Play Dough > Boredom

Ivy and I have had a bit of extra time together the last few weeks, and it's led me to discover that...we need more stuff.  I'd love to be more of a minimalist and say that my child only needs her imagination to have fun, but that's just not the truth in our house.  So...I did the unthinkable and bought...dun, dun, dun:  play dough.

If you're the parent that is wondering why this is unthinkable, I guess you just don't love a clean house like I do.  Even though we have an entire floor of our house with no carpet, I'm just so afraid!  But alas, as I found out, play dough (messes included) is far better than boredom.  The babe loved it, and she's quite adorable as well, I might add.

Ivy G is Getting Old

Our little Ivy reached the "big" 18-month milestone last month and I didn't really document it or think about it much at all to be honest.   BUT, you guys!  That is the best indicator that life in the Foley home is so awesome right now.  We aren't sitting around waiting for Ivy to get older anymore?!  Haha.  18 months is a pretty great time of life, and we're loving this stage.

Here are some Ivy highlights as of late--

• I sing songs to Ivy every night before I put her to bed and she always signs and says, "more more" after each one.  Stab me in the heart, why don't you.
• She smiles on command with the cheesiest, closed-eye grin and we love it.
• She can say a TON of words and we love to hear her trying them out.
• When she says Scott's and my name, she says them with very different inflection.  For Dad, she YELLS, "Da!!!" and for me it's a very serious/monotone, "Mama."  Every time.
• No one loves the new basement more than Ivy.  She stands by the door and yells, "Baaaaaase" every day.
• She is very interested in coloring.  Nothing stands in the way of her and her colored pencils once she sees them.
• She loves to hold hands and run down a hallway.
• She loves to get busted for things and for the most part only laughs when she's getting ratted out.
• She's very interested in "hot" and "cold" things right now and loves to say those words or blow on her food.
• If she sees someone folding their arms, she'll fold hers and say, "Prayers?"
• She likes to pretend to get poked by a cactus in one of her books.
• She is very vocal about liking her food and will say, "Oooooh" or "Mmmmm."  Unfortunately she's also beginning a pickier stage but still surprises us with things she will or won't try.
• I've been practicing the piano for church lately and she knows the piece well enough that she'll start clapping once I hit the last line.  

Plans for the New Year

New Years caught us a little off guard over here.  We didn't stay up til midnight or really set any goals.  We also started the year off with eggnog pancakes and Texas Roadhouse, so you could say we were not in the mood to better ourselves.  Now that we're another day in though, I'm ready to remember 2017 and make some plans (I guess I should mention that we did do our 2018 budget, so we're not totally lame...or does that mean we ARE totally lame, I'm not sure.).

2017 was a pretty good year.  The highlight was easily the new house and basement.  The lowlight was easily the stress of our daily schedules and the moving process.  I loved 2017 so much more than 2016, though thank goodness!  I think I learned a few things about what makes me happy and I'm happy to report that both Ivy and my job are among those things. ;)  I learned that it takes a bit more effort to keep yourself happy when you're a parent, but you can do it.  I learned that having things to look forward to makes a huge difference to me. 

In 2018 I hope to learn how to curb my love of dessert to once a week, I hope to put in the effort to better decorate my house with stuff that I really really like, I hope to say, "Yes" more to fun things and also service opportunities, and I hope to spend more time creating things.  (Also, hallelujah for not setting exercise resolutions anymore.  4 years of habit, going strong!