Here's how not to start out a New Year.

I definitely had different plans for my first post of 2013, but it just didn't happen the way I thought.
I started a post a few days ago & have yet to finish it. 
I wanted to be reflective & introspective & look to the new year with hope for growth & expectations of challenges.
However, it's really hard to do all those things when your head is filled with gunk.
and by gunk I mean snot & lots of it.

Yep, like so many others, I rang in the New Year with a cup of tea & a box of Kleenex.

Way to be original, right?
As Eli was starting to feel better, I began feeling worse.
Perfect timing.
 Thankfully, the worst of my sickness only lasted about 2 days & my energy returned rather quickly.
I feel like this was one of those "epitome of being a mom" moments.
When you get sick at the same time as your baby.
And big props to my hubs who was there to help out & WHO DIDN'T GET SICK.
Folks, this is a true miracle!
My husband who just has to look at someone who is sick & gets sick, did not get sick.
We prayed & prayed & prayed he wouldn't.
And thank you, Jesus, he didn't!

 Just in case you were wondering, I finished off this entire box of Kleenex all by myself.
In 3 days.
A lot of snot!

 Finally after a whole week of being stuck in the house, we had the opportunity to get dressed & get out.

Even if it was only to go 4 blocks around the corner to my mom & dad's, it still felt good to get out.

Can I just tell you that my dad is one of the funniest people I know?
He just has this way about him that is totally unintentionally funny.
He mispronounces words all the time.
He is going deaf.
And he just marches to the beat of his own drum.
 Here is his bowl of choice for dinner.
An ice cream bucket.
When I commented on his "fine china" he replied,
"As long as it tastes good, who cares?"
True enough.

Being cooped up in the house for a week with a 16 month old causes some craziness to set in.
Playing with cars for a week straight in the house causes some craziness to set in.

We headed out to the library to get a change of scenery, which turned out to only make me slightly irritated.
Need people be reminded that the library is not a daycare center nor a place in which they can chat on Facebook while their children run rampant through the aisles?
That day, they certainly needed the reminder.

We also went to work with Daddy over the weekend.
I believe Daddy's high hopes of enjoying a basketball game with his little buddy will be put on hold for a few years, as you see here that running the halls was much more entertaining.
{But to see him running around & laughing & enjoying himself, nonetheless, was a very welcome sight!}

We ended our weekend celebrating the 1st birthday of our niece.
Eli got a hold of theses balloons & gave us reason #57 he doesn't need toys.
He was having so much fun batting them around, they got tangled all around him & he just couldn't get enough of them. 
We brought one of these balloons home & it has become part of our daily activities. 
{yeah, I now what some of you are thinking, but one of them is pink. no, it did not make me happy.}

So now that my head is FINALLY starting to clear up, I will revisit my New Year's post & share my thoughts on beginning a new year.
Though, I'm not gonna lie, it could take me a few more days.
I'm still processing my thoughts on this new year.
I've been doing this new study with She Reads Truth that has really been helping me with the whole thought process.
I'm really excited about it.

So until then, hope you find yourselves healthy & excited about what this new year has to offer you!