Marky is Turning Two Soon, and his mom is a crazy pregnant lady.

I just realized I haven't done much crazy pregnant ranting in a few days.  In case you wonder why I never write and have dropped off the face of the planet, it is so I can avoid other people being exposed to the joy that is me in my full pregnant glory.
Just wait until I'm in my third trimester and not just 25 weeks.  Did I mention that the way I realized I was pregnant was that I lost my temper and told Danielle I quit being her mom?
yes I just pray that my kids will forgive me and other people won't notice me.  And that my mom will come visit me and let me take a nap. again.
Anyway Mark is almost two, which reminds me of being crazy and thinking about stuff I want to get for him and for the house and the new baby. This takes a lot of my time.

 The other day John said his mom wanted to know if Mark needed anything. I couldn't think of why someone would just randomly think of Mark- until I realized soon his birthday is approaching.  OK maybe that came out funny- well whatever the point is I have a good mother in law. She isn't super invasive but she's nice and a good listener.  And she plans things in advance. I know a lot of people who wouldn't ever ask and she even thought of it before Mark's own mother.  Which is surprising since we already have a few Halloween decorations up and I've purchased some Halloween candy. Maybe she wasn't thinking of Mark's birthday. I didn't ask- you can't ask stuff like that when you are just trying to listen in on a conversation in the next room over.

anyway I was unprepared- because I just always think "nothing" because he has lots of stuff.  he has lots of generous people sending him clothes. And he has a tickle me elmo that he takes with him everywhere and tries to bathe with. I feel like we are blessed to have stuff that our kiddos need.

I couldn't think of anything Mark needs, except maybe some toys to play with that aren't my little ponies or pink. Should I care if my boy has girl toys?  Now that there are going to be two boys maybe I should try to get some boy toys that someone hasn't given to me. Maybe.  It's just that when I am faced with a truck toy or a barbie I just want to go with my gut. He likes duplos and trains though, which I am totally on board with. 

The next day I realized that Mark really wants some sewing fabric for his mom.  we thought up this great idea that on your birthday you get smaller presents for the other members of your family. Actually I think someone else did it and I liked it a lot- it softens the blow a bit for the openly greedy souls of my children.  And my secretly greedy one. I couldn't really tell someone else that Mark really just wants to buy a pressure cooker for his second birthday though- they would probably just get fed up with me and Mark would ultimately be the one that suffers. I had this great plan to make a blog post of a fake birthday list of stuff for "Mark's birthday." because I think he needs THIS ottoman from Ballard Designs in the Malabar Gray Ikat fabric.  needs. Who doesn't?  I know I need it. I'm always looking for ways to hide all kid toys and as I write this i want to put my feet up on an ottoman- out kids wouldn't bang their heads on it like with a coffee table.

Then the idea of the list bored me to death and I thought it wouldn't be cool as much as annoying so I scrapped it. half way.  Well the creative cool part disappeared because I kept thinking about the question four or five days after it was asked.
Totally normal I think.

Mark loves his light up shoes, so he always needs more of those.  Size 8 or larger. The child has enormo feet.

Then today I finally realized it- Mark still has no dresser. But until I learn to build one I'm most likely not going to buy one. We spent all the extra money we didn't really have this month on preschool and now Mark is getting a card from me for his birthday. Maybe I'll put a truck on the front. I never know what to tell people when they ask what you need. The answer in my family is usually "whatever you like buying." John's family is different though- they don't just shop for the joy of it and they don't only want to shop for specific things so I'm not sure how to handle these questions.  It's just interesting to see how different families work- I'm never sure about the gift system in his family and I fear that I'm failing miserably at it.  because I told John he was in charge but I don't know if he thought I was serious and it is still something I feel guilty about. I never realized how different the present giving dynamic can be in different families. I like the presents I get from them.  but they are hard to shop for. hard. (well some of them)
Please tell me I'm not the only one going through this present adjustment still after over six years. And that I'm not the only one who starts thinking about this when someone is just making conversation with John.

