So BEARY cute, and SPOOKTACKULAR!

It's such a cheesy title, I know, but I couldn't resist! Anyhow I have been feeling quite crafty lately. Below are pictures of my niece, Katelyn's Christmas present. (Don't let Katelyn see this, Kimberly.) While at Joann's I saw the cutest fleece Care Bears fabric. I matched it up with a hot pink fleece, and put together this blanket in no time at all. It required no sewing and turned out so cute! I think I am going to have to go back to Joann's and get some more fabric to make miniature blankets for her Care Bears (she loves to make little beds for them and tuck them in).



My next project that I have been working on is Dylan's Halloween costume. He's going to be a lion, and I've already put together his suit. All I have to do now is make his little shoes, and his hood to go with it. It looks so cute on him with the little tail, but, so I don't give everything away, you'll have to wait until Halloween to see the pictures of him in it!


I have really been enjoying making things lately. The since of accomplishment is the best! I am always on the lookout for something new I can do.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Vintage photos - Old photographs

Growing up so fast!

I can't believe I actually did it. I cut Dylan's hair, and I am not talking about a little trim, I am talking CUT! Immediately I was so mad at myself, Isaac was out of town and when he got home, he was like, what did you do? Why didn't you talk to me before you did it! He wasn't really mad, just shocked. Needless to say I think we both miss his curls. Although my Mom disagrees, I don't think that you can really cut a babies curl off for good. Either you have curly hair or you don't. If it is truly curly it will grow back curly. I can tell that his is still curly (he has kinks in it), it is just too short for the curls to be seen. Anyhow, although the 'fro gives me grief sometimes, we are definitely growing it back!


The front...


...and the back (no more baby mullet)

Dylan is being so cute with his rocking horse. Whenever we mention it, he'll go over and pet it. He does get bored after riding it for a couple of minutes, so I guess it's a good thing that I didn't spend a lot of money on one. He is so tall that he has no issues getting on and off by himself, but I think that if he were the size of a normal 15 month old he may have issues.



Cowboy in training!

Dylan is advancing verbally on his own time. Slowly yet surely he is starting to say new and different words. One of my favorites is diaper, or di-pur. He is also figuring out that he has an opinion and is not afraid to use it! If you offer him something and he doesn't want it, he responds with an unh, and with quite a bit of enthusiasm he swats the item away. He also does this in public with a little temper tantrum when I take him out of the shopping cart with the car attached for him to ride in or any other occasion that seems worthy of such a fit. Church can be especially hard because 1-4 is exactly when he normally naps, and he won't sleep before then. So, we get to deal with "Crank-enstein" out in the halls for most of the day. Yesterday he did not take a nap until 4:30 when we got home and he could sleep in his crib! Whoever decided the 18 month rule for putting kids in nursery either must not have had kids or none that were quite on the level of Dylan, or maybe they did and they didn't want to inflict the nursery workers with such a child! Where is the justice?

Anyhow, it is fun to watch him grow. His favorite books right now are Goodnight Moon, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear. We read them usually at least once a day. One thing that Dylan will do is open up a book and in his own little language pretend that he is reading it, then he'll turn another page and do the same thing. I've found that one of the only ways he will let me hold him is if we're reading a book together. A lot of times he'll bring one over to me wanting me to read it to him.

Dylan's weird mouth issue has been resolved by the tooth coming through, just as I had suspected. Thank goodness for the internet on clearing up that issue! I knew at one o'clock in the morning when he was crying and wouldn't stop that the tooth must be coming through! Lucky for us a dose of Motrin was all it took to get him comfortable again and to go back to sleep.

Dylan is quite the artist. He loves to color! I expect great things from him because he has it in his genes on both sides! Check out what he is up to.

George Garcia

George Garcia, renowned Redken color expert. With his wife in the top picture (who also happens to be a hairstylist), and below doing his stuff.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a color class for work. A Redken platform artist came down from California to teach us the "newest" techniques. I pretty much didn't want to go, especially because it was on Sunday. What made it worse, the following week I had to give a talk on keeping the Sabbath day holy, ouch, but it was mandatory so I pretty much didn't have a choice. Although I didn't wish to be there the only thing that made it better was to see some old friends that work out in Snellville. It was kind of like a reunion.

Anyhow, the thing that he was teaching us was asymmetrical color. Basically, what that means is blocks of color that are put on the head in different shapes that are somewhat off balance. He also taught us a new highlighting technique where you basically alternate from highlighting midway through the hair to the ends and then soft from the roots to midway through the hair. It gives the hair a softer highlight, and I think that it isn't supposed to be as noticeable when the highlights grow out.

