Greetings of the New Year

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you! I hope you and yours had a wonderful Nativity and were able to meet the new year with hope and love. Today I plan to take down all the festive Christmas trimmings and decor. It's always just a little depressing to do so, no matter how cluttered it all is.

Our Christmas was lovely, filled with lots of family and friends. It was our second Nativity Liturgy in the Orthodox Church and it was beautiful. Last year was beautiful too, of course, but it was still very foreign to me. This year it felt like home, and it felt much shorter than last year's! Could it be I've gotten used to long services? It was nice to break the fast, although, I think we all felt like after the month or so of eating vegan, once we had some meat and cheesy delights, there was a brick in our stomachs. Ugh! But we slept it off and were able to enjoy all that wonderful Mexican food I wrote about in my last post!

We've been feasting ever since. Last night I told our friend Matt that I was actually looking forward for today's normal Wednesday fast so I had an excuse to eat healthy again, but he said today is still a feast! Oh geez! And you know I'm all over the cheese cake in my fridge. Do I sound like a Golden Girl?

So any New Years resolutions for you?

Here are mine:

1. Stop using water bottles. I bought some reusable ones that I haven't used much, because I tend to grab the throw-aways when I'm in a hurry. So my plan is each and every morning, when I make my coffee to fill up my bottle too so it's ready for the day.

2. Go walking at least 4 days a week. Except for when it rains. Fresh air does us all some good. I never stay consistent with this stuff. But I need to. Especially when I like to eat cheesecake and cookies so much.

3. Take better care of my skin. I'm seeing little crows feet and lines all over. They don't really bother me much now, but they will later. I need to find a good cream and slather some on every night before bed.

So that's it. I know they're pretty superficial things, but I didn't feel like getting to deep with them. They're just realistic little things I thought would be nice to work on this year.

Jason said this year he REALLY wants to go on a vacation. That's a big deal, because since we've been married we have never gone anywhere for more than a long weekend. So I hope we can do that. The time as a family would be precious. Our kids seem to be growing faster than we can keep up with. On the morning of New Years Day, the four of us were all snuggled in bed. Hannah had tip toed in at some point in the morning and James had awoken and smiled at his daddy and said Da Da. Then he looked at Hannah and said Nannah. He's been saying Mamamamama for almost a month now, so it was so sweet to hear him saying his other family names. He plays games like peek-a-boo and he even made up a game we call "Good night! Good morning!" He lowers his little head on the pilllow and pretends to go to sleep so we say "Goodnight James!" Then he opens his eyes and lifts up his head and grins and we say, "Gasp! Goodmorning! Did you sleep well?" Then he gives me another grin and does it all over again. It gets my heart a little mushy every time. It's so fun to have a little man around. He crawls around and looks for little crums on the ground to hide in his dimpled hands. He pulls up on his crib and chews on the bars. He scales the couch and then falls, cries for about three seconds and does it all over again.

Hannah is up to her usual stuff. She's been playing with the massive amounts of toys she got for Christmas. One of her most favorite gifts is a toy washing machine. She likes to take off one of her barbie's clothes and "wash" it. It spins around and my goodness, that thing is obnoxious. Of course she loves it. It has several noisy cycles so she has been warned to NEVER play with it during brother's nap times. She's pretty good about it too. She's a sweet big sister. And very undestanding. Now that James is mobile, he goes for everything she has. They've had a few squabbles but overall, she keeps her cool about it. So far.

Blessed Nativity to you! Christ is Born! Glorify Him!