Resolutions? Nah!

By now we all know that the majority of people who make resolutions break them before the end of January. You know how the gym is packed for a few days after January 1st? By the end of the month there is no one there. Everyone's already given up on their resolutions.   So rather than resoltions, I'm going to make some goals for myself in 2013: things that I want to accomplish. I'll put them up here for everyone to see and then you can hold me accountable at the end of the year, k?   1. Continue to blog at least 2x a week. I'm surprised at how much I love blogging. It's an awesome creative outlet for me and it's a lot of fun. Added bonus: I'm documenting our lives!   2. Continue to hone my photography skills. I don't have any upcoming classes scheduled, but I'm going to continue to snap away and practice my editing in Photoshop.    3. Patience. I don't have a ton of it. I have enough. But I want more. This is something I'm always working on though, and 2013 will not be any different.   4. Make progress on my novel. There, I said it. I wrote a novel. I finished it in 2011 and I barely looked at it in 2012. I know it needs a complete overhaul in the editing department and finding the time to do that is not easy. But in 2013 I'm going to make progress. I don't want to make a grand statement like "I'll finish editing my novel in 2013," because that might not happen. I have some other big projects on the horizon and I may not get there 100%. But I'm definitely going to work on it!   5. Get this house organized! Now that the big project is done (the kitchen) it's time to tackle the smaller things, like our office -- aka the land of the misfit stuff. If it doesn't have a home, it ends up in our office. Same with the basement. Time to clean out & organize!   Last, but most certainly NOT least...   6. Continue to make my family my priority. Gia is only going to be little once and I cherish every moment with her. I love making the mundane fancy or special. I make a big deal out of things because, ya know what, life is a big deal. We only get to do this once and I want to do it the best and most fun way I can.     What are your goals for 2013?

Year in Review 2012

In Janurary Gia (18 months) played in the snow for the first time

  In February Gia painted for the first time. She made Valentines!  

 And then, we went to Jamaica for 5 days!

 

In March we went to Disney! 

Gia was afraid of the characters but we snuck a picture with Pluto without her knowing!

And then we went to The Villages to visit my Aunt & Uncle

 

We took Gia to a spray park...

 

...which she wasn't very happy about

She also had her first pony ride!

Later in the month she took her first big fall.

And she went to her first kids' birthday party!

In April we dyed Easter eggs.  

And the Easter bunny came to our house the day before Easter (because Daddy had to work on Easter)

 

Mommy made Easter bunny cupcakes and tried to dress Gia up like the bunny.

 We also went to the Bronx Zoo with our good friends Don & Steph and their daughter Adrianna.

And, Mommy met Vinny from Jersey Shore.

In May Gia played with play-doh for the first time.

And we celebrated Mother's Day and my birthday.

In June we had our first trip to the ER.
Gia's elbow popped out of the socket (nursemaid's elbow). She was a trooper though!

We also went strawberry and blueberry picking.

 

We had our first beach day of the season.

 And, we went to take a formal portrait with Yadi.

And, Gia wore her first nightgown AND developed a fear of bugs.
(In this picture she's looking for a spider on the ceiling in my mom's house. "Pa got the buggie down")

In July we went to the NJ State Fair and Gia rode another pony. She enjoyed this ride much more!

 

Gia also started swimming lessons. She loved her teacher Sarah.

And after a few weeks of rough nights, we switched Gia to a toddler bed. She LOVED it & went back to sleeping well.

Then we celebrated Gia's 2nd birthday with a Minnie Mouse party!

 

Scott, from Outragehisss Pets, came did an animal show, which Gia LOVED.

 She also loved when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.

On her actual birthday we had more cupcakes & more singing

And she fell asleep wearing her beloved crocs, with her sunglasses not too far away.

On July 31st we closed on our new house!

In August we went to Wildwood with my husband's whole family (someone had to take the pictures, so this one is missing all the wives)

Jon and Gia found her restaurant while we were there!

We had an awesome photo shoot at the Hereford Lighthouse in Anglesea.

 

And we got Gia a belated birthday present with some of her birthday gift cards.

 And, we went to the Land of Make Believe

In September we got Charlie, though sadly he wasn't long for this family.

In October Gia wrote all over her face with marker. She thought it was hilarious! (And it kinda was.)

We adopted "our new friend Abby".

We also continued our yearly tradition of apple picking.

 The infamous portrait arrived...
(Yadi thinks we look like we're stuffed.)

Gia used her easel for the first time as Hurricane Sandy raged on outside.

 

Then we lost power and were taken in by my family, who had power!

At least Gia got to wear her raincoat during Sandy!

In November we finished our kitchen

and hosted Thanksgiving.

In December we went to see the tree in Rockefeller Center.

And we mastered potty training.

And we had a magical first Christmas in our new house

2012 was a wonderful year for our family. Here's to more love, happiness and health in 2013! 

Happy New Year, dear readers!