one!!

Janie! She's one and she came to party. So we enjoyed a day of prezzies, playing, napping (she napped! on her birthday! so fun!), eating, splashing in the toilet*, chewing toilet paper*, trying to pick up the cracked tile in the bathroom*, swinging in the park, pointing at her decorations, singing, and eating lambie cupcakes. She fell asleep quickly, tuckered out from her day and all the things that being one brings.

Oh, Jane. What a bright light you are! To all of us. Your brothers and sisters want to squeeze you and hold you (you don't want them to... you yell at them... but they keep doing it because they don't understand what you're saying) and you're the first person they look for to hug and smooch in the morning or when they come home from school. You point and share some opinions. You squeal with delight when the bathroom door is open. You insist on removing all the vent covers. You can walk with our help (and you have a lot of helpers). You clap. You crawl. You fold your hands to say grace. Basically, you're fascinating and we can't get enough of you.

Thank you for your sweet, sweet smile and your sweet, sweet self. We love you so much, Janie. Happy First Birthday!!


* not scheduled activities

 Here's the day, in picture format...

birthday eve

Hanging outside with the crew this evening, revving up for Janie's big day. She's one tomorrow and this was the fastest year of my life.

Hey everybody, why are you growing so fast?

winner winner

That's me! My basketball team won league and playoff tournament this year so I get two (2!) gift cards AND the undying loyalty of these great fans. The last game, as you can see on the scoreboard, was a close one, and Joe could barely handle the pressure... I'm sure he would have cried had we lost. So thanks, team, for pulling it together for my 8-year-old.

where's janie?

If anyone can find Janie, please let us know. She's been missing since breakfast. We can't see her anywhere.

how to nap, in 4 easy steps

I may have mentioned here a few (million) times that Janie isn't really into naptime. Sometimes she does, and I rejoice, but most times she just likes hanging out with me, and I rejoice with that, too, but just in a more yawn-y way. Annie's baby (doll), however, is an excellent napper. So, one afternoon, when she easily put her baby down but I couldn't, Annie very helpfully created this pictorial for me on how to get your baby to sleep.

1. Be quiet.
2. Check to make sure everything is still quiet.
3. Make sure your kids aren't being crazy.
4. (up at the top) Rock your baby to sleep.

It's really so simple when laid out in pictures. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong... somewhere between steps two and four, things get muddled, I guess. Anyway, I hope someone out there can use this easy four-step method and find success.

Happy Napping, as we say! Even when we don't.

family photo

Thanks, Andrea, for taking this most recent photo of our family. It's always tricky to get everyone smiling at the same time.

fools

How to prank your kids, in 16 easy steps:

1. Prick holes in egg, top and bottom.

2. Blow the insides of the egg out through the hole. This will take you about 15 minutes and will feel like you are going to blow your own insides out through your lungs before you even see a dribble of yoke escape the tiny hole in the egg.

3. Sit down for a minute. Congratulate yourself on finishing without passing out.

4. Re-evaluate the need to do this trick.

5. Repeat steps 1-4 four more times.

6. Once eggs are hollowed out, return to carton and place in fridge until the next morning. 

7. Now it's the next morning. Gather kids around to "help me make breakfast."

8. Convince children it would be nice if they helped you make breakfast.

9. Line them all up, each with an egg and ask them to crack them open and plop the insides into a pan.

10. Crack eggs and...

11. Exclaim disbelief that the eggs are empty. What? How can this be?

12. Speculate with kids about how this happened. Was it a lazy chicken who didn't finish the job? An unethical grocery store that stole the insides? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

13. Finally shout, "Happy April Fool's Day!"

14. Laugh at how clever you are. 


























15. Make breakfast with real eggs and move on with your day.

16. Wait, no. Expect that one of your kids will be upset that you played a trick on them. Apologize. Move on with your day.