7 Years

Well yesterday was our 7 year anniversary. and I still don't feel old enough to be grown up and married.
It was a little different from every other year since we have our little baby who wants to be held all the time. We didn't go anywhere or have the most romantic night ever (remember how I had a baby five days ago?). We didn't get each other presents.  We didn't even give cards. I'm OK with it.
This year we decided not to do much for our anniversary and Christmas and keep everything low key. It's different when we're trying not to worry about things like that. I didn't have to worry about getting a better present than last year.  I put some things on my Christmas list that didn't require money- but I don't really need to get anything. I've never really been one who opposes the worldly fun of Christmas but it can wait a year.  Or several years until John is done with school and residency.

  Then last minute I thought- hey we could go out to dinner so I tried to get a babysitter.  We ended up taking a nap, which is what we truly wanted to do, while the kiddos ran around and played.  Except Andrew. For lunch we had Pizza from Wegmanns and celebrated our Family birthday.  The kids got a cute cupcake and I got a fruit tart and John got a pepsi with real sugar in it. Danielle was super thrilled when she learned it was someone's birthday, and even though it was the least impressive birthday party we've ever had she seemed to like her pet crab. Then I went to the fabric store with my mom and poor John had no idea where I went. Guess I turned off the baby monitor downstairs and he didn't get the message... Also nice that even though I fed the baby right before I left it seems like he woke up as soon as I walked out the door.  I left milk in the fridge...
Maybe not John's favorite day.
It's nice to wake up in the night and have someone there.  John was there hearing me act like a lunatic just last week and still loves me.  He said I did a good job having the baby even though I suspect I acted insane and I swore at him more than once. But that's another story.  He also let me pick the final name since I was getting confused ten minutes after we picked one.  We thought Mike and Mark weren't too close but I got a little confused.  Maybe it was the drugs I was on. But he said he didn't care and he's happy with it either way.  I was happy that he cares what I think even though I felt silly. I'm happy that John is the type of person that can deal with change.  I wish I was more like him in how he is content with himself even if things aren't according to his "plan." It amazes me.
I love being with someone and being comfortable around each other. We don't need a big production. I love how John sat up with the baby the night before our anniversary since he won't sleep unless he's held.  I love spending time together. I love that he works so hard for his family and likes our kiddos.
7 years ago we got married and I was glad to have someone who I felt like would be easy to be with. I was really attracted to how he seemed to love other people and have a sense of loyalty.  It's hard to find someone with an internal sense of how important people are. I love that we are partners in crime, trying to figure out this whole parenting thing that he seems better at than I do.

Happy Birthday to our family.

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Sunday Thougts...

Baby Mark turned two on Sunday. He still seems like my little baby to me. We celebrated Saturday since John had to work Sunday and it was so nice to see our little family together. It was a little hard for me not to plan a huge party with friends but Mark isn't as social as Danielle so I think he had a good day. He likes other kids but if we have too many over Mark goes and plays alone. mark got a Hokey Pokey Elmo.  and some pets that he has been carrying with him ever since. He got clothes. He was a happy boy. Since he loves Elmo lately we had an Elmo themed family party.
There was much joyful yelling.
After cake and presents Mark was a tired boy. the elmos we also put down for a nap in the play tunnel. In our family we have a tradition that when it is your birthday you get everyone presents and Danielle was thrilled with the idea.  Also happy about: Mark doesn't like to rip open the presents to she got to do it. Parties are a big deal to Danielle. She even changed her clothes to prepare for the party- I guess she wanted a "party dress."
On Mark's actual birthday I was having a rough day (read: barfy pregnant lady) and three people came over- Adrienne did my dishes and I almost cried.  Then Carrie came and the kiddos got to play. Then Stephanie came and we all had fun. It was so nice to have people over when John was gone all day.  For some reason I'm unbelievably tired. My doctor said it was normal when you had a parasite of this size lol. I don't know how some moms do it-I wish I lived closer to family a lot of the time.  but I'm glad I have friends.

tired from partying so hard

My mom asked for lots of photos, so here they are.  Also you might notice that Halloween has started in our family. I love Halloween. More decorations will be added.  I like to check out Halloween decorations after the season is over- but this year the decorations are sadly lacking.  I guess that's what happens when the economy is struggling.

