New Years Resolutions

Is it cheesy that I love making New Year's resolutions?  Well, I do.   I like the idea of starting fresh and learning and growing. So here's my goals for the coming year and a review of last year.

A report from 2013:

1. Grow a container garden.  Check! I grew basil, cilantro, rosemary and strawberries and to my surprise they did fantastic!

2. Have a baby. Check! Ok, so this was kind of a cop out. I was already pregnant, so I figured I would give myself some slack and keep my goals realistic because I didn't think I'd get much done after the baby came :)

3.  Potty train a then 2 year old.  Check!

4.  Scrapbook every month.  Sorta check.  I did great.... until the baby came.

5.  Read a new book every month.  Sorta check.  I really enjoyed reading The Happiness Project, Zero Waste Home, and although I ended up not liking it, I also read Code Name Verity.

2014 Resolutions:

1. Get back to the gym.  Cliche, but don't judge.  I love working out, so this will actually probably be an easy one for me.  Mainly, I've been waiting for Lily to turn 6 months old so she can go to the child care there.  More specifically, I want to lift weights 3x/week and gain 5 lb. muscle.

2.  Practice the violin every day.  Ava has started the violin and really likes it, so I want to make sure she gets consistent practice.  I'd also like re-discover the violin for myself.   I would really like to start taking lessons again myself this year. The picture above is Ava doing her violin practice :)

3.  Finish scrapbooking Ava's baby book.  She turns 4 this year... why is this not done already??

4. Go 100% organic without raising my grocery budget.  Is it cheating that I've already started? We've been getting organic produce for a long time now from a co-op we belong to (Door to Door Organics, if you are curious) and we both are pretty passionate about nutrition so we've been wanting to start taking advantage of the other organic groceries our co-op offers.  So far it's been amazing.

5. Tackle a sewing project.  I'm not sure what yet... maybe a quilt? Or matching Christmas stockings?


I'm feeling motivated and am excited to see what 2014 brings!  Happy New Year!

2013 Annual Polar Plunge

Here is the Longmore Family, 6th annual polar plunge!  And by polar plunge, I of course mean heated swimming pool :) Every December, we go swimming and then eat Thai food.  It's a tradition we started back in Idaho when we were newly weds up and loved going up to Lava Hot Springs.  This year was Lily's first time swimming EVER and she loved kicking her little legs around in the water, although she got cold quickly.  Ava was really adventurous this year and loved the little water slide.  Ryan took her to the lazy river and she could not be convinced to leave it.  She went around and around holding onto her pool noodle laughing and giggling the whole way.  She didn't even want us to help hold onto her or her noodle. Our plunge ended a little early when the life guards kicked everyone out of the pool to deal with a contamination issue.  Earlier, another mom had been going around asking for a spare swim diaper as she had forgot one and the desk didn't sell them.  I guess she never found one.  Yikes!  At any rate, we called it day and headed out to eat some yummy Thai food.  A good time was had by all!

Warming up afterwards:

 The selfie starts getting especially awkward with 4 of you:

This little one was all smiles and giggles!  I guess she loves to swim!

A Very Merry Little Christmas

Here is a recap of our Christmas season:

Decorating! Ava loved it, although she took the stockings quite literally. Every time I turned around, she had taken down two stockings, put them on her feet and then would proudly announce, "Look Mom! Booties to keep my feet warm!" It made me chuckle every time. [for the record, I put socks on her every day to keep her feet warm, but she doesn't like them so pulls them off and hides them]

Almost every day, a new package would arrive which was a lot of fun! Most of the boxes got turned into pirate ships.

Baby, it's cold outside! Getting this munchkin into her snow suit is no small feat, but I think she is adorable all bundled up.

A Trip out to the tree farm to get our tree! It was super cold so we snagged this cute little one that was right next to the road, then headed in to sip our hot chocolate. 

Making gingerbread men! 

Santa! Ava could not be convinced to go anywhere near Santa, but she did tell Santa from across the room that she would like a rocking horse for Christmas and that Lily would like a high chair.  Lily was happy to sit on Santa's lap, but couldn't be convinced to look at the camera :)

The lights at Crown Center.  It was super cold with freezing rain, so we mostly enjoyed the lights from the inside.

Christmas Eve pajamas! 

Santa came! Ava was so excited this year, it just made Christmas so magical.

And Santa brought Lily her high chair too :)

We also enjoyed a ham dinner, Ryan having the whole day off and we lounged in our pj's all day enjoying our goodies and gifts.  It was a joyful season and a very merry Christmas.

