the good life in Nebraska has recently gotten even better! When we bought our house originally, we knew it would need all sorts of updating but the one thing it really needed was a kitchen remodel. Since this was the most expensive project (hopefully) we would do, it took a couple of years to get to the point we had saved up enough. We designed what we thought would work and we did the demolition including taking out a wall, and then hired a general contractor to make it all happen. We crossed our fingers that everything would look good together. And although it was a painful 2 months during the remodel and we would never ever hire the same contractor again, its hard to not be excited about our new kitchen because it is SO much better than the one we upgraded from. Its painful to look at the old pictures now - but i am posting some before and after pics so you can get excited for us too! I left out the in between pictures of our pain and suffering. :)

To the Zoo!

Dane and I went with our friends Addie & Sami to our children's zoo here in Lincoln last week. It is a great zoo for kids - really cool animals but not too big to be overwhelming. Dane had a blast! He especially liked the areas where you could actually touch the animals - the volunteers had a rat and a mouse he petted, and also the goats, and the butterfly pavilion. And we got to see the new penguin exhibit! One more reason to love Lincoln!

Family Vacation~

We had a fabulous time in Florida in July with James' mom and her husband. Some of James' relatives live right on the ocean and they left us their house while they were out of the country. We lived the rich man's life for a week! They have 2 really nice wave runners that we took out almost every day. We went wave running with dolphins! They also have a pool we spent a lot of time in. James and i headed to Orlando and did Islands Of Adventure one day and stayed the night while grandma and grandpa spent some time with Dane. We also hit Clearwater beach and caught a Tampa Rays baseball game. And it wouldn't have been a vacation without some shopping. :) I'm ready to go back! They spoiled us!

Family Photos

Dane Reaches Whole Numbers!

Here are the highlights of Dane's Family Birthday Party~

We played the Korean traditional First Birthday Game because Koreans are really cool (Miriam). My sisters have done an Americanized version where they just put objects that represent different career fields and whatever object he chooses represents his future career path. He first picked the calculator. Next the apple. And finally the spool of thread (which in the Korean version represents a long life)

He got a cool red wagon (pictured) from Auntie M and Thompson Grandparents. He also got lots of other cool gifts from family members..!

And he couldn't get enough of that little cake. At first i think he was surprised that we were just letting him go to town. then he really got in to it - flinging the cake off his fingers all over the room.

Sister Time~

My sister Holly came to visit us in Nebraska this past weekend! So fun! Its not always easy to get visitors when you live in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a little easier when i lived in Los Angeles! So we really enjoy our visitors out here. We inadvertantly booked the trip over Mother's Day so she missed out on her family spoiling her but i think the neverending pie parade at church almost made up for it... She was without kids so we tried to show her a good time. The fun involved shopping, rollerblading, and a tambourine. Don't ask. Except that a tambourine makes everything more fun. :)

We have a cheesy picture like the one above from many years ago so we tried to re-enact it. Thanks to Holly's awesome husband Mark for holding down the fort back in Boise so she could come play!

Old Pictures~

In December my whole family was together for Christmas in Boise so my dad hired a photographer to get pics of everyone and individual families as well. Well, they just bairly got the images back from the photographer!! Remind us never to hire this guy again. ;)

Kinda cheesy and old but still wanted to post em..

Monterey, CA

Dane & I have been having a blast visiting my parents in California for a couple of weeks. The trip started with an unfortunate unplanned stay at the hospital for my dad - who had to have his gallbladder removed. But it also means he has been home to spend time with us. We took a side trip for a couple of days to Monterey - short but so FUN! I am always reminded by Dane that i can only see/do about 1/3 of what i want to if Dane is coming along. :) But we got to visit Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row, and do 17 Mile Drive with the Lone Cypress and Pebble Beach. Its been too long since i have been to the beach and it was Dane's first visit to the beach. He ate it up!

Santa Sightings!!

