she thinks the raindrops on her window are sparkles

This little girl is pretty darn three these days. I was so worried about the "terrible twos" I didn't stop to ponder the impact of living with an independent three year old. Those twos... they're looking pretty easy from here. All this selective hearing and "I don't want to" responses, and being cool as a cucumber no matter what I threaten to do or take away gets me heated fast. Goodness gracious she can push my buttons. 

But then I remember that each time we're in the car on a rainy day, she asks for "sparkles on her window". I think about how she's growing each day, asking to practice her letters and always eager to do something creative. She'll dance for hours listening to our Disney Pandora station and sit with me as I read her endless books. I smile to think she started primary on Sunday and laugh that multiple people told me how cute she was as she repeatedly tried to go to the front of the room and "have her turn". It warms my heart to hear someone say she's my little twin. I love to watch her grow in her role as big sister and I know she'll always have her daddy's heart.

She thinks the raindrops on her window are sparkles... and I'm so grateful she's mine.

baltimore newborn photographer - baby gideon

Always such a treat to meet a brand spankin' new baby still in the hospital. Little baby Gideon was no exception. What a handsome boy! And such a great name. Annnnnd.... he looks just like his big brother! Who is also just as handsome as can be (seen here). Congratulations Baron Family!!! He's perfect.

on goals and resolutions: january

So basically I've been working on this blog post for a week now, and I'm just struggling. Bare with me. Hopefully February's edition will come together a little better :) We'll just use the "winter break" excuse for January....

For the past few months I've been jotting down areas I'd like to make little changes and improvements in anticipation of the new year. I realize you can make a goal any time during the year, but I enjoy getting a running start with the new year. 

This year I've been putting my focus on manageable goals and what efforts I'm going to make to actually become better. All too often my goals for the new year are "exercise every day" "read a bunch of books". Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of reading or exercise, even if I know they are important. So I've gotten a little creative with how to integrate those things better to my life among other goals.

My other fault in years past has been writing up about twenty goals and trying to accomplish them all in January, I crash and burn quickly when overwhelmed, so I'm making monthly goals to simplify.

For January I wanted to work on reading. Originally I had the grand ambition of reading one book a month for the entire year. I realize that doesn't sound like a lot to many of you, but for me that was a pretty lofty aspiration. And while I do plan to read some books this year, my free spirit would probably rebel and not read anything this year if I chained myself to a goal like that. 

One form of reading I do enjoy is reading with my kids, and I've felt like Madeline could benefit from us taking it up a notch. So together we've set a goal to read 10 books a day. And also to work on one letter of the alphabet per week. She's shown a big interest in letters and reading lately so we're going to gently run with it.

In addition I've found a scripture verse that goes along with the theme for each month's goal. I've printed out a couple copies of the above scripture and have them in a couple spots in my house.

One other thing to note, I've made a rough outline for each month in 2015, but it's open to changes and tweaks, as long as they happen BEFORE that month ;) I don't know where I'll be at in October. Who knows what I'll want to be focussing on.

So far it's been great! Madeline has absolutely loved the extra one on one time we've spent reading the past few days, and I'll admit it's been good for me to know I need to work "reading time" into our daily schedule. Previously it was one of those items that repeatedly seemed to get bumped.

On a separate note, it should be noted that Jeremy goes back to school tomorrow and I can't decide if I'm excited for some routine or if I'm dreading it. This has been such a great break. I had a couple big ugly cries wishing we had family close. People to bake and play games with. But it was good to step back and enjoy time with the three people I love most.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Year!