New Year, New Blog Post (At last!)

Once upon a time, I was pretty good at keeping up with this blog. Then one day I woke up, and our twins were toddlers and life got really crazy! I haven't written since their first birthday in September and I'm REALLY sad. Due to the crazy nature of raising two toddlers, I have a terrible case of "Mommy Brain", and I fear I've forgotten almost everything that has happened in the last few months because I didn't write it down. Going forward, my plan is to update at least monthly but I figured today, I'd do a quick look back of the last few months as well as a look forward to this next year.

After the girls' birthday, we got really busy getting ready for our trip to Disney World! We had an amazing time with Nathan's family there, and I plan to write a whole blog post about it. One paragraph would simply not do the awesomeness of the trip justice. For now, just know we loved it, the girls loved it, Grandma loved it, everyone loved it!

We had a magical time in Magic Kingdom

 Before we left on our trip, I decided to make our girls and their two cousins matching Minnie Mouse dresses. Little did I know, that would be the start of a brand new adventure for me! After posting a picture of the dresses on Facebook and receiving so many comments on how I should sell them on Etsy, I gathered all my courage and took the plunge! I opened an Etsy shop. I started with selling the Minnie Mouse dresses and was shocked when people bought them! I decided I was really going to give this a shot and see if I could turn it into a nice little side business. I used my profits to buy a serger and started making more items for my shop. In 6 weeks time, I sold nearly 200 pairs of leggings and 20 dresses! It was an amazing blessing for our family that we were so grateful for. The holiday rush was pretty crazy, so I'm hoping the shop will just bring a nice steady, manageable work load for me throughout the year. If anyone is interested in checking out the shop you can find it here. (And if you ever want to order anything contact me first so I can give you a promo code for a friend/family discount!)

These were two of the Christmas dresses I made and sold in my shop. One benefit of the shop is the girls get to keep all the model outfits!

 Nathan has been very busy as well. He makes a great sewing assistant! Bless that man; when I was swamped with orders, not only did he help me with cutting and ironing and such, but he also took over a lot of the household duties all while continuing to work full time at his job at the Walmart headquarters! On top of that, he has been studying for a group of tests for a special certification related to his job. AND, he has been working out which payed off when he passed a fitness test at our gym and earned us a free membership for this year! Can we just all agree that my husband is Superman?

The girls have a doctor's appointment later this week, so I'll be writing a whole update on them after I have current stats. They are walking (and running) everywhere and are so curious about their world. This is a really fun age and challenging one! Nate and I can hardly wait for March when the girls will be 18 months old and can go to nursery at church!!!! We seem to spend more and more time out in the hallway at church every week rather than in our meetings. Just a few more months......

They absolutely love going on walks but they prefer to ditch the stroller and walk on their own down the sidewalk now.

We had a great Christmas in Utah this year. The girls had a ball swimming, ice skating, playing with cousins, and being spoiled by Grandparents! They actually caught on a bit to opening presents this year so that was fun.The only thing we didn't like about our vacation was getting sick! The girls and I were sick and most of my family got sick as well. Somehow, Nate managed to stay healthy. My sister, Emily, also got married while we were there. She was a cute bride and I'm so glad we could be there for it. We were able to stay a full two weeks, hoping to wear out our welcome so it wouldn't be so sad when we left, but it still was sad! We already miss Grandma, Grandpa, Aunties, Uncles, and cousins.

Their Christmas jammies were a bit big, but it was kinda funny watching them walk around like little munchkins.

 

 

I can hardly stand the cuteness of this picture with all the cousins at the wedding

I made my dress and the girls' dresses. I have to say, I've come a LONG way with my sewing!

My parents recently got an exercise pool. We didn't exercise, but the girls sure loved swimming in it

I thought it was pretty cool we were allowed to bring the stroller on the ice. The girls seemed to enjoy it.

With it being a new year, I've been thinking a lot about improvement and figured this blog is as good a place as any to record my goals. First and foremost I want to be a better wife and mother. There are so many ways I can improve on that, but I'm going to narrow it down and say I want to be more present with them. I take care of the basic needs and everyone is happy enough, but I think I can do better at just being less distracted and enjoying the moment. Second, I want to take better care of myself. I used to be a health guru but just haven't made them time to exercise or eat right in a long time. And for me, it's not about losing weight, it's about feeling better. I have been sick so frequently this last year, and I know it's because I have developed terrible habits around sleep, exercise, and nutrition. I'd like to start doing some races again and Nate and I have been looking into some upcoming races around here that I plan to start training for. Finally, I want to improve on my housekeeping. Ugh! I really struggle to keep up and I know I will NEVER have a perfectly clean house especially with all the mayhem my girls cause, but I can improve. I'm thinking of making a chore chart or downloading a cleaning ap or something to keep me on track. What are your favorite ways to stay on top of your housework?

It's been a wonderful, busy year for our family. We have been challenged and blessed in so many unexpected ways. We didn't get around to sending out most of our Christmas cards this year, so this will have to suffice. We hope you all enjoyed your Christmas season with friends and family and we hope you are able to keep the Christmas spirit with you all year long!