Idaho Trip Recap

Planes! Getting to watch airplanes made the airport really exciting.

  Both kids were pretty angelic travelers.  I was surprised (and VERY grateful) when both fell asleep

Visiting my grandparents in Utah.  Here Ava is in her great-great-great grandmother's chair.  My grandparent's house is full of wonderful heirlooms with great stories.

My girls with my grandparents (their great-grandparents).  Ava has met them a few times, but this was the first time they got to meet Lily.  My grandparents are just wonderful and getting to see them was an absolute delight for me.

 
A rather unique playground in Rigby, Idaho.  Ryan was off in Twin Falls interviewing and my dad was hunting, so the girls and I took a trip up to Rigby with my mom to so she could pick some stuff up from the vet for the 13 year old family dog. Sadly, he ended up having to be put down a couple days after we left :(  But we had a lot of fun at the playground.

  Cooking with grandma!  I think we all agree the one of the best parts about visiting my family is the delicious food!  Pretty much everything is home grown and cooked from scratch and incredibly delicious.  I'm kind of a food snob and I blame this on my upbringing.

A trip to Rexburg to see my sister, Heather, on her birthday!  We treated her to Sammy's and their famous pie shakes.  They were delicious!

No trip is complete without a stop at the bowling alley!  This was Ava's first time to participate though. Usually I find bowling shoes ugly, but in her size they were super adorable. She really had a good time.

Our scores and the game winner! It is ALWAYS my mom.  She is unbeatable!  I did, however, break 100 and beat Ryan, so I felt pretty good about my score too.

 Playing with grandma at the playground:

Painting with Grandma.  My mom is a great artist, particularly with watercolor and oil, and is seems Ava has gotten some of that talent and she loved having a little lesson with grandma. 

Cousins! One of the most exciting parts of our trip was meeting the newest member of the Longmore clan (Evelyn) and introducing Lily to everyone.  These two are about 10 weeks apart and I'm sure they'll be best friends.

Our anniversary dinner.  Our trip home ended up landing on 6th our anniversary so we spent the day eating pretzels in the airport with these two cuties, but we didn't mind.  When we got home, Ryan surprised me with a beautiful bouquet roses and tickets to see the broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. 

October

Our month of October in photos--enjoy! 

Note: These aren't in chronological order, but they all happened sometime in October :)

We've been trying to squeeze in as many trips to the park as possible before the weather turns and we are stuck indoors.  In this picture, the leaves haven't turned yet, but this year the leaves have been so beautiful!  Fall is one of my favorite things about KC (This season doesn't exist in Idaho). 

Annual trip to the Louisburg Cider Mill for donuts and cider.  Yum!

Sisterly love.  These two adore each other.  Here Ava is reading Lily a story.

And playing doctor.  Ava is very eager for Lily to get bigger so she can be a playmate.  Luckily, Lily is perfect for playing the part of the patient.  It's always a proud moment for Dad when Ava announces, "I need to listen to your heart with my stethoscope."

Painting pumpkins! This was a BIG hit with Ava.  She really likes art, especially painting.  Her pumpkin probably has about 10 layers of paint.

Getting cultured. Here we are at a Josh Groban concert.  It was a good time.  A few days later, we saw "Wicked" which was also amazing.

Lily rolled over for the first time! Just a few days after her 3 month birthday.  And now she is trying to crawl.  She is getting so big!

Halloween! Ava was a mermaid and Lily was a butterfly.  We kept it simple this year and called our ward trunk-or-treat our trick-or-treating for this year and then had some friends over to decorate Halloween cookies on Halloween. 

More sisterly love.  Ava begs all the time to hold Lily.  My favorite is when Lily looks up and giggles at Ava, who just beams with pride. 

A sleep over with Dad! Ava has been having a hard time sleeping alone in her room.  Lily sleeps in a cradle in our room and Ava feels left out because everyone in the family sleeps together except for her.  (The plan is to eventually transition Lily into her crib in Ava's room, but we aren't quite ready yet. ) So on a day off, Ryan pulled out the air mattress and had a sleep over with Ava.  They ate popcorn, stayed up watching movies, and had a blast.  What a good Dad!

Work and cuddles.  As usual, Ryan has been super busy being a cardiology fellow.  But when he comes home, his little girls get so happy and excited to see him.  Ava likes to play games with him and Lily loves to cuddle with him.