New Year's Resolutions

So once again I am going to join the masses and write out my new year's resolutions, full of optimism and hopefulness that I will be able to follow through and end up a better person in 2009. Forgive the cliches... I really do mean them. And for anyone who is actually reading this, please ask me if I am following through! I need some accountability. Here goes:

1. Exercise! I still look like I am pregnant, especially after I eat a big meal. I have a good stroller, I live near a walking park, our gym has childcare.... there are no excuses. I even have a bunch of home exercise equipment like little dumbells, etc. that I can use in the living room while Lucas is playing.

2. Eat better! I haven't been following the guidelines that I set with Betsy... no dairy products, no soy, less bread and packaged products, more veggies, less sugary products. It's just so hard because convenience foods are so easy, especially when I am busy with Lucas all day. And I need to be taking my vitamins and supplements regularly.

3. Figure out some way I can actually make money at home, and stick to it. I think I have concluded that the scrapbooking gig is more of a hobby thing than a money maker, which is fine b/c it is a lot of fun and a good way to get together with friends. I just need something else to make some money. I am taking over my mom's website so I will do my best to make that work to bring in a little money, but that will take a while to get started. I may need to find one other thing. Hopefully the right thing will come along.

4. Allow time for my creative side. I have been itching to learn adobe illustrator and photoshop. I want to create some of my own graphics and make some cute cards and things... I also want to sew and create some goodies for lucas and his friends. I want to learn to draw. How I will do all these things, I don't know, but I know they are good for my soul, so I need to make time.

5. Come up with a great financial plan. Ryan and I want to buy our house eventually, and we want to be debt free (or close to it) before we do so. We need to come up with and stick with a good plan to get us where we want to be.

Is there such a thing as bloggers block?

Is there a such thing as bloggers block? I've never had a problem writing, but for some reason the last couple weeks I have not been able to write. I've started a couple blogs and gotten half way through, and though, "this is stupid", so I deleted them. I think my thoughts are so scattered that I can't seem to arrange them into words and instead it turns into a jumbled mess... this is already a jumbled mess, but I'm still going. I think I'll change the subject.

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. I can't believe my son is almost one year old. He is running around the house, talking to me, and I am left wondering what happened to the sweet little baby I held in my arms just a few months back. Not that he isn't sweet now.... when he isn't running around he is giving me hugs and kisses with his arms wrapped around my neck. I love hugs from him. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we will go to Ryan's parents house to celebrate, with lots of food and fun gifts for the kids. This year we opted to go all out for the kids instead of buying big gifts for us adults. We already have everything we need, and it's more fun to see the little ones playing with their new toys anyway. Christmas day we will go to my parents house to celebrate. Once again, delicious food and lots of spoiling for Lucas. He already got to peek at one of his gifts... a table and chair set just his size!

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends again this Christmas, and so happy to be able to share it with Lucas this time.

Thanksgiving Blessings

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful, and it made me remember everything I have to be thankful for. However, this year was unlike any Thanksgiving before.

As a kid I remember going to my grandma's house for thanksgiving, with my aunt, uncle, and cousins visiting from the bay area. We would watch "Home Alone" over and over again, walk to the park up the street to play, and enjoy a delicious meal. My favorite part was always the black olives.... I'd load them up on all ten fingers and eat them one at a time. My grandma always had an extra olive dish just for me.

The last few years as myself, my brother, and cousins grew older, we celebrated at my parents house with whoever was available to come. We transitioned to gluten free thanksgivings, as all other meals had become. We had fun with new recipes for stuffings and pies, and always had the delicious turkey and fun family time.

Then I married Ryan, and we started having 2 thanksgivings each year, one at each of our parents house. We spent half the day at one house eating a full turkey day meal, and then moved on to the next house to eat yet another full turkey day meal. We would leave stuffed, but happy to have had the time with our families.

Next came Lucas, and this year, a couple months before Thanksgiving I started thinking... I wanted Lucas to have a big Thanksgiving with everyone he loves. Just as I remember big happy family thanksgivings as a kid, I want to give him memories like that as well. So Ryan and I decided to join our families for a big Thanksgiving! Needless to say, it was a blast! We had so much fun with everyone together. Boys watching football, girls in the kitchen, kids playing in the living room with grandparents on their tails, music coming from down the hall once the instruments had been broken out, and most of all, lots of smiles, hugs, laughter, and good food.

I'm proud to say we pulled it off, with lots of help from our parents of course. I'm not embarrassed to admit I was freaking out about the

turkey (my first time cooking one) when my mom hadn't arrived when she said she would... Anyway, it was a wonderful experience, and I hope we can do it again in the future.

Here are some fun pictures...

The Jaeger family... (clockwise from the left) Ryan, Bill, Alan, Kylan, Kelly (and Alek), Patti, Sylvia, Me, and Lucas

The Malmin/Weber family... (clockwise from top left)... Ryan, Dave, Andy, Kevin, Brian, Jenny, Elle, Judith, Barbara with Lucas, Suzanne, Matt, and Sam lower center.