House of Bennetts

I promise that I will do a check in on last years goals sometime soon (along with a birth story, a birth announcement, and a general list of things I think a post-partum momma really needs), but I wanted to get these goals out into the universe ON January 1. House

There is really only one house goal that I keep coming back to: a total gut job of the upstairs bathroom. PERIOD. It needs to happen.

bathroom 2

Life: List style

Learn how to become Lyla's momma. Not the momma that anyone else thinks I should be, but the momma that Lyla actually needs
Go to yoga one day a week and to the gym two days a week at lunch when back at work. This is not a vanity goal... it is a sanity goal. Period. Also, when I go to the gym at lunch I don't spend money eating out. Win win.
Allow LB to be Lyla's dad. Trust him to do this well by giving him space to make mistakes without judgment.
Read one book a month. They can even be about parenting, but continuing to broaden my worldview by reading makes me a happier person. Plus, I want Lyla to know her momma is a reader.
Sleep. Sleep as much as I can, but also not be crazy about it. Coffee exists for a reason.
Use my for real camera once a week.
Continue to love on and invest in my friends. This also means being bold about investing in new friends too.
Leave the house without baby for something just for myself once every two weeks. (Once a week will be hard to do once back at work).
Ask for help. Always.
Take a for real vacation with Lyla and LB.
Bask in the glory that is my little family instead of being so afraid that something will happen to it. I am so lucky RIGHT NOW and I just need to dwell in the right now.
Love. Gratitude. Simplicity. These three. Always, but especially this coming year.
Continue to evolve organizational systems for our new family of three (babies come with so much stuff).
Blog more consistently again as a means to connect to the broader world.. which now includes the broader world of parenting.

And just because I'd be so pissed if someone who's blog I read had a baby, did her first post and didn't give me a picture... here ya go:

As you all know, we wrapped up our Not Your Momma's Gratitude Challenge in November. Since last week was our money week, I decided to make this week a photography week! Get ready for an image overload. I asked the two other participants in the photo challenge to share their four favorite photos from the challenge a little about themselves.

Stacey:

It almost isn't fair that Stacey participated in this challenge because she has two of the cutest kiddos of life and some serious photography skills to boot. Here's what she said about her favorites...

"I love the movement one because I was really able to capture everything in flight."

Movement

"Smile was a fave because of all the colors I was able to capture. And the scene was pretty as well."

Smile

"Something New was so fun because the editing I did made it look like a classic picture."

Something New

"Technology - loved this because it was such a crisp and clean B/W picture. The funny thing about both of these pics is that they are the opposite of what you would expect. New is faded and Technology is B/W."

Technology

Debbie:

Debbie is a friend of Stacey's who also has some great camera skills. She says...

"I'm a mom of 2 girls, ages 6 and 15 months old. I absolutely love family and kid/infant photography. When my husband purchased me my first DSLR camera 3 years ago, I couldn't get enough of taking photos of my girls. To my surprise, I had many people asking me if I used a professional photographer for all of my photos. To their surprise, it was ME! Throughout this last year I have really committed to using the manual setting on my camera and have started to have a better understanding on lighting. I would like to improve on landscape photography and to achieve more crisp and sharp photos on my portraits."

Her favorites are leaves, favorite color, movement, and smile!

Leaf 1 Favorite Color-Chihuly Movement-2 Laughter