We’re usually most busy on the weekdays. If you’re a working adult with a household to feed, you’ll often find yourself in your closet scrambling for a cape by mid-afternoon. No worries. Grab a rotisserie chicken from Costco, frozen veggies, & a cup of quinoa. VIOLA! We’re having chicken for dinner!
This spring my LO and one of my closest friends headed to a Disney day in the sun for Mother’s Day. I chose to NOT go ON Mother’s Day to avoid the crowds. We spent an AWESOME day at Disneyland & Disney’s California Adventures. As a SoCal native I KNOW this sounds crazy, but, I like California Adventures more than Disneyland. I believe that California Adventures is not only fun but it’s VERY INTERACTIVE. Besides, A Bug’s Land is THE BEST! We had an amazing day, my one year old (at the time) went through 2 REALLY CUTE OUTFITS by way diaper explosions, & we didn’t wanna hop on the 91 fwy heading home when it was all over!
She screamed “MINNIE MOUSE” so loud that it frightened me!
My main squeeze
Fun in the CA sun
World of Color
Disney LOVE
A heartbroken Donald
World of Color
This gallery contains 7 photos
Play dates have become exceedingly popular in American culture over the past couple of decades. With the increase in working moms as well as single moms, play dates became more than helpful to moms nationwide. Play dates are more for the kids in my personal opinion. Growing up, I never had “scheduled” play dates or play dates so that my mother could take care of business. I had play dates simply because I liked to play and make friends in the neighborhood. It was simply good ol’ fashioned kids making friends in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, those days have come and gone. The new generation doesn’t seem to play outside as much like they did in past decades. Because of this, kids don’t necessarily know the kids in the neighborhood; outside of school of course. One thing that we can all relate to is the fact that we gained life and social skills through childhood play. Because of the change in time, it is essential that we implement play dates in our children’s lives as well as encourage social skills. Hey, there are even groups and clubs designed for this very task! I comprised a list of reasons why it is play dates are AWESOME!
1. ENCOURAGING MANNERS i.e “Please”, “Thank you”, etc.
2. ENCOURAGING SOCIAL SKILLS i.e Kindness, helping others, team work, etc.
3. SHARING
4. ENHANCES CREATIVITY through role play, art, etc.
5. ENCOURAGES THE VALUE OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP
A couple of weeks ago my LO brought in her 2nd birthday with a playdate and cake n’ ice cream with her friends and family. Her first birthday party was predominately adults so Dad and I decided to make it more for her this time around seeing that she can now participate in more activities. She’s a VERY decisive girl so I allowed her to choose her own theme. She chose to go with her favorite Disney Jr. show, Doc McStuffins. Doc is so popular now that finding party ideas was a piece of cake. I made the invites on my laptop and emailed/text them out. I went to my favorite DTLA craft store and went to town. Virtually all of the party decorations were handcrafted by me with the exception of a few things. Armed with my laptop and YouTube, I saved a few bucks by carrying out the task of face painting myself. It wasn’t too shabby, if I must say so myself. She had her very own toy clinic complete with doctor kits. It was a hit. All in all, the day was smash and my brilliant, little doctor had a BLAST!
TOY CLINIC
BIRTHDAY GIRL
BIRTHDAY FUN
TOY CLINIC
TOY CLINIC
TOY CLINIC
TOY CLINIC
CAKE SKIRT
BLOWING OUT THE CAKE
GIFTS
This gallery contains 12 photos
My daughter started off with just a few curly strands of hair which was MOSTLY at the top of her head. She now has a head full of curls! Bring on the crying, meaning us both. Thankfully, I figured a few tricks along the way! Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a challenge. I found out pretty early that The Muppets are my bffs. As long as one of the Muppet movies are on, my LO will let me do almost ANY STYLE on her hair with ease. Her regimen is quite simple. I was her hair with shampoo once a month. Throughout the month, I was it with conditioner. I recently discovered a new (possibly not so “new”) by Herbal Essence. It was life altering so I may eliminate shampoo all together. After her hair is all squeaky clean, I wrap her in a towel and get her dressed. I allow her hair to air dry while I’m getting her dressed. In the event she needs to take a nap before getting her hair styled, I just put it in a high ponytail. This time she got her hair washed right before naptime so she went to sleep right after. The not so great thing about this is that her hair becomes very dry during the process. No worries, that’s what moisturizer is for. Once she got up I moisturized her hair with shea butter and detangled it using a spray bottle of water and a paddle brush. My process is an extremely simple process. Having a strong minded toddler is what brings forth a beautiful challenge. So remember, SNACKS AND DVDS are a mom’s bff when it comes to styling a stubborn tots hair!
