Molly's 1 Year Old Pictures

Now that Molly is almost 13 months old...I decided I should probably take some "1 Year Old" pictures.

In my defense, she's been sick off and on pretty much since November.  But she was finally healthy enough today to give it a whirl.  I just can't believe how big she is getting!  Time just goes too fast.

LOVES being on the chair and standing up

Always happy

Just a little bit of mischief in her

Walking!  She takes quite a few steps, but then drops and crawls.

Climbing - this picture will most likely give Marty a heart attack

I just love her big blue eyes.  She gets a lot of comments about them.

So there you have it!  Our darling little baby girl...we sure are blessed.

Crazy Hair

Having 4 little girls, there are days where hair is the bain of my existence.  All the combing, elastics, hair spray, blow drying, curling, straightening, whining, fighting...it gets old.

So, without saying anything one morning while on Christmas break, I just started doing Claire's hair a little bit unusually.  Pretty soon, the giggling started and Brielle and Addison were begging for their own crazy hair.  Since we had nowhere to go either, it stayed like this all day...even when the cousins came over to play for a little while.  

Claire had also done makeup that day (she got a makeup kit for Christmas) in preparation for a circus she was planning to put on.  It just added a whole new element to the crazy hair.

Silly Addi Paddi

Not silly...but those eyes!  She pretty much gets away with murder just by looking at me with those eyes.
DARN YOU BROWN EYES!

Marty snuck in from underneath the stairs and grabbed Addison.  It was pretty darn funny...it looks like Addison has a giant hand.

Brielle had taken her crazy hair out so she could go run an errand with me.  But she also wanted in on the pictures...and also wanted in on Marty scaring her from under the stairs as well.

Claire being "scared".

I think it's funny that when one kid gets scared or Marty does something unexpected with them, the rest all say "My turn!" even though they already know exactly what is going to happen.

Molly doesn't have enough hair to do crazy...and she was down for a nap.  (She was STILL sick...croup, ear infection, pink eye...what HASN'T the poor baby had during Christmas break??  Oh that's right, the doctor did say, "Well, it's not pneumonia yet."  So comforting.)

Anyway...these girls sure make life fun.  

New Years Resolution/Goals

As the New Year has begun, it seems like a large amount of people have the same feelings about 2012 - it was a crappy year, and they welcome 2013 with open arms.

We would probably fit into that category as well:

-Failed attempts and being blocked when trying to house hunt/rent/buy/build

-Great job opportunities for Marty not panning out (he has a good job, just looking for better)

-Failed weight loss attempts

-Past financial mistakes continuing to follow us
-Watching Ben go in and out of the hospital multiple times

-Hoping Ben would beat cancer for a 5th time, and having to accept that it wasn't going to happen.

But you know what else?  We had GREAT moments in 2012 as well:

-Our little family all back together after time apart

-Paid off enormous amounts of debt 

-Improved relationships with many family members

-Kids thriving in school and friendships

-Quality time with Ben
-Successful service project benefiting Huntsman Cancer Institute

So, our theme for 2013 is
"Focusing On Our Happy Moments"
We are going to focus on all the good, happy things that happen, and not dwell on the things that didn't go as we had hoped.

I created an "Our Happy Moments" jar with the help of my talented cousin Whitney - who does vinyl, and we plan to fill this puppy up with happy things that happen throughout the year.  We will then open the jar on New Years Eve 2013 and revisit all the great times we have had.

You can see the little yellow paper...Brielle already had a happy moment on the first day of the year.  Good thing I got a GIANT jar.

This year will be a GREAT year, and we will be happy and look for the positive in all things.

Now, my traditional "resolutions" would be:

Get out of debt (we're SO close now!)
Buy our first house (which would undo goal #1, but totally worth it)

Lose 50 pounds (Or 5, or 10....the scale MUST go down)

Have weekly Family Home Evening 

Laugh more often

Here's to a wonderful 2013, full of happy times!