Happy New Year!

I usually aim for a blog post a month. If I have a little more time to devote to blogging maybe I'll get two posts in. Well, I'm just starting this post and it's December 29th. There's no chance that I'm going to get a full length post in for this month. So a couple of updates, a few of my favorite recent photos and some New Year's reflections will have to do!

Family pic in San Marcos while visiting Scott and Anna
So perfect, ;) Xan is fascinated with the waterfall, Jane is picking her nose
And Atlas is just staring off into the distance.

Here's a quick update! Lately I feel like every moment of my life is full to the brim. Which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but it means prioritizing is very important. I feel like I could have done a better job of it the last few months. In the summer my boss finally trained me on a few processes and gave me full responsibility on most of my clients like we had planned to do for a while. It felt good to finally be pulling my own weight for my pay, but it definitely increased the hours that I was working. I started to get up at 6:30am to get my work done before the kids were up. In the fall Xan decided nap time was for the birds. She went down to two naps and I am lucky if I get 45 minutes out of one of her naps and sometimes it's only 20 minutes each! Around that same time I started home school preschool with Jane. Atlas participates when he wants to. ;) Jane moved up to KinderStars in Gymnastics which means she goes to skill meets and we do class in the evening instead of the morning. We also added a couple of monthly home school events at fun indoor playgrounds in addition to Tuesday Park Day to our schedule. And of course we have playdates with friends pretty often. Sam is the supervisor of the copier shop at work and has been working a lot of overtime lately. So yeah, life is full, but also wonderful! Here I am trying to fit everything in, keep up with laundry and still keep my house relatively clean. I'm thinking of maybe dropping something to make life a little less busy and more manageable. With the New Year I'm trying to evaluate our days and figure out what the most important things are and maybe things we don't need. The answer is probably less social media. ;)

School time! Tracing and coloring teddy bears.

1. What are you grateful for in 2018?

This one is so easy this year. The Van! Seriously, we couldn't be more grateful. If you haven't read the story. Here it is. Our Van!

Road trip to Dallas for Christmas in the van. Making blanket tents!

2. What was your favorite moment in 2018?

Again maybe not fair, but Alexandria's birth is one of the top moments of my life. So it's gotta be that. Honorable mention! Jane making Xan giggle for the first time and catching it on video.

Such a sweet cuddly girl!

3. What are you looking forward to in 2019?

More cousins!!! :D My brother Scott and his wife Anna are having another girl due in July 2019 AND Sam's brother Travis and his wife Cerena are having another boy due in June 2019!! I'm also looking forward to more sibling fun as Xan gets older and is able to participate in more playtime activities.

Gah!! They are just so cute! Christmas Morning!

4. What is one goal you hope to accomplish in 2019?

Short term: Purchasing a smartphone.

Long Term: Working out my priorities and being more present in the moment with my kids.

My most important priority. My kids! (and, not pictured, my husband!)

Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019!! Happy New Year everybody!

Ecclesiates 3:1-8

To everything there is a season, 

A time for every purpose under heaven.

A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

A time to weap,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.