DIY Monday: JAE is ONE

And just like that, my sweet little baby is ONE! That year went by in lightening speed!  We had a Sugar & Spice party for her at Gymborees and for the most part, my vision came together which made everyone happy. 

I know often times, people wonder why I go all out for celebrations. Well, I have 2 reasons. 1. For the memories. Yes they won't remember now but they will see the pictures in the future and look at it with a smile and know someone cared enough to do this. 
2. I celebrate because it is a reminder of God's goodness throughout the year! It is a reminder that through the ups and downs, we are blessed to have a birthday to celebrate time!
So until the kids are older and ask for changes to their birthday celebrations, I will continue to celebrate in as big a way as we can manage :-). 

Here are pictures from our celebration yesterday. Note: Since there were kids are the celebration, I am not posting a ton of pictures to protect the young ones. Unless I get permission from their parents, I prefer not to share their pictures. 

The cake was so good and relatively inexpensive! We got it from CupCake BLVD. Check them out if you live in MD and are looking for a vendor. Their customer service was also great!

I made these yummy goodness! These things are sooooo addictive! Yummy chocolate covered pretzels. There is something about sugar and salt that just goes well together!

Then JOE helped me make chocolate cupcakes. She did so great and was so helpful. 

For the goodie bags, we used some of the items left from JOE's first birthday party. So the brown bags were from JOE's party and it was very appropo and worked for this party as well. It reads "The Party is Over. I'm Officially One. Thanks for coming. I hope you had fun!"

The bags were stuffed with coupons to Gymborees. Boxes filled with chocolate fudge animal crackers from Target, a small board with chalk to write on and Gymboree stickers. 

JAE's dress came from Marshall's. I loved it the minute I saw it and the price was definitely right. SCORE!

Since JAE's birthday fell on a Sunday, we went to the early Church service first. J's mom got both girls the cutest navy blue and white stripped dresses with sweaters. So that's what they wore to Church yesterday. 
It was so hard to take a picture of both girls. They wouldn't stay still so I just had to snap away as they moved around. 

Wearing a dress doesn't stop this little one from playing on the trampoline!

"Jenna, smile! Let's get a picture of you in your dress!" NO!!! Then promptly runs to the couch to "hide".

 Setting up for the party. 

The final set up of the Sweets table. So I wanted to get gold fabric but they didn't have any the day we went. So I decided to get gold colored table cloth. I didn't realize it was this shiny. I like the concept but was not a fan of just how shiny it was. However, I had already taped it down before I stepped back and looked at the finished product so there was no turning back. 
So for this table, with the exception of the shiny gold table cloth, I really liked the way everything turned out.  

The Spice table. I decided to do something slightly different with the shiny table cloth here. 

Some more pictures of the Sweets table. 

 And here we are. The parents :-). Me and my J. The original JJ team :-D.

Afterwards, J gave a thank you speech and we sang Happy Birthday to JAE and then she got to blow out her candle. 

JAE was too funny! After we sang Happy Birthday, she clapped for us. I guess we did a good job :-D.

Blowing out her candle. Momma and dada had to help her with that. She couldn't understand the concept.

And its a wrap! We feel truly blessed to be parents to this fun loving, awesome little girl. Thanks to all our friends and family who came, called, sent presents, gave presents and just made it a very special day for her. You are truly appreciated!

AyoBE Handmade Wear

For some beautiful  handmade items for you or a loved one, please visit my Etsy store.

I make items for babies, toddlers and a couple of adult pieces. The items I make can be an excellent gift for a friend or relative or a great addition to your home for you or your little one.

I have also added a non-Etsy link for those who would rather not create an Etsy account. You can use a credit card or PayPal.

3EHairUpdate: Starting over

If you read my last 3EHair Update post, you know that I had some heat damage after straightening my hair on the last day of 2015. 
In addition to that, until the middle of March, I was trying to do the water only hair wash method. This method basically involves the use of water as a cleansing agent and letting your scalp produce enough sebum to keep your hair conditioned. 

