Taking Flight

Friday is a big day for our family.  The first time we're flying with both kids.  Up until I was about 5 months pregnant we flew quite a bit with Bea.  Her first trip was at 4 months to San Diego followed by an 8 hour drive up to the Bay Area a few days later.  She's always been a pretty good flier.  It was definitely easier before she could crawl and then walk, but she still surprised me at how well she handled it all.

Bea's first flight

It's been awhile since our last flight so this time I'm going in prepared (at least I hope so).  I've been doing my research online and have come up with several things to (fingers crossed) keep her occupied.  The first thing I'm doing are making several toddler activity bags.  This is another project I found on the blogs Chasing Cheerios and The Rigney's through Pinterest.  For this trip I'm doing felt boards, matching color shades, stickers, crayons/markers and paper.  

Shapes Felt Board 

 Face Felt Board

Matching Colors

Stickers

We're also adding in some downloaded episodes of Sesame Street, an Aquadoodle that Bea received for her second birthday (thank you Isabel and Theo!), and plenty of snacks.  This should be enough to take us through the two flights and one layover that we have.  

Heather

Sugar and Spice

A few months ago I stumbled across a blog through Pinterest called Play At Home Mom.  It's a blog devoted to play based learning and they have a TON of great ideas of things you can do with you kids or that your child can do alone.  I've been slowly assembling a list of all of the projects I want to try out with Bea and I've also been making another list of items to get for her for this type of play.

Today after her nap I decided to try out the first one.  This one was titled Sugar and Spice and basically it was allowing your child to use glue to make pictures with spices.  I chose marjoram, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves but you could really use anything.

This was the first time Bea had used glue and at first it was a little tricky for her.  Pretty soon she figured it out and then the fun began.  She literally played with this until we ran out of spices, which was about 30 minutes.  I think if I would've had more she would have definitely played longer.  She told me halfway through the project that she was "makin dada picture".  And here it is

As we start exploring other projects I'll make sure and write about each of them.

Heather

Happy Birthday Cake

Bea turned 2 on Friday and we threw a party for her on Saturday.  I had been saving party inspiration images from Pinterest for weeks and spent the week leading up to her party trying out different DIY decorations.  We ended up doing a mix of DIY and store bought items but I think the overall result was a very cute and girly 2nd birthday party.

It actually ended up snowing about 6 inches the night before/morning of her party and while I was nervous that people would decide to stay home everyone turned up!  Here's a picture of Bea enjoying the snow earlier that day.

She cried and cried when it was time to come in but I think the promise of having "Happy Birthday Cake" later in the day made up for it.

Happy Birthday Baby Bea!!!!

Heather

Beauty Must Haves

Image via Bonzai Aphrodite

This winter has done a number on my skin.  Dry face, hands, you name it and it's cracked and peeling.  A few months ago I read somewhere that coconut oil was good for dry skin.  But since I have a new baby  (yep, I'm going to milk that as long as I can) and a toddler I didn't have the time (ie, forgot) to hunt it down.  

Then a few weeks ago I was in Trader Joe's and what did I see on the end cap but coconut oil.  At $5.99 a jar I decided to pick one up and try it out.  

The oil itself reminds me of Crisco so I just used my fingers to rub a little bit off and put it on my face and neck.  The next morning my skin looked much better, not completely void of dryness, but not as scaly as I had been.  I've been alternating using the oil with my regular lotion at night because I'm nervous that all of a sudden I'll break out , but so far so good.  It's been about 2 weeks and I only have a little dry skin left.  

Such a great buy!  Hopefully they'll continue to stock it (although at this rate my jar will last a lifetime).  

Heather 

Party Planning

Bea turns 2 on Friday and we have a party planned for her on Saturday.  I spent last weekend buying supplies and I have a few ideas on how I want to decorate.

The invitations were pink with a little green so I'm using pink as our main color.  I thought it might be easier to do a color theme over an object.  Plus, this girl LOVES pink so I know I can't go wrong.  I've been scouring Pinterest for ideas and have come across so many great ones.  You can check out my entire inspiration board here.

The tablecloth and balloons look easy enough and tonight after the kids are in bed (which will hopefully be on the early side) I'm going to attempt the garland.  I have a feeling that even if I can replicate it that it will take a while to complete so I'm trying to be proactive on this one.  I'll let you know what happens!

Heather

Book Mobile

When we lived in Brooklyn our apartment was across the street from a Barnes & Noble so you can imagine how much time we spent there looking for new books for Bea, checking out magazines for me, or just having a coffee in the Starbucks.  I came across On The Night You Were Born right around Bea's first birthday and was so happy to discover that the author, Nancy Tillman, has several children's books.

It quickly became one of Bea's favorites and we still read it at least once a week.  It's a sweet little story about how special each child is and how no one is the same.

Bea received two more of Nancy's books over Christmas, The Crown on Your Head and Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You, and I can't wait to read those to her.

Heather

I'm Loving

It rained the entire night here and this morning as I pulled on my black wellies to take Charlie for his two month check-up I started thinking about this pair of wellies that I came across recently on Joules.

I LOVE the purple color and the zipper in the back that reveals a pink lining.  Plus, the added zipper helps if your calves are a little bigger than the standard size.  These will definitely add a bright spot to any rainy or snowy day.  And, as an added bonus, they are on sale right now.

If only we weren't just coming off of the holiday season full of overspending!!!

Heather