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Birthday List. I'm turning 30.

well today is mother's day. complete with that creepy story about the mom who breaks into her son's bedroom his whole life. Please tell me I'm not the only one who can't get over how creepy this story seems? Maybe because the first time I heard it a creepy teacher read it- I don't know. I'm just really glad for mother's day that my mother in law doesn't just REALLY want to rock her sons to sleep still. She's super nice, but not in a creepy over involved way.
Also, at least two of the people we sent mother's day flowers to today did NOT get them. Fail.
Yesterday I was talking to my little sister (who is 25) about mother's day and and she asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Perfect. I love talking about stuff I want. Then mom asked me. and I realized I hadn't made a huge blog list for all my friends to look at and ignore.
This is like a portion of my birthday. I've talked a lot about the awesomeness of birthday lists. Maybe I should try to start making a mom shopping guide. and when i say mom I mean just make extensive lists of stuff I want.
So here are some things I want. I decided to leave off the traditional car since I want a new car for John and the Deck, because if you've ever spoken to me you know I want a deck, and that I won't get it for my birthday.

Stuff that is awesometastic.

1. White Pottery Barn Frames. I want 3 8 by 10 s and some 4 by 6 single opening frames.
2. Bulbs from Dutch Gardens. I want the Pink Estate Quantities. and the Cartouche Tulips. I also really want some irises.
3. Fabric. I really Like Japanese echino fabric. I always think I will make things for my etsy shop with it but really it's too precious for that so I don't. My favorite seller of this fabric on etsy is MountainoftheDragon. You should check out her shop.
4. A cushion for my outdoor glider in Delray Azure from Ballard Designs. OK or any blue fun color. The link is to the right size.
5. A copper trellis for my beans.
6. Wireless Remote Grilling thermometer from Williams Sonoma
7. Barnes and Noble gift cards. I have a nook and I LOVE it.
8. A Grilling brand from Williams Sonoma. How FREAKING cool is that?
9. Kitchen Towels. You could even buy them from me...
10. Kitchenaid. I want a teal one. or a blue one. Or a green one... or whatever.
11. Electric pepper mill.
12. New cookie sheets
13. Family Photos
14. a massage
15. a haircut and color.
16. Decorative Packing tape. I also love all paper products. Love.
    
17. makeup.
    
18. Hair Elastics
19. Perfume- I want cool water for women and Chanel Allure and Eclat d'arpege
20. Ceramic Jonathan Adler fox.
21. A jigsaw.
    

service I want- like a million things. OK really this is a to do list. No one would ever be able to do all these things. Which is why they would end up on my list.

1. all my dandelions pulled up
2. the raspberries tied back.
3. My trellises installed.
4. Dirt spread around the back flower beds.
   
5. stairs to the basement finished.
6. batteries in my kitchen scale.
7. my bathrooms cleaned. and my kitchen floor. I hate cleaning the kitchen floor. maybe because I have to do it several times a day...
   
8. Garage shelves moved.
9. Toilet installed upstairs.
10. Roses planted
11. Raspberries planted
    

Ridiculous stuff I wouldn't really ever ask for but wouldn't it be cool if I was rich and got this stuff?

1. Ipad. hello, awesome.
2. Lamb Shoes from Piperlime.
3. Tucker Panel Dress. It's so fun and colorful. and expensive. I love it.
4. Nook Color. I love my nook, but I love the color one more... what a greedy waste of money, right?
5. Breville Toaster Oven. It got the highest ratings, you know.
6. A Canon Camera. I have a Nikon. My son destroyed it. Thanks, Mark.
7. a deck.
8. a shed.
9. Amy Butler Rug
10. Amy Butler wallpaper
11. personal training
    

Stuff I want to do.

1. Go to the movies
2. Go out to dinner with my friends.
3. Go on a bike ride. (so I guess those tires need to be blown up...)
4. Cheesecake Factory. OK maybe I'm craving that now...
   

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Danielle is Four

Danielle was pretty thrilled when she got a new outfit and a package on her birthday. She decided to put it on right away and declared it a perfect princess dress. Mark was also excited about his outfit.

every princess needs a cake, so I decorated a cake for the first time for a birthday. Danielle thought the pink was very important, and the candles.

happy birthday little one.
I love you so much.


