1st Haircut
I had been toying with the idea of cutting Vivianne’s hair for quite some time. I would vacillate back and forth on whether I should cut it or just let it grow. Her hair took SO long to grow in the first place that to cut it meant having to wait all over again for it to grow back. But, it was getting to the point of looking a bit scragglish in the back (her hair in the front is growing at an entirely different speed, hence the mullet-like style) so we agreed it was best to get it trimmed.
We brought her to KidSnips, a salon designed especially for little kids. The stylist’s stations have little automobile seats and mini TVs with DVD players. Each child is allowed to pick out a movie prior to getting in the chair and Vivianne picked Dora the Explorer, of course. She was completely at ease watching Dora while the lady cut her hair. She didn’t cry or squirm to get out once. We were amazed. The stylist asked us if we wanted to have her cut bangs and we told her that we eventually would like for her hair to all be the same length, so she said she wouldn’t touch the front and would only trim the back. Vivianne hardly has any hair in the front to begin with so we kinda laughed. It looks like she has bangs, but her hair hasn’t grown in yet in the front :-)
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She got this little certificate and they included a lock of her hair. Vivianne looks a little crabby in the picture, but she wasn’t at all.
Here is a before and after of the back of her hair.
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She was able to pick out a complimentary balloon, sucker and a necklace. It was a great first experience!
The great thing about Super Bowl Sunday...
The unwritten rule that one is allowed to eat whatever he or she chooses without feeling the slightest bit guilty.
Even if they consume half a batch of cookie dough, it is still ok, period.
Super Bowl Entertainment
We watched the Super Bowl over at the Cohen’s house and aside from the 4th quarter, the girls were our entertainment!
Marney and Joe’s basement is a kid’s dream! There are SO many toys. Vivianne and Jayden had a blast and played the entire time.
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Here’s a short clip of Vivianne trying to get Dad’s attention by dancing to the half-time music:
Princess Playdate
My first official playdate as a stay-at-home mom went pretty well. I survived! Ha! It was so much fun, I can hardly wait to do it again. I thought it would be fun to have a theme, so on the invitations we asked Isabel and Jayden to wear their fairy/princess outfits. We moms thought they looked pretty darn cute! They all had fun making art projects and playing with the babies! Thankfully we had three babies, or all heck would have broken loose. Ha!
Here are a few pics, you can find more on the pictures link!
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Thaddeus Rex Concert (22 months old today)
Have you heard of Thaddeus Rex? Don’t worry we hadn’t either. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, all we knew was that he performed for children all over the country. We figured since music was involved Vivianne would like it.
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This guy had so much enthusiasm and energy that the kids just went wild. They were allowed to come up to the front of the auditorium and dance while he sang. It was like a little rock concert.
A clip of Vivianne during the concert:
Loving the temperatures!
We were so fortunate to have some nice weather this weekend! Yesterday it was in the 50s and today low 40s. The snow is melting so quickly. We actually took Vivianne for a walk in the stroller today!
Another reason I love the library...
So we stop by the library to return our books and the librarian invites us to join them in the craft room for making Valentines. They had lots of tables and every type of paper, sequin, ribbon and sticker imaginable free for the taking. Vivianne had a grand old time making some Valentine creations…let’s just say this child enjoys glue. The glue had to “magically” disappear at one point. Once she realized it was gone, she moved on to the stickers…we went through an entire sheet of heart stickers! The librarian told us they had several arts/crafts projects that go on throughout the year and we were welcome anytime! How cool is that!
We also discovered that the library not only has"Dora" videos available for check out but has “Dora” books as well. We checked out three. Can you guess what she picked out to read before nap time today???? Why Dora, of course. We had to read it three times and she absolutely could not live without the book coming into her crib with her. When I went back to check on her I found her sound asleep on top of the Dora book. This obsession is beginning to scare me.
Valentine's Day Party
We had a little party for Vivianne and some of her friends today. They had fun frosting cookies and making Valentines.
Funny story:
I had planned to make a frozen pizza to serve at lunch. So I buy this brand I have never tried before. It was ultra thin and cheese, so I figured the kids would like it. Well, I obviously wasn’t paying very close attention when I quickly slid it in the oven and set the timer. I walked past the oven a few times and peeked through the window to check on it. The pizza hadn’t changed much since when I had first put it in. I wondered for a split second, but then just figured it needed more time. I came back around, again, and peeked in…still nothing. This time I opened the oven door…the pizza hadn’t risen because it was upside down and the top was now dripping to the bottom of the oven. Yea, not one of my finest moments. I tried to remove the pizza as swiftly as possible, but the entire top was pretty much lying on the oven floor! ARGGGGG! Now it’s beginning to sizzle and burn and smell. We disengaged the smoke detectors and opened the balcony door and turned on the fan to try and mask some of the smoke. What a nightmare! I was so embarrassed. It’s not like frozen pizza is something new to me. Geez! Anywho, it all turned out ok, I had chicken nuggets in the freezer and they went over pretty well. The kiddos sure didn’t seem to mind and their parents are probably still laughing at the situation :-)
You can find lots more pictures on our flickr account.
Such tiny feet!
Usually I will find Vivianne’s boots flush against the door, smack dab in the middle of it, making it impossible to open the door without moving them.
Q: Why does she put them there?
A: Well, one day I told her to take her boots off and put them by the door, like Thomas and I do with our shoes/boots. So she takes off her boots and disappears for a second and then I hear, “Mommy, Mommy!” She’s beckoning me to come look. I get up and go over there to find that she had listened and had put her boots by the door, literally. She was so proud of herself that I didn’t have the heart to explain and show her what I meant, so I just let it go. Now, that’s her spot. The most inconvenient spot in the entire entryway. So when she’s not looking I will slide them over to where I would like them to be. Maybe she will catch on one day…
Granola Bar Recipe
I came across this recipe the other day and thought I would share it. You could easily substitute different ingredients to customize them to your liking. Vivianne seems to like them quite a bit :-)
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.
Some substitutions (instead of, or in addition to the raisins): chocolate chips, craisins, nuts, etc. You could also add peanut butter or applesauce and use less oil to make them a bit healthier.
Say cheese!
Vivianne has been doing this “new” thing where she will go get her kitty and bunny (stuffed animals) and arrange them in a certain way. Then she will say “Camera, cheese.” So she sits next to them and I take their picture. I swear she thinks her stuffed animals are real. It is the cutest thing. Then she will want to see the picture as if she needs to approve it or something (she’s probably seen her Mom do this a time or two!)
She will push them in the stroller, if they fall, she will say “Uh-oh! Kitty fall!” Then she will pick it up and kiss it and hug it and gently put it back in the stroller. She will even feed them…she will put a cracker to their mouths and then she will take a bite and so forth until the cracker is gone. She has developed quite the imagination.