New Years Resolutions

I am going to be brave and post some of my new years resolutions. Maybe my family and friends or the few of you who read my blog can keep me accountable. I am a goal oriented person so setting goals or resolutions is important for me and really do help me make changes in my life whether big or small.

1. My huge resolution is to learn to be content with what I have. I just finished Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover and my small group at church is about to start a 13 week series on Financial Peace. My husband I have realized we are not in as good of a situation as we thought we were in. So this year will be a year to make some major changes. We are sticking with the all cash envelope system and there will be no room for extra spending. If we stick to our plan we hope to start building a new house in 2011!

2.) My personal goal is to do the 40 day Love Dare by Kendrick. I want to clarify that I am not doing this to save my marriage but I will admit that much selfishness has crept in and I am partly to blame. Lately, I have recognized the tendency to be more like business partners than a husband and wife. I need to learn to show more love and patience. I hope I can be committed to do it everyday for 40 days! I will let you all know how it goes. (good thing is my husband never reads my blog so he has no idea I am doing this)

3.) I plan to get back to my one year Bible. In the past five years I have probably read the entire Bible but never once have I read it in one year. Maybe this year will be the year!

4.) On a lighter note, I am going to try to be out of my pajamas by noon. Actually, I will start with being out of my pajamas by the time Chris gets home from work and once I can accomplish that then I will try to actually be dressed by lunch (even if I am not going anywhere).

5.) And lastly, I am going to try to get to bed earlier. It is way to easy for me to sit up late watching tv or playing on facebook and then I always regret it the next morning. Both Chris and I are going to try to be in bed by 10:30 each night.

-Tammi

Christmas in Dallas

This year we spent Christmas in Dallas. We went to the Christmas Eve service with my parents. My grandmother who is 88 years old few in from Idaho to spend a week with us. I am so proud of her for traveling, she is an amazing lady! We actually had all of the crouse kids together for one evening. We didn't have Raelynn but all the immediate family was here. It snowed on Christmas Eve! I know this post is long but I wanted to post some great pictures!

Christmas Eve, Cole's first experience with snow!

I am surprised he didn't try to eat it!

What an amazing family picture, we are all here and we are ALL looking at the camera!

The Young's

Heidi, Caitlyn and Zach

Cole is fascinated with the ornaments

Cole got a cozy couple for Christmas

It was a big hit with all the kids!

Cole's first remote control

What cute kids!

We actually bought all of the matching pajama's last year on the clearance rack!

I had such a great time in Dallas. I love being with my family and I especially loved the all day shopping trip with my mom, grandmother, sister and sister-in-law! What precious memories!

Christmas with the In-Laws

We celebrated Christmas with my In-laws on December 12th. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Cole loved taking the ornaments off the tree

...and eating them

All dressed up for church

Eric and Ashley

Jake and Jennifer

Austin and Travis opening presents

Raelynn loves snow globes

A new dress!

Raelynn helped Cole open his presents while he ate lunch

Of course, Christmas in Crockett must include shooting guns...

and sitting in the back of a pickup

they shot clay pigeons, even Raelynn shot some!

Cole and mommy watching the gun show

We had a great Christmas with all the family. It is never easy to travel with a one year old but it was worth it to be able to spend time with everyone.

Different kind of Mother

I have been realizing that I am very different when it comes to the way I act toward my child. I hear stories from other moms and I wonder what is wrong with me. I feel like I am an unemotional mother who doesn't love my child. Ok, I know that I do love Cole but I am not sure why I am not mushy, emotional and sentimental. Here are some examples of how I am different:

*I didn't have a huge birthday party for my child when he turned one year old. We bought a couple gifts, a cake and had lunch with the family. And I didn't cry or feel sad that he was turning one. In fact we never do much for birthdays, we prefer family dinners out and a few gifts. I never understood birthday's, the kid didn't do anything in order to be born it was mom who did all the work. I always thought if you want to celebrate something celebrate when your child makes good grades, does something kind or graduates from high school! I am also fairly stingy and if I start out with big birthday parties then I am afraid my children will expect even bigger each year. I want my children to learn to be grateful and thankful for their material possessions and what better way to do this than by giving only a few special gifts each year!

*So far my husband and I have cut Cole's hair twice and neither time did I get emotional or have any sentimental feelings about his hair. It is just hair and I guess I don't understand why the first haircut is any different than the other hundred he will receive in his lifetime.