Anyway Mark needs a dresser. I am getting sick of folding up Mark's clothes every day after he throws them off his bookshelf onto the floor. Not that he always the one doing the throwing.  Originally I loved the idea of a bookcase for his clothes- mainly because we already had it and I didn't want to buy one.  This idea has been destroyed by my mom.  Because she is sending us cute little things for Madsen number three. and I don't know where to put them. I cleaned out my room and basement and found one of those clear plastic drawers.  Boy Madsen's cute little guitar clothes live in that bin. 
So in a few months I will be behind two dressers- not just one. boo.  A dresser just never seems like something I want to buy.  EVER. They are not fun to pick out.  They all seem either too ugly for words or too expensive. Before Mark was born I thought about the dresser thing. We were going to get Mark Cherry stuff and give him our dresser and maybe get a new one but after about two days I realized I wanted my dresser and didn't want to buy a new one so I took it back. he never found out he was so close to getting a dresser and I don't know if he would care. I think two of those hanging sweater organizers will fit in my closet for new baby.
 I guess when I'm pregnant I feel the need for more drawers. What do you need.
I need to call one of those friends that seems to be able to get things at the Salvation Army for almost free. I'm always jealous of how good those people are at what they do. then I go and don't find anything and get frustrated and buy a stupid Tshirt I don't really like just so I can say I found something.

I cannot find the dresser I want at the Salvation Army, and I cannot bring myself to go to the pottery barn kids outlet with my kids in the car. Oh wait- or charge the dresser I would find there. Maybe someday this will bring me a sense of financial freedom and joy. My refusal to drive with my kiddos is saving me from making irresponsible financial decisions.
Eventually I will go get the cheapest dresser at ikea and get over the fact that his frames and the crib and bookcase don't match. Mark doesn't have a twin sized bed to it's not like I'm breaking up a set.
right now it just makes me want to go  on ebay and buy one of the My little Ponies from before they went all ugly.
Or better yet, go to bed.
good night blog friends.

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Merry Christmas!

First of all did I mention this year we finally found the perfect tree topper? I am in love with it. So Christmas was destined to be perfect.

I think there is nothing more rewarding than having kids at Christmas time. Everything we got Danielle was just what she wanted. She was so happy with her presents. Even her winter boots that we wrapped up were just what she wanted. She was pretty happy about the wall art I made her from the Rapunzel fabric she picked out. and the Rapunzel dishes and dress up clothes. She likes everything. I like that I can wrap up her winter clothes and she thinks Santa has been generous. Danielle came down the stairs after our upstairs breakfast and asked to open her stocking. darling. Mark went straight for the big present. We wanted Santa to bring the kids one big present- a ride on powered car. Then I wanted it to be good for both kids to I got a blue one. I looked all over for the best deal and finally bought it on Black Friday. I couldn't wait for Danielle's reaction. Then it came- Danielle went for the big reveal, saw the car, and asked to open her stocking. She said- "baby Mark loves his car." HIS CAR. that's right. The powered ride on is Mark's. He climbed right in and claimed it for his own. Since then Mark has been carrying things he likes to the car and storing them there. The put all his candy from his stocking in the car. Danielle showed him some of the buttons but calls it Marky's car.

Mark kept coming back to climb on different parts of his car. He got stuck once but then he got free so he was OK.

I guess that's OK since we didn't get Mark much of anything else. Turns out Mark is the unlucky kid. Every family has one- in my family every year Claire would get money in addition to her presents- because they realized the night before that she didn't have as much as anyone else. Mark pretty much got some candy in his stocking and a toothbrush and shoes. And presents from other people. We got him one thing-a kid computer. He loved that present. He always tries to steal the laptop so I thought we should get him his own. HOURS OF FUN. I like the deep transformer voice asking him to pick a game. Mark seemed very concerned about getting a comfortable chair.

Danielle was thrilled with how many books she got- and her Rapunzel stuff. We talked about baby Jesus and I'm not sure if she knows who is better- Christ or Santa Claus. Do children ever ask if Jesus is real when they lean that Santa isn't? this seems like a difficult topic.

of course right now Danielle likes playing princesses and loved all her Rapunzel stuff so maybe I don't have to worry about it too much. She knows that the witch wasn't actually Rapunzel's mother after all...

I loved this Christmas. I loved my presents and the whole day was great and best of all I loved my kiddos! Whoever said I wish I was Santa Claus was right. I loved it. I also learned that Danielle never stays still, so we don't have as many pictures of her. I tell her I am going to take her picture and she starts running around in circles. Can't so much capture that.

Less awesome- my struggling camera not wanting to get the kids in focus. It's hard to tell kids that they need to sit still so you can get a picture that may or may not be in focus. It's especially discouraging since baby Mark smiles so infrequently to begin with. I'm so frustrated my camera is supposed to be nice :-(

We took the kiddos to the Jewish Deli for our new Lunch Christmas Tradition. It was the sabbath though (which I felt a little guilty about) so they couldn't cook on the grill. I had a BLT (with beef) and John had what he said was the best Reuben he's ever had. Mark loved his food, especially that we let him eat the black and white cookie on the way home when Danielle didn't want it. You might think we feed our children only junk food- but hey- It's Christmas!