Danielle was born on her due date. She is like that.
I try not to think about that- I still haven't forgotten labor, like people say you do.

I can't believe at one she had five teeth and could walk. Mark could not walk, but he had almost all his teeth. She sure loved cake. Mostly smashing it.

When Danielle was two she wanted to feed her cupcake to dad. She loved to share.

at three we played with bubbles all day and she wore her dress I made her.

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Dear Friend: Happy Birthday

Wool Felt Present Topper by Eclu on Etsy

Dear Friend,

I just wanted you to know that I am planning to ship your birthday present today. I know that your birthday was yesterday. To celebrate your birthday I found a box to mail your present in. Then I wrapped your Christmas present. I decided to mail them together. You know which one is for your Birthday because it isn't wrapped. That wouldn't fit in the box. Actually it probably would but in the frenzy of preparing the package I didn't want to venture into the cold basement where the wrapping paper is. I predict that by the end of the week the basement will be warmer, since we are getting carpet down there and some heaters. Well maybe some heaters if we buy them.

Not that I'm making excuses. I hope you are still accepting presents. I actually accept presents year round FAMILY, so I think you will too. Even though I'm pretty sure you sent me my present on time.

Also you should know that my husband's family is still waiting for their birthday presents this year. Do you think it is rude to wrap them in Christmas paper and write on them "happy birthday" with a Sharpie marker? I love sharpie markers- I want some of them in my stocking this year. Since I waited until December to purchase a years worth of Birthday presents they probably won't be that great. Also technically I think this is his fault- and not just because everything in our marriage that goes wrong is his fault (we worked that little bit out before we got married, a wife is there to nag and everything is the huband's fault.) They are his family so I mentally decided he was in charge of them this year- since he forgets to remind me of his mom's birthday sometimes. His dad gets a calendar from us every year since he asked us to make him one and his parents are divorced so mom isn't on the calendar. The first year we were married I "forgot" her birthday because he did. After that one year of embarrassment when I forgot to send the present in time I've decided to make my own calendar. Luckily now I'm facebook friends with his mom. Also I guess not shipping presents is a real habit of mine, because that has happened too. Then the people come see the present I was going to give them and I don't want them to think it's some cast off present, so it stays in my presents to be shipped bin. I actually have Thomas trains from two years ago for my nephews. I think they might have been part of that whole Chinese lead pant recall though plus I'm sure my nephews don't still use them so they are also in the bin.

Anyway I just wanted you to know when you open your present the Birthday gift isn't wrapped which I thought was appropriate since your birthday is over. Plus there is no card. I duct taped the box shut before I remembered to go get one. Also in the freezing basement.

Should I ship it separate?

Just want you to know you aren't off the hook for my birthday next year, and I'm sorry for delaying your birthday package thus making your December birthday even closer to the dreaded birthday destroyer Christmas.

Love ya- happy birthday a while ago

Janae

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Happy Bithday Mark!

Baby Mark is one, so I guess he is officially a toddler now.
He is also my squishy little love. He comes up to us and presses his open mouth against us to give kisses.
Here are 12 things to know about our 12 month old:

Mark likes to crawl about on the floor- if he can't have his freedom he gets very very upset.

Mark loves to play with danielle- I love that he calls me mama, John dada and Daniel da-el.

Mark has been taking steps for over three months and is still not walking.

Mark has to have something in his hand when he is eating.

Mark loves rugs.

Mark also loves dirt.

Mark doesn't like other people- he wants mommy and daddy with him and he wants to play with Danielle and if we are out he wants mommy to hold him. He is sure of this.

Mark puts toys away with us.

Mark loves to throw a ball and chase it.

Mark likes to feed Austin food from the table.

Mark wakes up twice a night to eat.

Mark hates car rides- he can stay up over 12 hours to complain about them.

We love our baby Mark. Happy Birthday.

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Birthdays and Presents

image from Raceytay on etsy. BEAUTIFUL. She is having a Buy One Get One Free sale right now.

