Time for Giant Steps

HAPPY NEW YEAR!Our Auntie B got us these awesome matching pj's for Christmas and so we wore them on New years eve...aren't we so cute!

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Of course Spike was pulling an attitude because it wasn't his turn to hold sister any more, so he refused to smile, little stinker!

Watching a movie together in our jammie's. We had a tattoo party earlier that day and so the boys were covered in those washable tattoos. They had a blast! Notice J in this picture? He was with us all last week, it was so nice.

Spike was the first one to pass out. He's been refusing to nap (tears of pain streaming down my face) it's so frustrating. So he made it until about 11 and then crashed in a pile of tired baby on the floor. This is the one night of the year were they have no bed time, it's always interesting to see who makes it and who doesn't. Last year it was only Atty. Bubu had been looking forward to this bed time free night all week!

Kissing the baby.

I love this picture of my sweetie...I was laughing because he always closes his eyes in pictures and I tried over and over to get one were his eyes were open but it just wasn't happening. I rarely get a picture of his adorable smile, so this is a treasure...even if his eyes are closed.

Another treasure, I rarely (if ever) get a picture of this one smiling either. Must be genetic. I absolutely adore this picture of me and my Jbird.

Cheers! Happy New Year, ringing it in with some sparkling cider. Spike was the only one not awake a midnight (well and the baby, she was off and on all night). We toasted to another year together and then watched fire works out our window. Somebody put on quite a show.

Hubby was the next one out...he fell asleep during the second movie of the night. He's leaning on me, it was kinda funny...Atty made it longer then he did.

But not by much, he feel asleep in my arms.

This boy was determined to make the most of his bed time free night this year. He stayed up very, very late. Later then me, he partied with Uncle J this year. He looked so tired but he was absolutely not going to go to sleep even if his eyes were rolling. So sticking to my word I gave him a kiss and rolled into bed myself...because I knew that regardless of what time my littles went to sleep...they would still be up at the crack of dawn (or before) and I was right. ((Sigh))

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I'm not sad to see 2009 go. It was a mixed year for me. While we were blessed by the completion of Atty's adoption and the birth of my baby girl, we also lost my husband's mom to cancer, which was very hard on him emotionally and he was laid off more then he worked all year. This was one of the most financially trying years we have ever had. The debt we are in keeps us both up at night. It's like we live in one of those card houses and if we don't place each card in the perfect spot the whole thing will come crashing down.

So my hope for the new year is that we will continue to be a strong family tied together in love. That my husband will continue to be employed and that we will find a way to work ourselves out of this debt...and stay out. I hope and pray that my husband will feel less pressure and have less struggles. I thank God that my husband and I stayed strong together though the stress of last year and I pray for the same in the new year. I am dedicated to the same thing this year as I stated in this post for last year. I did okay (definitely baby steps) and I managed to read about half of the parenting books I listed, so this year I want to read the other half plus maybe some new ones. My goal is to make some giant steps in the right direction, enough baby steps already. I already read a new one called Being a Great Mom and Raising Great Kids by Sharon Jaynes, great book. Any other suggestions?

All in all I am excited for this new year. My life is full, but I can breath. Were as when Atty and Ira were littler I was barely keeping my head above water I was so tired and stressed out. Now that the boys are a bit older it feels easier in a lot of ways. I am enjoying this baby stage with Strawberry, because it seems like a breeze in comparison. I have such empathy for people with multiples now. Although the boys aren't actually twins they are only four months apart and it was like having twins only they Never ended up with the same schedule! The first two years left me completely drained and feeling very overwhelmed. Ryder and I were also not working well together in all the stress so that made me feel completely alone and frustrated. We came together a lot better in this last year and that is part of the reason I am looking forward to all we can accomplish in 2010!

Most of all I am going to stop with the excuses and take some time for myself...because I need it to be a better mom. I am finally realizing that they truly come hand in hand.

...and somewhere in there I want to spend some time all alone with my husband, because none of this works well if we can't remember why we are doing this in the first place and feel that love that sometimes gets lost in all the noise.

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I wish you all a beautiful 2010!