the little things.....

Happy New Year everyone!  I plan on making 2013 the best year yet.  What does that mean for me?  So many things that we all think of.....having a prosperous business, getting in great shape, being the best Mommy ever, making dinner every night for our family (ok that's not really on my list but might be on yours!), and having an occasional getaway with my husband to remember why we got married in the first place.  Right?  That all sounds perfect.  

And I'll really try to do those things.  But, in the wake of the Newtown school tragedy, I continue to think of the parents of those innocent little children every single day.  It struck me in the days following that the happiness given to us by our children is sometimes taken for granted.  The daily big hugs we get, the "I love you Mommy's", even the quiet laughs I get while listening to my two play & fight in the toy room.  Doing their tiny laundry, wiping off their messy faces, answering every 'but why?' question and dealing with the day to day in the life of a child is something that those Mommys and Daddys are missing greatly right now.  

So I'm sending them my prayers and my strength, and at the same time I'm working on relishing every moment with my two small people.  My Mom said something to me a few months ago when she was visiting: "Look at those cute little coats in the mudroom.  They won't be little for long. You should take a picture of it to remember their small-ness."  

She was right.  I need to be taking pictures and writing notes about my children to remember their tender little ages.  They'll never be 2 and 4 again.  In fact, as my 4.5 year old points out often, he's almost 5.  Here's something I don't want to forget: He is VERY worried about turning 5 because another kid at school told him that when you turn 5, your teeth start to fall out.  He does NOT want his teeth falling out.  Therefore he told me - "Mom, I don't want to turn 5.  We don't need to have a birthday party, because I don't want my teeth to fall out."  How awesome is that?  

Other wonderful things?  He compliments me when I get dressed up.  'Mama, I like your fancy hair.  Mama, that is a pretty dress you have on.  I like your makeup.' How astute for a 4 year old boy!  I keep telling him to keep up the chivalry.  It's pretty awesome.  

As for my daughter, who is clearly 2 going on a sassy 13 year old......She is becoming adept at running the other way when we ask her to come here - and then laughing at us.  She very much enjoys yelling 'NO!' when we ask her to eat her dinner - she then laughs at this too.  She calls out my eye shadow color (when I wear it), my nail polish, and enjoys a good sparkly shirt.  My favorite thing though?  When we're getting her either dressed or un-dressed, and she's clad in only a diaper, she yells "I'm Macon!!!!"  and does a little dance.  That actually means....."I'm naked!"  Hilarious.

ALL of that said, I thought I'd take a few pictures of my happiness around the house.  Just things that as my Mom said, won't be little for long. 

 I'm soaking it in.  Hope you do too.

Tiny shoes

All of our Christmas cards, with TONS of wonderful pictures of everyone else's littles.

My children's joy of the Christmas season - checking their advent calendars daily for a treat!  They continued to look in the days after Christmas to see if anything else would appear.  :-)

The best gift we received this year - a very specially made artwork hanger.  Behind that wood board with my son's name on it, there are clothes pin hangers.  We can use this hanger for any and all artwork that comes home.  This particular piece is clearly what our family looks like in my son's eyes.  He explained to me: "Mommy, look!  You and I have the same color hair (brown) and Daddy and Gemma have the same color hair (blonde!).  As we all DEFINITELY have dark brown hair - I now need to get his eyes tested.  Hahahaha.....  

The little coats

The girly tent in our basement where there are many secret conventions

My evolving photo wall

The hallway in between the kids rooms - complete with a chair for reading that you can't see, and a responsibility chart.  We're not so great at it yet - working on it!!!  (another New Years resolution)

Griffin's lego display in his room - he has spent a lot of time arranging this 'just so.'

A bigger picture of the Lego 'situation' as I'm calling it.  And this is just the first year he asked for Legos - Yikes!

The doll beds in Gemma's room.  These were in my room as a girl, and were handed down to me from my Mom, who also had them in her room as a girl (in the 50's).  How cool is that?

My first baby, Bella.  She's 10 already!

My second baby, Nani.  Nani also serves as a Roomba vacuum.  I almost never need to sweep the floor for crumbs, because Nani takes care of that for us.  She also occasionally jumps onto the kitchen table when we're not looking.  And eats small plastic toys (army guys and the like).  Trust me - I have found some interesting stuff in the backyard.

My littles on Christmas.  So sweet!

And here we all are.  Feeling lucky and blessed to have made such a wonderful little family with my wonderful husband.

My last New Year's resolution?  To garner more energy at night after the kids go to bed to blog more.  Wish me luck as a 9:30 bedtime is par for the course lately!