Santa has been everywhere this last week! Our good friends the Lees (below) dressed up as Santa & Mrs. last night for a Juvenile Diabetes event. Don't they look great!? And the pic below is from our ward Christmas party.

My hero in a half shell!

We dressed Dane up tonight to go to some Family Friends' for a little gathering. I wish i got some better pictures of his humpback shell cuz it was too cute!

Post Vacay Letdown & 4 mos pics

We just got back from a fabulous trip to Boise for James' sister's wedding and some time with my sisters. We loved spending time with everyone! And i'm ready to move there! I got to run the Boise River Trail a couple of mornings and i was in heaven. I love running in beautiful settings. It doesn't get much better for me. Now we need something else to look forward to because that has been our highlight!

Right before the trip, we got these pictures of Dane on his 4 month bday!

More Pictures - when Dane was 2 months

Its A Hard Knock Life for Dane...

I have stopped avoiding pictures of Dane crying because crying is what he does best. I got me a colicky baby. So here is Dane in all his glory. :) Luckily he is cute even when he's crying but I'm really hoping this phase is over SOON! And as i post this it sounds as if his 15 minute nap is up....

young love

Now Where Were We...?

Well we just had a fabulous visit from my BF Heidi. She came in last Wednesday and left on Saturday and there was good times in between. But from the minute Heidi got in town Dane made sure that we all knew that we still needed to drop everything for him. Within a few minutes of walking in the door he had a major blowout with Heidi holding him. And as we changed him he did some more damage during the split second we had his diaper off to wipe down his back (more #2 and #1 as well). Welcome Heidi! :) We found ourselves saying, "Now where were we?" several times during her visit after one episode or another. But despite the episodes we had fun shopping for deals, trying her workout video, eating, and just hanging out with Dane. Heidi took some fun pictures of Dane including the one above. And as you can see from the pic i took of Heidi & Dane - Dane has become a big fan of Heidi!

Two Weeks Old!

We took these pics on Sunday when he turned 2 weeks. Doesn't he look grown up!? Now he is 8 lbs 9 oz as of this morning! Everyone asks us who he looks like - what do you think?

My First Mother's Day!

Our little Dane made his grand entrance on Mother's Day at 10:32 am. He was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long and we were relieved he is healthy and well. I had been worried about knowing when "its time" but my water broke during the night about 2:30 am and it quickly became clear we needed to get to the hospital. I dialated to an 8 1/2 - 9 very quickly and that is when i got an epidural and i'm glad i did because after that things slowed significantly. it was another 5 hours until he was born. James was really curious about everything and asked a lot of questions and took some pictures that i promptly deleted when i saw. :) But we did get a few good pictures of Dane that first day. Since then we've been more overwhelmed and we need to start taking more pics again. He is absolutely adorable and the pics do not do him justice. But here are some pics from the hospital:

Hopefully this post is coherent because this week has been quite sleepless! We can't wait to introduce him to you all very soon!

Janssen Projects

Below are a couple of pics that my sister Marnie requested. The first are our living room curtains i made a few months back. I'm working on some similar ones (more casual) for the nursery right now..

The second is a pic of the nursery. It doesn't look like much but i should have taken a before and after. We put in new carpet, painted the walls, removed old baseboards, painted and put up new baseboards. I sewed the crib quilt, crib skirt, crib sheet, and changing pad cover. Its just missing some personality/decorations on the walls! Ideas??

Baby Shower

I thought about making this blog private before posting pics of the shower and only inviting a few select people to have access, but that seems like a lot of work. So my laziness takes precendence over my vanity. The long awaited photos of Large Marge....

A couple of my friends and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law threw the shower. The food was fabulous!

My friend made this hooter hider! So cute!

This friend just had her baby on tax day last week. I'm jealous!

This was over 3 weeks ago now and so you can imagine how i've grown. I get bigger every day! The ladies at work don't think i'll last til my due date. I love the comments about possibly twins or shock at the size of my belly. Those who lack tact really come out of the wood work right about now! Gotta just laugh!