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New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year again. December is here, and it's time to make your New Year's Resolutions. How did you do with last year's resolutions? "My what," you ask? You remember New Year's Eve. You, dressed in your finest, holding up that glass of champagne. "THIS is the year I will..." Maybe you vowed to quit smoking. Did you swear off cookies? Perhaps you promised to exercise every day. Spend less? Save more? Whatever your New Year's Resolutions, I'll bet they were big.

Looking back on it, I guess my resolutions were a little unrealistic.

I imagined myself rising each day at 6:00 am to a cup of home-ground coffee. I would go out onto the patio and savor my coffee while consulting my day-planner. I would stroll into the kitchen and make my daughter a healthy, nutritious lunch to take to school. I would prepare her homemade pancakes with warm, maple syrup. I would then cheerfully wake up my two happy children with a song.

After dressing my children in their matching outfits, I would take my older daughter to school slightly early so she could visit with her friends. Upon my return home, I would exercise while playing with my baby. I would clean house while she napped; dress in cute L.L. Bean clothes. I would prepare gourmet meals with fresh ingredients I picked up at the Farmer's Market. Fine wine would perfectly complement my meals, and I would have a pretty nightgown to wear to my freshly laundered bed each night.

Was I dreaming or what?

Yesterday I woke up at 7:45 to the sounds of my 8 year old screaming, "Mommy! The alarm didn't go off!" Her screaming woke up the baby, who in turn, began to cry. I leapt from bed and dashed to their room with one slipper on.

In my rush to get everyone fed and dressed I skipped the home-ground coffee. I gulped some re-heated coffee leftover from the night before. I couldn't find my day-planner, so I wasn't sure if we had any appointments or not. Oh well...

Instead of homemade pancakes, my daughter feasted on Oreo cereal. Well, the box says it has vitamins and minerals, right?? Not only did my children's clothes not match each other, they didn't match themselves. Madison was wearing blue, flowered leggings and an orange striped shirt. I didn't care--she was dressed. She had brushed her own hair, and it resembled Phyllis Diller's hair. I didn't care--it was brushed. I was afraid to check her breath.

The baby didn't look much better. I hadn't had a chance to put away the clean laundry so she was wearing a polka-dotted shirt with red and green striped pants. Together, my children looked like rodeo clowns. I didn't care--they were dressed. We were good to go.

"What's in my lunch box?" asks rodeo clown number one. LUNCH! I knew I was forgetting something. "You are so lucky," I say convincingly, "because today we are driving through Jack-in-The-Box for your lunch. Your classmates will be so jealous!." The look she gave me told me she didn't buy it for a second.

After dropping her off armed with her Kids Meal, I raced back home. My exercise for the day was hauling the car seat up the stairs as fast as I could because the baby had spit up on the clown outfit. Instead of L.L. Bean, I was now wearing pukey K-Mart sweats.

I did attempt to clean my house while the baby napped. Unfortunately, I barely cleaned the dishes from last night's lasagna before she woke up. Will I ever get caught up?

Looking at my watch, I noticed that it was almost noon, and the only thing I'd had all day was the stale coffee. Time for lunch. My "healthy, nutritious lunch" consisted of canned Spaghetti O's and Diet Dr. Pepper, since I hadn't had time to stop by the Farmer's Market.

Thinking ahead to dinner I wondered, "What wine goes with Hamburger Helper"?

It was then time to go get Madison from school. The scowl on her face as she got into the back seat of the car told me that the Kids Meal didn't exactly go over too well. "I'm STARVING, mommy. The french fries were soggy, and all I got was a stupid Rugrats toy."

Racing back home, I tried to think of a healthy snack based on the ingredients in the cupboard. "OK, we have some canned peaches, some powdered instant breakfast drink mix, and some graham crackers. What can I make with that?"

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Mommy will make you a peach smoothie and some graham crackers when we get home." She shoots, SHE SCORES!!!!

Last night I laid down on my cookie-crumb filled sheets in my holey Laker shirt, and I thought about my New Year's Resolutions. Why do I do this to myself every year? Why do I set myself up for failure?

I guess it's because I like the idea of starting fresh. I think it's a good idea to re-evaluate one's life to change the things that aren't working. At this point it seems that what is not working are my New Year's Resolutions. Maybe if I scale back my expectations it might just work this time.

