Hey 2012- where did you come from?

Is it really 2012 already?  Is it really the last week of January in 2013?  Where have I been?  Oh right... with babies!  Did you catch the plural there? 

I've been playing my heart out with this little babe:

AND this little babe:

This year has not only been a fabulous start, but I can't wait to see where this year takes us- both personally and professionally. 

Bells is a whirlwind of fun, and I can't believe taking care of a little person could be so much fun.  She makes the light shine in our lives and I'm just not sure what I could do without her.  She's like a second away from saying a word {I swear} and a balancing act away from walking all over Mama and Daddy. And their debit cards.

In printing news, I'm getting so busy I need to find a new way to organize the office!  I dare show you a photo of the current office situation for fear that any potential clients out there will run for the hills, but it's a sad sight.  Okay, theres just paper and envelopes all over the place.  Don't get too scared.  I'm working on a TON of new designs that I can't wait to show you- personal stationery and weddings- and I feel really good about 2012 being the year of exploration, fun, and family. 

I never gave you all my list at the beginning of the month, but here is what I would love to cross off for the next 12 months:

1) photograph more... and document it.  Maybe start a photo album for the babe.  With photos like these, it's hard not to want to take 4,000 of them and just stash them on the hard drive.

2) take more vacation.  I'll admit, it's been an interesting couple of months with the move, the baby, the general craziness that is 'our lives,' but we need to make more time for US and a family vacation would be perfect.  I hope for at least 3 this year... and I think NOLA is up first for Easter with the Husbands family!

3) SLOW. DOWN.  This... is hard for me.  I feel like I'm going 100mph at any given time and I'm constantly missing the good things.  I need to learn to slow down, breath, and make the best of every moment.  I see this so clearly in Bells-- she is growing so so fast and I just don't want to miss a thing! 

4) Start wholesale.  This might not happen until the end of the year, but whatever groundwork I was starting to lay for some of my stationery to go wholesale, basically took the backseat when life took a bit more precedence.  I want to finish it up, or at the very least, start my wholesale journey again before the end of the year. 

5) don't take more than I can handle.  I did it a lot last year, and this year I just don't have the bandwidth to take on more than I can chew.  But part one of this is learning when its too much... so I'm adding this to my list of things I need/want.

6) carefully select home improvement projects.  Oh dear.  I want to change the WHOLE HOUSE and I want to do it RIGHT NOW.  Of course, that kind of competes with number 5 up there, so I have to take it slow.  Just a room every few months and I think I'll be OK.  Up next, the living room...
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So far, thats all I have.  I have about a million more written on little scraps of paper by the bed or in the office, but I'm not sure if I can compile all those for the blog in a reasonable time.  Not to mention that giving me too much to accommplish might set me up for failure and that kind of defeats the purpose of this, right?

Suffice to say, dear readers, I am back... and so so excited to get behind the wheel {ha, get it, Gable has a wheel!} of 2012. 

ps: I am SLOWLY getting Beux up and running, but it's seriously hard work for a person who can't lift more than 30lbs without grunting like a man- I'm a weakling apparently, and feel awful having to drag in the Husband to help me every time something needs to be moved, dusted off, or put back.  Does anyone out there reading have any suggestions for cleaning off 100 years of grime off cast iron without having to take it all apart?