35 Things 2012: A year in review

Well, in case you hadn't realized, I didn't finish my list last year.

There were eight things left unfinished. EIGHT. I don't think I'm going to go into much detail, because...well, I'm pretty discouraged about it. Break out the violins, people.

I do want to say though, that while I didn't finish eight (EIGHT!) of the things on my list, reading 32 books was something I did finish! And I'm proud, because the second to last book I tackled was an 800 page whopper. (And I really enjoyed it, by the way. The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan). Also, it should be noted that the last book I read was quite possibly my favorite of the year. Definitely top 5. That one is Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. Totally recommend that one.

Anyway, the last few discouraging days of the year, when it became painfully obvious that I was not going to finish all the things on my list, I did some serious thinking about this whole "35 things" business. I love that it's helped me really stick to New Year's Resolutions, and that I always, always have something to work on because of it. I love that it allows me to choose small, manageable tasks that will help shape me into the person I want to be.

Sure, there are some drawbacks to my method of making "resolutions," and it certainly isn't for everyone, but after a lot of thinking about it, I've decided that it still is for me, at least for now. I've got a new list for this year and am already excited about my new goals. I'm trying out a few more "general" resolutions as well, just to see how it goes. Maybe I'll talk about those at some point. But I still have my to-do list for the year and am planning on sticking to it.

That being said, I feel like my blog has become a little overrun by my 35 things, and I don't really want that. So I'm planning on starting another blog to track my 35 things progress. Maybe that will allow me to be a little more creative with what I post on this blog, you know? That's the theory, anyway. If you're wondering something along the lines of "Um, Katie, you don't keep up with this blog....so how are you going to keep up with TWO blogs?" well then, I would say to you...

...you have a very valid point. Let's just see how it goes, shall we?

Happy New Year!

The Best Part

The whole rest of the day could have sucked (p.s. it didn't), and it would have been okay because this happened:

Hope you had the same reaction to some of your presents.

Also, I hope you had the great, family-filled, food-filled, joy-filled, love-filled day that we had. Gosh, I love Christmas.

35 Things: November Update

I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking, "How dare you show your face around here?! You don't come by for almost an entire MONTH and then you just show up like nothing's wrong? Like everything's normal?! You disgust me."

{I am hanging my head in shame.}

If it makes you feel any better, my November update on my goals is going to be pathetical.

(Side note: When Blogger didn't give me the dreaded that's-not-a-word underline for "pathetical," I googled it. That word actually exists! Who knew? I thought I was being all clever. Side note over.)

Basically, November's update goes like this: I cleaned my clutter desk (twice). I read the Ensign. I didn't blog enough. And I read 2 books:

Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo. A very sweet story about a little's boys near-death experience. 4 stars.

Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood, by Jim Fay. This book talked about a lot of really good parenting practices, some that I had heard before and some that were new to me. Unfortunately, the good content was organized and written poorly. I feel like I need to go through this book again and take notes so it all makes sense to me. 3.5 stars.

So obviously, it's now December. Obviously, I'm gonna have to get my tushy in gear to get some of these goals done. I also have to start thinking about my goals for 2013! Crazy, man. I think I need to make some format changes for my "35 Things" next year. The book The Happiness Project, which I read last month, inspires me to be a little more "resolution-y." I still have some figuring out to do there. But I highly recommend that book to you when you start thinking about the things you'd like to accomplish next year!

So, have you forgiven me? Can we be friends again?

A post with a lot of pictures

I am not super awesome at posting pictures...normally.

But today is not a normal day.

Today is....iPhone photo dump day! (And the crowd goes wild!)

So here are a few tidbits from our life lately:

{My sister's new baby girl, Hadley Jo}

{My girls and me with Hadley}

{My other sister's baby, Zachary Adam. These babies were 26 hours apart and both weighed 7 lbs 5 oz! Also, my sisters are rockstars at the baby having stuff.}

{Dallin brought this home for me one night, because he's da bomb dot com}

{Maddy showing off her cute boots}

{Charly loves the iPad. Also, I straightened her hair one day. It was curly again after naptime.}

{One time I was doing laundry and went to change the clothes from the washer to the dryer only to discover that I had never put the clothes in the washer. I then took a picture of the empty washer...for some reason.}

 {Maddy got to go on a special date with Daddy a few days before her birthday.}

{Maddy turned 3! We had a movie-themed party, complete with a red carpet, popcorn boxes, theater candy, and this Grauman's Chinese Theater handprint cake which didn't quite turn out super well but whatever!}

{Enjoying a couple new presents at once -- the drum and the dress up high heels}

{One of my very bestest friends got married! Please ignore my hunchbacked appearance in this photo. PLEASE}

So, there you go. Proof that I do document my life every now and then. I would post more pictures on here more often, but I feel like Blogger does everything in its power to stop me. Why am I still using Blogger? I need to get on WordPress. If only I knew someone that knew how to use it...*

*This is a joke. My husband knows WordPress inside and out. Unfortunately, every time I try to figure it out, I end up wanting to rip my hair out. 

