Resolutions and Other Exciting Things {Not Really}

It's the 8th day of January and I realized I never formally wrote up my New Years Resolutions!  Maybe if I actually WRITE (ahem, blog) them I'll keep them this year?!  Haha, we will see!

I know some people have issues with resolutions and what not, and I can see their point: why wait to the new year to "start" something?!  Just start it now!  I get what they're saying...but I also like the newness of a new year and "new start" to something, regardless of how stereotypical it is.  So!  This year I have a few very practical resolutions for myself...

1. Cook more.  This is something that is going to really push me, because it is soooooo easy to wave my white flag, say I'm tired or Mike's not home or whatever excuse I can muster, and make a frozen pizza (aka not cooking), or go through a drive-thru and pick something up.  As our kids are getting older and eating more, I want them to remember that their mama cooked food for them and didn't just order out or heat up a pizza.  I'm not a bad cook (I don't think, at least!), I just have always preferred baking!  But I'm really committing myself to try more recipes and cook more this year...and I'm using social media and the blog here to hold myself accountable!  How, you might ask?!  Well, two ways:

• Whenever I cook a new recipe, I'm going to try my darndest to snap pics in the cooking process and blog it so I have a digital recipe book for the things I've cooked anddddd that I can easily pass along the recipe to others if they want to try it.
  
• I created a new Facebook page creatively called Save These Recipes Alex...where I literally share the recipes I find on various Facebook pages that I think I'd like and would like to cook.  This is easier than Pinterest for me (cause I'm on Facebook more, it seems...and Facebook has videos of the dishes instead of just pics) and it also doesn't clog my personal feed with a ton of recipes that I have to go back and look for--this page will JUST be for recipes and easily searchable for me when I want to go back and find a recipe to cook!

2. Read more.  I am a self-proclaimed book worm.  I do LOVE to read.  However, lately, I haven't loved it as much because of a few things: 1. life 2. kids 3. reality tv 4. tired 5. busy, and I'm sure a zillion more excuses I can find.  However, as busy as I am, I really want to get reading and books back into my life!  Because whenever I start a really good book, it's all I can think about and I get excited about reading it whenever I can!  I have a digital book reader dedicated SOLELY to book reading, and I have already started one book that I am excited about reading each and every night until I finish it (currently reading: Left for Dead).  My biggest problem though is I'll read a book, love it so much, and then have a near impossible time trying to find another equally as good book to start reading...so instead my "book searching" becomes internet browsing and then I never end up starting another book, yada yada yada.  So!  If you have a book recommendation for me, LET ME KNOW!  Here's a little list of the books I like to read for pleasure:

• Non-fiction mountaineering books...Into Thin Air is my all-time favorite!  I love the real-life adventure books about pushing your body to to the limit
• Anything by Dan Brown (he's my favorite author)--as soon as a new book of his comes out, I leap on it and read it!
• Jodi Picoult is another favorite...I've read several of her books and they were all really good!  However I read all of them pre-kids, so not sure how I'd like some of them now that I'm a mom...
• Historical WWII fiction and WWII non-fiction narratives
• Popular teen fiction (I really enjoyed the Twilight and Divergent series!)
• Stories centering around a woman protagonist in the Middle East...I really enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns and Prisoner of Tehran 

Whew!  Okay, those are my two big resolutions!  And I hope they become not just resolutions for 2016, but lifestyles changes...cause who doesn't want more reading and cooking in their lives?!!  I sure do!

Anyways, not much else has really been going on since 2016 started...I officially go back to school on Monday after 3+ weeks off (that have been oh-so-lovely) and then we get back into the daily work grind and routine.  Next weekend I am oh-so-excited about this girls weekend 8 of my girlfriends and I are going on!  I literally can.not.wait.  This is something all of us desperately are needing to get away for a wittle bit from real life and just hang out, eat, drink, and giggle with our closest buddies!  EEKKKK!  I'm sure I'll have a blog post alllll about that, don't you worry :)

So!  What's been happenin' with the Mooney clan since the new year started?!  Well, let's see...Rosie turned 9 months old, I wrote up a fun little 20 random things about me blog post, Mike and I had the best dinner ever, and I started my 366 day project!  Whew!  But here's a few other things that have been a'happenin' (aka let me photo dump some pics).

Patrick sat up from a dead sleep the other night and stared hardcore at the camera with the creepiest look before slowly laying back down and going back to sleep.  It was beyond creepy...I'm shuddering just thinking about it!  I really hope it never happens again!

Patrick's new obsession (among the many he's got) is taking Scooter out front to wizz all by himself.  I followed him the other day (cause he's never truly "by himself", calm down CPS wannabes!) and snapped some cute pics of him and Scoots.  Their bond is just the cutest!

Speaking of bond, Ro and Scoots have a great one too (she may be Scooter's current front-runner favorite human).  I love this Wednesday "yawn" pic I snapped the other day (and also used it for one of my #Mooneyblackandwhite366 pics!).

I got some new (favorite brand!) Keen shoes and I love them oh-so-much.  They are so comfy and I love how they are slip ons (cause I have claustrophobic feet)...and I gave a fair-warning on IG that if you don't like them, you are dead to me.  

Just some adorable family pics...the bottom one of all of us looking up is my fave!  Thanks mom for a great snap!!

Potty training is going no where fast with Patrick...and that's okay.  I mean, he can take his sweet little time, but if I see something (aka a Paw Patrol potty seat or "new special diapers" (aka Applecheeks learning pants) that I *think* might incentivize him, I get it.  Doesn't hurt to be prepared, right?!  

Note: he starts preschool in August and HAS TO BE potty trained.  So!  If he's still not come this summer, then I'll crack down and push it.  Until then, he can just go with the flow and do it at his own pace.

We went to our fave Mexican place, Fuzzy Taco, earlier in the week for dinner and both kiddos thoroughly enjoyed their Mexican fiesta dinner.  

Rosie was decked out in her June and January garb the other day and was looking oh-so-adorable in her new duds!  I absolutely LOVE J & J's clothing line and have a wittle addiction with buying alllll of their adorable baby items for Ro!  I can't help it, it's just too cute!

I'll wrap up this all over the place post with a cute black and white snap of my burritos in the bath tub the other night.  They are quickly becoming best friends and it is the cutest thing ever.  Patrick always has to know where his Ro Ro is and she adores her big brother more than anything.

Have a great weekend friends!