Do I always slack off this much in January?

I feel like I have been a total and complete bum for the entire month of January, thus far. But when I start listing off what I have done, I realize that slacker may not be entirely accurate. So this post is to make me feel better - not to make you think I wear a cape...or that you need one too...(those comments had me cracking up, by the way!) and if you don't care that my in between blog posts incremements have significantly increased lately or you haven't noticed or you are too busy trying to update your own blog to care about why I haven't updated mine...

feel free to skip this one.

I am not a fan of resolutions...especially when there are more than 2...and so I don't set them. In fact, I used to write press releases about how you shouldn't set resolutions...and do TV interviews about it...and pitch it to reporters (oh, how I miss my working days sometimes). However, I am a big fan of goals and had some new ideas and goals come to mind while Seth was on his way-too-short-break-in-between-semesters which just happens to be the New Years Resolution time of year.

So, here they are...

1. We have a family scripture theme for the year...and I want to come up with a theme word...anyone have one and want to share?

2. We are working on memorizing all 13 Articles of Faith as a family. Morgan has 1 and 2 down and 3 is almost there (which I think is pretty awesome for 2 weeks into the goal)...Chloe has 1 mostly down (cute cute cute)...Brynn adds her coos and giggles. It is great!

3. Family history. I admit that I am not totally jazzed to learn how to find my ancestors on Family Search, and I admit that I think my time is better spent making sure my 3 kids are fed and clothed and read to and played with every day, and I admit that I think my efforts are fairly inneccasary because there are LOTS of other people in my family who are doing/have done this work, and yet all of these things make me feel guilty for justifying my lack of effort in this arena. So, in pondering about it, I have come to this...there is a time and a season for everything and right now my time and season are creating experiences with my own family and recording OUR history - then nobody will have to feel bad about not digging for it because it will be so easy to find! So, I am going to do the best I can at making memories with my family and recording them as well as our normal every day life (which I already do and will continue to do on this blog, but also through a picture each day on this new blog). To do this as a family, I thought we would devote one Family Home Evening a month to family history. That day we will learn a story about an ancestor that the kids know personally (grandma/grandpa/mom/dad) to teach whatever topic we are working on in our house (right now it is obedience). Then we will spend a few minutes recording the answers to some questions about ourselves that we came up with as a family in a Family History Journal...we will probably even get out the video camera and let each child take a minute to "perform". It should be fun.

4. Take Pictures. When I finished my degree in PR, I was completely convinced that there was no way I would ever be interested in going back to school...just not interested at all! However, photography has become somewhat of a passion for me lately! So, I decided to finally take the plunge and sign-up for a photography class that I have been dreaming about taking since I first heard about it here. Wow! I have learned so much already and it is only week 2! Anyway...with this newfound passion for photography and with some growing knowledge and skills, I want to make sure I take pictures of my kids more frequently. I already take A LOT of pictures of our day-to-day life, but I want to make sure I do "mini-photo shoots" with the kids at least twice a year, to get more of the frameable pictures. More to come about this goal in a future post.

5. Get out the video camera to capture our day-to-day lives once a month.

In addition to setting these goals and working on them, I have...

had the flu

shuffled the entire family to take daily showers at my mom's house

changed a lot of sheets and washed a lot of clothes from kids having the flu

refinished our bathtub (the paint is finally dry and we can shower at home as of this morning)

taken lots and lots of pictures for the photography class

done a lot of reading for the photography class

told Seth every detail of the photography class because I am so excited about this stuff I can hardly stand it

learned the Adobe Lightroom software program

taken Engagement and family pictures for my dad (who is getting married tomorrow)

rearranged all of the memory on our external hard drive(s) to make room for more pictures

cleaned the house...and cleaned the house...and, well you get the idea

rearranged the downstairs bedroom to include a "pretend-play area"

taken down all the Christmas decorations

learned the software system for ordering prints from a professional lab

tried, unsuccessfully, to get the kids back on a functional sleep schedule - this one has had the biggest impact on my ability to do anything else - my need-one-nap-a-day-to-function-normally-children have not napped in over a week (probably more) and have been overtired and cranky and naughty and aggravating.

We've been busy.

And, just for fun I wanted to share a couple of completely unedited pictures with you from my practicing - and these are all natural light only - no flash - very new territory for me.

A Better Night = A Better Day

Last night Brynnie slept from 11:30 pm to 6:50 am and Morgan and Chloe slept through the night too...Chloe in the Pack and Play outside Morgan's locked from the outside door. While this is clearly not a good long term solution, it sure changed my morning mood. I actually woke up happy which has set the tone for the rest of the day (with an added boost from the wonderful conference sessions we have been enjoying).

Your suggestions, help, and advice are still needed, so any of you out there with successful solutions, send them my way!

My current idea is that Chloe and Brynn should share a room because Chloe would do great with that and down the road that is likely going to be the shared room arrangement anyway, but the layout of our house just doesn't permit. My next best idea is to get a second crib mattress to store under Brynn's crib and rig it with pull handles (trundle bed-esque) for Chloe to take naps on and to quietly read books and relax on while I put Morgan to bed (Oh how I wish my cute hubby wasn't gone all the time when it comes to this one-woman-bedtime-routine). We are starting from the beginning of the Flop Game again to get him back in the routine of falling right asleep, so his "fall asleep time" should go back to about 15 minutes after lights out. Then, as soon as he is sleeping, I'll take Chloe down to her bunk in their shared room to go to sleep. Does this sound crazy to you? I think so, but it seems like the best option at this point. I hope it works so I can finalize the layout of their room and finish making it cute and functional. I keep telling myself we only have to make it through one year of this "shared room chaos" and then Chloe will be old enough for the Flop Game and everyone can go to sleep happily, peacefully and quickly in their own beds! These are the things that make me wonder why exactly we keep having kids!

HELP!

After a total of 3 hours sleep last night - and not in a row, I am officially seeking serious help from anyone out there who has successfully combined a toddler and preschooler into the same room. What did you do? How did you do it? Will the waking each other up thing ever end? Any resources you suggest? If you haven't, do you know anyone who has? I am getting desparate!

For the sake of letting the kids get enough rest to get over their colds, I have been letting Chloe fall asleep in Brynn's crib while Morgan does the flop game to go to sleep and then moving Chloe down to their shared room when he is sleeping soundly. The problem is that if anyone wakes up at night, they don't know how to go back to sleep with each other in the room and Brynn is sound asleep in the crib. Also, I realize that this is not teaching them to fall asleep on their own and it is creating interrupted sleep for Chloe and it is a giant pain in the butt!

HELP!

On a positive sleep note...Brynn slept 7 1/2 hours in a row last night! Yay Brynnie! Now, if only I could get the older kids to go to sleep and stay asleep...