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Dear Friend

Dear Friends,

If any of you have read the Love Languages Book you would know that Christmas is a special time for one love language. The Gift givers. I like that one of the biggest seasons of the year is dedicated to my love language. I love getting things for people. I would be Santa Claus if I could. When people tell me they don't like giving presents I never quite understand what they are talking about. Do you not love other people? Don't you look at anything and have it remind you of someone? Do you never listen to what other people like? Just ask yourself- what would make them happy? I like to get people presents that remind me of them and that they wouldn't buy for themselves. If I have a hard time (JEN R.) then I just get them something I want myself. Lucky for me I want A LOT of things. I think it's pretty hard to get me a present I don't like. Actually I think it's only happened once or twice, because the presents were REALLY REALLY TERRIBLE.
This year we are trying to teach Danielle to give other people presents. Mostly to distract her from just wanting everything in sight. We went to Target the other day to pick a present for someone else's birthday and she wanted to get them a tiny little car and get herself a powered bike and a Princess doll assortment and some candy and another doll and I didn't even go near the other aisles. I guess she has a long way to go in the think about others department. It just doesn't excite her like I was hoping it would. I like her complete lack of ability to think of what other people would like. We asked her what to get her gymnastics teacher. He gets a sit and spin according to Danielle. She wants one as well.

The rest of you can expect ponies. My Little Ponies. For every holiday ever. I do love me a my little pony. Unless you are one of the select few- then you might want a princess or a Pinkalicious book.

I think I'm starting to understand how parents sometimes give children's toys for birthdays.
But I still feel like a hairy ball toy is a gag gift.
love,
Janae

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Gifts

I love gifts.
Over the last week I've been contacted twice on Etsy from people trying to get stuff. One of the people said-
"Hi! My name is Ashley and I own a website called Ashlynkray.com where I sell one great item at a time at a really great price. I saw your baby blankets and think you do amazing work! I would like to feature them on my site if you are interested. How it works is you sell me as much for as little as you can. I then pass these great prices onto the website where thousands of moms constantly check it looking for the next great deal. You get to say what you would like about the items in the description part of the listing as well as the pictures and include your link so they, their friends and others they talk to can shop from you directly in the future. 2 websites are mamabargains.com and babysteals.com if you want to see what it would look like.
I would be looking to purchase right away and they would be featured this week.
Let me know if you might be interested and thank you so much for reading : )
Ashley"
you know the two sites she mentioned were not actually her sites, which doesn't come up.
the next email told me I had great products she would love to review on her blog- and do a giveaway! Thanks so much for offering to do a giveaway! I don't really make enough money to need a tax write off though.
I didn't respond to either email. I guess I could give this stuff to people. I looked at her blog and I have done giveaways on blogs before but they have never translated to sales. Then again, I don't really trust the 'mommy bloggers' who "review" products. Really? They give you the product for free- when someone gives me something for free even if the item itself is a little vomit inducing I am thrilled to have a present. That means someone thought of me. So how can you really do a reasonable review? I have been thinking of cloth diapers and looking around at sites and finding no informative information on those blog reviews. Did you really love the free stuff they sent you to try?
It's like the mommy bloggers that were speaking out against pampers and were flown out to a meeting. Now they are gushing about how awesome pampers is. Seems like a huge load of crap to me- like they were only complaining to get positive attention. What will pampers do about my frustration? Well I guess they felt important enough after visiting with the Pampers people.
Many of these people are phonies. Just like the happy about everything bloggers. Maybe some of them really do love everything about motherhood though, and then I am just too jealous to read their blogs. but the reviewers- meh. They lie about what they like. They make up stories.
oh wait- some of my dear friend posts are a combination of friends. That probably also qualifies as made up. I want to keep my real friends, after all...
So these emails have just upset me. I don't want to have to deal with them.
so I did what most mature adults would do and ignored them- and now I am complaining about them.
Maybe I'm just bitter that I don't get free stuff to try out. here are some reviews of baby carriers for you-
hotslings- no go. hurts your shoulder a lot- and the fabric rolls up and digs into your shoulder or neck. They sure do look hot though- so I guess maybe for a newborn. Danielle hated being in these things.
Other slings- No thanks on products that had the parts break so kids fell out and now carry a warning for kids getting suffocated.
Moby wrap- no thanks. Huge fabric so you are bound to drag it in the dirt when you are putting it on and then it loosens. by the end of the day your lower back hurts if you don't have Boy Scout tying skills. and you don't.
Ergo carrier- I like it OK- baby hates that stupid little head cover though- do any babies let fabric hold their heads down? back doesn't hurt as much.
Jeep Carrier- ugly. My husband doesn't really like wearing it either. Do you want one? Send me your address and I will mail it to you.
Ring Sling- like the bad thing of the Hotsling with the long dragging fabric of the Moby- hooray!
Baby Bjorn- never tried it.
Mai Thai- also never tried it, but the long ties might have the moby problem of dragging on the ground. Some are cute though.

and the overall winner- Ergo

overall review- How the heck do people think it's "easy" to nurse in these things. so stupid. Also baby carriers make me a little sweaty- especially in summer. Maybe that's why strollers are so popular.

we also have a camping carrier- but people who wear those around the house look and are ridiculous- I am sorry.

