November 2, 2009

  • Funny Faces

    Today, on our drive back home, Rylie was cracking up by herself while taking her own pictures and looking at them. I was trying to hold in my laughter while sitting next to her because she was really concentrating on taking pictures of herself.  She would first turn the camera around, make a funny face, take a picture, go to play mode on the camera, and then laugh hysterically. I have no idea where she learned this from…. but my guess is from daddy.

    Rylie’s funny faces

     

    The misses, but I still love them

     

     

October 30, 2009

  • Sleep Tips for Daylight Savings Time

    Turn Clocks Back this Sunday, Nov 1!


    1.  Put your child to sleep as his normal bedtime on Saturday night.
     
    2.  Your child will likely wake up 1 hour earlier by the new clock than he normally does, say at 5:00 AM (which still feels to him like 6:00 AM).  Psychologically, it can be painful to see 5:00 AM on your clock and deal with a child who’s bright and perky.  There’s not a lot you can do about his energy level on this first morning, so just get up with him.
     
    3.  If your child still naps, stretch him as much as you can toward his normal first nap time (according to the current clock).  So, if your child wakes at 5:00 AM (according to the current clock), his body will want to nap 1 hour earlier than normal.  Don’t let him! 
     
    Instead, do everything to keep him awake.  Give him a bath or do the Hokey Pokey around the house to keep him up as close to his normal first nap time as possible, then follow his usual schedule thereafter.  Don’t let him nap too long, as doing so may continue to cause early morning wakings.
     
    If your child has outgrown napping, you still need to allow him to wake up at the early new time once the clocks have changed (bummer).  However, spend your day eating and doing activities according to the usual time (even thought the clock has changed).  Do your best to keep him up all the way to his regular bedtime at night, by the new clock.  Yes, he’ll be a bit cranky in the evening, but after a few days, he’ll adjust!

    Excerpt from the Sleepeasy Solution


October 29, 2009

  • Overdue post …

    My SIL got married in August and asked if Rylie could be the flower girl. I was really excited, but super nervous at the same time. She could either a) enjoy herself and successfully walk down the aisle or b) just freak out while walking down the aisle, breakdown, and cry. On the day of the wedding, she only got 30 min of naptime, but seemed to be in a good mood and was really hyper. It was really out of my control, so all I did was hope that all the practicing at home would pay off.

    When it was finally Rylie’s turn to walk down, I must’ve held my breath the whole time. I waited near the altar to get her when she came down, so I missed most of it (luckily, we have video and pictures documenting it). When I finally saw her, I could see that she was smiling ear to ear and having fun. Yay!

    Congrats again to my beautiful SIL and BIL!You guys looked stunning and the wedding was amazing!

    Rylie is admiring gomo’s wedding dress. Her adorable headband is from Bugg-Ahh Boo Kid’s

    I love this next shot.

    The left pic is of them trying to do a cute pose… I think.

     

    family pic!

    **pics from Chocolate Photography**

October 15, 2009

  • Girly girl or Tomboy

    Rylie is a girly girl who loves to accessorize herself, but sometimes I can see a little bit of tomboy in her who loves trucks, trains, motorcycles, and tools.

    The girly girl…

    Rylie with her girlfriend, Natalie. I love their big smiles in this picture.

    After bath, they decided to accessorize themselves. Can’t forget the heels! Such girls.

      

    The tomboy…
    If you know Rylie, you know she loves her transformer boots. Well, she recently got to choose an umbrella and she chose a firetruck one.  She has a fascination with firetrucks, so no surprise there.

    First day of rain last week. She was so excited to finally use it.

    Here she is admiring a scooter and saying, “i ride it”

October 2, 2009

  • My Etsy Shop

    My etsy shop is finally opened! I’ve been a member of etsy since 2007, but have always been a buyer and not a seller. Well, I’ve taken the plunge and put up some of my creations today. I’m trying to get ready for the Nucleus Co-Lab craft fair in December, so I’ll be using my etsy shop to promote some of the jewelry that will be on sale there. Save the Date: the craft fair will be on Sunday, Dec13th. I’ll be sure to post more info closer to the date.
    Click HERE to go to my shop.

