Family Traditions - Winter Festival of Lights and a bump!

Last year, J, JOE and I all went to see the Winter Festival of Lights at a park not too far from us. While JOE was just over a year last year and wasn't really into it, this year, she was totally into it and kept saying "wow...beautiful" or "I love it momma".

It was so nice to see how excited she was to see all the lights and everything. We'll definitely continue to do this for as long as our kids enjoy it.

Anyways, here are some pictures from this year's visit. Its pretty much the same exhibit so I tried to post pictures that weren't the same as last year's.

 JOE now has a thing for lining all my hair products by our bed. Not sure why but she calls it her "choo choo train."

And then of course, there's her "lasso" to catch more of her stuff.

And here she is making sure her choo choo train is all set.

And incase you are wondering, she has a ton of real toys to play with but despite my telling her constantly "those are not toys", she would rather play with my hair products.

And here is my first bump picture with this pregnancy! I FINALLY have one. OK...if you look closely, you can make it out. Folks at work still don't know but I am guessing I'll have a real bump soon. Looks like I am definitely carrying the same way I did with JOE's pregnancy. 

The 21-week picture was taken the week of Thanksgiving. So while it does look a bit bigger than the 22 week picture, part of it can be attributed to bloat. I can't believe I am now more than half way there! It is going by so fast! 

Last Friday, J and I decided to go see a movie. We left JOE with her child care provider and did a little shopping before seeing Hunger Games. I love this movie theater because it has an Egyptian theme. Also, while there, I ran into Jamie from Handling with Grace. She has an absolutely beautiful family and she is just so nice in person! It was really good to meet her in person.

Hope you had a nice weekend! I am ready for my many blessings this week. Will post more on that later.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Last Sunday, we decided to put up our Christmas decorations. J & I have come to learn that decorating a tree with a toddler running around is no small task. We started the work around 10am and didn't finish until closer to 7pm that evening. Granted, we had to take a couple of breaks. 1. Because JOE walked into a door and was in pain and 2. Because we needed to get more stakes for our outdoor candy canes so J had to go to the store. 

All in all, we like the way it all turned out. 

We started with the tree. Last year, we kept most of the ornaments above her reach. This year, we let her place wood and plastic ornaments within her reach. So far, its worked out well. The first night, she went around saying goodnight to each individual ornament. It was so cute! Nowadays, she focuses more on the ones she likes like Doc McStuffins and Sophia The First and just says goodnight to them. 

Anyways, JOE helped put the star on the tree. Our tree is rather tall so J had to climb on a chair and lift JOE up to it. 

She was rather fascinated with the star :-D.

Our fireplace. I am thinking of something different for next year so it doesn't look the same every year. Also, need to go shopping for a couple more stockings for our fireplace. Don't get excited! There's only ONE in there but I figured I'll get an extra one incase we decide to go for another after this.

I love our little Christmas village. I think this was such a worthwhile investment. JOE loves it too. I would like to get another one but I am not sure if I can convince J :-). Perhaps I'll be able to find it on sale after the season is over.

Why do we have an "E"? Well, how else would we know which one belongs to J? LOL...we'll likely be getting another "J" stocking anyways since we plan on sticking with the "J" theme. Hubby can have his special initial (actually his middle initial) as the man of the house for now :-). No...that's not a hint...Or is it? ;-).

JOE was in awe after the tree was all set up.

A view of our tree from upstairs. 

Later that evening, JOE sat on the couch, drinking her milk and enjoying a view of the tree. 

All lite up. 

A repeat from last year but I am already thinking of some changes to make next year. 

This one is new so you might see it a few more times. I wanted to do this last year but couldn't find these garlands ANYWHERE. This year when I saw them on sale in October, I QUICKLY grabbed them :-).

Then J tackled the outside. It is always a chore figuring out the lighting sequence since all the canes connect to each other. But I do love seeing them light up. JOE also loves to see them too. We did add lights to the bushes in front of the house (just underneath the windows) but you can't really tell from this pic.

And a pic collage of all the lights. I like the way it all turned out and am hoping to score some good deals after the holidays to add to our collection next year :-D. Can you tell I LOVE this time of year?

