Mark likes Monte.
Monte likes Mark.
I am glad because mark misses Danielle, who entertained him all day every day before.
Monte comes from a family with pets, so he is really careful around the baby.
Like every dog, Monte knows baby vomit is a tasty treat. He also likes baby food and the smell of diapers. Monte plays with his ball and grouchy Mark laughs.
So I want to re-do some of our bathrooms (read: all of our bathrooms.) The house is in such good condition but really- having an all yellow bathroom is an eyesore. With original Mustard Yellow Toilet! We have proof that they never broke a toilet seat since you can't buy that color anymore. Since all the homes in this neighborhood sell for way more than we got our home for I thought we had a great opportunity on our hands.
I read somewhere that the easiest way to increase the value of your home is to re-do the bathrooms or kitchen. Then I read that it was to keep your lawn looking nice. Then I read that it was to put in hardwood. Or put in a new front door and garage door to increase the curb appeal. Too much reading...
My sister in law has china. My siblings have china. jealous. John said i could pick a pattern.
I love the kate Spade "June Lane Gold" China. You can get it a Macy's.
k great on a little cake plate from vesselsandwares.etsy.com?
Do you ever dream of paying someone to clean your house? Do you ever wonder if they will do a good job or not? Once I thought of hiring our babysitter to clean our house and making a checklist. Then I realized that my mom checking off our bathroom chores as a child has ruined my appreciation of when John does chores. He may have done the dishes on my turn but he forgot to clear and wipe off the table.
I am honestly a little happy about being critical. Even though I live in constant fear and shame when people are coming to visit, I know HOW to clean my house.
and now I have a rotating checklist to prove it.
Today I Did a few chore lists
Dishes
Straightening
Danielle's Room
Hallway
Living Room
Piano Room
Kitchen
I didn't do the bathrooms. That would have been a catch up since it is on Monday's list. This week is a little different since we were out of town and I am tired.
tomorrow is technically Etsy day where I focus on the office and try to make lots of stuff. That might mean I get to work in the basement. Or I play outside with my kids and try to mow the lawn. Or catch up from being out of town on the day I was supposed to deep clean my bedroom- I tried to do that today and missed laundry day. Yesterday I missed the bathrooms. I started them today and got a little distracted. I will be re-finishing the sink and cabinet and painting the walls. Also maybe replacing the sink and faucet. I tried a stone spray paint for funsies for the counter top. It looks great so far. At least all of Danielle' drawers are folded and her closet only has clothes that fit her. My room can just be messy until Saturday I guess. Does anyone want to donate money for new light fixtures, toilet, sink, and wall tile? I didn't think so- so this no money but I have some paint lying around renovation might not be the most impressive thing you've ever seen. I am convinced it will be a little bit of an improvement though.
right after I did the piano room I had a picnic with my kids on the floor in there. smart. very smart.
I guess I felt guilty about only having a blog for Mark...
http://daniellesthirdyear.blogspot.com/
Dear Yard,
I hate you.
I hate you so, so much.
I guess it isn't enough that I found the carcasses of about 10,000 meal worms in the flower bed last fall when I was planting bulbs. You decided to also reveal that the shrubs had carpenter ants. Then I noticed some funny white things on the ground cover. Fungus? Thanks for getting that. And the holes all over the grass? Are those from the chipmunks I see running all over or from voles? Lucky for me I imported over 8 bags of dirt for our garden. Only one of them had a cloud of mosquitoes fly out when I dumped it. One of those mosquitoes bit my poor little baby.
Why are there huge patches of grass dying? Could that be the rodents? I see rabbits and squirrels and chipmunks, but maybe there is something else.
Dear ivy, thanks for trying to take over our ground cover and growing over our back window.
I am also glad to know that the ground bees have survived the cold winter.
At least the tree didn't fall on our house. Or rather, only one more branch fell on our house after we pack 2000.00 to get them trimmed. A week later I found out one of our friends from church actually trims trees for a living and would have done it for much less.
