Happy New Year!  Man, life has been crazy.  Between un-Christmas-tizing our apartment, finding nooks and crannies to tuck Emma and Jane's presents away in, and returning to work, my head is spinning!  Lucky for us, we got a snow day today, so Hershey and I got to spend a bonus day with our girls AND finished cleaning the apartment.  SCORE!

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what I wanted my first post of the new year to be about.  I am not one to make New Year's resolutions, because I never keep them.  I always vow to be more organized, more money-wise, get in shape, and keep my house clean, and by February I'm buried under piles of junk, eating ice cream and ordering stuff off of Etsy.

So instead of boring you with resolutions that you will see on a hundred other blogs (resolutions which I assure you I wouldn't keep anyway), I'll give you a quick round up of my favorite stuff from 2013.

10.  Sophie the Giraffe.  She's pricey, but she's worth every penny!  The girls nommy-nom on all of her corners and nubs when their little teefies start bothering them, and she's super-cute, too!


9.  BuyBuyBaby.  As the sister company to BedBath&Beyond (my favorite wedding registry), BBB carries all of the best baby brands organized in a way that makes it easy to find exactly what you're looking for on the fly, and the customer service is exemplary.  Plus they take those 20% and $5 off coupons that the company mails out on a daily basis, so you get to save a ton of money.  Can't complain about that!

8.  Munchkin Fresh Food Feeders.  I purchased these thinking that they were used for teething, but hated them for that purpose.  After hanging on to them for a few weeks, I had an epiphany and logged on to Baby Center to see what other moms have put in these handy feeders.  They girls LOVE sucking away on frozen fruits, numbing their sore gums while providing them with sweets and nutrition.  


7.  Amazon Mom.  O.M.G.  Life made easier.  When you sign up you get 3 months free and then it's $79/year after that.  You get 20% off diapers and wipes AND free 2 day shipping with Amazon Prime.  When you sign up for Subscribe & Save, you don't have to worry about running to the store to pick up diapers or wipes or any of the other things that you buy on a monthly basis.  They just show up on your doorstep when you realize you're beginning to run out.  Doesn't get much easier than that!

6.  The way my daughters' chubby little hands look reaching out to grab something to explore.  I could just eat them up!


5.  Reading Workshop.  It was not easy to start, and I'm not sure that everyone agrees with what I'm doing, but I can tell you that my students READ.  They read more books than they probably ever have (with the exception of a few natural readers).  When you pass by my classroom, kids are holding books, talking about books, and writing about books.  And ENJOYING it.  As difficult as it is to leave my babies every morning, I know that I'm walking into one of the most fulfilling jobs on the planet.  Thank you, Penny Kittle.  

4.  The sound of the girls squealing with joy and laughter when they get the opportunity to hang out with other little kids.  They are such social butterflies!