Now for what I think about this. In my opinion most people probably would not be interested in doing this. Although it is a cool technique I don't see a 40 something year old lady wanting something that was not symmetrical. I think that stylists, and people who are a bit more contemporary would appreciate something like this, but for the general population, most people would not be interested. Let me know what you think; do you think my observation is wrong? Would you ever do something like this on your hair?

Here is the front view of my completed mannequin head (whom Dylan is extremely scared of).

Here is the side profile. I should have probably taken pictures each direction, but my card was full on the camera I was using :). But to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about, the black you see around her face is hardly there at all beyond her fringe on the other side, and a thin piece of the black follows underneath to her hairline. In the back middle, there are two different shades of red, one on each side of the head, with one continuing around her face on the other side by her face. On top are the highlights I was mentioning. Whew, I hope that is not too confusing!

I love consignment sales!

For a long time now, I have been looking at this super cute rocking horse from Pottery Barn Kids for Dylan. It's expensive ($100), but I have two $50 gift cards so really, I'd only have to pay for shipping (which is still like $30) because it is only available online. But then, at a consignment sale I found this beauty.


It is in great shape and it was selling for only $8. Now that was an opportunity that I could not pass up. I honestly think I like this one as much or better! So, I am very happy because now I can keep my gift cards for something else and I still have a way cute rocking horse for Dylan. I love consignment sale time! I think I already have Dylan pretty much set for the fall and winter, and I got it all for really great prices. I love the thrill of the hunt!

Dylan's 15 month appointment

Today was Dylan's 15 month check up. When my doctor was checking his mouth she saw something that looks like this in his mouth. This picture is not of him.

So, when she showed me I started freaking out. She told me that maybe it was from him hitting his gum hard on something or that the underlying tooth was decayed. How a tooth could be decayed if it has never been exposed is beyond me. So, anyhow after much research, I discovered what it has to be, eruption cyst. What the heck is that, you may be thinking. I tried to describe what that is in my own words but I can't do it too well and it's too late to try. So thanks to http://www.mchoralhealth.org/pediatricoh/mod3_6_2.htm for their definition.

Eruption cysts are associated with erupting primary and permanent teeth. They appear as bluish and translucent dome-shaped soft tissue lesions overlying an erupting tooth. An eruption cyst results from fluid accumulation within the space surrounding the erupting tooth. When the fluid in the cyst is mixed with blood, the cyst is referred to as an eruption hematoma. No treatment is typically needed, because the tooth erupts through the lesion, which disappears spontaneously.

So, thankfully it is nothing too serious. But it is enough to freak you out especially if you don't know what it is. I have been thinking of switching to a different doctor in the practice, and after the lady we saw today diagnosed him so poorly, I definitely think that I will not be back to her.

As for Dylan's measurements:
weight: 26.12 lbs (75%)
height: 33 1/2 in. (95%)
head circumference: 50.3 cm (95%)

Our Atlanta Vacation

Isaac and I had a difficult time trying to decide what we wanted to do for a summer vacation. Since going anywhere was going to end up being so expensive, we decided to take our vacation here. On Monday we went to the zoo. I was so excited about doing this because I was too young to remember the last time that I went. If the animals were far away and not moving much it was hard for Dylan to pick them out. We really liked looking at the Pandas. They were hanging out by the glass and chewing on some bamboo. At the end of our trip we did the train ride and rode the merry-go-round. We had so much fun!


Checking out the Flamingos which were smaller than I had imagined them!


Giraffes


Us with good old Willie B. It's too bad he is not alive anymore so that we could see the real thing!


I am not sure how easy it is to see this one, but it is a Gorilla. Most of the time they were far off and just showing off their backsides.


Dylan is testing out cotton candy for the first time. After this bite he didn't seem to like it too much!


An Alligator


Hanging out in the Reptile house.


The Panda


This picture is a little funny because I'm cut off and Dylan has a funny expression on his face, but look how cute the Panda is eating his bamboo!


Dylan the Panda Bear!


Tiger on the prowl


Elephant on the move



Having fun on the merry-go-round.


Riding on the train rode.


There are the kangaroos, my sister-in-law, Emma, told me that a couple of days before we went, one of the kangaroos attacked a zoo worker!


Here's a silly picture of me and Dylan.


I think this is my favorite picture of our trip. Just look at that expression!

I'll update again soon with pictures from when we went to the mountains.