Happy Birthday Jane!

We celebrated Jane's first birthday on Saturday! It's hard to believe my little Peanut has been on the Earth for a whole year (on Tuesday)! It feels simultaneously like yesterday and a lifetime ago that I was preparing to deliver! 

So weird.

We chose a Sheep theme for Jane's birthday because for some reason she has a lot of stuffed sheep and just adores them! Every time she finds one in her toy box she pulls it to her face and in the sweetest little voice coos, "Awwwww." 

It's pretty freakin cute!

I originally planned to go way overboard but realized that I have 17 more super fun birthdays to plan and I need to pace myself, so I chose to simplify and boy did I feel relaxed! It was nice to actually enjoy the weekend with family and friends rather than stressing over all the super-cute-but-inevitably-labor-intensive details!

Bobbe and I made the invitations with the help of my handy-dandy Cricut and Hilary helped me make these darling little sheep! Aren't they cute?

Bobbe made all these adorable cupcakes as well as Janie's smash-cake. 

She's so talented!

My mom, her husband Richard, and Cara helped us get the house ready and make some yummy snacks.

I felt so very blessed to be surrounded by so many family and friends who love and support us. I always have a moment at every party I throw, when I feel a flash of anxiety that my guests aren't having fun or I've forgotten something. This time I wondered if I lacked entertainment or a game of some kind, but as I looked around I noticed that not only did each guest seem to have someone to talk to, but that almost everyone was watching Jane with love and enthusiasm in their eyes. I realized that she was the entertainment and her guests were happy to be there to enjoy my sweet little girl. 

I didn't feel pride, only joy and gratitude.

Josh and I went into this party fully prepared for Jane to get fussy, throw her cake at someone, or get bored opening presents, but she did great! She was engaged the entire time and even showed off her walking skills for the group! She won't walk a single unaided step today, but yesterday Janie was a little ham! She loved her cake (but who could blame her) and I think she ate way too much! She LOVED opening presents! She practically crawled into the gift bags and flung the tissue paper over her head (right into my face) to get to the presents within!

Jane attacked her presents with ferocity!

This little girl enriches my life every single day. Her joyful, sweet, expressive personality is a gift and a blessing for which I grow more thankful daily. 

I never imagined that I could love anyone like I love this little family of mine. 

Happy Birthday Jane!

A Little Update

Has anyone noticed that casual bloggers post in waves? Well, everyone else is catching up so I will too!

After Josh and I had been married for a couple of months I asked my friend, Kellie, who had been married for two years and was contemplating her second child, "Man! Life got so busy after we got engaged and hasn't slowed down. When does it slow down?" 

She giggled.

Now I understand.

This little kiddo keeps me very busy! She is walking here and there, into everything, and exploring her boundaries. She "helps" me with the laundry, inspects Rosie's food and water, thoroughly organizes our DVDs, and cleans out my tupperware cupboard several times each day. 

Speaking of Rosie, it makes me so happy to see them become friends! I grew up with animals and I am so grateful to have such a sweet, good natured dog to look after little Janie. They share Cheerios, Rosie gives Jane baths, and Jane looks for Rosie every morning and squawks until she is released from her kennel!

Listening to Jane explore and experiment with language is a highlight for me. Each day she seems to have found a new sound to wrap her little tongue around and sing while she plays. 

Some of her words include:

Mamam

Dad

Nana

Nigh Nigh (which loosely translates to night night or feed me)

Dat! (that)

Diss (this)

Hi

Chitchen (kitchen)

and Nana swears she said Hot Dog the other day!

 Jane is proving to be a very social baby. She is happy to play by herself as long as she's in the same room with me so she can talk to and show me what she's doing. We love our walks and reading books together-thank goodness she's mostly out of the ripping pages stage! She loves music and dances with us and sometimes will match pitch with me and sing along at bedtime!

Reading stories with Briley

Jane is really good-natured (until she's hungry and then all bets are off), so she goes everywhere with me (with a healthy stash of puffs and baby food) and is usually just happy as a clam to be out and about with me. However, as I mentioned, she's testing boundaries so we've had a few tantrums and Josh and I are finding a balance between ignoring (not reinforcing the behavior) and protecting her from flailing her little head into sharp objects...

