Hair post.....

I was just looking through pictures lately, and I am SO shocked by her hair growth!! I look at these first 3 pictures, which are all within the first 6 months of her life, and then I look at the bottom pictures which are just about 18 months later. We rocked ALOT of headbands in the first year!! She went from whispy fine straight hair, to tight coils at about 6 months old. Then, she lost ALL of her hair around the back of her head. Then, she started pulling the sides out!!!

Today, she has a MUCH different texture to her hair, and MUCH more length. I never thought I'd see a day where I could style my daughters hair (hahaha!). Thanks to a satin pillow case, she has regained most of her length now and is gaining more growth everyday!

In fact, I think it's time for a trim to get rid of some of those dead ends....YIKES, im too terrified for that still.

 Because she has a different hair texture from Mommy, I am trying to instill an early love for her and her hair early on. Everytime we do her hair, we show her the mirror so she can see how PRETTY it looks. She loves ripping out playing with my hair too. She is turning into SUCH a girlie girl!!! Oh how I love her xoxo



Princess Room - on a budget!

 Sorry for the quality of the pictures, but they are from my phone! Here is Miss Princess Noelani. This is our almost nightly routine - dressing up before bed. She just ADORES being girly. So of COURSE we had to decorate her room as girly as possible! She loves everything princess, so it kind of all began with that!

This sign on her door was actually in her old room as well. I got this originally at the dollar store!! I wasn't sure where to put it, so I stuck it on her door since her wall space was pretty much filled.

Here is her bed. I got the comforter set online, and I really think it was the most expensive item in her room minus the dolls! The castle pillows I picked up from someone at work who had a daughter who outgrew them. The frog is actually a purse I got on clearance at TJ Maxx, and the canopy was given to us from a friend!

Here is another shot of her bed, from when we were unpacking (notice the box). But it was the only shot I have of the curtains. They have sparkly pink/purple sequin flowers....and here are the curtain tie backs I purchased for them, again online:

Her toy stand (that we already had) and I wanted in her room has green in it, and a few other items, like her rug so I wanted to tie the green in somehow

AND, here is the toy area. Don't mind the bucket of paints on the floor - my mom was painting AMAZING things on her wall....which you will see below. The bins are all toys, the carriage opens to a play house of sorts, and the storage buckets you see have all of her hair stuff, shoes, bed sheets, bathing suits etc stashed away.

And THIS is one of my moms awesome artwork pictures she painted. It is NOT crooked, but apparently my phone/hands are! This is now above the toy bins

THIS is another painting thanks to my mom. A beautiful CHOCOLATE princess! All done freehand. The sign above her, I bought at Hobby Lobby, and the framed fabric I picked up all of the stuff at Hobby Lobby and my mom framed/padded/painted it all. THANKS MOM!!

My mom of COURSE also made the sign you see, and I bought the crown jewelry holder from LTD months ago! The memory box my mom made a couple of months after Noelani came home.

Again, my mom made this, and my hands are crooked taking pictures. I got the princess/ballet slippers for about $.25 at Target on clearance!

AND, what started it all? THESE dolls! Daddy bought 7 of them for her, and I had to complete the set with the last 3. (What's with me taking crooked pics) The princess picture frame she got for her bday last year, and the TV I bought from a friend! Im not thrilled with the shelves, but they were all I could find last minute at Target for like $13 each (hello CLEARANCE i love you!). I think I will take them down and paint them white when the weather is nicer!

FINALLY, if anyone cared, this is a panoramic view of her room, minus the canopy. My hubby took this one, I have no clue how to do it!

Overall, on a budget, I am very pleased how her room turned out!! It was a dark tan color (the walls) and so I chose a light lavendar in hopes that it will last a while if we decide to redecorate again. We again did a cheaper route with the paint. I picked a Disney color at Home Depot, and matched it up to a Glidden color as best as I could. ONE can of paint WITH primer, and we got the look we wanted.

I think this is proof ANYTHING can be done on a budget.

Noelani's 2nd Birthday

Here was Noelani's birthday invites. Quite obviously, I've blocked out our phone # and address....just don't feel safe posting that! I made these entirely myself. I purchased a graphic package that matched all of her party decor on Etsy for I believe $5. I used the separate graphics for her invites, cake, and water bottle labels. 

I knew I wanted to do an owl theme since probably the day after her first birthday lol!! I was debating back and forth since she is SO into princesses and Yo Gabba Gabba....but then I realized, this is probably the LAST birthday she will allow me to choose the theme. So I figured: GO FOR IT!

I think it was around October or November when I took the above picture. It was literally THE last day that was nice enough to be outside without a jacket. Honestly, it probably was a bit too chilly, but my girl was a trooper! Our old apartment sat across the street from a beautiful Botanical Garden/Nature Park, so we walked over with the last bit of sunlight for the day, and snapped a few pictures. By the time we got home our feet were SOAKED from sinking into the mud. But, as always, she was just happy go lucky the entire time.

As you all know, we bought a house on the 10th of January. We hired movers for the 13th. Of COURSE, they cancelled due to the snow, so we did not physically move our stuff until Jan. 14th. That day, we finally got all of our stuff moved in around 3pm. 

I don't know WHAT I was thinking, but I planned her party for exactly 2 weeks following our move in! I think I mailed the invites that week in fact! 

Let me just say, my brother in law was LITERALLY hanging pictures on my walls while I was running to get this cake for the party:

Thank goodness for help! Of course, Noelani had dance that morning, so as soon as we got home, I put her down for a nap and started rushing to decorate. My mom brought over balloons, and a much needed caffeine drink (I had the WORST migraine all day and spent the next day in bed all day). 

While Noey slept, I set up all the decorations with the help of my sister. My brother in law finished hanging pictures and my mom finished snacks!

Our cake table

Party Favors (thanks to Target dollar section in the summer!)

I printed and rewrapped these water bottles using the pictures I got on Etsy ;)

I had these package of owls I think my mom got me as a craft or something! I found them and at the last minute, my sister and I took some glitter glue pens and decorated them!

My sister ordered these cookies from an AMAZING person she works with!

Balloons Nana brought

The tablecloth and "centerpiece" were from Oriental Trading! Last minute, I propped her 2nd birthday picture up against the wall!

Some of the Chaos opening gifts

Singing to my baby girl!

Honestly, all in all, I would have to say her party turned out better than I expected!!!! I had some AWESOME friends (thanks Melissa, Donna, and my aunt Sherri) who brought some appetizers. My mom and dad bought the pizza for her party, and my sister and her husband bought Noeys cookies you saw. Antoine & I got the cake, and I got all of the matching decorations from Oriental Trading AND from Target throughout the year. I printed the water bottle wrappers and cut them myself. 

Knowing that we were moving, I REALLY wanted to keep her party budget under $300 MAX. I was successfully able to do that!!!! AND keep in mind she went to Disney on Ice, the Candy Kids Spa & got the Disney Dolls.

One thing I have been VERY good at is couponing. It may sound really silly to some people, but it has allowed me to do these things for my daughter. If I can save $30 in one shopping trip a couple times a week, it allows for me to spend money in other areas!

I can't wait for next years party/birthday. WAIT....yes I can! That means my BABY will be another year older. Can someone please slow the time down!