My Etsy Shop

http://www.janedawson.etsy.com/

I have been making a lot of jewelry lately and decided to start my own Etsy Shop. If your not familiar with Etsy it is a website where you can buy or sell all things handmade or vintage. I could shop for hours here. People are so talented and you can find such unique things!

I really enjoy making jewelry and it is kind of my escape and stress relief. I have given away a few as a gifts and people are so thrilled with something that is handmade and personal. The couple of necklaces pictured above are just a few examples of the 12 things I have for sale right now.

So, check it out!!

Jane Dawson Designs Etsy Shop

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Shanty Creek: Top 10 List

Adam surprised me with a trip to snowboard and ski for the weekend for just the two of us. I thought I would break it down "Top 10" style.

Top 10 Reasons We Enjoyed Shanty Creek:

#10. Two in a half days to talk to each other without a 18 month interrupting. "Hi, I'm Jane, whats new with you in the last year in a half?"- lol
#9. Two words. Room service. Why is room service so wonderful? Delivery of food to your bed. What could be better.
#8 Short's Pub. This was a brewery where we sampled chocolate, fruity, s'more, clove, and snow wheat beer. Along with a fabulous cream cheese garlic and artichoke appetizer.

#7. Nowhere we HAD to go. Nothing we HAD to do. 'Nuff said.

#6. Being proud of myself. After having a baby and not skiing for over two years I was able to pick up where I left off. I have to admit I was a little worried...

#5 Laughing so hard with my husband that he asked me if I peed my pants. We had a few spills and crashes on the hill that were pretty funny.

#4. Sleeping in. Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So nice.

#3. Our in room jacuzzi. I was in this thing three times a day.

#2. The ski hill being right outside out room. The lift was right there. Ski in...ski out

and the #1 reason.........................

#1. Falling in love with each other just a little more....................... :)

18 Months

A little late for this post, but here it is bullet style:

• Miss G weighed in last week at her doctors appt at 23.12 lbs and was 32 inches long. She gained a pound and grew an inch and a half since her 15 month appt. She is between the 25th and 50th %.
• She cried through her entire check up. I could barely hear Dr. Tim.
• She is talking up a storm and repeating everything. The cutest one is for "sock" She says "gock" or "uh-oh gock" when she takes her shoes and socks off in the car. The other day we asked her to go find a certain book, she couldn't find it so she looked at Adam and I and said, "Where dat book go?" We were floored.
• She still won't let me put bows, ponies, or barrettes in her hair and it is killing me. She yanks them right out. She has all this hair and she won't let me touch it. Ugh.
• Her favorite toys are her little people farm, her vacuum, ball popper, and baby dolls. She loves books and is the book police at nana and papa's during the day- steadfastly refusing to let Luke touch any of HER books
• She thinks mama's Blackberry is a toy too. She insists that I turn it on for her, she uses her little thumbs to scroll and text, and has emailed and called countless people. Sorry if you have received one of these one letter or blank messages :)
• She loves music of any kind and is always singing and dancing
• She is running, climbing, and very physical. No fear. It is hard to catch her to sneak in a cuddle

So this is Grace at 18 months. I love you munchkin girl!!

The Pukes

I walked into Grace's room yesterday morning and was greeted by the pungent odor of puke. I look at my child and she is standing in her crib with chunks in her hair, on her blankie, all over her jammies, and in her bed.

I just stood there like and idiot and didn't know what to do. I totally had one of those "I don't know what to do" parenting moments. Usually I am pretty good, I spring into action and take it all in stride. But it was so overwhelming- what to do, where to start? Ever have one of those moments?

Anyway, I put her in the bath and she was perfectly fine the rest of the day besides being really tired. What a trooper. The weird part is that I heard her cough ONCE at 5 am that night and didn't hear a peep after that. The only thing I can figure is that she did it in her sleep. She had filled her diaper numerous times the previous day so she had the dreaded stomach bug.

I love these pictures of when I put her in the bath (gotta capture every first- even the first pukes- lol!) because even when she is sick she is my sunshine.

Alumni Meet 09

(click on collage for bigger image) This past weekend was the Michigan State Alumni Meet. It was great to see everyone and what they are up to now. We are introduced at the meet, go out to dinner as a group, and had an "afterparty" at the assistant coach's house. On this night my school record that I have held on the balance beam for the last 8 years was broken. It was a beautiful routine and I was glad I was there to see it. Now what will be my claim to fame- lol?

Grace really enjoyed herself. Here she is just staring at the MSU team. She was so intrigued by the whole thing. She was supposed to be standing with me while we all introduced ourselves- that didn't work out so well.

A future gymnast on our hands?

My Funny Valentines

Hope everyone had a great Valentines day. We don't usually make a big deal out of the day but this year Adam surprised me with a ski weekend at Shanty Creek Resort next weekend for just the two of us. I was so surprised and touched, it has been a while since we did anything just the two of us.

These pictures are from Saturday morning. G continues to love books and her and daddy were reading on her bedroom floor. It makes my heart melt to see the two of them snuggling, all the Valentines Day gift I need is the two of them :)

In the category of...

...useful or waste of money?

We all know that we are always the one taking the pictures and rarely are we in the pictures. Can you see yourself getting this thing out on a family vacation? I think it is kind of cool and it would eliminate the awkward arm stretching pics where I end up only capturing my left eye and my companions nose. It would make for better facebook profile pics at least :)

The Xshot: photograph and video yourself anywhere!

Eyes, Nose, Fingers, Toes

I haven't posted a video of Grace in action in a while so here it is. She understands almost everything we say now and is pretty darn good at communicating. It is amazing to me to watch her learn and grow so fast. They are like little sponges at this age.

Short and Sweet

I have heard from my few fans that they are disappointed by my lack of blogging lately. We have done some exciting stuff. Last weekend I went scrapbooking at Nicole's on Friday and we did this on Sunday. This weekend I was scrapbooking at Stephanie's Friday and we went to a Super Bowl party at the Tylutki's today. What was your favorite commercial? I always love the Budweiser Clydesdale's.

The Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials


I will do better. Pictures and timely updates are in this blogs future :)

Snow Daze

The longer I live in Michigan the more I dislike the snow and cold. I get in such a funk this time of year. It gets dark at 5 o'clock and is so cold that I can't stand to be outside more than a minute. When I was younger I really didn't mind it... but maybe that was because I traveled so much... to warm places. Ugh, it is just so depressing in this state!! I need a tropical vacation BAD! See why I haven't blogged in two weeks? Who wants to hear that kind of complaining- lol.

My little one, on the other hand, seems to actually like the snow. Poor kid hasn't been outside in months. So, daddy bundled her up in her 6-9 month old snowsuit to play in the snow. 6-9 months, really? It is so big and padded she can barely move.

Speaking of not being able to move in a snow suit, check out this flashback to last year. She was not that in to the snow. She just looked at us like we were nuts. Even then she had those looks. You never have to guess what she is thinking :)

What a difference a year makes! She cried when daddy brought her inside and kept pointing toward the door to go back out. She was turning into a purple popsicle. Bending over to pick up her mitten was QUITE the task. Not easy to bend in that snowsuit.

So, I moving to Arizona. Who is coming with me? :)