...she has a flair for the dramatic. Surprise!

And then we sing and read before bed and she just snuggles right in and my heart feels about to burst with love for this little sweetheart!

Josh is busy as ever at work (and you all thought things calmed down after the Summer Season. Hah!) but he's happy. School House Rock opens tomorrow! I am never more proud of my husband than when a parent of one of his Playmakers kids tells me what a difference he's made in their lives. 

He's so great!

I am finally back in the swing of things at work and really enjoying it. It's nice to have a little rhythm again and it's a little less the-end-of-the-world to be back at work. And I think it's good for Jane to develop relationships with others. I think that's part of why I can have her in my YW class while I teach. She checks in with me throughout my lesson, but is so good to sit and play and not be TOO much of a distraction. The rule is the girls can hold her after the lesson if they participate. 

It works out most of the time.

All in all, I am so happy. Life is not perfect and I've obviously omitted the dramatic waves of guilt at leaving my daughter for work or not feeding her a wide enough variety of beans and the process of adjusting your marriage from couple to family that no one warns you about...but I'm happy. 

I feel deeply grateful to be married to a kind, patient, hardworking man who encourages me to love myself like he does. I'm thankful for our rewarding jobs and the means to provide for our family, and I'm thankful for my supportive and loving extended family. And above all, I am overwhelmingly grateful for the privilege of being Jane's mother. 

She's On the Move!

This business started on the 4th of July... *Cue Jaws soundtrack*

...And she hasn't stopped since! 

Hi-ho, hi-ho...

I returned to work last week and to be honest, it's really hard. I knew it would be, but it's harder than I anticipated. It doesn't really get easier to hand Jane over, I'm just usually in a hurry (what else is new!) and don't leave time to sit and weep over the hours I'll miss with her. She's just so dang cute! It's difficult to leave my little girl in the care of others to go care for other mothers' little girls! (Say that ten times fast!) I knew all of that would make work a challenge, but I didn't expect the adjustment issues to affect Jane's feeding patterns. She's decided that she quite likes the bottle because hey, who wouldn't want deliciously warm milk shot-gun shooting down your throat while being cuddled by your nana, grampa, aunt, or daddy seven times a day? 

In fact, she likes it so much that when I am home, she screams and scratches and arches her body away from me when I try to breastfeed her. 

Super fun. 

And I hate to admit it, but it kind of hurts my feel-bads. I know she doesn't mean it, but it's hard enough to be away from her at all, and then she doesn't want to engage in the most special, intimate of bonding opportunities and before you know it we're both crying! Les Sigh. 

I hear that this is normal and should stop in the next week or two.
Everybody cross your fingers and toes!

BUT! 

There is still so much good in my life!

I am overwhelmingly grateful that Jane gets to hang out with four of her favorite peeps every week and that they are people that I completely trust with her. 

I know how blessed we are that Josh and I both have jobs we enjoy. 

And after a rough week for our friends and their little baby who is failing to thrive, I am extremely grateful and humbled to cuddle my chunky, smiley, happy-as-long-as-she's-being-fed-her-way baby every day. 

I wish I could just stay home with my little Peanut all day every day, but until then I'll just count my blessings and make every day off count as much as I can.

Dearest, Favorite Darlings...

My friend Miranda passed along the Liebster award to me. In German, Liebster means darling, favorite, or dearest. So it's kind of a sweet way to connect. It reminds me of those interminably long tell-me-about-yourself emails we all passed around as kids, but I think it's fun, so here goes! Here are the instructions:

Post 11 random things about myself.


Answer the 11 questions my nominator set for me.


Create 11 questions for my nominees.


Nominate 11 other bloggers with fewer than 200 followers (no tag-backs).


Go to each of their blogs to tell them about their nominations.