I am happy that John decided to cut down some trees in the winter and then discovered the quickest way to make a rabbits den- just leave them under the snow when it snows two feet the day after you trim your shrubs. I am so excited that rabbit poop is a good fertilizer since our lawn is littered with it.
I am also glad that you froze like two days before our fence was going to go in and now we have to wait until June. I am so excited that whatever mystery neighborhood dog is crapping in our back yard will still have that opportunity.
I am glad that the people who lived here before us probably spend 3 hours in their yard every day and I can't keep up. I am super grateful to my grass that died all winter and now wants me to mow it every other day. I am excited about the overgrown rhododendron and the dead one.
Thank goodness that I could spend so much money on seed and insect control.
Thanks for having spider nests in all your bushes and letting me spot just a tiny little termite the other day.
You must know that I am allergic to cats and might not be able to get a mouser. I might try though.
I just wanted to share a little "halfway through the project" flower bed from the backyard. Thank goodness for homeowners who planted an evergreen tree on their property line. And put a 500 lb rock right where a fence could go.
I was just wondering if you think I should try to maintain you or just re-sod before we move out. Also what color rocks do you think I should replace all the ground cover with- and how toxic is that insecticide- should I wait a few years on my garden?
You are sucking my life and money away.
You are lucky Danielle loves you and we have to dog to chase out the squirrels.
Just one more question- what the hell is this mound?
Have a great day
Janae
So I started a new blog about baby Mark. It is a little over a week old. Carlie came up with the idea. Also Danielle told me today that Aunt Carlie is nice, but sometimes Aunt Carlie takes things. Whenever mark's toy can't be found Aunt Carlie is the culprit. Missing shoes? also from Aunt Carlie.
Aunt Carlie- I want my shoes back. and that candy that was lying on the counter and was left alone with Danielle.
I have posted a few things and a daily photo of baby mark. You can find the blog at babybookofdays.blogspot.com
Our little old man is getting older- soon he will fit into the hawaiian shirts I bought him for 99 cents before he was born.
Now if only I can get a pair of loafers and some baby sunglasses with one of those attachment strings, we will be ready for vacation this summer.
My dreams of going to the biggest loser resort will have to be postponed until after I am done breastfeeding. But when you kid gets a new teeth you feel sort of done so...
now i have to go start getting ready for Danielle's birthday tomorrow. She wants blue milk.
Oh the legacy of the Easter Bunny lives on.
Here is our last post on Mark's blog.
Woke up late
Played outside with daddy
got really cold.
my teeth are bleeding again.
Pooed on my outfit.
Kept waking up from my naps.
Helped mommy clean my room.
Played with My toys from Grandma.
bonked my head on my crib. I'm not as good at sitting up as I want to be.
Mommy put me in the Moses basket with my toys after that.
Celebrated Danielle's birthday early.
Pooed on my outfit and on mommy's outfit.
Went to bed around 11:00
Went to church today.
In our church people give a lesson and ask people questions about what they think about the scriptures and if they have had personal insight. It is a great way to learn from other people and Also a great way to hear some CRAZY opinions from your neighbors at church. What might otherwise be a perfectly normal individual may suddenly reveal themselves as a crazy church commenter.
it makes people like me fear. fear for what they will say next, and of course, fear to say anything. because there are people listening and thinking you are strange. people like me.
OH CHURCH COMMENTS- WHEN WILL YOU NOT BE WEIRD?
Perfect mom series can't be on Sunday this week.
Why? because-
We had a lesson on Adam and Eve.
They read the scripture where it said that Eve was happy about eating the fruit because then they could have children. Some lady in church was commenting on how great that was and how it is women who know what is going on.
I thought about this one time that my grandma and aunt were over an hour late to meet us for lunch. They sat down and told us where they were without apologizing. Then they told each other how good it was that they went to costco and sees candy first because they couldn't have done it any later.