    Etsy
    Buy Handmade
    helenohjewelry

September 26, 2009

September 23, 2009

  • Give Away

    So… did she like them?

    Nope. Well… maybe she thinks they’re okay, but she prefers her other necklace and bracelet over these. She only wore them for a split second while I took pictures and immediately wanted to take them off. So, I’ll be offering my first giveaway. Please leave a comment and mention who the jewelry is for. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Friday.

    This is the best picture I could take with my point and shoot. Quick info: Necklace is about 14 inches w gold fill, aventurine and red resin coral. Don’t they look like cherries? Bracelet is about 5 inches w gold fill and pink resin coral.

    Her expression says it all….

      

September 22, 2009

  • An order for my youngest customer

    I just finished an order for my youngest customer. Today, Rylie asked me to take down a few plastic storage containers holding beads. She immediately found earrings I made and wanted to wear them. Btw, she is totally in the earrings phase right now.  Instead of earrings I told her I would make her a necklace and a bracelet. Here’s how our conversation went.

    me: Pick the colors you want
    Rylie: I want pink, red, and black
    me: ok, Do you want me to make you a necklace or a bracelet?
    Rylie: I want necklace and bracelet

    So, after putting Rylie to bed and doing some post-processing for hubby, I went to work on the order. Can’t wait for her to wear them tomorrow! Now… I’m so ready for bed.

September 19, 2009

  • Potty Training and First day of Toddler Class

    A little before Rylie turned two, she started wanting to wear her underwear at home. Before this, we switched from diapers to pull ups because she was growing out of her size 6 diapers. She was #2 trained on the potty at around 14 months, but was NEVER interested in going pee. I would ask her, but the answer was always no. Soon after she started wanting to go diaperless at home, I thought she might be more interested in going #1 in the potty. So, I sat her down after every 1 1/2 – 2 hours on the toilet and she would actually go pee! yipee!!! She stills says no when I ask her if she has to go, but will go if I just take her and sit her down. I’m not sure if I should continue to take her or if I should just wait until she tells me she has to go. I still put her in pull ups when we go out in fear of accidents, but I take her to the big potty when she is dry after a couple of hours. Btw, she complains that her bottom hurts if I don’t put a portable potty on the big potty. I even took it to our church weekend retreat, so that she would be more comfy when she was going potty.

    So here are a couple of my questions. Do you guys take a portable potty when you are out? Does your little one tell you they have to go or do you just sit them down? Do you keep them in their diaper or keep them in their underwear while out? Any advice for potty training?

    Onto Rylie’s first day of Toddler (mommy and me) Class. She loved the class and her teacher is just wonderful. She also met a friend and has been asking for her ever since. The class is just once a week for 2 hours, but I know Rylie would want to go everyday if she could. Here are some pics from our morning.

    That’s a golf ball inside the box.

      

    Loved the soft texture of the play clay. Recipe below.

       

    Yup, her transformer boots went to school too. She refuses to wear her other shoes these days.

      

    PlayClay

    Materials:

    2 cups water

    1 cup salt

    food coloring*

    4 tsp. cream of tartar

    4 tbsp. oil

    2 cups flour*

    Method:

    - Combine water, salt, cream of tartar and food coloring (.5 tsp for pastel color and 1.5 tbsp for vivid color) in a large saucepan. 

    - Cook on low heat and stir. As the mixture heats up, stir in the oil and then the flour slowly.

    - Keep Stirring the mixture until it starts looking dry and pulling away from the pan. Remove from heat and pinch a piece between two fingers. If it is not sticky, it is done. Otherwise, continue stirring over low heat.

    - Place the dough on counter and knead until smooth. Children will enjoy kneading the warm dough when it cools enough for them, too!

    - When finished playing, store playclay in an airtight container or plastic bag to re-use again and again. Do not refrigerate.

    * For children who cannot tolerate gluten or food coloring, you may substitute rice flour for flour and use natural beet (red), spinach (green) or carrot (orange) juice for color.

September 16, 2009