*I feel bad when my child is sick but I always assume he will get better and don't worry about it. I figure I'll wait and if it gets worse I can take him to the doctor but most of the time it goes away. I just don't worry about these things but it doesn't mean I don't feel bad for him.

*I am the really mean mom that allows my child to cry in his bed and I don't go get him. I just don't see crying as anything bad just a way for him to express his dislike for bedtime. It is kind of like hearing my husband complain, I just tune him out but I still care.

*I didn't take pictures or cry when I dropped my child off at his first day of Mother's Day Out. I was just worried he wouldn't sleep and then I cried because I had to pick him up early!

So, I am not the normal sentimental mother who gets emotional over my child's milestones. I really love being a mom but I do not get overly involved in events. I tend to focus more on the big picture such as my child nutrition, emotional health, sleep patterns and his ability to grow up in a morally challenged and self-centered world. I am bad about holidays, birthdays, entertainment and general milestones. I am not sure why I am so complacent and unemotional and it may appear like I don't care but I do I guess I am just different!

Sacrifice

The past couple of weeks have been tough for me. I am realizing the extent of sacrificing for your family. I always knew there would be some sacrifices required when you become a parent but I didn't know it would be this hard. Lately, I have been feeling like everyone else's schedule and needs far exceed my own. My husband works a job which requires him to go to work early in the morning and work all day never knowing when he will be done. His job is stressful and many times he is at work until late in the evening. Of course there are times he surprises me and comes home before 2pm but these days are becoming more and more rare. When he is on call at the hospital he must be able to drop everything and get there within 20 minutes which means I must be with the children at all times so he is available to leave. So to say the least, I can't plan to do anything with out my child unless my husband is off work. There are days he is "suppose" to get off work early and sometimes I plan something but it never fails that he ends up working late that night.

Then there is my needy child who does not do well if I stray from his schedule. Most of the time I can't go to lunch with friends or out in the evening because he needs a nap or to go to bed. And another difficulty is we don't have any family in Lufkin to babysit and our babysitter is in high school which limits the times we use her. Right now I m blessed to have about four hours a week while he is at mother's day out to run errands, relax and work although I find myself upset that I don't get the normal six hours that I pay for. My child doesn't sleep at mother's day out so I pick him up early and bring him home for his nap.

So for the past couple of weeks I have realized the things I must sacrifice to care for my family; friends, social events, church, hobbies, shopping and any time alone.

I admit I have felt more like I have been robbed of my needs than a mother who chooses to sacrifice for her family. But after many tears I am learning that it takes sacrifice to be the Proverbs 31 women. Have you ever read all of Proverbs 31! Oh my, can a women of this nature really exist? I guess that is why is says she is worth more than rubies and a women this noble, who can find! I fully understand the sacrifice of a women who "gets up while it is still dark.. and her lamp does not go out" (Pvbs 31: 15 and 18). I will never say that it is easy and I will always hope for some time alone but when I have times like this instead of feeling sorry for myself I will try to remember to be thankful to be able serve my family in such a honorable way.

Oh and my sweet husband has given me the ENTIRE day off tomorrow to do whatever I want (within reason that it) and I think I am going shopping!

-Tammi

Traditions

I really want to start new and unique traditions in our family. I want the traditions to be something that brings our family together and teach important lessons. We have so many worldly traditions that have no real depth or significance like Black Friday, the Christmas tree, barbecuing on Labor Day, and so many more. I am struggling with combining these fun traditions with some that can bring our children more of understanding of truth.

The first tradition we decided to adopt this year is simple but I think will be important in teaching about prayer. We have a basket on our kitchen table that will hold all the Christmas cards we receive this year. Before each meal we will pick one family from the basket and pray for them. We also started a fun tradition of getting Christmas pajamas on the day we set up the Christmas tree. In the past couple of years we have given the pajamas on Christmas Eve but then the children don't get to wear the fun jammies before Christmas. So this year after we set up our tree we gave the kids one gift and they put on their matching pajamas. We decided to make that picture our Christmas card this year because it was cute and cheap!

Traditions have always been the way parents past down memories and stories of the past, it was a way they filled their children with a solid understanding of where they came from and what is truly important. I want to teach our children about the sacrifice, love and faithfulness of our savior through fun traditions! I am not sure where I can find more suggestions for Christian traditions throughout the year so if you have any suggestions let me know!

Here are the pictures we took after the kids opened their matching pajamas.

-Tammi