I love birthdays. I love presents. There are so many great things about the two of them.
but I don't apparently love getting people presents on time. I have a list on my fridge of all of my in laws that have had birthdays this year. If you are crossed out we got you a present. Not many names are crossed out. They usually get together every summer and have a huge group birthday party but not this summer and I just haven't recovered. Plus the last card I send Karen came back to me so I keep meaning to call her and ask for her address. I keep failing. She is one of the hardest people to get a present for. Because she always gets thoughtful presents but doesn't seem to really care about presents.
I don't think I've ever managed to get my mother in law a present even in the same month as her birthday.
I don't know if my present problems this year is from having two children and being completely overwhelmed with that or trying to get a more firm grasp on budgeting or just that I am out of ideas.
But If I could get anything it would be a barbecue. I'm always still accepting birthday presents since I am so bad at giving them. And birth presents.
There is something beautiful about presents. I love when you find something and then you just know that someone will love it. I think of how people will react to things that I picked for them.
Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it is a fail.

Things I have learned.
1. The people who are the most picky are the people who say they don't care.
2. Presents that are off birthday or surprise presents seem more popular.
3. Table cloths seem like such a luxury item- my mom used to get them for me and now I love having them but wouldn't really buy them for myself. They are just nice to use and wash. All those kitchen items that my mom got me turned out to be really useful.
4. Claire and I don't have the same taste in presents. When I try to think of what to get her I think- how can I save Claire money. One of my strongest present memories was my mom giving Claire a ream of paper. I think Claire cried. She shared that paper.
5. I like to get people things that remind me of them, or things that I know they would like but they wouldn't get themselves. I always wish I had more money to spend on other people.
6. I hoard gift cards. Someone sent me a gift card to home depot and it hurt to give it away. There were so many options on what I wanted to get. I love having extra gift cards lying around.
7. I always buy people a card to go with their present but rarely give them. I have this really cute sock monkey card for Rachelle's birthday two years ago. Maybe someday she will get it, maybe not.
8. Always keep a stock of back up presents- people are thrilled when you give them a little something. I like to keep lotions and other presents.
9. Even though people say they don't care, usually they do. Friends get friends presents. To me that is one of the best parts about having a friend.
10. Presents = Love. I love the thought of people looking at something and remembering me. and sending it to me in the mail! Nothing is better than getting a present in the mail.

please forgive my scatterbrained-ness. I swear I will get all these presents mailed one of these days...

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My Birthday: Marriage Excellence Journals

Today is my birthday. last night baby Mark slept through the night the first time ever. He went to bed at 11:00. He is still asleep.
I just died a little of happiness.
So it's time for a new installment of- John and Janae's Marriage Excellence Program! Because marriage totally rocks. especially compared to being single in college.

A Journal-

A journal can be a beautiful thing. I just listed a Keep calm and carry on journal/notebook in my shop You can write about your dreams, your thoughts, your loves. You can record when your children played and how much you love your life. Now my church always tells people to keep track for your posterity. keep a journal, record your life.
This reminds me of a time when I was trying to tell John he always responds badly in a fight. He asked for specific details. Seriously most people can't remember the exact conversations they had about fighting. Well they can't remember them a few months later but what about if you kept a daily log? Could my religious institution be guiding me toward marital excellence by recording specific times? How much more valid would my complaint that he "never puts his shoes away" be if I had a log of every time I put those suckers in the closet?
It's time to be a record keeping people. For the sake of your marriage- write down when these fights happen. Saying "we always fight about dishes" doesn't mean anything if you haven't kept a record.
The John and Janae Program actually advocates three journals, the record keeping journal is the first of these. You know your spouse has asked you what the heck you are talking about in a fight- now you will be able to tell them.

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Sunday Thoughts

image from lavishbodyhome.com I WANT THIS CHAIR. but I want the 350 dollars it costs more. especially since I don't have it.

Today I dropped my baby girl off at Mark and Sara's and we drove back home. I made it in time for the church meeting I needed to go to. So what did I think about making? A list of things that I want for mother's day/my birthday.
I think it has been interesting thinking about how we come to marriage with different expectations. My first memory of Christmas with John's family was everyone getting an over sized gift bag with no tissue paper in it. The bags were identical with red poinsettias. John's oldest sister opened up the present and showed everyone and then John's dad asked for all the bags back so he could use them again the next year.
I had only been married for four days. Probably we should have just spent Christmas with each other. I will never forget the shocking impression- what the heck was this? Not the heavily steeped in tradition Christmas that I was used to. We all had our own colored wrapping paper for the presents under the tree and a coordinating print for our stockings.

