life changing! I felt like we had so much more time to play and have fun and Molly was so excited to see me at daycare. Poor Jason has had to take on the lion's share of pick-ups and drop-offs since he has the shorter commute, so this resolution will be good for him, too. Speaking of resolutions that are also good for Jason...
3. Plan a fun date with my main man at least once a month: Sounds easy, right? Jason and I are pretty good about spending time together, and we definitely take advantage when the grandparents are in town. In fact, we went out to dinner last night and had a wonderful time. But I'm greedy for more! I have a list of babysitters in our neighborhood that I haven't called and that's just silly. Jason and I could be seeing more movies, playing more tennis (when it gets warm again), and trying more restaurants. Let's do this!

One of my stocking stuffers this year was a pocket planner, so I think I will use that to keep track of my resolutions. Hopefully it will help me follow through for the full year...and remind me to post updates to the blog!

Toy story

When I was growing up, my Mom was always very careful to buy Christmas gifts in twos and threes, to make sure my sisters and I had the same of every item and no one got jealous or had their feelings hurt. Yet still, our most memorable fights were all about stuff. Who had it. Who wanted it. Who ruined it. I guess these things are unavoidable.

Everyone was very thoughtful and careful this year with Molly and her Cousin Will. All of their gifts were similar. Two buses. Two laptops. Two stuffed animals. Books, books, and more books. Winnie the Pooh figurines for Molly. Matchbox cars for Will. Will is still too young to be possessive, but Little Miss Molls does. not. like. it. when Will wants to play with her things. Her little horns of jealousy have been coming out big time over the last two days. I know this is totally normal behavior, but as a parent, it is just horrifying to watch as your child tries to hold 15 stuffed animals in her skinny little arms just so no one else can play with them. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong, Molly and Will really like each other. See the pics below. They've been holding hands, following each other around, and sharing bunny crackers and orange slices with each other. Those little moments of cousin love just couldn't be cuter and make up for almost all the times where Molly has shouted "mine!" And we're lucky...they take naps at different times, so each kid has a chance to play with ALL the toys for a couple of hours each day :)

Yoda and Chewbacca. How cute is this?



The most adorable little Elf I've ever seen

 

Digging in



The pile just kept getting bigger and bigger. Good thing we're flying Southwest and can check an extra box for free!

 

Molly's favorite gift was probably her laptop. Now she can check her email and blog just like Mommy :)

 

My -- I mean Santa's -- gift to Molly. Her very own backpack!

Yes, even the adults received a few gifts. Rudolph the Red Nosed Guiness. Joe's girlfriend Kathleen knows the O'Grady boys well

Have yourself a beachy little Christmas

Because our family is starting to outgrow Marsha and Steve's house in Virginia, we decided this Christmas, we'd rent a beach house in Nags Head, NC instead. The house is called "Simply Paradise" -- all the houses around here have names -- so, Merry Christmas from paradise :) It's been nice. And we still have 4 days to go!

Here are a few pics from Christmas Eve on the beach. I'll upload some of the Christmas Day toy explosion in a separate post.

View from the porch. I promise, I'm not trying to make anyone jealous!

 

Aunt Megan, Will, and Molly. As you can see, we need layers, but it's been nice enough to walk, run, and dig, on the beach

Miss Hollywood. The funny thing is, these glasses are Steve's. He wore them to school for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Ha! Now, they're Molly's :)

Daycare's greatest hits

Every day, we get an email from Molly's school with a description of the things they did and a collection of photos from the day. I live for these emails. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the past few weeks. I think you can see that Molly loves her school.

Rock climbing

So brave

Typing away

Full participation

Smock time

Hanging with her friends

Ladybug girl

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We're definitely feeling the Christmas spirit at the O'Grady house. Jason put up the lights last week and we picked up a tree last weekend. I've got the radio permanently tuned in to 9.39 fm - The Holiday Lite - and have managed to teach Molly most of the words to "Jingle Bells." Holiday cards are in the mail. Gifts are ordered. It's been a busy December, but it's been fun. Now we're just counting the days until we leave for Nags Head, NC and Christmas with the O'Grady fam.

It wouldn't be Christmas without a hand knit hat from Baba Overbey

Lights!

Our tree - if you look closely, you'll notice a disproportionate amount of ornaments on the lower branches

An early gift -- Minnie slippers! Couldn't wait

Emmie, our "Elf on the Shelf." She's watching!

Holiday card. Photography and design by the fabulous Mr. Ford. Getting lots of compliments on this one!

Phrases of the day

Here's what 2 1/2 sounds like:

"My no want that."

"That not nice, Mommy."

"More cracker, please."

"Dank you."

"That funny."

"Toot. Biiiig toot."

"My go potty."

"More snacky, please."

"No nap!"

"My blue Thomas skibbies." (skivvies)

"One more song! One more song!"

"What doing?"

"What doing?"

"What doing, Mommy? What doing, Daddy? What doing?"

She can be a stinker, but we love her!

Well, that one hurt

Silly me. There was a mistake in my last post. I meant to say that we were on our way to see Wisconsin crush Nebraska in the Big Ten championship game. Wow. What a kick in the pants! We drove 3.5 hours and spent $70 on tickets to watch the Huskers get smoked in every way possible by our neighbors to the north. Brutal.

And yet, the weekend wasn't a complete disaster. I was totally charmed by Joe's new girlfriend, Kathleen, who managed to shrug off the agony of defeat and get us all laughing again, bantering with triumphant Wisconsin fans, and doing her signature bobble head dance. A victory would have been nice (even a close loss would have been better than what we got), but we still ended up having an okay time.

Unfortunately, the projected bowl game match ups are not exactly favorable for either Nebraska (Capital One vs Georgia) or Northwestern (Gator Bowl vs Mississippi State). But who knows. Go 'Cats!

Writing from the road

Hello from I-65! We're on our way to Indianapolis to see Nebraska crush Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. It's funny, this year I've seen more college football games in person than I've watched on TV. Oh, the glory of living in a college town in the middle of Big Ten country.

While we're having fun in Indy with Joe and his new girlfriend Kathleen (also a Husker fan), Molls will be girling it up at home with her 2 favorite aunts. This is good practice for B, who only has about 3 and a half months to go before she has her own little shorty. Then it will be our turn to babysit!

Time to pay attention to Jason and our Spotify playlist, but I'll post again later or on the return trip.