New Years

It's January 2nd, and I just cannot believe it!


New Year's is a little different at our house because of Oliver's birthday. Can anyone believe that he is five already?!?

Here he is, about nine months old. (In California)

My big boy seems all grown up. On the one hand, I'm having trouble realizing that I've only had him in my life for five years (my, how the time flies!) but on the other hand, if you look at him, he seems so mature and old, I catch myself thinking, "wait, he's ONLY five?" It's a weird mix of emotions, to be sure. Part of him turning five meant finally taking him off his sippie cups. He's far too old for them, and I thought we'd have a big fight about it since the few times I brought it up in the days leading to his birthday, he was NOT a fan of the idea. So far, though, things are going pretty well; he's been just using a cup, and knows that he should keep it in the kitchen/dining room, and that he can't take anything to bed. Thank you Lord that it's going smoothly!

Oliver at six days old. Dressed up to go to church.

We're waiting to do his birthday party until Phil's mom and sister come into town in about a week and a half, so we haven't really celebrated him yet. I offered him dessert and ice cream last night saying we could put a candle in it and he could blow it out since it was his birthday, but he didn't want anything to do with that. What kid passes up dessert? We did play Candy Land with him and the other boys, and let him pick some of the day's activities yesterday and he got to go play at the neighbour's house for a little bit in the evening. I'm excited to do his birthday party though; I've had a few ideas for the last couple of months that I've been dying to do :)

Oliver at about six month old with Mr.Lion.

Things about my five year old:

He loves the colour red, trains, every thing to do with trains, dinosaurs, trucks, anything to do with construction, Go Diego Go!, the Backyardigans, school.

He's the tallest in his class, but not the oldest. He doesn't like when people call his hair red; to him, red is like the colour of a fire truck, so he thinks his hair is brown, and has sternly told strangers so. He loves to sing and make up songs. He does not like when Oakley tries to sing with him. He used to be terrified of dogs, then we got Rocket and now he loves them. Oliver does not like drawing or colouring; most of the papers he brings home from school have minimal work done on them. He's shy, but also likes being the center of attention. He's a hard worker. He's an early bird (like, really, really early.) Oliver has one of the best laughs, and likes pranks and slap-stick comedy. His favourite food is bacon, followed probably by ham. He will eat most anything if there is ketchup or sprinkles on it. Oliver is very good with his hands. He is always very curious how things are put together and work. He has a really good memory. He says Grandma and Oakley are his best friends.
As for New Year "resolutions," I'm keeping it simple this year:


1.) Keep track of all my mileage for running. I think it'll be really motivating at the end of the year to say I ran 500 miles or whatever it ends up being. That way next year I can make a mileage goal that I know is realistic.


2.) Run my second Half Marathon, and beat my time from last year. It's the same course and this year I have an actual training plan and a large support group (Plus, I know a bunch of girls running too) so I feel this is very doable. 


3.) Stay better organized/neater. If you've known me for any length of time, you know I'm a very messy person. While I've improved  A LOT since I've been married and had my own house, I still have a long way to go. I've been doing pretty great/good/better lately, and a big part of that is that the kids haven't been dragging all of their toys in the living room from the play room since we moved furniture around. IT'S AWESOME! I've also been doing better at keeping our kitchen and my part of our room picked up and cleaned, so I'd like to keep that going.


4.) Elliot getting potty trained! Sigh. I'm not looking forward to it. I've already done two boys and a dog.... this one comes free, then, right?


5.) Strengthening current relationships and forging new ones. I am a sucky people person. I don't communicate well (apart from my like-minded, quirky friends) and I tend to end up pushing people away, I think. So I'd like to make sure I try to get out of my comfort zone and talk to new people.

6.) Finish sewing projects that I have started! This doesn't automatically apply to the hand-quilt I've been working on for six years. That one I have to be in the right mood/frame of mind to work on, but I have a good-ish sewing machine now, and I have a big quilt started that I'd like to finish. It was supposed to be for Autumn 2011, but Autumn 2012 will do.


7.) Get better at decorating cakes. I don't get much practice because the only cakes I give myself time to do are ones for clients, so this year, I'd like to take the time to make faux cakes (I have styrofoam rounds) or real ones to practice fondant, sculpting, and icing skills. I'd also like to practice making gumpaste flowers some more. Along the cake line, I would also like to start charging more for the cakes; not to rip people off, but just so I could maybe make some actual money and not lose money, which is usually what happens because I feel badly charging more than $40. NO MORE! It would be nice to make more money so I could buy more tools too.


Well, that feels like a fairly ambitious list. What are your goals for 2012?