I could try to get to the regular grocery store once a week. They sell fruit and vegetables there, right? I might even be able to make Madison's lunch the night before--even if it is only a sandwich. Folger's coffee is OK. I might even convince myself that climbing up and down the stairs to my apartment is indeed exercise.

So, this year I'm going to make some new resolutions. I'm going to lower my standards and try again. THIS time it will work. Now where did I put that day-planner?

** Traci Vujicich (pronounced Voo-i-chich) is the author of Motherhood, Apple Pie and Other Fattening Things: http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-20723-5 She is also a Life Coach, and a wife and mother. She lives in Redondo Beach, California with her husband Dan, daughters Madison and Lea, and her cats Maggie and Sofia. Traci produces a weekly internet magazine, writes content for several websites, and is the webmaster of Ask the Life Coach.com and Lead the Field Coaching.com. Since 1993, Traci has been providing management consulting services to clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Sun Microsystems, Texaco, Nortel, Kodak, Bell South, Weyerhauser, Lockheed Martin, Union Pacific and Exxon. In addition, she conducts internet seminars on a variety of subjects.

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Sept/Oct Winners Announced!

The Top Baby Winners, voted on by our panel of judges AND the Top Eyes, Smile and Personality Winners, voted on by visitors to the site... HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED!!

Did YOUR favorite win?

The Holiday Babies are Online!

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Nov/Dec Holiday Photo Contest

This is going to be FUN!!!
We are requiring the photos submitted for the contest be a holiday theme of some sort.

That could include dressed in their Halloween Costume, Enjoying a Fun Fall Day, or Decked out for the Holidays, etc.!

September/October Winners will be announced soon!

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July/August Photo Contest WINNERS!!

The July/August Winners have FINALLY been announced!

(I apologize for the delay. My Mom had surgery recently so my online time has been limited. She's doing well and should be coming home soon!)

All the babies were absolutly precious... but pop over and see who was voted as Top Babies!

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Vote for Top Eyes, Smile & Personality

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(The winners from the July/August Contest will be announced soon!)

The New Babies are ONLINE!

The babies in the September/October Photo Contest are ONLINE and ready to be ooooh'ed and aaaah'ed at! They're all darling... wait until to see them!

I had hoped to have the winners of the July/August contest ready but I'm waiting on votes from one of the judges.

I also had hoped to have the voting ready for the new contest in the Top Eyes, Top Smile and Top Personality categories... but... well... I'm going away for the holiday weekend and just won't have time to get that set up! Sorry!

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That was FAST!

Yikes!! The September/October Photo Contest is full already! Thanks for the quick response everyone. (I apologize to those who didn't get signed up. Within about 24-36 hours we filled almost 200 spots!)

Internet connection speed has improved greatly since I first launched this little contest (some 4-5 years ago), so I will crop the photos a little LARGER and see if I receive any complaints about load time (how long it takes the web page to load). The babies are SO darling... I hate them not being seen in their complete and total CUTENESS! :-)

I hope to have the photos online by early next week and the Top Smile, Eyes and Personality voting will begin 9/1. I'll also be announcing the winners before the 1st.

Thanks again for your support! It means a lot to me to see the wonderful response!

((hugs))
Beth

CALLING ALL CUTE BABIES!!

We're accepting entries for the September/October Free Baby Photo Contest at TopBabyPhotos.com!


The photos will be online September 1st; voting will begin in the Top Smile, Top Eyes and Top Personality sub-categories!

Winners of the July/August Photo contest will be announced via our Newsletter before the end of August, so make sure you're a subscriber!

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A little reminder that this is your LAST CHANCE to vote for your favorite July/August babies!

Friday 8/17 the voting will end and tallied to determine the winners! Make sure you get over there and vote! Top Baby winners (voted on by judges) and the Top Smile, Eyes & Personality winners (voted on by visitors) will all be announced before the end of the month!

Vote for your favorites in Top SMILE, EYES & PERSONALITY!

We will start accepting entries for the NEW Photo Contest next week. If you're a newsletter subscriber, watch your In-Box for the newsletter announcing it!

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