Do you decorate for Christmas? If so, how long does it typically take you? Have a fabulous weekend and remember to be kind to strangers especially this time of year. You just might touch a needing soul.

Photo Dump Wednesday. Hair update at 6.5 weeks post big chop

Well, here's my monthly hair update. I honestly can't over state how easy this transition and natural hair journey has been for me. I think it really is because it caters to my lazy hair regimen. Don't get me wrong...I co-wash once a week and try to keep my hair looking neat but I don't feel like I have to do as much protection as I did when my hair was relaxed. All I do in the mornings is spritz with water and add my Shea butter mix. Easy peazy.

Anyways, here are some pictures of my journey so far. 

Like I have said in the past, the back of my hair grows really fast!

And like I have said in the past, the front of my hair grows at a snail's pace! Yikes! The great thing though is that I no longer need gel to get the front in a puff. It now fits nicely so that's definitely a plus.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, I decided to do a clay wash. I have heard about it and some of my friends on FB swear by it so I decided to try it with a "wash and go". I don't know if the clay wash or the after treatment was the reason for my curls but I loved the outcome. 

Day 1 Wash and Go results

To maintain my hair, at night, I put my hair in bunches like this. It helped to retain the curls as well as stretched my hair.

Day 3 Wash and Go results.

And here is a picture of my puff comparison. Its just 2-days shy of a month.

And since I am not the only lady in the house, here's one of JOE's hair from 11/29/14. This child's hair is GROWING!!! And it is taking longer to get it done! After doing her hair on Saturday, I decided to forgo doing mine until Monday. Since JOE isn't exactly thrilled about getting her hair done, it is often very tiresome afterwards. 

And how cute is this picture? JOE often does her dad's hair when I am doing her hair. He let's her because it is a way for her to be distracted. Last Saturday, she decided to do more by adding bows to his hair. I love this picture! I mean, how sweet is hubby to actually let her do this AND let me take a picture of it? Priceless! I'll be adding this to the pic collage when she gets married :-D.

The love between these 2 melts my heart!

Wishing you blessings for the rest of your week. And since we are in the holiday season, please be sure to keep those who have lost loved ones in your prayers. The holidays are especially hard for many.

Thanksgiving 2014

I hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving weekend last week. We had a great time. We had dinner with hubby's family and JOE got to spend a very fun evening with her G-dad and Grammy (hubby's parents) and "Un Matt" (her Uncle Matt). It was so nice to see them all  interacting. They have a cat and JOE kept singing the Doc McStuffins song to the cat to find out what was wrong with the cat. I guess she thinks she can talk to animals. Oh how I love watching the innocence of kids!

I still wanted to make it special for our immediate family so I made french toast for breakfast. It tasted yummy and as always, my best compliment came from JOE who said "hmmm...yummy bed (bread) momma!"

Since J doesn't like egg yolk, I made him an egg white omelet. Sorry for the blurry picture. Was trying to also take care of JOE at the same time.

Later on that morning, I decided to make some meatpies since this pregnant momma was craving something "home" made as in my native food. Same thing happened with my last pregnancy. I craved foods I grew up with. I guess this baby is also intl spicy foods :-D.
I didn't have any potatoes on hand and also had mixed veggies as opposed to just peas and carrots. It still turned out YUMMY!

And here is mommy's little helper as always. She is going to be a professional chef by the time she is 5. I kid...I kid...I think :-D

 She was really happy to be helping out.

JOE's job was to poke the holes in each pie. Doesn't it look really nice? "Dadda" had to help her though.

And then the pies went in the oven.

Tada! JOE showing her handy work :-).

It turned out just right and was delish!

JOE clapping for herself.

I also made some friend plantains to take with us to Thanksgiving dinner at my in laws.

The Saturday following Thanksgiving, I didn't feel like making breakfast so J took it upon himself to make me some scrambled eggs. Had it with some leftover french toast. YUMMY breakfast especially since my honey made it!

Then I got some much needed pampering. A manicure/pedicure. This momma could get used to this :-D.

Overall, it was a fun Thanksgiving celebration filled with MANY reasons to count my blessings.

Hope you're having a fabulous week so far!