So today I learned something in church. Justifying your behavior has such a strong historical precedent. Good thing because the next time I try to think of why not doing the dishes felt so right I will know that I am fulfilling my destiny. I was born to say what I did was the correct thing to do!
Then some church lady talked about how now that they were out of the garden they have the right to work. Right to work?
I think Eve was a republican as well. I didn't get to ask that lady what she thought. Would Eve be a working mom now? They really must not have been making an informed decision.
Eve looked beyond the awesomeness and saw that she could have children.
Just like that I was distracted- thinking about how lots of people want to have children- like that pregnant couple where the "man" was pregnant. But the man was actually a woman who had a sex change but no hysterectomy and lived with a woman.
Which made me think of how gay couples could fulfill existence according to this woman's comment.
Which made me realize they probably used a sperm donor.
Next- artificial insemination.
Which made me think about if it was possible to extract the DNA of two people and combine them to make a child.
Next- cloning-
Which made me think about that one preview I saw about the people cloning humans and using Bat? DNA to make a human thing that kills people in what looks like a strange horror movie.
I guess if they tried to put your DNA together with another person's you would somehow need to have a bat involved.
Maybe I'm not very good at staying on topic. Somewhere when I was thinking about bat boy they moved on to a new topic. I don't know what it was- Mark needed to be fed so I went to the mother's lounge. then the lesson was over.
I never got to ask what people thought about how this related to gay marriage, human cloning and most importantly, bats.
maybe that is a good thing.
noteworthy comment: "so when Adam named Eve the mother of all living what was she thinking- that she was the mother of the animals! (insert a small laugh after this word, said mockingly) she had to have kids- it was her name"
awesome.
Thanks that one lady who made all the funny comments. You are outspoken, and the teacher doesn't really know how to respond to what you say.
and that is what church is all about.
The Candy Purge
Well Everyone- It has finally arrived. It started Tuesday when we had to put Danielle to bed at 6:30 and she wouldn't eat her dinner. Of course I think a few days after Easter every parent laments their lives, but I am sick of Danielle not eating. We lock her in her seat, she makes aliens with her peas.
It is so hit and miss with her- she will eat all sorts of healthy foods sometimes. Other days I am wondering when she will wake up in the middle of the night to eat.
When we moved to Scranton she lost five pounds. I took a child development class that said you shouldn't really force kids to eat- you should give them healthy options. I have always tried to have healthy food available for her- I've never seen a kid that liked peppers as much as Danielle. But five pounds is way too much for a toddler to lose. We started forcing her to eat. Then I found out she was anemic. She has gained weight though, and is back up to the original weight. I guess moving was really stressful for her.
The first day after the candy purge- Danielle found Daddy's candy on his desk from Easter
Day two- Danielle got the Nutella off the counter.
Day three- Danielle found leftover starburst from the diaper bag.
Day Four- She climbed on the desk and found some chocolates I had from Valentine's day. Really- I still had chocolate?
If I ever want candy I will ask Danielle where to find some.
I think all of our candy is gone.
I don't know who misses it more- me or Danielle.
probably me.
Dear Pets,
I thought we should talk about some things. Today we ran out of batteries and I think maybe you should be able to run a little faster. you are just a little bit lazy. Did your parents strike up a bargain with Duracel? Are your parents named Energizer? Somehow Danielle knows that you eat batteries.
Maybe you really are a hamster. Yet you make cow noises. Did you know that most animals don't squeek and beep and make car noises. Actually birds make great car noises and beeps just like you do. At least our African Grey Parrot used to. People were convinced that we had an alarm on our apartment from the wonderful beeping that accompanied the opening door. 
Also it took him so long to learn words but that fire alarm took about 2 seconds to learn.
You claim to have a "cuddle" setting. I have never experienced this setting and there doesn't seem to be an instruction manual in your box.
Also, your warning not to bring you in bed is very smart. and I can totally understand that you warn children to avoid getting you close to their hair. Do Hamsters eat hair?
