The good and the new

2011 wasn't ALL bad...

I did complete 2 5Ks (though I am worried about New Year's Day - I woke up this morning with a majorly stuffy nose and sore throat :( )

My 5 year old daughter graduated from Preschool and started Kindergarten, she was in a dance recital, she learned to skate, she made amazing strides in swimming, she's loving gymnastics, she's decided that she loves to perform and sing, she's making a ton of new friends in school, she's learning to read and write, her imagination has really taken off, she's growing like a weed. I am so proud of her.

My almost 3 year old son has made leaps and bounds with his speech. He started the year with only a handful of words, now he is speaking 10-15 word sentences. He amazes me every day with what comes out of his mouth. We pulled the front off his crib so now he sleeps like a big boy. He's moved into the Preschool room at school. While he runs off like a typical 2 year old, he loves his gymnastics class. He is still my snuggle-bug mama's boy and I love it!

We didn't let Dan's unemployment get us down - we still took vacations to Sesame Place, Cape Cod and New Hampshire. We took advantage of all the snow and built snow forts and went tubing and sledding. We looked for frogs in the pond, we took pictures of the leaves and flowers growing and opening, we picked strawberries. We went swimming almost every day, we went to the beach, we watched a cool 4th of July parade, we rode rides at amusement parks. We picked apples and pumpkins and made colorful collages out of leaves, we raked and jumped into leaves. We made beautiful ornaments and decorations for Christms, we visited the Enchanted Village like I had as a child, we made it through Christmas without a stomach bug! We could have done more, but we DID have a good year.


And what is on the docket for 2012? It truely is the year of the unknown. I am not making any resolutions, no goals to obtain. I just want to live better and that means:

Eating healthier, cleaner, and most importantly less
Move more - running, biking, swimming (no, I am not training for a triathalon!), lifiting weights, walking, hiking, ?back to rock climbing, moving more as a family
Be more patient with my kids and my husband (he and I both need to work on this)
Be more wise with our money

We'd love to move into single family home (we are in a large townhouse right now)  - if it doesn't work out this year, then it will be in 2013

Obviously for my husband, his #1 priority is finding a job

As for the kids, there would be things that would be nice:

For my daughter I would love it if she is out of pull-ups at night, that she try riding her bike without training wheels, that she continues her love of reading and writing, that she officially learns to swim

For my son I would love it if he is potty trained during the day, that he gets rid of the binkie, that we finally can figure out if he is left handed or right handed, that the Terrible Three's don't end up being that bad

As a family I hope that we can make it back to Storyland, to make it Florida, that we grow closer as we grow older, that we have as many and more great experiences as we did last year.

And the most important, I hope that all of us and our parents continue to have their health.

Here is to the great unknown of 2012! Happy New Year!