Daily Life

Olivia’s Birthday Party

Olivia just turned 1! We had two celebrations for her this year. We had a family dinner on her actual dinner, complete with Cookie Monster and Elmo cupcakes. She was eyeing Cookie Monster all day, so she had a blast eating her cupcake. (It was super cute because she would go for the cookie without using her hands.)

On Saturday we had some friends come over to celebrate. For this party I made a ladybug cake. The cake itself was  neopolitan inspired, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla cake. It was overly sweet but fun to make.

One of my 30 before Thirty goals was to create an awesome first birthday cake for Olivia. I think I’ve accomplished that 🙂

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Today my sweet baby turns one year old! This year has flown by at an incredible rate! It’s amazing to watch my girls grow. They are learning new things everyday. Olivia is cautiously learning how to walk, I keep thinking it will be any day now but she’s taking it slow. She is still really little, only 16.3 pounds. She should be 18 pounds so most likely the doctor will have us do bloodwork. My poor Olivia!

We’re not doing anything grand for her first birthday but I will be making a cake. I’ll post the pictures later!

1 day old

1 year old

Vaseline

On Tuesday when I went back to work I recieved a Text Message from my mom:

” Can’t get Vaseline out of Jillian’s hair, washed it 4 times.”

So apparently our sneaky 2 1/2 year old found a container of Vaseline and put it all over the couch, her face, and her hair. I searched online and it said to use dish soap to get it out of hair. Well it is Saturday and she still has greasy hair! My mom’s friend is a dog groomer and she said that Vaseline is used on dog’s ears for cleaning and their is only one soap that works: Dawn, the blue bottle. I’ve been using Palmalive all week. Tonight I’m off to the store to buy Dawn! I’ll write an update once we get the vaseline out.

here is greasy hair Jillian… It just looks wet!

She didn't want to pose... she was a bit mad after 4 hair washes

French braid

I’ve always wanted to learn how to make a French braid so I stuck it in my 30 before Thirty list. When I am trying to learn something new I LOVE the internet. I was able to do a video search for how to French braid. My first attempt wasn’t too bad, wasn’t great either haha. My second attempt went a little better. This was during the Vaseline debacle, so Jillian’s hair was nice and greasy, allowing for a tight braid. I also made it a double braid to have less hair to deal with.


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Here is my first attempt

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She only sat still because she was flossing

attempt done while she was playing

the right side turned out much better than the left side

cutie!

Sewing Machine

For Christmas my mom got Jillian a sewing machine. My mom taught her how to use the foot pedal today. (the needle has been removed until she is ready) Here are some pictures after the first lesson.

Bower’s Kidseum

On Sunday we visited the Bower’s Kidseum.  The first Sunday of every month is free so we went and let the girls explore. It’s a small little hands on museum that focuses on different cultures. Jillian had a great time playing in the museum. Oliva enjoyed playing with the musical instruments. For the Arts and Crafts activity Jillian and I made a clay mask. I shaped and she painted.

Hello 2011

2010 was a great year due to the addition to our family in February.  I also began my master’s program in September, I’m looking forward to it’s completion in December 2011! I am so proud of myself for actually sticking to a New Year’s Resolution!! Last January I decided to blog about the fun events that go on around our house hold. A year later I am happy to say that I am still doing it! This year’s resolution is a bit more personal so I won’t be posting it, but I will continue to check off things on my 30 before Thirty list.

For New Year’s Eve we spent the evening with my friend Lacey at the W Hollywood. She hosted a Poker Pajama Night. Lacey is amazing when it comes to themed parties. She purchased the cutest pajamas ever for us! Here is a link to the brand David and Goliath, SOOO CUTE!

Jillian is such a social butterfly. She mingled with everyone as if she’d known them for years!  We played Taboo and after an extra round the girls beat the guys 🙂  Jillian and Olivia didn’t understand the countdown but they did like the fireworks at midnight. I had no idea LA set off fireworks, it was a definite plus! (Yes you read Olivia’s name!) The girls were super troopers! They stayed awake up until about 10 minutes into the car ride home. They weren’t even cranky, whoooo!

Here are some pictures supplied by Lacey!

Happy New Year's From The Barnes Family