Detangled hair before getting it washed
Conditioner & a forced smile
The dramatic scene after the hair is rinsed out
Air dried
Un-moisturized & Un-styled VS. Styled & Moisturized
I’ve actually known about this park for years. It’s across the street from the beach but I never had a need or interest to visit the park. I decided to take my daughter and a few of her friends to a park that we usually frequent but there was construction on the street so I kept driving with the intentions of trying out “the random park by the beach”. As usual, there was miminal parking available due to the fact that it’s summer and the park is directly across the street from a popular beach. I was able to get a parking spot right in front! We packed a lunch so I packed it in the stroller. Normally I’d have my daughter walk, but we had to walk across a huge soccer field that was mostly dirt. Once we crossed the field, I saw that there was a parking lot on that side of the park and TONS of street parking! Of course I’ll remember that for next time. The park is located right next to Marina Del Rey and the park’s lake is adjacent to the Marina. It’s absolutely beautiful. The park itself is great. The park was clean, safe, and fun. It’s truly a somewhat hidden gem in the Los Angeles area. The girls and I had a BLAST!
Toddler area
pirate ship
Pirate ship
Top view
Cove/Rock climbing
Driving Miss Daisy
Sandy SoCal beach view
Cheese!
The lake adjacent to the marina
Fun in the sun
Pirate ship
This gallery contains 1 photo.
Most parents tend to allow or wait for their children to appreciate art on their own. Some even wash their hands of it, waiting for their children to learn about art in school. Here’s a small known FACT, developmentally children are who their going to be for the rest of their lives by age FOUR. Art is an amazing way for one to express him or herself. I began crafting as a toddler because my aunt was a pre-school teacher who later opened her own home daycare. Ever since I could remember, my older sister and I were making SOMETHING! Whether it was a craft or making homemade rice crispy treats back in the early 90’s before they were mass produced and sold in stores. With that being said, I introduced my daughter to the world of creativity long before her 1st birthday. SPREAD THE JOYS OF ART, EACH ONE TEACH ONE!
Her 2nd birthday easel!
Her 2nd birthday easel!
Mommy made all of her NB headbands before she was born : )
Mug decorating at her NYE Party 2014!
Little writer!
A visiting ballerina!
She forced her way into dance class at age ONE!
A baby author!
She loved reading early!
Kailee’s bubble machine that she got for her 1st birthday
This gallery contains 11 photos
This project is extremely easy and cost effective to make! I found the materials here and there over the course of a few months. I bought the stand at my favorite craft store in Downtown Los Angeles, the headbands were bought at Target, and the flowers were bought at the dollar store. It helped a lot that my daughter already had the Doc doll. Once you have all of your materials, you’ll be set to go.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
8-10 Glitter headbands
80-10 Faux flowers
1 Hot glue gun
1 Small wire cutter
1 Jewelry Stand
1 Medium sized doll or stuffed animal
HOW TO MAKE IT:
STEP 1: Use your wire cutter and cut each flower off of its stem.
*Be careful, if you cut to close to the flower it will fall apart.
STEP 2: Plug in your hot glue gun and let it get nice and hot. Once your hot glue is hot and ready for use, glue 1 flower onto each headband. Let the headbands hang somewhere to dry.
*DO NOT DRY THEM ON THE DISPLAY because the glue is still wet and may stick to the display
STEP 3: Once the headbands are dry, hand them on your jewelry stand or display. Place the doll or stuffed animal inside or next to the stand and ENJOY!
Well, it looks like its that time of year again. It’s time for my daughter’s birthday! It’s crazy funny how fast time flies. In honor of her upcoming 2nd birthday, this week’s #FBF will feature her 1st birthday. It was a cute little lemonade stand theme! She had a water slide/jumper, photo booth, lemonade stand, etc. Handmade decor by yours truly and an etsy vendor or two !
easy reading is damn hard writing
the Story within the Story
all about human interests
word nerd
Fertility • Prenatal • Labour • Birth • Postpartum • Doula • Yoga • Wellness • Lifestyle • Canada • Jessica Palmquist
This WordPress.com site is for sharing my photography.
...and a few more reasons for climbing mountains
Daisy Love 