New Year's Resolutions

I don't normally make new year's resolutions, mainly because I'm pretty skeptical that I'll follow through...and who wants that disappointment?:) This year, though, I've decided to try it. I'm going to keep my list short in the hopes that I won't feel overwhelmed, and I might actually be able to accomplish what I set out to accomplish! I'm putting it out there for all (2:)) of you to see. Feel free to check in with me in 2009 to see how I'm holding up!

1. Many people think we're a healthy family. Maybe it's the chiropractic school thing, maybe it's the green/"crunchiness" in us...I don't know. Let me tell you, though, we most certainly do not eat as healthy as we should! We don't give our kids a lot of cake, candy, and ice cream, but I definitely feed them plenty of "empty" meals and snacks. So...resolution #1: Eat healthier. I've already been practicing for this one. Justus is pretty good about trying things when we make him, but Titus is sooo picky. My answer to this? Hide things in his food. I want to at least always offer them a fruit and/or vegetable at meals/snacktimes, so they just might decide to try it on their own (and, *gasp* actually like it.) I KNOW this will more often than not NOT happen, so I want to get better about serving them things that taste good that have nutritional value...i.e., things they actually will enjoy eating! Justus and Titus will both eat just about anything I put in a smoothie, so I want to add more vegetables (and a bigger variety of fruit) to those. I want to try new recipes and add healthy things to our pizza sauce, breads, etc. Here's where I'm keeping this simple, though...all I want to do is ADD some of these things to what we're doing now. I'm not going to change much of our habits now, but hopefully, in the long run, those will change as well.

2. 2 of my aunts called me the other day, and one of my brothers, to wish me a Merry Christmas. For one reason or another, I couldn't answer at the time, so I got their messages later that day. I listened to the message, deleted them, and jotted a note down in my head to call them back later. Well, so far I have only called one aunt back and just got lucky to talk to my brother when I called my mom...just because he happened to be with her at the time. Aside from that, my Grandma calls me all the time, and I never remember to call her. My problem? Usually, I just forget about the messages people left because I delete them once I hear them. Therefore, I forget to call them back! Now for resolution #2: Keep in touch better with extended family! I simply just don't think about calling some of my family...I never talk to my mother-in-law on the phone (Derek calls her every Sunday, so I guess I just feel like he's keeping in touch with her for US...bad excuse.) Also, Justus is starting to understand who everyone is and knows he can talk to people on the phone, so it's up to me to give him those opportunities. I'm not making any set-in-stone type of promises or vows, but I'm just resolving to TRY HARDER:)

3. I want to keep my house cleaner, I want to eat out less so we don't throw so much money away, I want to have more date nights with my husband, etc. etc. etc. BUT I know those would be crazy new year's resolutions to make right now. We have 3 small kids (1 of which is a newborn, 2 of which are in diapers), Derek is going to be crazy busy this trimester (working in the clinic, taking tons of tests, coming home later, etc.), AND I don't want to push my sanity any farther from me than it is going to be already!:) Resolution #3?...Have fun with my family making memories that we will never, ever forget. Things are going to be extra tough in 2009, and I know that we will probably (more often than not) NOT have a clean house, ALWAYS feel like our life is unorganized and stressful, and NEVER feel like we have time to do all the things we want to do. Hence my resolution to just have fun. I'm going to try very hard to keep my priorities straight. Derek just wants me to be happy and stress-free, my kids just want me to be available and have fun with them, and I don't want to forget these few fun years of raising my kids and taking care of my family:)

Happy 2009 to all of you. Toast a glass for me tonight. I'll be lucky if I'm still awake when the ball drops:)