5 Minutes of Catch Up Time!

     I have been keeping quite busy lately. There has been a lot of fun things going on! The only way it could be better would be if the men in my house could figure out how to do the dishes and if it was summer! I miss the summer. I miss the heat, the warmth, the river... ::sighs:: I don't like to rush time because kids grow far too quickly but I really want summer back! The dishes... well... I have accepted that it will probably never happen.

Over the past two weeks we have done a lot of fun things and some exciting things have happened as well!

 Gabe and I saw Frozen again because we both love it and can't stop listening to the soundtrack! He loved the Captain America standee that they have at the theater. We played some Crazy 8s with Grandma, which Gabe won once and I won twice. Sophia ate her first baby finger foods. She was so darn proud of herself. She loves being a big girl. We also got a new fishy that Gabe named Emo!

Gabe and I went to see Disney Princesses and Heros on Ice!!! So cool! 

     We have all spent a lot of time with some of my friends. Ethan has come over a couple of times. Our friends Kim and Ashley came by for a visit. My dad, Pam, Alex and his daughter, Jane, came over to watch the Patriots game. We went to visit Jenn on Monday.

 

       Today we went to Nuthin' but Good Times (which is an indoor playground) with Nanny and her daughter Camila. We had such a great time. Gabe and Camila played. Sophia hung out with us while Nanny and I drank coffee and chatted. It was wonderful!

                                                                                                                             My life has pretty much revolved around the Patriots and the play off games. Not only am I sad that the Patriots season is over but I am very upset that football season in general is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. I love football and not having it to look forward to every Sunday is something that I am going to miss until fall. I even came in 2nd and 3rd in 2 of my 3 fantasy football leagues this year! 

Sophia Bush is my favorite actress. She has been since the beginning of the show One Tree Hill. And if you follow her on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook you would understand why! She is so down to earth and grateful and happy and giving and wonderful! To top all of that off she is also an incredible actress! Well this new show, Chicago PD, started 3 weeks ago and I can't get enough of it or her character! The show is a spin off of Chicago Fire which I also love! I love all the twists and turns of these shows and the collaborations they've been doing with each other and a soon to be SVU episode... it's wonderful! I have so much stuff waiting on my DVR for me to watch because I never seem to have the time for TV anymore but I make time for these shows each week! If you don't watch them already and like drama, action, comedy, wonderful characters and a great story line, watch them. I mean it. Do it! 

Now for a few funny things I have seen over the past couple of weeks that I enjoyed and wanted to share!

I hope everyone else is enjoying their time and got a good laugh out of these last few pictures the same way I did! Love love love! 

13 Things to Make Me a Better Me

     I found this, 12 Things Happy People Do Differently, while scanning Facebook and I thought to myself, I can do those things. I can definitely make my life better by using some key things to make me a better and happier person. The twelve things are listed below. I am going to add a thirteenth one that is just for me. (I do LOVE the number 13!) It isn't necessarily something that makes other people happy but it is something that is going to make me happier. As the months go on I will talk about each one individually, hopefully with some stories about how each thing is going. I am so happy that I found this and am really looking forward to tackling this list!

 1.  Express Gratitude
 2.  Cultivate Optimism
 3.  Avoid Over Thinking and Social Comparison
 4.  Practice Acts of Kindness
 5.  Nurture Social Relationships
 6.  Develop Strategies for Coping
 7.  Learn to Forgive
 8.  Increase Flow  (Focus) Experiences
 9.  Savor Life's Joys
10. Commit to your Goals
11. Practice Spirituality
12. Take Care of your Body
13. Find a balance
               I need to find a balance between family time, work time, friend time and me time. All of these things are important and I need to find a way to balance them all without losing any of it or becoming unhappy.

     Time to go start in on this list. Obviously, I am well aware that this will not be an overnight project. That's the exciting part! It's something I get to work on every single day! For right now, I have some gratitude I need to show. Have a happy day! 
     

A few words can change your whole world.

     Today was one of those days. The kind of day where you get out of bed and you're grumpy and groggy and achy and irritated and you know that your mood isn't going to improve throughout the day. You do your best to get through it and act like yourself but you're just not yourself. I hate those days. So I decided I needed a break. I spent the day in my pajamas and just relaxed with my kids, watched football and did a minimal (like that's even a real thing) amount of housework. Of course it was also the kind of day where the kids decided they were gonna be brats all day and their moods weren't good either. I guess they just take signals from how we're acting or portraying ourselves.
     Needless to say by the time it was bedtime for the kids I was at my breaking point. Every little thing was setting me off and I just needed to crawl into a hole and be alone. So I tucked Gabe into bed and crawled in with him to give him a hug and say good night. Then he said "Mommy, I wish we could hug forever."
     Let me tell you, a piece of my heart broke. I had been a grump all day and wanted alone time. Yet, with one little sentence my whole world changed. Some days it's really hard to get out of my own head and remember what it is that is most important in life. Overall, today was a great day spent with my family and I couldn't get out of my own head long enough to enjoy it! That is so frustrating!
     I can't say that it will never happen again. I would like to say that but I just don't believe that it would be true. I can say, however, that I will try harder! I can say that I learned a big lesson. I will remember that moment and try and enjoy the little things more often, everyday, no matter how deep in my own head I am. I can say that tomorrow will be a better day no matter how much I want to retreat. I can say that it's the little things in life that matter the most. I can say that one small sentence, that may seem so insignificant to a 5 year old, can change your whole attitude. I can say that just a few words can change your whole world.

