Why, Hello There!

Hi!  I'm Niki.  You might remember me.  I blogged all about being a Mom.  I dished all the details of Millie opening her eyes for the first time, how she was doing each week, and her progress after the hospital.  I shared with you what a blessing it was to be her Mother, how cute her yoga poses were, and how devastating it can be when the power gets cut off and you lose an entire freezer of frozen milk.  I shared with you our excitement of her becoming a big sister, and even shared with you our handsome man, Louis.

Does any of this ring a bell?  Well, it's pretty obvious my weekly blogging days are  behind me.  I thought I was on the monthly blogging schedule, but now I see I can't even promise that.  I'll share with you a few reasons why I've been so bad at blogging, and maybe you can help.

First, let me catch you up on a few highlights of this winter:

We blessed Louis.  We did this in South Carolina while we were visiting for Thanksgiving.

Can't resist a baby in a bonnet.

 Since Millie has a Thanksgiving birthday, it's hard to resist throwing a small, family-only party.  That still amounts to 50 or so people!  We had a tea party and I think it was her best party yet.  I had very little to do with this one.  My hands were full of Louis so my family took the reigns.  I think it will be her last big party for a while.

We provided a few necessary dress up items,

served fancy food and tea (plus Lemonade),

and did our best to keep our pinky fingers up!

Over Thanksgiving we were able to visit Santa and introduce him to Louis:

We had a wonderful Christmas morning.  We only have so many hands, and the video camera won over the regular camera, so these are pretty much our only pictures.

Millie still didn't completely "get-it", but I feel confident she will next year.  She loved our elf, Jimmy, and adored all the Christmas decorations.  She still asks me about random decorations and concludes that they are all in the basement on her own now.

Our Christmas morning was slow (so wonderful!), warm, and full of Lalaloopsy, My Little Pony, and Minnie Mouse.  The rest of us had some fun things, too.

Louis loved his exersaucer from Buck's parents.  Santa didn't mind we put it out for him with his stocking.  Since this didn't get it's own post I should mention he rolls over now, is absolutely adorable, and just finished his first ear infection.  He's a sweet boy and we can't snuggle him enough.

Millie started dance class this week.  She's been asking me about going for weeks now, so on Monday morning she was completely dressed two hours before class started.  Her ballet shoes are completely broken in, too.

It was only 30 minutes long, and doesn't have a recital (bummer) but she doesn't know any different.  She truly thinks she's Angelina Ballerina, and so do I.  She's the most spirited in her class, and doesn't see the point in stopping for a plie when there is twirling to be done.

As promised, here are my reasons for not blogging:

1. I keep hearing about blogger saying to bloggers that they have reached their data limit.  I didn't get this message, but I can't be far from it.  What's the solution?  I haven't felt like I have time to figure it out, so I avoid blogging.
2. I was considering blogging earlier, but I was shook to the core by the horrific event that happened in Connecticut.  I wish I could share my thoughts and feelings on it, but I truly have to push them out of my head still or I'm consumed.
3. My house is still pretty undecorated.  I really should decorate in my free time.  Or shop for decorations.  Or maybe someone can come visit and take over the cooking, cleaning, and child watching while I decorate?
4. My church assignment (Cub Scout Committee Chair) is time consuming and stressful.  It's not always time consuming, but I always feel like if I have free time I should keep teaching myself how to run the program.  Currently I'm planning our Blue and Gold Banquet, Friends of Scouting drive, Rechartering, and the yearly program.  I know, you'd think I'd be an expert on all things scouting but having never worked with the boys and the actual nitty gritty of advancement makes even buying the awards for Pack Meeting a challenge.
5. I have yet to consistently make dinner  for my family.  I used to be great at menu planning, and am just starting to feel like my head isn't constantly spinning so I should probably use my free time to plan that out.
6. Should I blame my kids?  Maybe, but honestly I could blog while they sleep.  I love spending as much time having fun with them as possible, but keeping a record of family is pretty important too.  It's a toss up I guess.
7. This one is pretty big.  My MacBook is on it's last leg and can barely hold my pictures.  I don't have a smart phone, so I rely on a regular camera for pictures mostly.  That means I've got to load them, cross my fingers my computer cooperates, then blog.  We have a new computer, I just need to work out an internet issue there and I'll be back in business.

So that is it.  If blogger will let me, I will promise you at least one more post soon.  Millie got glasses (and they are adorable!), and to get her excited about wearing them we are throwing a glasses party later this week.  I promise to post pictures of at least her, but maybe more if I remember to take pictures.  I'm assigned to speak at church on Sunday so blogging will be a welcomed distraction.