O's Doll Carrier- In Progress

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We are back from our vacation, and O and I are spending the week at Guh-guh & Grandpa's house (Elliott will be here with us tomorrow). My mom and I have been working nonstop on O's handmade Christmas gifts. Here is her baby doll carrier. We have all of the pieces, and now we just need to sew them together. So far, I've done all of the sewing, which is pretty surprising :) I'm going to let my mom do the top stitching, so it will look nice and neat instead of crooked :) Hopefully, we'll finish it tonight and start on the doll diaper bag. We are using my Beco as inspiration, and I'm hoping O's doll carrier will turn out the way I have imagined it!

O's Favorites

Lately, I've been working on O's Christmas wish list (that her grandparents requested), and I've been thinking a lot about the toys that she plays with very frequently. I'd thought I'd share these things in case anyone else interested :)

1) playsilks- O was not very interested in her playsilks until I hung them on the wall. Ever since then, she has played with them EVERY day! I love the playsilks because they are so versatile and open ended. She uses them as hats, scarves, dresses, skirts, capes, doll blankets, as wrapping paper, to make forts, etc. The possibilities really are endless :) I ordered the silks from Dharma Trading Company about a year ago, and my mom and I dyed them using kool-aid. This is definitely one of O's most loved handmade gifts!

2) Unit blocks- O's grandparents gave her a set of unit blocks made by Melissa and Doug for her 2nd birthday. She only played with them once or twice a week at first, but then I moved them to a different, more accessible location in the room. Now she plays with them daily. She loves to make doll beds, hospitals, playgrounds, towers, etc.

3) kitchen set and play food- I've noticed lately that O stays away from her play kitchen if it is not neat and clean, so I am trying to get her to clean her kitchen after she plays instead of leaving food in the sink, etc. She usually plays with her kitchen at least once a day. She loves to fix pretend water with mustard and ketchup in it :)

4) books- We have a vast library of children's books! Mainly because I can't resist stopping by the thrift store every Thursday after work, and I usually buy at least 3 or 4 books. I'm trying to be more choosy lately :) We spend hours reading each day, and O loves to pretend to read by herself.

5) playdoh- O plays with her playdoh every day. This is her most popular toy right now! Her ice-cream maker is very cool, but she only uses it about once a day. She usually prefers to make cookies with the playdoh.

6) arts and crafts- Ever since I set up O's art shelf, she's been making "art" several times a day. This is thrilling for me because before I set up the shelf she never asked to color or paint. We only colored or painted if I iniated it. It's very exciting that she can color or paint (with dot painters) whenever she chooses, and she chooses to do so several times each day :) Yay!

7) baby dolls- Right now Baby Emma is O's favorite doll. O is a very nurturing, loving little mama, and she LOVES her babies.

8) bandaids- O LOVES bandaids!!! She usually has at least 3 or 4 bandaids randomly placed on her body. She also loves giving us bandaids. Luckily, my mom buys bandaids at the Dollar Tree, and we always keep several boxes on hand :) I think Santa may fill O's stocking with boxes of bandaids!

9) Rainbow Nesting Tunnel- My dad gave O this rainbow nesting tunnel for Christmas last year, and it is such a beautiful, well made toy. She's been playing with it very frequently for almost a year, and we love to play with it, too :) She uses it as a tunnel, bracelets, anklets, cave, dog house (for miniature dogs), etc.

We Survived 6 Days at Disneyworld...

We have had a great time this week, but we are TIRED! I think we'll need at least 2 more weeks of vacation to recover :) I can't wait to get home and take the time to look at all of the pictures. Between my mom, my sister, and me, we probably took at least 200 to 300 pictures a day. I'm planning on making a Snapfish book of the week, and I'm sure that choosing the pictures for the book is not going to be easy. I'm so proud of O for having such great behavior even when she was tired. She was very excited to choose a prize today. She chose a set of Cinderella figurines, and she has had fun playing with them. Although, she's been a little concerned that there is no pumpkin with the set, and Cinderella doesn't have shoes. After playing with her figurines for a while, she spent an hour or more playing with a stack of hotel towels. Who new that towels could be so much fun??? She spread them out, stacked them, made a path with the washcloths, and wrapped a towel around her leg when she was pretending that her leg was broken. Who needs toys when you have towels?! She's also really enjoyed playing with quarters, nickels, and dimes this week. On the bus rides, she played with her fingers...making a church, steeple, and then all the people (you know the rhyme, right?). So...I'm realizing more and more that the toys I buy her are more for me than her, but it's still so much fun :) I've spent way too much on souvenirs this week, but I did get some really cool things for O's dress-up suitcase and her musical instrument collection. Hopefully, I'll be able to get these things home intact and unseen by O :)

Time-out at Hollywood Studios

O was so excited that Elliott put her in time-out at Hollywood Studios this afternoon! My girl is an interesting kid, and she loves time-out :) She playfully bit Elliott on the shoulder. He wasn't mad, but she wouldn't say she was sorry, so he put her in time-out. She was thrilled, of course (and we are sure she intentionally wouldn't say she was sorry because she wanted to go in time-out). After a few minutes, she still wouldn't say she was sorry, so I went to talk to her. After I told her that she didn't have to get out of time-out if she apologized, she ran to Elliott, hugged him, and told him she was sorry. Then she was ready for more time-out. The poor kid probably just needed a break from this action packed vacation :)