Well, let me tell you it was QUITE an experience. Perhaps I shouldn't have done both in the same time frame for the following reasons:
1. The middle of my scalp started to ache. I'm not sure why but it did. 
2. Every time I had an itch and scratched my head, I came away with "stuff". Not cute!
3. I lost A TON of hair in that time to shedding and tiny single strange knots. I couldn't figure out why I was shedding so much!

Needless to say, it is back to basics for me. As they say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" I was trying to be lazy with my hair. I went natural because I don't like doing much with my hair and doing the water only wash was a way of simplifying my routine. Also, straightening my hair was a way for me to not have to worry about styling it for a while. I feel like I did more harm than good. 

I have decided to start over. I'm not cutting my hair. I'm still doing the "search and clip" process to get rid of the straight ends I have as a result of heat damage. I'll be starting over with my routine. I'll be co-washing 3-times each month and doing my regular shampoo or clay wash the 4th week. 
I have also noticed that my hair is very oily. Perhaps I started producing more sebum? Regardless, I also plan to reduce how much oil I add to my hair. 

With that said, here are pictures of what I've been doing with my hair.  

 

An unofficial length check. Hello shrinkage!

JOE's hair is doing great. She is also MUCH better with the process of doing her hair. It is still a lot of work but it isn't as bad as it used to be. Very thankful for that.

 

She's the one in the middle. JOE loves to make new friends. This picture was taken at the wedding we attended a couple of weeks ago.

JAE's hair is also growing in very nicely. She loves to just have it hang loosely but because it often gets in her eyes, we either put it in a bun or use a hair clip. 

I do love that she enjoys being my hair bow model. When I finish making a hair bow that I want to sell on my site, I put it on her head to take pictures and she actually gets really excited and often smiles for me! So so cute! My babies supporting their mom :-)

This is often how we have her hair. Part up and part down. 

For the girls, I have stuck with their routine and they are doing great. I am going back to what I did that worked for me initially and will stick with it. Thankfully, I have given up my hair product junkie ways and only buy hair stuff when we run out of our staples. 

Have a fabulous weekend! We will be celebrating JAE's first birthday on Sunday and I am very much looking forward to it. Can't believe my baby will be ONE!

AyoBE Handmade Wear

For some beautiful  handmade items for you or a loved one, please visit my Etsy store.
I make items for babies, toddlers and a couple of adult pieces. The items I make can be an excellent gift for a friend or relative or a great addition to your home for you or your little one.

I have also added a non-Etsy link for those who would rather not create an Etsy account. You can use a credit card or PayPal.

Photo Dump Wednesday: Celebrations and Easter 2016

This is an overdue post. I started it last week but got busy and didn't get a chance to finish and post it.  
The week before Easter, a good friend of mine got married. JOE was a flower girl in her wedding. Prior to that, JOE had practiced quite a bit at home. She did a fabulous job the day of. I thought she'd be shy at first but she wasn't. 

My friend had an absolutely beautiful wedding. She made a GORGEOUS bride and we felt so blessed to have been asked to celebrate with them. 

Since JOE was a flower girl, the bride asked that she have part of her hair up and the rest of it down. Ordinarily, I would say no because JOE has A LOT of hair. However, the bride is a pretty good friend of mine and I couldn't deny her this so I did as she asked. 

Prior to the festivities, JOE and I got a selfie. 

And then it was me and my girls! Don't ask me why JAE was covering her ears. She likes to do her own thing. JOE on the other hand was having her first piece of gum!

JOE telling her dad something veeeerrrryyyy important. As always JAE has a look of "now what?" I love her many facial expressions.

J wanted to take a picture. But as you can see, his first daughter had other ideas! See JOE's hair? Yeah...there's A LOT of it! This was attempt #1

Attempt #2...JAE decided to join in. It was a very warm day so we let JAE go pantless until the festivities were about to begin. Then we changed them both into their dresses. 

Attempt #3. I was holding on to JAE. But JOE wouldn't move. Oh well...