I'm not judging people who solicit others for free items. but I'm also not responding to either message. Even though I love gifts- I love giving them to people I know and like. and I am totally open to doing reviews on my blog- but I hate most baby products so I would make a terrible reviewer.

How do you feel about gifts with strings attached?

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Presents

Baby Mark loves to eat his rice cereal every day which is super cute. He wants to eat rice cereal at 8:00 P.M. Turns out baby Mark is in love with a schedule. He has finally settled down a little after over four months.
So we are recovering from never sleeping. I organized the basement in that hazy week. and made some new blankets for the shop. I really like the blankets with grey in them. This month I made a goal for selling things in my etsy shop for the first time. Not doing very well so far. I don't know anything about sales goals but I am trying to get the shop more organized and have set up a few wholesale orders. I was thrilled when a repeat customer asked me to make a blanket for a girl with brown in it. Then I realized I didn't have any brown minky. The fabric came today and I already made a blanket. It is slow going with the kiddos.
In other news I got a Cheryl & Co catalog. I get these every now and then and I LOVE reading them. OK I don't think you can exactly read catalogs but I want things on just about every page. For example they have sugar cookies for Valentine's day that I think look pretty tasty. I would eat them. I keep thinking John might want some cookies for his birthday. I carried the catalog for a while and wondered why I got them at all. They are not really helping me want to eat healthy food. I realized why we got these catalogs yesterday- Christina sent us brownies from them when Mark was born. Fantastic present. and I was using a cutting mat she gave me for my birthday while I was sewing. She also got us an aero grow for Christmas. It is one of those herb growers with mini lights so you can have herbs year round- do you know what I am talking about? I have secretly always wanted one but would never buy myself one. Now I own one. Thrilling.
Good presents. The cutting kit she sent me was one I used all summer when she gave it to me- one of the best presents ever. I like presents that you want but wouldn't buy for yourself- like fancy foods from catalogs. Or indoor plants. My attempts to grow herbs didn't go very well, and is laying under the snow in a lovely planter. I also like presents that end up being super useful- like the cutting kit. Actually I love getting fabric and sewing things. I need to sew Mark some more bibs now that he is eating. He gets food all over himself because he doesn't quite know how to eat. Danielle never let us feed her without screaming nonstop. My kids are so different, and cute.
Now I will have to go set up that Aero grow as soon as the kitchen is put together again. Or maybe if it is ever put together again.

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Revenge is Sweet

Danielle got lots of awesome birthday presents. She loves opening mail and packages and thinks they all have things for her. Since her birthday week included so many things for her she has wanted to open every package and envelope since then. She bought a dolly and a stroller for her dolly with her birthday money. All the presents she got were fantastic, and it was cute to see how excited she was for mail. Like me...

One of the best came with a card. The card read "don't let your parents tell you we didn't send this harmonica. Because we did." Enclosed was a set of Hello Kitty stickers in a card and a harmonica. The message went on to claim that my daughter would become the next Blues Traveler. At this point I realized maybe the present wasn't well intentioned. Maybe this was a mean and not thoughtful present. Blues Traveler? You might as well say the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or Hootie and the Blowfish. Who would wish that on a child? Barely two years old and already these people are trying to curse her.

Not that I don't appreciate harmonica skills. Maybe.

I put my faith in Danielle's short attention span and let her have the harmonica. Actually I gave it to her before I read the card. I know that's tacky, but I don't care. Danielle loves her harmonica. but not as much as the ponies that get to ride in her new dolly stroller. I figure I'm safe from the curse for now.

Of course I need some present ideas- we forgot their 4 and 6 year old's birthdays. I have no idea why I would hide such a beautiful present from Danielle, but now I feel like I have to come up with something just as good.

Here are some ideas I've come up with.

1. A child drum set.



2. The Munoz doll that is on clearance at Target that sings and dances. Danielle loves it.



3. An actual rabbit.



4. Or maybe a rooster.



5. Axis and Allies Board Game.



6. My favorite: The Easy Bake Oven.

What do you think?

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