Yay new year!

I'm not one of those people who usually gets especially excited about a new year.....if I make a resolution, it's just in my head, and not something that I hold myself accountable to. But this year, I feel like I'm genuinely excited about putting 2009 behind me and making a fresh start in a lot of ways.

2009 was just plain hard.....of course we had many great moments I'll remember for the rest of my life. But oh my......I never thought day-to-day life could get so frustrating! And then when I felt so very frustrated, something else would happen on top of that! At the beginning of the year, Grant had just turned two, and Drew was 3 months old. Life with two kids wasn't too hard yet, because Drew was still such a little baby and slept so much. But around March, I remember starting to feel overwhelmed.....now I had two kids with two different schedules. And Grant (my very strong-willed boy anyway) was a two-year-old, meeting all expectations of the horrible behaviors associated with that age!

When I look back, I think the hardest part for me in transitioning from one to two kids was the change in my free time. And I'm starting to get used to this.....now Drew is a toddler and he and Grant play together a lot. So I can get some things done while they're playing. And at least they nap together....and Drew's naps seem to be getting a little bit longer now (knock on wood!).

And mostly, I'm just trying to remember that this is such a short stage, in the scheme of things. Instead of worrying about falling behind on scrapbooking/documenting their lives, I need to just enjoy them when they're little. And instead of feeling sorry for myself that every trip inside of a store has to be super short (no time for browsing these days!), I try to remind myself that in less than five years, the boys will both be in school and I'll have all the time I want to look around a store. And I'll probably wish I could go back to these years again (well, maybe not....we'll have to see!).

So one of my goals for 2010 is to really maximize the time I spend with my kids....to try to think of fun, out-of-the-box things to do. Because we have so much fun when we do stuff like this....it's just hard to think of those things on a moment's notice.

Here are a few more "resolutions" that have come to mind.....although maybe "goals" would be a better word. I am not completely resolved to doing these, but it would sure be nice! And maybe since I'm writing them, I will hold myself more accountable to them:

1. Read two classic novels. I read Jane Eyre when I was pregnant with Drew, and I LOVED it! In 2009 I hardly read anything. I'm thinking I might read a Charles Dickens book first....

2. Invite people over to our house for dinner once a month.

3. Read my Bible somewhat regularly! It has been so hard to do this with little kids....I barely can drag myself out of bed when they wake up (at 6:30). Then during their naps, I have all these other things I want to get done....you know, important things like blogging! But seriously, when I try to take a break and read my Bible during naps, it's hard for me to focus because I am thinking of my list of other things running through my head.....

4. Figure out a better system for storing/enhancing pictures. I want to use Picasa but I'm still a bit confused by it....it seems like it has so little space, and I take tons of pictures. Erin P, if you're reading this, I might need your help with this....

5. I also want to use the blog to record funny or memorable things that happen day-to-day. Two years ago at new year's I saw an idea in a magazine: it suggested blogging about one great thing that happens every day, even if it's just something funny your three-year old says. I've always wanted to do this. I'm not hoping to do this every day, but I want to at least make some attempt!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!