A New Year

Do you do resolutions?  Do you ever keep them?  I, like many people, have tried it and failed miserably.  It's a good gesture though right?  Start out the year with lofty goals.  This year I decided not to go for the high failure rate, but instead reach for common sense stuff.  Just focus on being emotionally, physically, and spiritually happy. So here's my list of quasi resolutions:

1. Ignore the pull of the perpetual "to-do" list and just enjoy life more.  Especially with my kids.
2. Do something creative every day.  Even if it's small.
3. Be more active.  I'm so much happier when I do this.
4. Go on more dates with husband.  No one spitting up on me or whining, just me and him.
5. Read more.  I don't ever do this anymore.  I miss it.
6. Keep in better touch with friends.  I'm horrible at this, but it doesn't mean I don't think about ya.
7. Be happy.  Try and look for the positive side of things.  Even when it's hard.

That's all I have for now. I'm sure there are a few I've forgotten that I'll think of the second I post this, but there it is.  Happy New Year dears, hoping 2013 makes all your dreams come true!

Photo via*

Christmas Magic

I've been sick for over a week and didn't get to do my Christmas post!  I've had the after Christmas funk today, so I thought doing a post would help me hang on to my Christmas spirit a little longer.

Christmas evolves with you and changes over the years, especially when you have kids. My favorite thing this year was watching my kids.  Doing with them some of the fun traditions that me and husband had when we were kids and watching the excitement and magic of it on their faces.  Catching Santa's boot print, seeing the milk and cookies gone... It brings back those same feelings that I had when I was a kid.  My mom was/is AWESOME at creating that Christmas magic for us and I feel so very blessed to be able to do that with my kids.  Anyhoo, I hope you all had a wonderful and memory filled Christmas. 

And just for fun, what were some of your favorite things about Christmas this year?

Christmas Countdown: Twinkle Lights

Probably one of my favorite things about Christmas is the lights. I  LOVE lights. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! They just make me happy.  If I had my way, I'd leave Christmas lights up year round.  Something I tried last year (not intentionally), but my HOA didn't seem to appreciate it as much as I did. 

Do you do lights at your house? 

Photo*

Christmas Countdown: Warm Beverage

This is my favorite time of year, but it just seems like it's been flying by this year. It's probably due to me being zombie mom with a 4 month old who likes to party until 2am.  So in a little attempt to hit pause or at least slow things down, I'm going to post some of my favorite things about this time of year over the next couple days.

Warm beverages:  Is there anything cozier on a cold day? Whether you're a coffee drinker, a tea drinker or a hot cocoa lover, the drinks this time of year are always especially good.  And it's not just about the flavors (egg nog, peppermint, gingerbread).  It's the whole experience.  It can even muffle a 3 year old with no volume control for a brief moment of peace.  Magic.

What's Been Cookin'

I actually didn't realize how long it's been since my last post, but waaaay too long!  As you can see I haven't quite felt like myself the last couple months.  This little girl decided to surprise us shortly after Christmas and it took us a while to get over the initial shock of it. However, I'm past the "sick and tired" phase and finally getting to my favorite part of being pregnant. 

My biggest adventure so far in this pregnancy? Finding a doctor. I had put off finding a doctor since we moved because I LOVED my doctor in Vegas. I explained to husband that aside from him, the most important person in my pregnant life is my doctor. Right ladies? Since I clearly couldn't put it off anymore, I made an appointment with Dr #1.  My first impression when he walked in the room...he looked like a slightly older George McFly from Back to the Future. Ok, no big deal I can be cool with that.  However, he wasn't very nice and had some definite weirdness to him, so I decided this wasn't the doctor for me. Husband doing McFly impressions on the way home, kinda sealed the deal. That night, I started scheming how I could pull off having my Vegas doctor deliver this baby.  

I had picked doctor #2 for my next monthly appointment.  He was very nice, but made some strange comments about his lack of patients and seemed nervous about doing my c-section surgery.  Hmmmm.  So I took my nervous self  home once again, cried (yes I'm pregnant), and tried to figure out how I could plan spontaneously going into labor while just happening to be in Vegas. 

Aside from feeling like a crazy lady, husband was convinced I wasn't going to be happy until I found Vegas Dr's twin. In a last ditch effort to find a doctor before running back to Vegas, I saw Dr #3 - yes 3. This one was a referral from another Dr who had a great reputation, but didn't take my insurance.  The word was Dr #3 was a great doctor and surgeon.  So off I went with NO expectations. I saw him last week and he was completely normal and confident. THANK HEAVENS!! He wouldn't have understood, but I sooo wanted to hug and kiss him after my appointment. Needless to say, I slept well that night.    

Now hopefully it's just smooth sailing til August.  So don't be surprised if you see baby posts for a while now;)

Soup Season: Butternut Squash

My favorite season is finally here! It's finally turned chilly here in Southern California and when that happens I find that I immediately start craving soup.  A couple months ago I had lunch at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and got the Butternut Squash Soup and O-M-G it was amazing!! I've been dreaming about it ever since, so I found the recipe and tried it out. Now, it does take some time to do, but it's well worth it. Just make sure you make a bit extra to last you a couple days.  I promise you won't regret it.

What are some of your favorite soup recipes? 


(pic via*)

Movie Monday

I know I've been MIA for a while now, but I've been in full mommy mode lately.  We've got school, dance, gymnastics, and everything in between.  So when (if) I finally get the hang of this schedule I'm dying to start posting again because I'm bursting with fun stuff to share.

Aside from being a Sarah Jessica Parker fan, this movie looks adorable and is so up my alley right now. So this is for all you Mommies out there working and stay-home who can relate.