February resolutions

I’m very bad at keeping my New Year’s resolutions, so I’ve decided that this year I’ll post them on my blog and then I’ll feel especially rubbish if I don’t stick to them, as everyone will know that I’ve failed.  I know it’s now February, but I’ve been giving them a lot of thought and wanted to only make resolutions that were actually realistic!

Amelia

1. Read a book every week day

2. Go swimming at least once every two months

3. Go on a walk every week

4. Have a day out with Daddy at least once every two months

5. Go to the zoo

6. Sing more nursery rhymes

7. Listen to more music

8. Join at least one more baby group. At the moment, we go to one on Thursday mornings and do baby massage classes on Wednesday afternoons

Mark

1. Go on a date at least once every two months (once I’ve stopped feeding Amelia!)

2. Spend one of Amelia’s nap times resting instead of trying to cram housework/cooking/cleaning/crafting in, so that I’ve got more energy to have a conversation or play a game with Mark when he gets home

3. Mark wanted me to add that he is going to get into shape. I'd also like to say that he'll finish the bed this year, but I think that's a little optimistic!

Me

1. Lose two stone

2. Make more of an effort with my hair and clothes. I’ve really let myself go recently!

Around the house

1. Sort out all the wardrobes and cupboards, as we seem to have accumulated a lot of paraphernalia over the years

2. Keep on top of the ironing

3. Clear out the conservatory (which is currently a complete mess)

4. Clean properly. At the moment I clean around everything!

5. Cook at least one new recipe every fortnight, as I’ve become very unadventurous recently

Other

1. Make at least one item using a sewing machine

2. Go clubbing! I used to hate clubbing, but ever since Amelia was born I’ve had an irrepressible urge to go dancing. Would anyone like to come with me?

3. Take more photos

4. Display more photos

5. Go to church more often. I'm ashamed to say I've become quite lazy recently

6. Meet up with friends more often

7. Keep a prayer book

8. Do something for charity

I'll post how I'm getting on halfway through the year!

In other news, Amelia is growing FAST. I can't believe how big she is now! Here's a photo of her in hospital:

and at two weeks old:

and this week:

I can't believe it!

Beauty and my Beast

It turns out that playing ‘Tale as Old as Time’ from Beauty and the Beast helps Amelia get to sleep at night. We have to have it on repeat for about an hour at full volume – which has already started to get annoying – but she eventually drifts off with minimal fuss. Hooray! This is GREAT news, since it’s been taking Mark and I a couple of hours to get her to sleep some nights, and this way she doesn’t get too worked up either. I’m not sure if it’s Celine Dion or the song that comforts Amelia, but I don’t want to try anything else out while it works! It’s funny I happened to pick this song too, since Mark calls her his ‘mini beast’ because of her muffin top and thunder thighs (sorry Amelia).

With Amelia only ever sleeping for 30 minutes at a time, I’ve come to accept that the bungalow will always be a mess. All I can say is it'd be A LOT worse without a dishwasher. I’m pretty good at keeping on top of the washing, but the ironing hardly ever gets done! This is my current ironing pile:

I made a start on it today while watching This Morning (what has my life become?!), but only managed to iron three shirts before Amelia woke up. Poor Mark will be going to work in creased shirts soon if I don’t get a move on…

Here’s a photo of Amelia and Daddy:

and one of the three of us:

She's so cute: