Happy Birthday, ME!

I am now the big 26. My birthday has just passed and I want to thank all of you who called/texted/left messages on my phone or Facebook/emailed/sent cards/ or wound up at my surprise birthday dinner.

I have only spent the last 5 years as a wife, and the past 2 as a mom. But at heart, it's always been who I am. It feels as though I have been DT's mom for the past 26 years and I am so thankful that God had him in the works even though MY plans fell through. Without question, Dane is the greatest part of my every day and for the rest of my life, if I get a card and a hug from my baby, each birthday will be better than the last. So happy late birthday, me. A very happy birthday indeed.

TJ's Twelve

I forgot to post about TJ's birthday.

Dane's cousin, TJ, lesser known 'round here as Travis James, recently turned 12 years old. 12!... 12!!... Tuh-wuh-elve!!! And so begins what I refer to as "Birthday Season" in the Spicer Family - where they have a birthday a month in their household from January through May. We had a small celebration that included goofing off and cake. Happy birthday, TJ. We love you more than Chuck Norris. =)

18 Months Already

WOW. Our little Baby Dane is 18 months old today. At 18 months he weighs around 22 pounds and he is around 32 inches tall. He isn't talking much, but he is picking up on signing like crazy. He's recently learned cookie. Pair that with "more" and "please", and boy, are we in for it! He loves to make animal sounds and is still pretty obsessed with cars and monkeys. Oddly enough, his favorite noises to make are the baaaing of a sheep, while Mommy adores his owl goes "Whoooo" and Daddy likes his pig sound (it isn't "oink"!). Dane loves being outside to run, swing, look at cars, and go for walks. Upon re-entering the house, he must ring the doorbell.
He enjoys the company of his cousins and grandparents. His favorite pastimes include antagonizing the dogs and recently, shredding napkins. His favorite non-toy toys are pots and pans, xbox remotes, the salt shaker, and cell phones. He has peed in the potty a few times, but I am just not sure he gets that it is a good thing, despite my foolish cheering. His favorite books are the lift-the-flap kind, and he gets to watch Curious George every morning. He eats like I am starting to suspect you might believe, because we talk about it so dang much, and if you've seen him put away food once, you don't quickly forget.
We are absolutely smitten with our little man and we could not be more proud of him. He has filled our lives with love and laughter, and truly, there is nothing more we could ask of him. Happy 18 month birthday, Dane Thomas. We love you.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Jenny!

Today Dane's Aunt Jenny turned 34 years young. To celebrate her birthday, she did not go to a free concert. Instead she .... took the kids to scouts. Here's wishing you every excitement you so desperately deserve.

I'm still working on Dan's computer, which means no editing, but I have something in mind for this post. I'll let you know when it's up.

"Happy Birthday, Jen. In 6 years you'll be 40."

Happy Birthday, Danny!

Today Daniel turned 26 years old. I think if you had told him that at 26 he would have been married 4 and a half years with 2 houses and a 16 month old, he would not have believed it.

We are really proud of Daniel, for the wonderful father and great husband he is. Each day he is falling more in love with Dane and each day Dane falls more in love with him. It's really quite something to watch their relationship bloom now that Dane like the booby less and cars more. He wears hats because Daddy does, he wants keys like Daddy has, he'll take big boy showers with Daddy, and just imitates him in general. He looks like a little tiny Danny. And to complete the likenesses, Dane thinks farts are funny.

Happy Birthday, Danny. You are an amazing man and our family exists and thrives because of you. We love you.In his father's shoes.

Happy Birthday

TO US!

Oh my goodness. One year of blog-keeping under our belts. In that year, we have managed to keep you abreast of Dane's successes, battles, experiences, obsessions, and cuteness. We've shown you pictures and videos. YOU've shared comments and encouragement, helped us decide what food to first feed Dane, and started your own blogs for us to keep in touch with you!

It's funny. We started The Daily Dane because when you bring home a new baby, the phone doesn't stop ringing. "How's the baby? How's the baby?". We would literally spend 20 minutes telling a story of how Dane burped or smiled and how it was just the cutest thing blah blah blah, only to answer call waiting and tell it all again. THEN promise to send pictures to the listener. "The Daily Dane" helped free up our day. Not to mention gave the proud parents venue to brag on their handsome guy.

We love our blog and we appreciate you reading it. Thanks for keeping up with us from down the street or states away.

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Little Emily is not so little anymore. Our oldest niece is today 13 years old. An actual teenager! We love her and we're proud of her and the young woman she is. Happy birthday from TDD, Emily. Thanks for being a great niece and cousin.
And thanks for all the free babysitting you're going to give us now that you're a teen. =)

Picture of the Week

Pictures of the Year!

We showed one other video at Dane's birthday party this weekend - a video montage of his first year. Included are pictures of Dane from minutes old to last week. Try not to get choked up...

Dane's First Year

Weekend Wrap-Up

What an exciting weekend! Daniel took off work for Dane's birthday, so our weekend began extra early. On Saturday we hosted Dane's first birthday party. As you all very well know, this event was more for the adults than the one year old. But he did get super great presents and CAKE! It was a great day and it couldn't have gone any better. Thanks to the mamarazzi crew for getting the angles I couldn't and working the camera when I was busy. Jen, Karen, Cindy: Your pictures are due to me soon.

After Dane's party, and all of our naps, we headed off to a family friend's house to watch the fireworks. We sat on the lawn amazed by Dane's amazement. Definitely our best Fourth of July so far. Looking forward to next year already!

Sunday, while Daddy got out for a much needed break from the "honey-do"s he'd been taking care of lately, Dane and Mommy played with every toy he received the day before all day. The perfect finale to a perfect weekend.

Because I fear the pictures will get leaked before POTW, I'll go ahead and share some with you now. What are the odds that Dane won't do something adorable by Friday anyways? =)

I know most babies just smash the cake around, but that little boy put it away! Here's, as GrannyK puts it, the "progression of the cake eating". Enjoy.

Picture of the Week

Some pictures from Dane's First Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANE THOMAS!!!

Well, Dane is one year old. We celebrated his birthday together by doing Dane's two favorite things: playing and eating.
This morning we played around the house and ate chocolate chip waffles. Then we napped and played some more. For lunch Dane had chicken nuggets and apple fries. Then we took Dane to ToysRus so that he could pick out his present, where he got a little special recognition from Geoffrey's Birthday Club. He picked out a laptop that he can open and close and open and close and open and close... I don't know if he's noticed it makes noises and lights up as well, as he's busy and content with the opening and closing of it.
When we got home we had a family pool party and played outside. For dinner, Dane had a meal fit for a kid: his first Kid's Cuisine. And he... ate... it... ALL. So his usual dessert of vanilla wafers or animal cookies was replaced by a small piece of his first birthday cake, sans frosting (got to save something for his party). Needless to say, he made short work of it. We read him part of Dr. Seuss' "Happy Birthday To You", which we'll write him a message in, and got him ready for bed. 2 hours late.
He had a great birthday and now he's one year old. I don't think we have to tell you how incredibly proud we are of our big boy and I'm confident he'll always know how very much he is loved.

Happy Birthday, Dane Thomas.

You are our everything.

It Could Be Worse - No Rain, Too Few Candles

We like to [try to] stay positive in the Howard home. One way we do that is with sayings we use to remind each other that it isn't so bad. The longest running one between Danny and Jackie is "It could be worse - Your house could be on fire or your dog could die". Totally made it up, and I mean, that would be worse. We credit some phone commercial for our latest saying, "No rain, no rainbow". Hmmm. You know, that's true.
In less than one hour, our little baby will have his first birthday. Baby Dane will become Toddler Dane and I have to admit that we can only be so thrilled about this. Which brings me to another saying: "There can never be too many candles on the cake". This, of course, is meant to make people feel better about turning OLD. And so we'll feel better about our little man growing closer to a little man. We rejoice in a year complete with Dane. An entire year of struggles (sleeping through the night, gas issues, naps, gaining weight...) and of accomplishments (first words, crawling, signing, walking...). A year of abundant joy and little pain. We are grateful for the best year of our lives. And grateful for this miracle we call our son.

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a terrific weekend, despite all the rain!!! Danny and Dane got some great together time, while Jackie had some great "me time". Dane banged his mouth on the coffee table due to a dancing misstep, and we discovered he popped his third tooth. We were lazy, ran errands, and barbecued (garagecued?) with the Howard family in celebration of Memorial Day and Karen's birthday. Dane feasted on ribs, watermelon, chicken, and fruit salad. It's really entertaining how amazed people are by how much he eats. He put on a show of waving, clapping and he even walked a little for a special few. He was super excited, and loud, and hyper when we got home and we kept him up a while worried that he would not sleep all night. But he went down without a problem.

Hanging on to that rib bone!

Dane's GrannyK's birthday is today! And although she is sweet enough to have, she was wise enough to NOT have shared her chocolate cake with Dane. Happy Birthday GrannyK!It's traditional to "yay" after someone blows out their birthday candles. Upon the blowing, and the yaying, Dane began to "do yay" himself. He was amused by all the clapping. So cute.

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a weekend on our end! We tried to take it easy Friday, knowing the madness the rest of the rest of the weekend promised. Saturday we ran errands and went to Cole's 2nd birthday party. It was pretty much how you would imagine celebrating a nephew's second birthday. We're glad to be out of the Spicer kid's "birthday season" (January - April a kid a month has a birthday (Emily is the oddball, born way in September)). Sunday afternoon we spent at Brian, Jeannie's to celebrate Easter and Sophie's first birthday. She got a slew of terrific gifts but her spirits were a little dampened by the seemingly nonstop buckets of sickness pouring from her. We all enjoyed the festivities and Dane was a champ for having had such an exhausting day. We discovered how severe his little baby seasonal allergies can be and he was a dripping mess. It was great to spend time with Brian, Jeannie, her parents, Sophie, Cindy, Larry, Marcus, Trina, Mike, Joanne, and Heather among a few other guests of Sophie's.

The highlight indeed was church. Sunday morning we resisted the urge to sleep in and hurriedly got ready for the 10 o'clock Easter service (one of 10 services!) at Elevation. We had to sit in the overflow section because the auditorium was full. We worshipped with 7800 of our closest friends and family and we rejoice that 740 lives were given to the Lord. Hallelujah! The sermon is up to view online already, so if you didn't catch it check it out.

Hope you got your card. Happy Easter to you and yours.

"Sho 'nuff He is risen."

Two Birthdays in One Post

This is going to be a big weekend for us. In two days we'll have to make it to 2 birthday parties, Easter celebrations and church. Dane is sure to be exhausted. In case you're curious, he'll be partying with:

Cole - Cole is 2 years old on the 10th. He's finally talking more and crying less. Cole wouldn't look at Dane when he was born and Cole's parents were hit hard with ugly looks if they dared to hold him. Now, Cole is Dane's biggest fan. He shares, talks, and plays with him and tries his very best to protect him. He doesn't get that Dane is getting bigger and is able to do more. Cole follows him around with arms outstretched in case Dane falls. When Dane cruises on things, Cole chimes his "Uh-Oh" alarm and glances from Dane to the closest adult, sure that something needs to be done. Dane thinks of Cole as nothing more than a nuisance right now, but some day he'll be lucky to have such a loving cousin.

Sophie - Sophie is going to be a whole year old on the 11th and she is definitely a big girl! You might experience some sort of gravity jet lag when you go from holding her to Dane, as Sophie now weighs quite a bit more than he. She is only a few months older, so it's always fun to see them together, especially now that they have become very sociable with other little ones. She is a pretty mellow baby like Dane is (at least that's what we see!) and just as curious. Even though (or maybe especially because) Dane is so close in age to Sophie, it is nearly unbelievable to us that she is going to be a year old.


We're wishing very happy birthdays to Cole and Sophie and many more to come for the both of them. We love you guys!

What's Dane Up to?

He's growing so fast that it's hard to keep us. For those of you trying, here's some of the things Dane's doing now.

• Cruising and Crawling - all over the place! He pulls up on the fireplace, doors, the tv, the baker's rack, the coffee table, and people. He gets around unbelievably fast and quickens when you tell him not to do something. Smart kid.
• Standing - he recently began standing without holding onto anything. Very briefly and very unstable-ly, but standing nonetheless. This is his latest trick.
• Sleeping through the night - Dane's been doing this again for a while now. He goes to bed at 8pm, wakes up to eat at 5ish and sleeps in until around 9. Naps are going well too.
• Eating table food - more and more. We've pretty much lifted all restrictions for people who see Dane or talk to us often enough to know what he's had and has not had yet. They eat up the freedom to feed Dane.
• Making noises - I joke that my day has become all about sounds; just a series of noises. Dane goes back and forth with you blowing raspberries, fake coughing, clicking, etc. Each noise had a very special place in Dane's heart, and while it's silly to admit, it's absolutely endearing to hear him coo, click and cough all day.

I'm sure there's more that's escaping my memory at this moment because he is just doing so much these days, but there's a quick update for you.

And I couldn't forget (maybe because he kept reminding me) that Tyler's birthday is today. He is now 6 years old. I tried to convince him we would skip his birthday this year, but he wasn't having it. He's trouble. He's loud and destructive and messy. He is a WILD THING. And if Dane turns out to be just a little like him, I'll know we've done something right.

Happy Birthday, Tyler. May your bubbles never spill and your Play-Do never dry.

Happy Birthday Nana!

So Dane's Nana is had a birthday this week (the 28th to be exact) and we thought what better way to celebrate than to share a few of our favorite pics of Dane and the birthday girl?! Enjoy the pics and your special day Mom/Cindy/Nana. =)

7 Reasons We Love Katie

Have you met our little niece Katie? She turns 7 today! Danny and Jackie had recently started dating when she was born. She was a phenomenal flower girl in our wedding when she was 3. And now she's 7! Here's a little something to let her (and you) know how special we think she is. 7 Reasons We Love Katie

1. She's fun! - Katie is up for anything. She's the first to participate in our made-up games of "what else could this be?" and "jump when the elevator door closes". She's the loudest to sing and the last to stop laughing. Her head is full of dreams and imagination and she puts them to use adding color to life. The world is happier with her in it.
   
2. She's got a BIG heart - It wasn't long ago that the fact Danny was saving up for a computer something made its was into a conversation we were having. Upon hearing of this, Katie swiftly offered her savings (of tens of dollars) to Uncle Danny. It was a sincere and quick response for her. He was in need and she was in a place to help.
   
3. She loves Dane - It's a long running joke that Jackie and her sister go back and forth staking claim to the cuter baby. Jen's whole team of kids join her side. Recently however, Katie swore us to the most urgent secrecy that she thought Dane was in fact cuter than her brother Cole. We'll never tell. When she isn't stating her love for Dane aloud, she's doing so by kissing him. She's loved him since he was Frankenstein.
   
4. She's a reader - Jackie asked Katie about a book she saw she was reading. No fine detail was missing from Katie's unabridged account of the book. After lengthy summaries and explanations of why this was funny or that was happy; after she had finished telling exactly everything about the book, she decidedly says "Okay, I'll read it to you.". And without Jackie even asking... (The book was called Pinkalicious, and if you want to know ALL about it, ask Katie how it is).
   
5. She loves God - You couldn't volunteer faster than Katie to say grace for a family meal. She prays for the kid on the bus who teases her. She does what she should do because it is what God would want of her. She knows, very much so, who God is, how he loves her and why she should love Him.
   
6. She marches to he own beat - to march to another drummer is an understatement, as Katie does not follow anyone. She totally rocks her pink cowgirl boots and overly-bedazzled Christmas sweater. She doesn't care about what you think is good/cool/"fashion". She knows what she likes and that's all there is to it.
   
7. In three words, we think she's "Pitty kew, huh?".

Happy Birthday, Kit-Kat. We love you!

Brian's 30!!!

Dane's Uncle Brian turned the BIG 3-0 today. We actually celebrated with him on Sunday, so we'll share a few pics of his party with you. Doesn't he look happy to be 30? On the upside, he has no gray hairs yet. The bad? Brian, you have to stop burping, farting, and doing your King of the Hill impression in public. Sorry man, we don't make the rules.

I think the gift we got will fit him like a glove! Don't worry, Brian; the years look good on you. Happy Birthday.

Dane with Nana and Papaw.

Dane with Uncle Marcus, Aunt Trina and Dane's favorite toy, the hat.

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a fun weekend we all had full of Fall festivities. Saturday we trekked out to Derita Presbyterian Church to meet Granny K for a festival. Dane didn't partake in the activities, but he very much enjoyed being out in the nice weather and spending time with (and being shown off by) his grandma.
He was definitely a hit.
Sunday afternoon we met some family at a farm for some Fall fun.

Dane had so much fun visiting the animals in the petting zoo...

and riding on the hayride...And playing with Sophie in the pumpkin patch.

It was a long day for him and he was a trooper.

He slept really great after such a big weekend!

And today we'd would like to wish Aunt Jenny a very happy birthday. You've already done so much for Dane

and we love and appreciate you every day.

So Happy Birthday Aunt Jenny. 7 years and you'll be 40. =)