Besides I like roller coasters.

I miss the warm/hot sun.
I miss the sand between my toes.
I miss my old co-workers... a lot.
I miss losing myself in a television show (my DVR is so full)
I miss sleeping in.
I miss lazy days in my pajamas.
I miss not having to bundle up.
I miss getting my nails done.
I miss my grandparents.

I don't like goodbyes.
I don't like starting over.
I don't like second guessing myself.
I don't like disappointing people.
I don't like when people are nice to your face and say different (not so nice) things behind your back.
I don't like sick kids, friends or men.

I love spending time with my kids.
I love seeing movies. (Frozen = AMAZING and American Hustle was fantastic with seriously great acting!)
I love dinners with my dad, Pam, my kids and their dog Zeke.
I love being lovingly attacked by dogs and growled at for my attention.
I love my kids laughs and smiles.
I love building new relationships.
I love getting into my big comfy bed, next to James, after a long hard day.
I love seat warmers in cars.
I love feeling appreciated.
I love coffee.
I love spending time with old friends.
I love football.
I love happily ever afters, especially with a twist.

    My life lately has been a whirlwind of emotions. It feels like a roller coaster ride going up, down and a million miles per hour. I wish things would calm back down and feel normal again but really, what is normal? I wanted a change. I needed a change. I needed to spice life up and now that life is throwing me in a million directions I'm feeling really insecure. I guess that's what happens when life is no longer a routine. When life is routine, it's pretty easy to feel comfortable and safe. When life isn't routine, it's probably normal to feel insecure and scared. I have been a control freak for as long as I can remember. All of this is probably good for me. In fact, now that I think about it, it's kind of part of my new year's resolution. Letting go. I need to let go of my control and just roll with the punches and enjoy every moment of life that I can. It's time to step back and release some tension. I need to release some insecurity and know that I am doing everything I can to do things the right way. Besides.... I like roller coasters...

Goodbye 2013....

     I have never felt so much emotion about the new year. Normally, it feels like just another day to me. This year I am so sad to see 2013 go. It came and went so fast. I feel like it happened in the blink of an eye. I may just have an emotional attachment due to the fact that it has the number 13 in it but it really was a fantastic year for me!
     2013 brought so many changes! A very close friend got married. I became very close with some old friends and made some new friends. I had a beautiful baby girl who made my little family even more perfect than it was before. My relationship with James became so much stronger. My brother moved away and came back. My mom moved in with us until she moves away in 2014. Gabe started school! I changed jobs. I bettered so many things about myself, my attitude, some health things and my general life.
     Almost every change has been a positive one. I made myself one big resolution last year and bunch of little ones. The big one was to take care of myself, do things that make me happy and better my life. I think it is super important to be happy in order for your kids and family to be happy. I am very excited to say, I have never felt so accomplished in completing a New Year's resolution before. I have definitely put myself out there and changed so many things in order to better my life and make myself happy. Obviously, there were some hard moments. I'm not even remotely suggesting that my life was all sunshine and rainbows. That is not even possible but  I do feel like the rough patches made the good things even better!
     I feel like I changed my attitude in a big way this year. I let myself be more positive instead of negative. I let myself enjoy the small moments more. I spent more time with my kids and just relished in it instead of stressing about what chore needed to be done. I wasn't perfect with these things, or with anything, but I did get a lot out of the amount that I did change. Maybe this year I can change even more and make it even better!
    I had a list of 15 small things that I wanted to do last year. I am proud to say that I accomplished 8 of them and 1/2 accomplished 3 others! I would like to continue to work on those things as well as start a new list of things. I want to improve my life even more in the years to come. I want to strive to be better in all the areas of my life. I want to work hard, have fun and just enjoy life. You would be surprised just how great it feels to actually resolve some new years resolutions! I want to keep doing that!
     This year I want to continue on with making myself happy and bettering my life. I would also like to add another big resolution to it. Let go. Let go of the things that are out of my control. Let go of the past and enjoy the future. Let go of grudges. Let go of worry and regret. Let go of meaningless petty things. Let go of stress. Let go of fear. Let go of people that bring my down. Let go of trying to be perfect. There is no such thing as perfect. Hold on. Hold on to my kids and my fiancé. Hold on tight to the people that are there for you. Hold on to hope. Hold on to dreams. Hold on to happy. Hold on to even the smallest moments. Hold on to life.
     Letting go is not going to be an easy task for me. I'm not usually the type of person who holds grudges or anything but I am a perfectionist. I am a worrier. And I do like to have control of everything! Letting go of those things is not going to be an easy task but I know that if I am less stressed it is going to help me accomplish my goal from 2013 even better than I did in 2013.
     So bring it on 2014! I'm ready to embrace everything that you throw at me! I'm ready to accomplish some goals and better my life even further than I already have!
     Challenge accepted 2014, challenge accepted!

     Besides... with these two cuties how is it even possible to be unhappy? Sophia is barely 8 months old and they play so well together already! It's such a wonderful feeling! (Don't worry guys, I'm not delusional, I KNOW they're going to fight like crazy and drive each other nuts when they get older. But for now, well I'm just gonna hold on to these moments!)