"Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'..."

"........Into the future."

So, we celebrated New Years in true "new parents" style.  Bulleted outline as follows:

• 5:00 party time.

Maks was thrilled to have his very own glass. 

He drank from that flute like a champ!

Party horns?

Count Kira in!

Smiling nicely for Da-da!

• Self-timer family photos!  (And baby sound asleep by 6pm.) 

Wish this camera view was just a little bit lower!  

Gotta take what you can get with an 8 month old!  Who wants to sit around and smile at a blinking light???

Maks would much rather sneak a drink while we wait for the camera to take our picture!

• Quick dinner and celebratory beverage.  

Nothing says "Happy New Year" like homemade pizza, right?

And champagne...

...in a frosted beer glass.

(Served by this guy.)

• Wrote down goals and resolutions for 2013.

We have quite the list.  Some goals/resolutions are personal and some are for our family.  Some will be easy to carry out while others will be very challenging.  Here are just a few:

1. Monthly date nights.  (We are needing this SO SO SO badly.  As well as a babysitter.)
2. Stop biting my nails/cuticles (I think this has been on my list since I was a teenager.)  Time to invest in some regularly scheduled manicures.  As much as this sounds like a luxury to most girls, I honestly need to prep my fingers for at least 2 weeks just to prepare to go to the salon.  Bleeding fingers and bandaids be gone!  
3. Spend more one-on-one time with Kira.  Brushing her (my job) and walking her without a stroller in tow (Bryon's job) daily.
4. Commit to learning the ins and outs of my DSLR.
5. Weekly yoga class together.
6. Family bike rides on Sunday afternoons.
7. Visit the gun range once a week (our firearms have been in storage since we left TX).
8. Run 1/2 marathon.
9. Run 10K BAREFOOT (I've run a maximum of 8 miles barefoot, but Bryon hasn't.)
10. Dedicate a larger portion of earnings to our savings accounts.
11. Make a conscious effort to develop our very own family Holiday/seasonal traditions.
12. Plan an end of year family vacation.
13. Bryon's joining me with my regular visits to the chiropractor to maintain wellness and proper alignment/posture.
14. Learn to play an instrument (both of us).  I'm leaning towards picking up the piano again (haven't played since childhood) while Bryon is going to give the acoustic guitar (that I bought in TX) a go.
15. Read at least one new book every month.
16. Construct and abide by a family calendar to help organize our tasks and accomplish our goals. 
17. Disconnect/reconnect (see below).

Whew, add that to all of the other items that I didn't list...as well as a job change for Bryon (whether a new job with the military or a job outside of the Air Force), relocation to a new house/state, and keeping up with our busy body son - including celebrating his very first birthday...and we might not find any time to sleep!  Just kidding.  Sleep is probably the #1 priority on our list.  Seriously, we just had a baby less than a year ago; we're still playing catch up.  Y'all must think we're crazy or something!

• In bed before 9pm (Hey, at least we dressed up!)

A little bit more on #17.  I'm not giving up blogging, but I am planning to post a bit less frequently - at least for the time being.  One of my New Years resolutions is to avoid using my phone or computer until (at the very least) Maksim goes to bed for the night.  I'm focusing on devoting my time to him while he's awake.  And, now that he is sleeping through the night without nursing (until at least 5am), I'm catching up on sleep due to many months of accumulated deprivation.  Plus, I have about 50 other things on my to-do list.  Blogging will fall in line, just amongst a variety of other miscellaneous tasks...cooking, cleaning, loving on my pup, working out, spending some quality time with my spouse...you know how it goes.  It's all about balance.

My ultimate goal is to be parent who participates.  And, quite frankly, the satisfaction that my son expresses when he snags my cell phone or laptop just hits home too hard.  He's becoming quite skilled at the game of see-do, so I'm putting 100% of my efforts to setting a good example and being present/in the moment with my boy.  Technology will eventually play a large role in Maks' life, I'm certain (I'm not planning to ban it from our house - that would completely disadvantage my son.).  But what technology won't be is something that drives Maks' mama's attention away from him when he's just 8 months old.  So, for the time being, I'm loosening my ties to my the web and connecting more deeply with my family at home.

Happy New Year from the Kroger's (to-do item #5,826...officially change my last name)!