A Few Years Overdue

We have been fortunate to acquire lots of the furniture in our house from relatives. Furnishing a home can cost an arm and a leg, so we really appreciate it. Over time, we've slowly been replacing and adding furniture of our own.

When we lived in Rexburg, my grandparents kindly gifted us a chair. I've always loved the fabric on the chair! Years later, we still have that chair. Unfortunately, it has been semi-broken for a few years now. When you sit in the chair, you sink pretty low to the floor. I have been ignoring the problem for far too long. We've tried to make it work by putting some old, thick, chemistry textbooks underneath the chair to help support it. Andrew has looked at fixing it, but it appears to be pretty irreparable. 

Lately, as I've attempted to sit in the chair, I've been uncomfortable and have found getting out of the chair to be even less fun. (Maybe it's pregnancy?) I decided to start looking for a new chair. I've casually been looking for quite a while, but I was a motivated buyer for 2 reasons: 1) We get our tax return soon 2) I'm hosing book club.

I was able to find a chair I love and I got Andrew's approval which was harder than expected. To be honest, this is kind of "Andrew's corner." He writes here in the evenings and reads his book in this chair. I tried to talk him into a cheaper chair, but I'm glad he told me to go for comfort and not all price. (This did still meet my budget goal of being under $250 though.) Drum-roll please. I finally ordered a new chair! It arrived yesterday. Andrew is a good man and knew that I wanted it put together immediately. He set it up the instant dinner was finished and I'm pleased with the results. (So is he!)

As Andrew was moving the old chair down into the basement (for now), the bottom of the chair seemed to break even more. I tried to convince Andrew that we for sure need to get rid of the chair now, but to no avail. He's too attached. Maybe I'll use the fabric and re-purpose a new chair? 

James is a fan of the new chair. He was giddy when the deliveryman dropped it off and it was pure torture for him to have to wait ALL DAY for Daddy to come home and put it together. When it was all set up, he looked at it and said, "It looks pretty good!" He seems to think it's his chair and has spent a fair amount of time sitting in it. Of course, he broke it in within minutes and left marks from his grimy fingers. 

Don't mind his shirtless state... Dinner is messy.

We're now in the market for a sectional couch, so we'll be on the lookout for one of those. Hopefully this process won't take years, but if it does, I guess we can always put some thick textbooks underneath our couches for extra support.

Birthday Season

Whew!

The Ditto home survived birthday season.

I always forget what a whirlwind the month of February is and now March is just an extension of that craziness. (Thank you, James)

We kept up our usual tradition and went to Tucanos to get our free birthday meal. Two of our friends in the ward are fellow February birthday-ers, so we all went together and made it a party.

Kyle and Kristee Chandler (Lyla's parents)

Andrew and Cynthia Hollis (Maeve's parents)

To be honest, the month kind of runs together because it was so hectic. I know we also went to The Cheesecake Factory (with a giftcard) as part of our celebration. 

Andrew and I bought ourselves a T.V. for our bedroom and that was our joint birthday present. Wow, shows are so much better on a giant screen instead of on a tiny tablet in bed. 

This year I felt truly spoiled and loved on my birthday. This was a huge confidence builder. I haven't always had the best friends, even though I've put in lots of effort over the years.

I want to document all the nice things that were done for me, so I can remember how loved I felt. (Not all of these things were done on my actual birthday)

• My friend blind-folded and kidnapped me after Andrew's church-ball game. She then picked up some of my other friends and drove me to a breakfast place I've been wanting to try. Sooo yummy. She even paid for my meal!
• The primary children sang to me. (I think this has been the case for at least the last 4 years)
• Andrew picked up Cafe Rio on my birthday.
• My friends sang "Happy Birthday" to me at bachelor night.
• One of my friends picked up take-out of my choice and invited me over and our kids ran wild while I was adventurous and tried Vietnamese for the first time.
• Andrew came home with flowers and chocolate on my special day. 
• The primary president wrote me a thoughtful card, gave me delicious chocolate, and a bath bomb.
• A counselor in the presidency dropped by beautiful flowers.
• A friend sent me a long, thought-out text from across the world that said some really heartfelt things.
• My "ministering sister" brought me some lotion.
• A friend took me out to lunch at Cubby's and man, it really hit the spot. She also introduced me to their cookies which is going to be a problem.
• My sister sent me a book.
• A friend brought me Reese's Puff cereal. It didn't last a week.
• My grandma took me to lunch.
• My friend sent me a pizza giftcard.
• Andrew watched a chick flick of my choice with me. (I highly recommend Dumplin on Netflix.) I'm now in love with the song 9-5.
• My mom made my favorite meal and had a birthday dinner for me.
• My brother and his girlfriend brought over take-out and cupcakes.
• My mom came to my Piyo workout class with me!
• Andrew brought me breakfast in bed.

The list goes on. I didn't even mention the countless texts and birthday videos that were sent to me. I hesitated listing all of these kind acts people did because I don't want it to come off the wrong way. I'm not trying to brag or make anyone feel bad or left out. I was honestly overwhelmed and amazed by the friendships and relationships I have in my life at this point. This definitely hasn't always been the case, and I truly feel blessed. I have lots of thank-you cards to write and upcoming birthdays to remember. 

The last part of birthday season is the fact that James is now 2. What? 

As with any first child, he was spoiled rotten. We threw him a pizza party. Looking ahead, we definitely don't plan to go this all-out every birthday especially since we want a big family. (I'm already feeling bad for baby #2.)

There was plenty of food. I ordered a couple too many pizzas. We also had chips and salsa, soda, fruit, cupcakes, and cookies.

Please note: Pizza Hut had the best deal going at the time. Don't read into my pizza pick more than that. (I'm often asked what the best pizza place is.)

I had 2 games/activities planned for the evening. A pinata and Pin the Pepperoni on the pizza. Both were smashing successes among James and his two cousins. The adults enjoyed watching the show.

James got pretty close to the candles. I'm surprised he didn't burn his face. We did practice blowing out candles a lot in order for him to actually be able to do it on his own.

His pride and glory

James got so many presents... It was like Christmas. He was so spoiled! Nothing beat the leaf blower though... Not even the kitchen Andrew and I got him. He wouldn't put this thing down and it even caused some tears at one point. 

I love living near family. Thanks to Giggi and Go-Daddy (Grandma and Grandpa Denning), Grandma Langlois, Nana and Papa, Jeff, Lindsey, Simon, Esther, Jessica, and Chris for coming and making James feel like the center of the universe. I'm cherishing some extra time to myself while James breaks in all of his new toys.

Let the chaos dissolve, until next birthday season...