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!

We're Baaaaaaaack!

YES! We are finally back - with more blogs to follow. It has been a CRAZY couple of weeks for our family and moving.

We were all set to move on FRIDAY THE 13th! Of course, here in Buffalo it has barely snowed all winter.....BUT, we had to wake up to a snow storm that morning! We hired movers to come move all of our stuff (big items) from our apartment to our house that morning. I had everything planned. I let Noelani sleep in a bit, and was going to take her to daycare so that we could move everything and get her bed set up before she came home that day. About 5 minutes after waking up and looking out of my window, I knew it was going to be a problem. It was a complete white out. Not even 2 minutes later did Antoines phone ring, and the movers cancelled. They wouldn't be able to come until the next day.

That brought us to Saturday - which meant Noelani had to skip dance. I don't like doing that because she loves it, but there was no way I would be able to handle all of the moving and arranging someone to take her. I needed help, cause Antoine had to work and couldn't take off!

Needless to say, this Saturday will be 2 weeks since our move and we are having Noelani's 2nd birthday party!

Because we had to wait an extra 2 weeks to have her party, I took her to Candy Kids Spa the weekend of her birthday so she could do something special. The following week, we went to Disney on Ice.

Here Noey is starting to get her pedicure

Getting ready for a candy facial

AND, after a manicure!

This Candy Kids Spa was seriously the cutest place EVER! She had such a ball, and we will definitely be going back again!!!!

This past Saturday, we went to Disney on Ice. This was also another birthday gift in addition to the Candy Kids Spa. Mommy & Daddy took her. We were front row rinkside. Noelani was SO excited when I told her she would see Mickey & Minnie and the princesses!!

I made a Princess Tiana bun in her hair, and threw in a tiara headband that I got her at The Childrens Place around Christmas time. Nana had bought her some princess tattoos and she found them earlier in the day, so we put one on her cheek.

Her auntie bought her some new princess sneakers, that she HAD to wear. So here she is all dressed up and ready to go!!

She had no idea what was about to happen! She kept saying "open" pointing at the curtain they were behind. But OH MY GOODNESS, when Mickey & Minnie came out, she LOST her mind! I have never seen her so excited. She was screaming and jumped all around!!!! I had to grab her by the back of her hoodie because I literally thought she was going to lunge over the side of the ice rink!

Safe to say she had a good time!! She picked out a "T-Belle" cup (aka Tinkerbelle), that was filled with a snow cone. Don't let the picture decieve you! She barely ate any (for $15!!!!) before it dumped on the floor, and she was left with about 2 inches of PURE sugar juice!!!

This Saturday will be her birthday party and we are so excited! I've had ALOT to do in order to get the house ready....but it will be worth it once she gets to hang out with her little friends and celebrate!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Noelani!

*This is the picture I'm using on her invitations for her party*

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl!!!! I cannot believe that it's already been 2 years. The time has just FLOWN by! I cannot even remember life without you in it. 

You are SUCH a big girl now. You talk like crazy and are just the most lovable little girl in the world. You are seriously the most laid back little girl I have ever met in my life. To say you deal well with transition, that is an understatement! 

Some things about you:

• You have been in a big girl bed now for about 8 months and have NEVER given us a problem about it. We switched you to it one day and you never looked back. You are such a good girl and sit in there and call for Mommy & Daddy until we come get you (unless of course you sneak books and shoes which are next to the bed)
• You have been pacifier FREE for almost a month now! 
• You can recite your ABC's and count to 13 without my help!
• You must sing "Twinkle Twinkle little Star" 100 times a day!
• You also like to count backwards "5...4...3...2...1 BLAST OFF" is what you always say!
• You L.O.V.E to dance & listen to music
• You are such a good helper - we are moving right now and whenever you see me carrying stuff to the door, I look behind me and you are carrying something haha! Or if I want to vacuum or sweep, you also like to help
• You are such a people person! You make friends in an instant
• You love books - and would make me read to you all day long if I let you
• You are using simple sentences now like: "Help you", "I broke it", "Noey love puppies", "Jazmin come here", "Stand up", "How are you?", "Who's there", "Where is it?", "I love you" - the list goes on and on! 
• Your Dr. even said that you are such a good talker!
• You aren't potty trained yet, but you are trying! You always tell me "Go potty"...you try it sometimes at daycare.
• You LOVE to play with your baby dolls!
• You are OBSESSED with princesses. I secretly love it cause I was a princess girl too when I was younger :)

You have so many wonderful qualities, there is no way in the world I can list all of them!

