Christmas Toys

mark got a great toy from Grandma. So great that Danielle has claimed it for her own. It is fun to see her show Mark how to use his toy for 30 minutes. He laughs and watches. It is cute. After they had been playing for a long time I decided to tape it.

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Christmas Eve




We read the books my mom sent us Christmas Eve. We read the story about baby Jesus. We put the kids to bed. So I thought it would go well... My parents were always tired on Christmas Day but I thought we would be able to sleep.
incorrect.
We finished getting ready for Christmas. I can't believe we are having Christmas as a family! I am excited.
Danielle was still high from Benadryl. She had hives and we gave her some but it makes her SUPER hyper. She couldn't sleep. She watched a movie in her room on her player and then finally fell asleep.
Mark woke up. He was hungry. Then he went back down.
Danielle woke up because she was excited about Santa coming. She had a dream about it.
She fell back asleep after thinking happy thoughts in her room for about an hour.
Mark woke up. He ate. He vomited.
I took a shower
I did Laundry.
We made our bed.
mark Ate
We watched Colbert Report.
mark Ate
Mark fell asleep.
We went to sleep.
the dogs woke up.
John took the dogs out.
After going to sleep at 5:00 A.M. we are up again.
I guess the Christmas nap starts this year.

Merry Christmas everyone! I wonder when Danielle will wake up...

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Family Pictures

Rachelle visited us this week- for the Holidays. It was nice to see her. I kept trying to arrange pictures for Christmas but it didn't work- my phone actually stopped working for a day and I finally gave up.
then I realized Rachelle takes pictures. I did what anyone would do- went out in the 20 degree weather and got our photo taken. Danielle didn't really cooperate but I thought I looked OK in some of the photos. and I love the picture of John and Mark.

here I am with my signature squint eye making its appearance.

you can't even tell we were freezing to death.
I love my shoes in this photo. This is the only one where you can actually see them- I guess you shouldn't base your whole outfit on shoes because it probably won't work out.
here's my cute little baby. Danielle was convinced she should take her coat off. She was cold after that so she put it back on. The whole photo session lasted about 30 minutes. I don't Danielle could have made it any longer. Then we went out to lunch.
I made Christmas cards out of the pictures. So if you want one send me your address. Unless you already did. Thanks Rachelle!

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Locks


Well we finally gave in and switched the lock around on Danielle's door three days ago. I couldn't take it any more that Danielle was sleeping 8 hours a day. She defeated the child lock and all sorts of other contraptions. Three days of bliss- where she actually had quiet time and went to sleep when we noticed she was tired and put her to bed.

Today she got out.

Like any decent human being, I drowned my sorrows in eating.
I feel much better now.

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Lights!



We are putting up holiday lights and I couldn't be more excited. Check out our CANDY CANES! I love all white lights on a house and candy canes. I've already broken two of the stakes though. Do they sell replacement stakes? Danielle keeps reminding me they are broken. Thanks for the reminder Danielle. One of the instances where a stake broke was me taking the kids on a walk in the double stroller. It gets cold but you can bundle them up and Danielle likes going on a ride in the exciting new stroller. I hope that will last a long time. After the snow storm our cute little trees on the steps fell down. One of them fell into the snow. You see that odd white spot on the tree? If you can't see it well enough in the whole house picture you probably need a closer view. I guess the snow froze into a great cube. Most of the snow is gone but now we have lots of ice.


Still to do?

  • put up lights on the top part of house
  • surround the post with lights
  • put lights on the tree with the ornaments
  • put lights on the wreaths in the window
  • put out christmas welcome mat
  • but 10,000 lighted deer lawn ornaments for our front lawn.
  • buy that fantastic blow up santa Danielle asks for every time we see it at the store.

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Sunday Thoughts

photos of my first haircuts.

hair. everywhere. There are still little bits on the floor of the bathroom. Those of you who know me should know that I am not entirely for cutting your kids' hair. It drives me crazy that people just shave their husbands heads at the same length all over so they look like great fuzzballs. Many children also look afflicted with a great infection on their heads.
Unfortunately Danielle has fallen into this category. I have no delusions about being a hairdresser. Once I cut someone's hair but they were coming from a very bad place so it couldn't really get any worse. When Danielle was born I tried to pay others to cut her hair. Her sleep movement patterns still create a great fuzzball but they don't eliminate all her hair anymore. It is challenging to have a girl with a semi bald head. I thought a professional could help make something from her hair.
Sometimes I was right. More often than not I was incorrect. Danielle hates to sit still. She hates getting her haircut. She is very impatient. Once she looked fantastic. All the other times she looked either mediocre or TERRIBLE.
I decided that if her hair was going to look horrible I could do it. I am confident in my ability to produce an ugly haircut. so we went to Target and bought a hair cutting kit.
We have already recouped the initial cost and my family is happy with their very amateur haircuts. Today- in what was one of the most frightening experiences of my marriage- I gave John a haircut. Giving an adult a haircut makes me want to poo my pants. The only person who had more fear than I did was John. Rude.
Maybe if he doesn't pay attention I will give him a mullet. Danielle could get a mullet too, if only she would grow hair in the back.