Wow! I am SO tired :)

Vacationing is Disneyworld is certainly not a relaxing vacation! We are having a fantastic time, but we are exhausted. It's 9:00 and almost everybody is asleep for the night (Guh-guh, Grandpa, Elliott, Mem, etc.). My mom wore a pedometer the 1st 2 days, and we are averaging about 5 to 6 miles a day. I'm hoping to lose the baby weight that I gained during my 11 weeks of pregnancy (I'm sure those of you who have lost a baby can sympathize with how much it sucks to have baby weight, but no baby). Hopefully, I'll be able to fit into my clothes again after this trip. Anyway...we've had 1 day at Epcot, 2 days at Magic Kingdom, and we are planning on going to Hollywood Studios tomorrow. O has been a trooper. She got scared yesterday during the Winnie-the-Pooh ride, and then we believed the guidebook when it said that the Haunted Mansion wasn't scary...mistake! It IS scary if you are 2 years old :( I sang "You are my sunshine" quietly into O's ear about 100 times as we went through the ride to help her feel less scared. Later, she told us that she was scared of the aliens in the Haunted House. She said they were tall and might get her. Poor baby! So, now she is scared of every indoor ride, but she loves the outdoor rides. She especially loves the carousel and the teacups. While we were spinning VERY fast on the teacups, she yelled "Ock and Oll!" (rock and roll). Now it's time for me to go to bed :)

Using Her Best Manners :)

We were lucky enough to get last minute reservations for lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table (Thanks, Mem!), and we had a great time. O says that meeting Snow White was her favorite part, but I think that eating ice-cream was the highlight of her afternoon :)

Dancing in Italy

IMG_0145 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

When she hears music, O dances! O was so excited everytime she heard music yesterday in Epcot. She danced in Morocco, Italy, Germany, etc. She almost jumped out of my arms when I showed her this stage in Italy :) She loves to perform!

We're at Disneyworld!

We spent the day at Epcot, and we're having a great time. O was unbelievably well-behaved today, and I am so proud of her :) She loved making a mask in Itally. We are going to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow, and I hope she'll be well rested enough to have fun. Today was a busy day, but tomorrow will be even busier!

The Elf on the Shelf

IMG_2018 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

This little elf has been watching O for about a week. My mom bought this elf and 2 others last year after Christmas, and she gave one to O. O was a little nervous about the elf watching her at 1st, and she didn't want to touch him, but now she loves him :) She likes to give him hugs and makes sure that he can see her when she is playing. We told her that he is watching her to make sure she uses her nice manners, and he tells Santa Claus what he sees. The elf moves to a different location each night while O is sleeping, so it's fun to find him each morning. This is a fun tradition that we are excited to start this year :)

So I've Spent A Lot of Time...

looking at toys on the internet lately. I love to find and research great, heirloom toys year around, but it's especially fun at Christmas time :) I worked for several weeks on a Christmas list for O that her grandparents requested (and I'll post it eventually in case anyone is interested). I'm not looking forward to the day that O wants to choose her own toys :) Anyway...I love this tree house. O is too young for it, and I don't think she'd be especially impressed with it now. Also, it cost much more than we spend at Christmas, but I REALLY want to get it for her...maybe next year! What are your dream toys or games for your children?

Little Ladybug

IMG_2023 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

Here is the back view of Baby Emma in her ladybug costume for dogs :) I also bought a witch costume for her, but I haven't tried it on her yet.

Dog Costumes for Baby Dolls

IMG_2021 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

I found this cute ladybug costume for Baby Emma for only 1.75! It's a dog costume, and it fits Baby Emma perfectly! Now she and O can play dress-up together :)

An Easy Silhouette

IMG_2027 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

Since I've been posting about our handmade gifts lately, I thought I'd include this silhouette of O that I made last year. It was very easy, and her grandparents loved them. To make this silhouette I took a profile picture of O, printed it as an 8 x 10, cut out around her profile, and painted it black. Cutting the hair was a little difficult, and I'm still not happy with how it turned out. I think it will be a little easier to do now that her hair is longer :) I think this idea came from here. Enjoy!

The VERY best indoor playhouse

IMG_2013 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

All you need for the very best indoor playhouse is a few blankets or a couple of yards of fabric and a couple of chairs! My sister, brother, and I used to build these playhouses all the time, and it was so much fun. My mom and O had a great time building and playing in this fantastic playhouse on Thursday. O also really likes to play with placemats (she likes to spread them out and pretend they are hospitals, etc.), and she insisted on decorating the inside of her playhouse with them. My mom said that O asked to decorate her house with markers, but mom convinced her that colorful beanbags would be much prettier :) O was very excited and proud to show Elliott and I her house when we got home on Thursday.

The 3 Little Pigs

IMG_2004 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

O has really enjoyed hearing the story of the 3 Little Pigs lately. After she finished putting the popsicle sticks in the cup a few days ago, she asked me to build a house around her with sticks. I then pretended to be the big bad wolf and she was a little pig :) Notice her beautiful ruby, red shoes and her mama drawn tattoos on her arms :)