Goodbye 2014 ... Hello 2015

I suppose I'm a few days, maybe even a week, late for this blog. When I have a giveaway going on, I try not to blog often so that the giveaway gets the attention it deserves. But, it has been over for a little bit and I guess it's time for me to write.


I usually don't fall into the "resolution maker" category. I used to, but I don't any longer. I don't find myself upholding resolutions beyond the first few weeks of the year. Whether it's because I set the bar "too high" or I get bored, or something else, it's just a big ol' let down. So, I decided that I would no longer make resolutions for the year. If I decided I wanted to do something, I would do it whenever.


But, I do occasionally reflect on things that happened in the last year. And I think about how I can improve, or change, the situation so as not to have a repeat. Not necessarily a repeat in a new year, but a repeat in general. For example, I learned that I need to take better care of myself in regards to my health. I am now staying on top of that, and have my own hematologist to help me keep myself as healthy as my blood disorder allows me to be.


Another big area for improvement is AJ's well-being. As he gets older, each passing day, he gets worse and worse, and his temper gets shorter and shorter. Pretty soon, he's going be bigger than me, and much stronger. I will no longer be able to control the situation when it starts to get out of hand. I have been actively seeking a new therapist for him, and have done my research. I found one that lots of other families have recommended, for being both kind and serious about a child's mental health. That means a lot to me, seeing that our current therapist seems to not be any help at all. However, the road block I'm currently as is not getting a call back from that therapist. When I call her office, there is never anyone in the office. The machine instructs her patients to call her directly. I was desperate, so I left a message with our info, hoping for a call back. I never received one, so I will be working extra hard on somehow getting seen by her.


I've also been thinking about my blogging "career" ... for lack of better wording. There's so much more that I need to add to it, but I'm taking small steps. I took a few steps back as far as reviews go, because I felt I was doing too much in that area, and less in the area of family life. The problem with that is, I don't have much to report about ADHD, ODD, etc. Maybe if we were able to get the help that AJ needs, I'd have more to blog about in that aspect. I feel as if I were to blog at every event and interaction that we've had, it'd be a big old negative blog post about my son. And that is what I do not want. I love my son, as hard as he is to be around, he is still my son and I still want the best for him. And what I don't want is a blog about how horrible he has been behaving. So, I've managed to avoid that area by not blogging, period. But I miss it. I miss being able to come and vent about things. I miss having something to brag about when he does well.


I guess this is sort of a resolution list? Depending on how you want to look at it, I guess. I know what not to do, and I know what I need to work on. I'd like to make this a more active year for blogging, so I guess that's something I'm going to work on. I need to work on finding the correct therapist match for my son's mental health. I need to work on finding the flow for our family, to keep our sanity. Because slowly, I am losing it.


Pft, so much for NOT getting into the "New Year, New Me" hype. I know what needs to be done, and a bit of reflecting is just what I needed to make sure I understood. Now ... let's see how long into 2015 I keep up as diligently as I am thus far.

I hope you all had a great Holiday season!! Enjoy a few pics of the kiddos from Christmas

Checking out their stockings

Digging in! Gianna loved her Elsa doll!

He received a new Nerf gun. But yet he continued to play with the old one. At least he used his new ammo!!

Oh Christmas Tree ...

Friday afternoon, after paying bills and taking care of errands, we stopped at the mall to go get a picture with Santa. It took a few tries and different positions, but we finally got a picture that wasn't too bad! Sofia originally started off by standing on the side of Santa, but she was standing a bit awkwardly so as not to get too close. We ended up having her stand behind him and his chair. I have no idea what AJ was doing with his hands, but he does it often.

 Please excuse the flash spot. I couldn't take a picture of the picture without it showing up.

Later that night, Sofia and AJ went over to our cousin's house to spend the night. Well, Sofia did. AJ ended up coming home in the middle of the night. Saturday afternoon, we decided to go out to get our Christmas tree. This is our first year having a real tree, and I really wanted to take the kids out, and give my husband a bit of Holiday fun. He grew up only having artificial trees in NYC, so he's never had the fun and joy of hunting down the perfect tree, then cutting it down yourself. I grew up with the forest in my backyard. He grew up with apartments and stores in his backyard, drugs in the street. So, this was definitely a new experience for him.

We went to a tree farm about half an hour away (40 minutes if you miss the exit like I did. Oops.) and got the run down of how it works there. They provided the handsaw, and a sled so the kids could ride on that instead of walking in the snow. There were tons of different kinds of trees, different sizes, different shapes. We walked around, and around, and jumped between 346,672,891,450 different trees. Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch, but there were so many different trees! It was hard to settle on just one. We found the perfect one, but then I found one that was even more perfect, and another, and another! The kids decided the first tree was the best, so we went back and hubby cut it down for us.

Fun in the sled and snow while hunting for that perfect tree!

This is it! This is our tree!

After it was cut down, the people who own the tree farm baled it up and secured it to our car for free. While they were doing that, the kids and I went in the garage and enjoyed cookies and hot cocoa. The place we went to takes pictures of you with your tree then posts them on the wall the next year. So, when we return next year, we'll look for ours! Once we had our fill of cookies and warm drinks, we headed back to the car to leave. It was at that point that Anthony and I realized neither one of us paid. I ran back out, paid them (only $20 per tree, no matter how big!), and gave a tip for baling, securing, and us almost driving off. Oops!

We drove to Walmart after to get a tree stand, and some tinsel. When we got home, Hubs and I had the joy of setting it up in the stand. Turns out, the stand we bought was too big for the tree. Hubs took it back and ended up finding the one in the basement that the previous renters left behind. It fit perfectly. After a bit of string and a metal wire rack thingy drilled into the wall, we were able to secure it to make sure it stood perfectly. Then hubby put the lights on the tree. We didn't decorate until Sunday, however. After it was all done, I was able to snap a few pics of the kids with the tree.

I had to buy another garland because the one we had wasn't big enough! I'm still searching for our special ornaments, so once those are found and put up, then we will put the tinsel on.

I love our tree. The black and white ornaments give it a simple, yet beautiful look. The scent isn't as strong as I wanted it to be, but it smells amazing. The cat hasn't tried to climb in it (yet), but he does enjoy laying underneath it.

Do you celebrate Christmas? If not, what holiday do you celebrate? If so, do you have your tree up yet?






             **Don't forget to enter the giveaway HERE! Only 24 days left to get your entries in!**