Each week I post seven “quick takes” of things on my mind. Topics are typically related to our family happenings or things I’m into right now.

1. We spent New Year’s Eve with Andy’s family. It’s become a tradition to play games and eat party food together to ring in the new year. There’s something about that particular holiday that feels so laid back, and I love it. We had a great time. Aria enjoyed it at least as much as Andy and I, because she got to spend the entire night playing with her cousins. We got around and went home as soon as midnight hit, because we had a big day planned for the first. Also because we had a two-year-old and a six-month-old out past midnight.
2. We slept in a bit on the first, then packed the kids up and went back to Andy’s parents’ for our Christmas celebration. We had a lovely brunch, then opened gifts. It was really fun, and we all gave and received nice things. Aria was pleased with her toys (she’s generally pleased with things, really), and had a blast playing with her cousins again. Toward the end of the day things got a bit rough, because the kids were overly-tired. But then our family and Aria’s idolized cousin, Emma, were the last to leave. Once everyone else was gone, the girls sat, all by themselves, in the living room in a shared chair and played separately and very quietly next to each other. It was precious.
3. I cannot believe I am back to work already! I had eight days off, and they flew past. Before the Christmas vacation each year, I feel as though the things I need to tackle in the new year are so far off, and then – bam! – they hit incredibly quickly.
4. I’ll probably spend most of the next week or so planning this year – work, blog, and personal. I would have liked to do most of that before January, but I didn’t get to it. I love to plan, so starting the year with some serious brainstorming and organizing sessions doesn’t bother me a bit.
5. You might recall that I set a goal to read 60 books in 2013, then did so by August (what?!). So I set a new goal to read 80 books before the end of the year…and missed it by two. I didn’t try incredibly hard, though, I’ve gotta say. I’m sure I could have gotten two more books in, but I was already feeling plenty self-satisfied. 😉 So, I read 78 books this year. You can see the list here. I also read approximately five board books each day (though it was not five different board books each day, of course). It was a good year reading-wise, both in number (not really that important, just fun), and content. I wrote a wrap-up post about content here. Also, I finished The Thirteenth Tale after I wrote that post. It was a fantastic novel. I read every line, every word, and that’s unusual for me in a novel. I’m known to skim paragraphs if I lose interest, and I didn’t do that with this book.
6. I am starting some significant new endeavors this year, which you will probably read a lot about on the blog. Three words: house, diet, work. I’ll write in detail in the next week or two.
7. I am enjoying watching the kids play with their new toys. Aria has such an inquisitive, organized mind, and it’s a joy to watch her play. I am telling you, this thing where she’s two is fantastic so far. I anticipate a great year with her. Overall, Noah is increasingly interested in playing with things. At the moment he is teething, so he mostly just chews on everything. In fact, yesterday I was holding him close because he was fussy, and he turned his face in toward my arm…and bit. That was a first for me. I yelped, which resulted in him crying pretty hard. Anyhoo, he’s thisclose to several new skills, including mobility and sitting on his own, that will increase his interactions with toys. I’m looking forward to it!