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Stress


Sometimes I like to make things when I am stressed. One of the greatest ways to eliminate stress is to just clean and eliminate what you are stressed about. Or to finish projects. Last week was one of the worst days I've had in a long time- including no sleeping. I tried a few different designs and ruined a few snaps as I was making the dishcloths. I used interfacing to attach a happy circle of fabric to these cheesecloth towels. Sara gave me the idea to attach a snap so you could put the cloth on a drawer handle or the oven door handle.
I can't decide if I like having the snap on the side of the circle or the center.
the day didn't get any better- but useless questions are a good distraction.
As are about 6 cupcakes.

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Happy Christmas


My mom was always good at getting us Hallmark Ornaments. I like Hallmark ornaments- so I felt guilty when I admitted to my sister that I also really liked glass ball ornaments. So now I have both. Since Danielle steals the Hallmark ornaments and breaks them they aren't on the tree yet this year. (although two of them got broken before I made the decision not to put it up.)
I tried to make the tree match the room this year- and our "grown up room" has orange and green and a little pink. It is still a work in progress though- for example there are no pictures in the stocking holders I got SUPER cheap at the pottery barn outlet. Happiness is a silver photo holding stocking holder for really cheap at the pottery barn outlet.
Happiness is also having a bunch of pink Christmas Tree ornaments- I am still open to receiving more, since we only have enough to cover one part of the tree. I have a really happy orange storage ottoman in this room-currently it is the home of the my little pony collection. The room is still in development so wait until I finish painting and decorating and post about it. Actually probably wait a long time- nothing is as fast these days.

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Dear Neighbors

Dear Neighbors,
Thank you for being our only friendly neighbors. I was just wondering if you would be willing to share a cookie. From the tin I was going to give to you. I really like you guys so I was going to go all out and get you the most fantastic present I could think of. Our neighbors used to give us a HUGE tin every Christmas. They were Romanian and also great at building things and fixing cars. So pretty much everything you could ever ask for in a neighbor. I guess just this yearly gift qualified them as everything I ever wanted in a neighbor though.
Is it still a present if I've eaten all the sugar coated pretzel cookies? How about just five of them?
Love,
Janae

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Photo Shoot with Children.

I am somehow unable to organize a photo shoot for my family. John usually shouldn't come home until seven o'clock and it is dark by then.
so sometimes I bribe Danielle to sit on the couch with Mark.- OK I guess threaten is a more accurate term. She looked cute on Monday and so did Mark. But the photo shoot didn't go perfectly...


Mark was trying to fall asleep so he did his flailing arm and overexcited routine before falling asleep.

Danielle didn't want to look at the camera, and don't even think about smiling.

why does this look so bad- I am clearly not a professional photographer and the brown couch might have looked better than the poorly draped blanket over the brown couch.

mark isn't actually making any noise in this photo. and Danielle is trying to hug him. Why is this photo the funniest thing I've seen in a long time?

This is the best one we got- the shadow hides the tears in Danielle's eyes and seconds later Mark's hat covered his eyes.

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Etsy Baby Shower- Cute Hat!


I love Etsy. Twice a year they have a baby shower for new or expecting moms. You can participate if you adopted a baby as well. Normally I donate to some mom. They started a blog for the baby shower and you should definately check it out. This time I signed up and Mark got lots of super cute baby items. One of the shops was Spinklewithsugar from etsy. they make knitted hats and cupcakes and even iphone holders. I LOVE the hat that they gave me. I love how etsy tries to get people involved and support each other.

Here is Sprinklewithsugar's Etsy Profile:
"So glad that you have dropped by for a visit! While I love staying home taking care of my three children, it is clear I have a problem. I can't stop knitting. It began in University and I have never looked back. I adore creating things for babies and feel it is so special that parents choose my creations for someone so precious. There are not enough hours in the day to create all the stuff swimming around in my brain.
Etsy has given me so much more then a place to showcase my work. I love meeting the amazing people that come on here and chatting with them. My Chemo Cap has also led me to meeting some very brave women who I think about often. I feel very blessed to have found Etsy and I hope my shop continues to grow...."