Early on John and I realized we would need to plan our own traditions and meet somewhere in the middle. Or maybe even more detailed than anything we've ever known before.
Traditions for Mother's day and my birthday are also still in development. Part of me wants some grand gesture- like a fancy chair I've always wanted or some fancy jewelry.
Then I think about all the progress we've made with our budget.
Guess I'll just have to live out my dreams on out little blog.

Some fun Birthday Ideas and mother's day ideas. I hate that my first mother's day ever fell on my birthday. YUCK.

• I like it when John make's me Red Velvet Cake. I love Red Velvet cake- my grandma makes it, my aunt Michelle makes it. wouldn't a mini cake look great on a little cake plate from vesselsandwares.etsy.com?
• a fancy anything from lavishbodyhome.com
• a massage- there is a great girl at alexander's spa that I like. Wow they have some terrible reviews online. I like that girl though. Doesn't that seems like something that should happen on mother's day? I still have bad back pain from after Mark was born. sigh. today Diane showed me something that will probably help- it's awesome to have friends that do physical therapy.
• My family used to let you pick what food mom made you on your birthday- how cool. Too bad it's TONS of work. I think my mom was trying to make these holidays impossible to live up to.
• Fabric- oh how I love fabric. If i love it too much I can't sew with it because I have to keep it. I like the orange minky from minkydelight.com and I always do a google search for good coupon codes. Fabric.com also always has great deals and coupon codes. I am also totally in love with Echino Japanese fabric and little Japanese ribbons. Mountain of the Dragon is a great place to get the fabric. I had some Echino Damask fabric but it is out of print. and so, so many others....but fabric is a difficult present for a birthday- and would it offend people if I just kept it in a box on my desk? Maybe...
• my sister in law made a turquoise serving bowl I want- I have a similar one and would die to have two. her little etsy shop needs tons of support. I love the idea of supporting family and giving things to each other- like buying my sister in laws hair things from my sister for their birthdays. (so tell me what you like guys.)
• I love shoes- I am size 8 and a half.
• I love photography- I would like to take a class and learn how to really do it someday. Wouldn't it be nice to sign someone up for a photography class? Or a dental hygienist program? I would love that.
  
• I would love to have a room in the house painted.
• I would love ANYTHING from ZGallerie.com How cool is that place. also they have greek key bedding- which makes me die a little from happiness.
• how about a Jade bird bowl from Jonathan Adler. Or any of his white pieces. ZGallerie has some cheaper ones too. I would love a rhino on my mantle- or even a ceramic deer. I don't know if John would go for that- and my funkiness might decrease with time... it's so nice to collect the things I want and write them down- what a nice row of happiness.
  

well this idea list will have to be continued tomorrow. I am crazy tired.

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Two!

We taught Danielle how to show how old she is now.
Danielle likes to share. She fed John some of her cupcake.

Here are some pictures of Danielle with her cupcake.

It wasn't until Tuesday that I realized I was totally wrong about the date and Danielle had celebrated her birthday early. How embarassing. Luckily we have more cupcakes.

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Happy Birthday Danielle

Danielle is two today. She is super happy that for her birthday she gets to eat all her Easter candy. Sara and Mark came over Saturday for an Easter egg hunt. Here is Eddie wearing some of his spoils. Today we found some of the eggs the kids missed. We were all too busy rolling on the floor bloated from chocolate to take too many photos. I really liked doing something with family for Easter. It's way more fun to have so many kids looking for eggs than just Danielle. Although Danielle does have a killer instinct. We had to remind her not to hunt for eggs from other people's baskets.
We aren't really having a party for Danielle and I think we will do the official celebration this weekend. Meanwhile, Danielle is busy watching a show her grandma gave her with her dolly that we got her for her birthday. She got to eat noodles and take a bath today, so she has never been happier. The Easter candy probably helps.

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