You should know that most children don't read.
For example my daughter does not read.
Danielle was very sad and happy that I helped cut her pet from her hair. I think she understands the warning without even reading it.
now her bangs have a few more layers. We're glad you are new additions to our family. Now stop trying to eat your loving owner.
thanks,
Janae
Some days I want to quit. Then I realize that I am not dramatic enough to quit. Someone would ask me "why" and I wouldn't have a reason and I would be behind and feel silly about my melodramatic fit.
In February I made a goal to pay for my power bill with stuff from my etsy shop. I joined twitter. My goal: 400.00 dollars. The cost of my power bill for that month. I discovered a window that had been open for probably most of the winter. I cried a little about it. My goal was going well at first but I don't really know how to sell things, much less set goals about sales.
Probably 400 dollars was lofty considering I usually average less than 50 a month. I tweeted links all the time. I actually let twitter update my facebook status. I think I annoyed myself. My mom bought stuff. My sister Claire bought stuff. My aunt Sara's sister bought stuff (which was some of my favorite stuff. I kind of want it back.) To my astonishment, I met my goal. So I decided to keep it steady for the next month. Well on March 31st I realized if I did over 300 dollars in sales I would meet it. Not quite as good this month. I like how some people make loads of money on etsy, but I have always considered it more of a hobby.
March was full of hard changes. I didn't like March. Historically I spend much more in February than any other month of the year (thanks spending reports- what a great feature!) I just don't like it when the world turns dark and cold and happy paper and fabric seems to brighten it a little. Really I could probably save money by going tanning or getting one of those light boxes.
It snowed a lot and I wondered if spring would ever come. I realized that running outside is a whole lot harder than on the treadmill. I still might have to move my half marathon back a few months. We decided to be better with our budget and money. My mom bought me a financial peace university course. I shredded all of my credit cards (our shredder has this cute little slot.) My etsy shop paid for all of my sewing supplies for custom orders and a new set of cards.
Our power bill went up 100 dollars. Last month our power bill actually topped 500 dollars for a combined gas and power bill over 800 dollars. I realized how many people complain constantly about not being featured on etsy enough. I have never been on the front page. I decided I needed to make cooler stuff.
Realizing how much I like things and success has made me think of different ways to work. Paul and Brooke always talk about using the cash method and we tried it. Turns out I am very stingy with my cash. I don't want you to touch it. It's mine. Like the time we found Sam under the kitchen table stroking a quarter and murmuring "mine" under his breath. I am a little Gollum with cash money.
I also got some beautiful things for decorating (one of my weaknesses) by trading. Pomlove asked me to trade for a baby tie. I died a little of happiness. Seriously I couldn't believe it- her poms were in a shoot for Anthropologie. Who doesn't love something called "Happy. Floating. Paper."? My little businessman is popular it turns out. and I had to let him wear his tie to church on the day I was speaking. It went well until he had a blowout all over his Sunday clothes. Guess we only had one set of those- huh.
I don't always know if I should make things- does it take away from my kids? Am I wasting my time? I didn't even know how to sew before I was pregnant with Danielle and sometimes I still question my skills. I know I could make better things- all the fabric was just in the freezing cold basement and I lacked inspiration. I thought about closing up shop.
Then Carlie visited and Mark started sleeping through the night and I realized I don't want to. Even if I don't make the coolest things on earth and I am not paying for Danielle's college, I am happy about it. I pay fast offering with etsy money. I paid a power bill with etsy money. I paid for lunch yesterday with etsy money. It is something that brings me happiness, even when I am depressed. I read a lot about postpartum depression. I know I have had it with both kids but it's never as exciting or bad as some people get it. It's a mediocre problem, just like my lackluster etsy shop.
That's all right though, because it is mine. I'm not going to be sitting under the table anytime soon (especially with that yucky laminate) but I appreciate what I have a little more.
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