Mommy's little helper

Addie is almost 3 now! And she's in a very fun (and frustrating) stage. The "I want to do it by myself!" stage. It's fun because I get to see her imitating all the things I do around the house, and frustrating because she absolutely insists on doing it by herself with no help, and that can take forever. One thing I love is teaching her how to help around the house. I try to snap a picture here and there when she is sweeping, or drying the dishes, or cleaning the windows. She is so cute, trying to be just like mommy. I know that this stage wont last forever, and that before I know it I'll have to employ strategic tactics to get her help with chores. And soon after that, I'll have to bribe or force her to help at all, like her teenage sister ;). Here are a few pictures I managed to capture of my little helper.

Hello 2013!

Well, the end of the Mayan calendar (which was actually a great example of misinformation creating unnecessary concern) and the end of the world didn't happen, so here we are in 2013. What a year 2012 was! So much happened! I saw all my hard work from 2011-2012 come to fruition at the first Miles Against Melanoma fundraiser, the D&D 5k- which was in honor of my brother Dylan and my co-hosts mom Deena, both of whom lost their lives to Melanoma. It was probably one of the most intense,  stressful, exciting things I've done in my life, besides bringing my kids into the world ;)

2012 also saw the birth of my brand new neice, Riley~ first born to my little sister Stephanie and her husband Woody. And best of all, she was born happy and healthy on my birthday! What an amazing birthday gift that was! I love seeing my sister blossom as a new mother, and being able to impart insight and advice from my 15+ years of motherhood experience. I am grateful that she trusts me enough to ask for advice. At the very least, she can learn from my mistakes :)

The other significant event that 2012 saw was my return into the workforce after being a stay-at-home mom for the previous 9 years. I went to work at McCain Foods, and I work 12 hour graveyard shifts. It was quite the transition for all of us. But it has been a good thing for our family and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to work there. I started out on the bottom of the totem pole as a packaging laborer, to size grader, and now I work in the lab as a Quality Control Technician. I enjoy learning all about potato process- it really is fascinating stuff (never thought I'd say that).

What about you? What did you love/hate about 2012? What are you looking forward to this new year? I am thankful every day that I get to wake up...every challenge at work and home means I'm learning and *hopefully* growing into a better person. I have lots I want to do this year, but most of it is working on being a better mom and wife. I'm not a monster by any means, but there is always room for improvement :)