Thank you so much for your generosity- Mark loves his hat!

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Two Children


Something tells me that Danielle has a hard time with baby Mark. She always says she loves him and she likes to cuddle him. She doesn't try to act like a baby or take his things. But she has had some hard times since he was born. One thing she has learned is that when mommy is taking care of baby Mark she can do ANYTHING!
Not good.
This week she "painted" all over my nice rug and the white carpet with yogurt while I was changing the babies diaper.
She also climbed on the counter and got in the cupboard at night while I was feeding the baby and John was taking the dog out. She ate some tylenol and "painted" all over her room with it. She can open child safe bottles better than I can. John took her to the hospital and after a few hours we learned she didn't eat enough to poison herself.
Danielle knows she can feed the dog anything when mom is feeding baby Mark.
Danielle knows I will come fast if she tries to get Mark out of his crib.
Danielle seems to only want to go potty while Mark is eating. She is having trouble with the potty thing. How do people potty train a child when they have a new baby? She says it is too hard to go poo on the potty- because she gets impatient. That doesn't stop her from trying to change her own diaper after she goes poo. YUCK. At least she doesn't go to the bathroom on the floor when I am taking care of baby Mark, which I have heard some children do.
Danielle runs into my room while I am feeding the baby and steals whatever she can get her hands on. Usually my deodorant or clothing.

Now if only I could get her to get me a burp cloth and a drink of water while I am feeding him...

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Greedy Greedy


Here are some things I want for Christmas. You should buy some of them for yourself too because they are FANTASTIC. So fantastic I haven't purchased them yet. sad. My list is ridiculously long. Also I would like lots of things not on the list. The other day we went to someone's house for Thanksgiving and I brought a hostess gift because I saw a commercial on TV about hostess gifts. I guess I am susceptible to consumer suggestion. Sometimes I stop fast forwarding the DVR to see a really exciting commercial.

1. grapefruit countertop cleaner from Williams Sonoma
2. Tablecloths- 70 inch round 90 inch round - 70 by 90 and a matching floor mat. I really like having a tablecloth on the table and I love having options. I don't have any round tablecloths.
3. White frames.
4. Amenity Home floor pillows with orange in them.
5. Mint Meltaways- yum.
6. Nook. So cool. I like Barnes and Noble- they give So many points through Mypoints. I like mypoints. Every year I do most of my online shopping through them and get free gift cards. Love it.
7. Scarf.
8. Greek Key frame.
9. Illume candle in Pineapple Cilantro. they were on sale at Borders in the stores.
10. Amy Butler Rug. Rugs are such a luxury item- Although they also save your carpet which I could use. I love these rugs from Amy butler. Any Rug any size- when are rugs ever on your needs list though? Never.
11. Hartwell Sofa in Black Leather. Let me guess- you weren't planning on spending enough on me to get a sofa. Probably you weren't planning on getting me anything. This is why the sofa is on a list rather than in my home...
12. Pink Laquer tray or figurine of any kind from Jonathan Adler. Or customer designed pillows titled Janae- designing pillows is a great waste of time I think.
13. Yellow Pegboard Panels
14. Stockholm storage products in Orange. Two document boxes- two letter boxes and six magazine files. Or any of them- they are so exciting- I love the container store. I have a crush on it.
15. Japanese Echino Fabric or Japanese ribbon- you can find it on etsy. Or lots of places. I love ALL OF IT.
16. Fabric from Minkydelight.com I pretty much just love fabric.
17. A nice bracelet. I like Lois Hill jewelry. and I don't have any bracelets. It is hard to find cool bracelets- so I don't have any.
18. Stationery- I have a great love of all paper products.
19. Wall Art or letterpress cards from sweetbeets- they are great.
20. Wall hanging clock from Decoylab in lime.
21. Knobs from Anthropologie- the calico frog knob or Bazaar Aisles Knobs in the Orange Motif. I want 4-8 of both of them. I love the cute knobs at Anthropologie.
22. Dewpoint Blouse. So cute.
23. Fluevog shoes.
24. Lamb Juva Shoes. So hot and so expensive.
25. Toyata Highlander or Honda Pilot. Lovely cars.
26. To sell lots of stuff on Etsy. To have 2 hours a day to sew things.
27. For someone to organize my basement and paint the walls.
28. For a 4 hour nap one day.
29. for tile in the Kitchen rather than the linoleum. It's true.

also there is this great chair here that is white and bright pink. I want it. It costs 350.00. I will probably never have it.

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