So much for resolutions...

We're not even 3 weeks into the new year, and I've already broke my resolution in regards to this blog. I'm not going to try to defend myself by saying that I was sick, my kids were sick, and that by trying to keep my other resolutions I had much time for screen time. I am getting more sleep, though! :-D And I do feel more patient. Although, I think next year it will just be easiest for me to resolve to eat more Nutella.

A new development in the Butterfly househould is that we're reading more again. Well, more children's books, anyway. I'm still trying to fit in time to read more of what I want. But I'm excited about reading to my kids again. Purple Butterfly has always loved her books. She and I used to spend hours a day reading. Once Pink Butterfly was born, the reading time diminished significantly (although Purple Butterfly still got at least 10 books a day). Of course, a baby is more intersted in chewing the book than listening to the story or ripping the pages than looking at the pictures. But as she's getting older, she's coming around. She now brings me books to read to her. She has interest in books that have other illustrations that just pictures of babies. (See my Baby Giggles entry.) And she likes her stories before bed. Here is my newly hatched bookworm.

Purple Butterfly's current favorite is the All About Cordury story book that Santa brough her. Mr. Butterfly or I have read her that book at least twice a day for the past week. Pink Butterfly doesn't seem to have a favorite, but I did watch her spend about 15 minutes looking at Pat the Bunny tonight after dinner. As for me, I'm reading I Am the Chose King on my Kindle. I may finish it before springtime.

A trip to the library earlier this week will allow for some book highlights. I hope you enjoy them.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, indeed! 2012. If you believe the Mayans, the world either ends in less than 12 months, or we're headed for the age of Aquarius. Either way, we better make this year count! But that could really be said of any year, now couldn't it?

The new year always brings resolutions. Last year, I was 9 months pregnant so I didn't really make any, other than to have a baby. That one would have been difficult not to keep. This year I am game to try my hand at some, so I'll share them with you.

First, and most importantly, I am going to try to be a more patient person. This is especially true when it comes to my children. They deserve a more patient mama. My husband deserves a more patient wife. There are several steps that will go into this, probably each one could be considered a resolution of its own.
- I have to try to look at things through a child's eyes more often. It's too easy for me to be wrapped up in what I want and need and expect to my kids to conform to that 100% of the time. I need to be a bit more understanding that they don't understand, and step back to look at things from their perspective.
- I'm going to get more sleep. Sleep recharges my patience supply. With a 2 year old and a baby, I've been pretty sleep deprived for the last year. I need to make changes to my daily routine to accomplish this, as well help little Pink Butterfly learn to sleep better on her own.
- I'm going to take better care of myself. I'm purposely leaving this one vague. I'm not setting a weight loss or exercise goal, I'm just telling myself that I need to make opporunites to get more exercise, eat better, drink more water, etc.

-Organize and declutter my house. The disorder in this house despresses me and makes me anxious. It's not to the point where A&E is going to show up at my door with a camera crew, but it would be nice to have more usable counter space, room in closets, or play area for the kids.

My other resolutions pale in comparison of importance to that one, but I've made some just the same. They are more along the lines of personal development and growth. For the past two years, I've set an unoffcial goal to read a book a month, or 12 books total for the year. I've surpassed this both years, so this year I'm going to go ahead and set a goal of 25 books. I've also had a DSLR Nikon camera for two years now and 99.9% of the time, I have it on auto. I need to learn how to use my camera. Hopefully I'll be able to take some awesome pictures of the dawn of the new era, or next Christmas at the very least.

Lastly, I have goals for this blog, too. I want to improve it, make it more visually appealing, increase my readership, do more with it, post more. So I intend to post at least 3 new posts a week, 2 book posts and one general post. I hope to post more than that, but that is my starting point. Maybe I'll even work up the courage to do a give away or get this blog it's own Facebook page.

So now I have set my resolutions out for the world to see. Let's see if that improves my accountability.