I am so lucky to be your mommy & I love you so much!!!

Due to our move, we will be having your birthday party on the 28th. BUT, this weekend I am taking you to "Candy Kids Spa"  and then next weekend we will be going to Disney on Ice!!!

MOVING....

FINALLY!!!! I haven't blogged in FOR.EV.ER. But, once we move and have everything settled I promise to get back to blogging!
We finally got our closing date : 1/10/12. That means, two days before Noelani's 2nd birthday, we will be home owners. For her 2nd birthday she gets: A HOUSE....lol well, we all get the house, but she will get a brand new bedroom (shhhh don't tell her!) ;)
I'm redoing her room for her in princess theme. This girl is obsessed...I mean OBSESSED with everything princess. Daddy found her 7 of the 10 following dolls, and I obsessively found the other 3. These are called the Disney Animators Collection dolls. They will be put on shelves in her room for her birthday as well. FINALLY, we will be going to Disney on Ice - Treasure Trove. I somehow got the tickets presale and got front row rinkside for her. She will probably pee her pants lol!!! She is sooooo in love with everything Disney. Mickey, Princess - you name it!

My mother and I went to Michaels and Hobby Lobby to see what crafts/items we can make for her room, and I think we have some really cute things we are going to do :) I didn't want to do the "premade" Disney princess room, but stick with more of a pink & purple "princess" theme (except the dolls above). I couldn't find any bedding I liked, but then I found a reversible pink/purple toddler bedset that will work perfect!

I'm so excited to see her face when she gets to see her new room!!! 

In the midst of this, I am trying to plan her 2nd birthday party!!! The theme is "Look WhoOo's Turning Two". I have about 2 weeks to plan the whole party after we move. Why didn't I pick princess theme? WELL...I'm sure I will have enough of those birthdays in the years to come. Wish me luck!!!!

As I type this, my little princess is asleep in her bed, holding her princess Tiana wand......

Who has the addiction?

What a year can change. Here are various shots of my "binky queen":

*Last years Christmas photo shoot*

*What I will miss the most - see below*

*My BABY*

And, just like it began, it's over. My baby is over IT. Her binky is no more. I don't know if I had the addiction or her? Funny isn't it? I don't think I'm ready to accept that she is a big girl!!! The first time I ever saw my munchkin, there she was - sucking away on her little binky. I remember coordinating every pacifier with her outfits. I remember swearing I would never nickname a pacifier a binky haha! Funny how things change when you have your own children.

On friday night, we watched a Tinkerbelle movie. I had been wanting to wean the pacifier for months, much to my dismay. my husband has been arguing the fact since she was a year old, and I always had one excuse or another why SHE needed it (but now I realize it was me who was addicted). After the movie, I told her Tinkerbelle will be coming to take the binkies for another little baby, but will leave her a present for being a good girl.

I will miss her cute little face and dreamy eyes as she sucks away on that thing. I will miss her little "baby" sounds she makes and the little sucking noise she makes with it.

As hard as I thought this would be, that night, she cried a little and Antoine went in and told her "You're a big girl so no binky now". She called out for me (the SUCKER) a few times - which I ignored so I didn't give in. She fell asleep!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!

The next day she didn't ask for it ONCE! She whined a little at nap, but slept for 2.5 hours! That night, she went right to bed without asking for it!

At daycare yesterday, I took the 2 pacis with me so I couldn't give in and tell them "just give it to her if she cries". She napped there just fine. Last night, she didn't even ask for it.

SO, ladies & gentlemen, as sad as it makes me - I am about 99% sure we are over the binky phase. Everyone told me, she will give it up when she's ready. I sadly admit she must be over it.

I guess her dentist will be proud of me!

My main reason for giving up the binky? She's starting to get the lovely "curve" in the roof of her mouth that binky babies get....and I do NOT want to be the cause of that!

I will miss my binky baby....now if I can get the courage to throw away the tin container that houses all of them.........