Finally changed and ready to go. I just love the dress my friend picked out. JOE looked so cute in hers. 

And my other 2 loves. JAE is wearing a dress my parents got her at Christmas. It didn't fit then but it certainly does now.

The 4 of us. FAMILY!

Not sure of what J was pondering. JAE clearly found something funny.

So, oftentimes when I ask J to take a picture of me, it is either blurry or the zooming is off. I used to be upset about it but now we laugh about it. What I now do is ask him to take a picture then I look at it and ask for another if needed. This time, I didn't and you can see the results. Of course he claims he was joking. Ah huh...LOL! Seriously though, he takes better pictures than the one below but let's just say I might need to get him photography lessons. Not that I'm an expert but still...

Right before the bridal party walked down the aisle, I decided to take a selfie with JAE. This is what I got.

The venue was absolutely beautiful. The decor was on point and the weather was just perfect.

It was by the water. My friend must be bestie with mother nature cause mother nature certainly pulled out all the stops for her. 

JOE snacking before her flower girl duties. 

After the ceremony, we had an indoor plated dinner. These were the favor boxes. They had chocolate in them. So beautiful!

Before this picture, the groom had asked JOE to dance. She said "wait, I have to first dance with my daddy!" This just melted my heart.

How beautiful is this cake??? We didn't get to taste it because the kids were getting a little restless at this point and I also had to go home to pump. ***Hint to friend who I know reads this blog...***

They had a semi-sweetheart table. As in the maid of honor and best man also sat at the same table. All of the centerpieces were really nice but this one takes the cake. LOVE IT!!!

Overall, we had a lovely time and the wedding was spectacular! NOTE: At the bride and groom's request, I am not posting specific pictures of the couples. But if she says it is OK at a later date, I'll be sure to share. :-)

The following day, J and I took the day off to relax and celebrate J's birthday early since his birthday fell on Easter Sunday. We went out to the mall and hung out there for a bit before having lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Then we saw Batman vs. Superman. Review on that? Hmmmm...I'll leave it at that but let's just say "company was the best part of the movie."

Afterwards, we headed home. JAE loves to play hide and seek. In addition to that, she also likes to hide things. Future visitors to our home, beware! Anyways, JAE found my stash of "bribe oreos" that I give JOE to encourage her to do things. No judgement and she only gets 2 at most per day. Anyways, JAE took it and was hiding it behind her back. See her innocent look? I just had to take a picture.

So I made our skirts for Easter Sunday. I've been wanting to do a "mommy and me" themed outfit for us and decided to do it for Easter. 
I used one of the wrappers my mom gave me way back when. So this was more a refashioned item. My awesome sister got the girls the cutest sandals from Gymborees and they wore white tops while I wore a black top. 

JOE loved her sandals and definitely was showing off at Church on Easter Sunday. Check out my girl with her legs crossed.

It was a little colder than expected so both girls had to wear tights and sweaters. But I think we still pulled it off. What do you think?

J wore a color that complemented ours. I should say that I offered to make J a bowtie and he refused! SMH!

 

My little model.

Oh yeah...JOE also asked for a flower for her hair.

Time to open up Easter baskets!

JAE is not big on sweets so we got her a bunny that sings "Jesus Loves Me". She loves the bunny. 

Ready to go hunt for eggs. 

"Momma, my bag is full!"

It was a successful hunt. JAE wasn't too sure of it but she liked watching her sister. JOE on the other hand was pretty good at finding the eggs.

We had a lovely celebration. Holidays have so much more meaning now because I get to watch it from a different point of view. It is like seeing the world through new eyes! Just very special. 

AyoBE Handmade Wear

For some beautiful  handmade items for you or a loved one, please visit my Etsy store.
I make items for babies, toddlers and a couple of adult pieces. The items I make can be an excellent gift for a friend or relative or a great addition to your home for you or your little one.

I have also added a non-Etsy link for those who would rather not create an Etsy account. You can use a credit card or PayPal.