My 11 Random Facts

• I love scarves. Like a lot. I have an entire drawer of them and I don’t think I’ve ever gone through all of them in a single season. It’s an easy Christmas gift!
• My feet obnoxiously grew during my pregnancy, which is I guess kind of normal. I am not happy, Bob. Not happy.
• I take great pride in my driving skills. I never had much confidence in my driving until coming to Cedar and especially since working at Sunrise. Doing the Black Ridge three times weekly in the winter has got to give me points!
• I have lived on two Continents.
• I’ve never had braces. I’m quite proud of my teeth.
• I love Yoga, although I am very inflexible.
• I love to run more than almost any pastime/sport. I’m still not cleared for running by my doctor and I miss it so much I’ve had several dreams about it.
• I love fashion but I have neither the money or the will to allocate much money to it so I mostly admire it in others.
• I am a bit of a food snob. Just a bit, though!
• I love dogs. They are my spirit guide! But ya wanna know a secret? I also love cats. Not the bratty ones. The really dumb, funny ones that belong in cartoons and youtube videos.
• I would rather clean dirty dishes than put away clean ones.

My answers to Miranda’s 11 questions

What’s your favorite book and why?

• Jane Eyre. It is a beautiful tale that crosses genres! It’s a love story full of mystery, crime, a hint of humor, and morality. It has been my constant friend since I was 9 years old.

 Who is your favorite sibling, and how did he/she get to be so awesome?

• My brother, Chad. We were close as kids and fought horribly throughout our youth but we became very close over the last 7 years. We can talk about anything and respect the other person’s opinions. We learn so much from each other and, most importantly, we have total trust! In the course of our lives as siblings, Chad has never lied to me. Not once. I can count on him to always be honest with me and I value that so much! We are learning to lean on each other and be there for each other in a way we never figured out as kids. He’s pretty great!

 What is your fantasy travel destination?

• I want to travel all over Italy. That’s one country we didn’t really go when we lived there and I am just dying to go visit the home of my Italian ancestors and eat lots of delicious food!

 What is your alternate life path?

• I would be working in an NGO or in international relations in DC to help women and children who are suffering in other countries.

 Is there intelligent life on other planets and will we ever meet them?

• Yes. No.

 What broke up you and your first best friend?

• I moved away.

 Who is your longest lasting pal? Why?

• Cara. We can go weeks without talking and pick up the phone and it’s like nothing has changed and no time has passed. We have become like sisters and we are always there for each other, no matter what. And because when we pranked a bunch of boys in college and I got hog tied with zip ties, she came running in after me!

 In what ways do you hope to be just like your mother, and in what ways do you not?

• Someday I would like to approach cooking like she does. She get’s an idea of how it should taste and just starts throwing stuff in. It shouldn’t work, but it always tastes great! I love her unending variety of hobbies and interests. She reminds me I don’t have to just do one thing my whole life. I can do whatever I want with my time. My mom has found a wonderful man that makes her completely happy and helps her be herself in all the best ways. Unfortunately it took her several tries. I hope to be different from her by getting it right with Josh. I chose very carefully in part because I watched her struggle for so long.

 College class you never got to take?

• Humanities with Jim Harrison, ballet, ASL, cooking, drugs and behavior, Directing I, Horsemanship I (I took it, I just want to take it again with Josh!), self-defense, and various English and History classes. Good thing Josh is technically employed by the University so I can take whatever I want now!

 Hobby you can’t afford?

• Travel, Kayaking, Horseback Riding, Photography.

 What is the deal?!

• BOGO.

My Questions

• Boxers or briefs?
• If you could hang out with anyone, alive or dead, for an afternoon, who would it be?
• What are the last 5 shows/movies in your Netflix queue or equivalent watching device or site?
• What is the most treasured piece of jewelry you own? (If one of them is your wedding ring, add the next best one as well!)
• What is your fondest memory as a child, in elementary, junior, high school, and college?
• What is the greatest piece of advice your parents have ever given you?
• Favorite treat?
• Crunchy or creamy, mayo or miracle, Colgate or Crest, sweet or dill, East Coast or West Coast, cats or dogs?
• Something you learned recently?
• What is your biggest pet peeve?
• How will you survive the zombie apocalypse? What makes you likely to survive?

My Peeps

Cara

Chelsea

Ali

Carlee

Ashley

Amanda

Lara

Anne-Marie

Alyssa

Chandler

Lindsey

Enjoy! Tag me back so I can see all your answers!