Resolutions. Goals. Dreams.

I have never made New Year's resolutions before. I find it difficult to hold myself accountable when I have something challenging ahead of me. I mean, this is not always true. I KNOW I can follow through with things, even in difficult situations, such as the time when I was working full time and in school full time. That was tough, but I made it through and I graduated. I know it is possible to make some changes.
I want to be a better mommy. I feel like I could do more with Baby Bear as far as interaction, education, and what not. I want to have the energy to do this. So, my resolutions are:
1. Lose the rest of the baby weight. It's been almost a year. I can't use the excuse, "I just had a baby." I only have about 10-15 pounds to lose to get back to where I would like to be. I can make this happen by making healthy food choices and making an effort to exercise more. I've got the Wii Fit. It's not like it is strenuous exercise, but it is SOMETHING I can do during the winter. As soon as it warms up, I'm walking everyday. Maybe we will find the extra money to get a Y membership.
2. Be there for Baby Bear. This includes not going back to sleep after his morning bottle. (Note: I am the one going back to sleep.) It usually takes some time to convince him that he needs to go back to sleep also, so I can use this energy to start some coffee, hop in the shower and start my day. EVEN if I am not going anywhere that day!  This will help us get on a better schedule and maybe his naps won't be so erratic. Also, make a point to TURN OFF THE TV. After I watch the news in the AM, it needs to go off. Better yet, it should never come on. I can tune into NPR on my laptop and get the news that way. No more zoning out when I could be playing with Brody or getting chores done.
I know number 2 encompasses many things, but it's a big change and it's something I want to do. I need to get my life together! My baby is almost a year old! Let's get back to reality, here! I've got to embrace my "Mommyhood".
I just feel like I've been a failure as a mom, lately. I know we can't all be supermom. I know there are worse mothers than me. But when I was pregnant, I never imagined that I would be this way. I planned for so much more! My baby was going to know sign language! I was going to read two books, everyday! Well, that didn't happen. So, now, almost a year later, I need to change. I need to be a better mom. That's just how it needs to be.

The Holidays

Now that the craziness of family gatherings is over, it's time to update you on what's going on with Baby Bear, Papa Bear and I. I can't lie. It's not like I've been insanely busy since September and that is what has kept me from posting. The truth of it is, there's been a whole lot of nothing going on in my life. It's hard to update you all when it would sound something like, "Baby Bear ate a whole cup of peas today!" I don't know. Maybe you DO want to hear things like that. Either way, one of my resolutions is to keep up with this blog a little bit better. (I do also want to throw in that Papa Bear keeps telling me he's going to help me build a blog on our server; but like so many things he wants to get done, it hasn't happened yet. So, for a short while, I didn't update with the anticipation of moving this whole thing to the server.)
Anyway, Thanksgiving and Christmas were excellent. I throw them in together because we celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving with the in-laws. We visited my family for Christmas, so it was fair.  Baby Bear received a boatload of toys and clothes, as well as some money for his college savings.  Natl-doo gets cuter every time we see her. She's growing up so fast! She was quick to share her toys with Baby Bear, like a good cousin does. I hope they become close. Sis and I always had (and have) a close relationship with our cousins growing up. I'd like for Baby Bear and Natl-doo to be the same way.
Speaking of cousins,  one of mine has moved to our area! He and his lovely new wife will still be an hour away from us, but it's a lot closer than before. Plus, it will give us even more excuse to visit the city now and then.
I was introduced to a great cloth diapering store recently. A friend took me there earlier this month and WOW! I was blown away. It's so cute! It's called Comfy Bummy and I am in love with it. The staff was super helpful and they have a great selection. A little background information: I'm currently using gDiapers with cloth inserts. The gCloth is outrageously priced, so I'm using prefolds and some inserts a friend made for me. (Her blog is here. Check out the cuteness!) I am planning on trying my hand at making a few inserts. However, the woman at Comfy Bummy was a spring of fluffy knowledge. She showed me all the inserts available, and also let me know about the basics, like using plain prefolds with covers vs. pockets vs. AIOs, etc. Now I just need to win the lottery so I can stock up on some fluff for Baby Bear. My prefolds are not the best... I want something better and am working on getting to that point.
Now for the fun. Here's a few Christmas pictures of Baby Bear and crew at Christmas.

Natl-doo and Baby Bear sharing.

The obligatory "bow on the head". Also Papa and Mama Bear.

The next day, playing with Uncle Ray.

Opening presents.

Well, naptime has ended abruptly, so I'll sign off here. See you soon!