35 Things: October Update

Because the 6th is still the beginning of the month, right?

This month, I stayed on top of my monthly goals (snaps for me!), and I also did:

3. Learn 10 new hymns on the piano. I was called as the Relief Society pianist a little while ago, so this one kind of took care of itself. I don't learn them all perfectly (as anyone in our Relief Society can tell you), but I do aight.

4. Have one month when I go to the temple weekly. Hooray! I finally did it. This helped me decide that the temple is an awesome way to start the day. I need to do it more often. Maybe next year I'll try to go to the temple twice every month, or something. We'll see.

28. Organize family folder. I have a binder that holds all our important certificates, cards, documents, etc. It was getting a little too full because I had started putting sentimental type things in there, too. So I cleared out things and made sure things were all up to date, and now it's done! Yay!

30. Read 32 books. I read 2 this month:

The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling. Ugh, I was so disappointed in this. Can that be all I say about it? 2 stars.

Mortality by Christopher Hitchens. This was interesting. It's written by a man after he learns that he has cancer. He talks about how other people treat him, how he handles it, etc. It was very well written, but I still found it hard to really enjoy it. Maybe it was just too morbid? 3 stars.


And that's it for now, folks.

Happy Halloween!

Okay, so I'll admit that Halloween isn't my most favoritest holiday.

{The recipe for Halloween always seems to become: time+energy+$$$=a lot of candy you don't like. That just doesn't add up in my book.}

But to give myself credit, I do try to get into the spirit of the holiday, to a certain extent.

We went to a neighborhood "trunk-or-treat" last weekend, a nearby Fall Festival on Monday, and for tonight (Halloween) I made some witches' fingers and we all went trick-or-treating in our costumes that I made.

So while I may naturally be something of a hater, I do have to admit that Halloween has it upsides - the biggest of which is hearing Maddy say "Happy Halloween!" after getting her candy at each house we went to...even if there was only a chair with a bowl of candy on it outside the door.

Wits' end

If you were to ask me about my Maddy's strengths, one thing I would definitely say is that she is flexible. Personality-wise, anyway. She very much takes things "in stride." Getting her off a bottle at a year and a binky at 18 months? No problem. Transitioning from crib to toddler bed not much later? Smooth. She can stay awake (and happy) while we're out late at a party. She can be patient about eating. I can probably count on one hand the times she's shown stranger anxiety. She can entertain herself. She doesn't rely on a schedule (which is nice, because I'm really not a schedule person).

However, similar to those drugs that will cure your insomnia or acid reflux if you're willing to put up with a headache, nausea, chills, dizziness, fatigue, and possible death, Maddy's flexibility often comes with the side effect of inconsistency, most notably in the sleep department.

Inconsistency with when and how she falls asleep has led to inconsistency in her actual sleeping - meaning frequent up-in-the-middle-of-the-night nights with Maddy.

Some nights are worse than others. Sometimes I can console her by just sitting in her room with her for a few minutes. Other times, I have to lay down with her and I end up falling asleep there myself (and consequently waking up with a stiff neck). And in the worse cases, she ends up in Mommy and Daddy's bed. (I know. I KNOW.) And thankfully, it's not something we have to deal with every night, but it's often enough to be a problem.

Now, I've done research on this topic. I know we're supposed to have a bedtime routine (and we do). I know I'm not ever ever supposed to sit or lay on her bed to help her fall asleep (trying to abide by this has led to a lot of time spent on the floor in her room, which makes the stiff neck situation worse). I know if she gets up in the middle of the night, I'm supposed to just put her back in bed matter-of-factly, without really saying anything about it to her, and leave the room.

Now, I have nothing against letting her "cry it out" (a technique I fully support after a certain age), but well, I have something against her "crying it out" waking up her little sister, who is a super consistent sleeper but does not handle being woken up very well at all. I also have something against coherent thinking between the hours of 1 and 5 AM, which is when most of these instances occur. When she wakes me up, I'm not thinking about strategy or good parenting or what-the-heck-ever, I'm just thinking about getting back to sleep.

So basically, what I have to say is... HELP. Any advice? Tips? Tricks? Offers to let Maddy sleep at your house for the rest of her toddler years? Any and all of the above would be appreciated.