Family Game Night

IMG_1857 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

I've been planning to start the tradition of a weekly family game night ever since O turned 2 (in July), and we finally had our 1st family game night last night! We had a great time! O was excited and insisted on spreading out her rug for us to sit on. We played crocodile rocker and Let's Spin and Play at the Park. Both of the games are great for toddlers, and Gracie (our cat) even joined in (she loved the spinner!).

Pixiedust!

o and m pixiedust, originally uploaded by omamom16.

Thanks to Chris for this amazing photo! Isn't it amazing? O and M are going to LOVE it! I've got to learn more about photo editing :) Thank you to everyone for the advice and offers of help in editing my photo. Thanks, Chris and Lynn!

Sewing with Mama

IMG_1790 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

My mom and I worked on O's baby doll quilt this weekend, and it's almost finished! I cut the squares out about 3 months ago, and we are just getting back to it :) I was hoping we could be discreet and work on it while O played, but as soon as I pulled it out she came running and said "that's a kilt (quilt) ?" Then she had to help me sew, of course! I'm doing some token sewing in this picture. My mom sewed the vast majority of the quilt. I'm the cutter and designer :) I did sew at least one block, one row, and one side since I REALLY need the practice!

Tiny Turtle

october 2008 155 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

A few weeks ago when O's grandma, Mem, and her cousin were visiting, we went outside to play on the beach. Before we knew it, the girls were in the water! The weather was HOT, but the water was cold! The girls were excited (and O was a little scared at 1st) to find this tiny turtle on the beach. He was so cute and tiny, and his shell was still soft, so he must have been brand new!

Edit to add : Oops! We went to the aquarium this weekend and saw softshell turtles. So this little guy is a softshell turtle. I guess I should have known that, but I had no idea that there was such a thing!

Our Pretty Princesses

october 2008 046 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

O and M were beautiful flower girls in our cousin's wedding a few weeks ago. In this picture they are blowing bubbles and then chasing them. This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding. I just wish that green cord wasn't in the picture!

Footprint Ghost Cards

IMG_1737 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

I saw this on a blog somewhere recently (I have no idea where!), and thought it was a great idea :) I painted O's foot white and then pressed it onto the black construction paper. Once the ghost dried, we glued the googly eyes to the heel, and I wrote the message with a silver sharpie. I had O sign her name. I planned on her writing an O, but she insisted on writing and M (her version) for Mommy. Her M's are basically just a few lines. I said "Oh, it's an M," and O said "No, it's not. That's just lines! O not know how make M!"

Decorating Pumpkins with Stickers

IMG_1747 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

We had lots of little pumpkins that needed decorating, so I thought O would have fun putting dot stickers on the pumpkins. She loves dots, but she was disappointed that there weren't any blue dots (blue is her favorite color). She was proud of her "smiley face," and we were, too!

Baking Pumpkin Bread

IMG_1754 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

We are doing lots of Halloween activities today. Guh-guh and O love to bake pumpkin bread, and they are baking a yummy loaf right now! O loves to bake with Guh-guh :) I'm so glad that my mom likes to bake with her because I really don't like to bake (except for bread in my bread machine!).

Tracing and Coloring a Pumpkin

IMG_1705 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

The idea to color a pumpkin with washable markers which O could then wash off came from A Bit of This and That. O had a great time tracing her pumpkin and then coloring it. I was sure that she would also love washing the pumpkin. I was wrong! She was proud of her pumpkin, and she refused to even consider washing it off. She said it "made mama feel better." She's constantly doing things and giving me things to make me feel better. I keep telling her that I'm not sick anymore, but she doesn't seem to believe me. I guess she's picking up on my sadness even though I'm trying really hard to put on a happy face :) She's a perceptive little monkey!

Leaf Rubbings

IMG_1660 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

Yesterday afternoon, O, my mom, and I took a walk to look for leaves. She was so cute, and she'd pick up a leaf, look at it, and say "that one is too crunchy." She was so excited when my dad came to visit because we'd told her that he'd love to rub leaves with her. She showed him how to do it, and he was very impressed with the finished product. My mom and dad are holding the paper still for her in this picture. This was a fun and educational fall activity!

Lotuspad Yoga Mats for Kids...

are 50% off for this week only! I ordered one for O for Christmas last night. I wasn't planning on buying her anything else for Christmas, but I couldn't resist this deal, especially since the mats are PVC-free!

Update: Evidently Lotuspad was running low on the mats, so they ended the sale early. Sorry, everyone! Check the comments section for a comment from the owner of the site.

Homemade Playdough

Homemade Playdough, originally uploaded by omamom16.

O and I have been at my mom's house for the past week, so we haven't done any Montessori activities, but she has had a GREAT time playing with her cousin, M. Yesterday afternoon we decided to make homemade playdough using Laura's recipe. The girls had a fantastic time. They loved pouring in the ingredients and then mixing them with a spoon. My mom did the actual cooking of the playdough! While they played, M declared that this was "the BEST playdough ever!" I agree! The texture was perfect, and it smells so good. We added cinnamon and pumpkin pie spices to make it seasonal :) O really enjoyed making "duhkees" (cookies), and she and M both said they were making them for me to make me feel better. What sweet girls! Here is Laura's recipe (and you should check out her post because she has LOTS of good ideas for making "playdough of the month."

Homemade Playdough

1 c. flour

1/2 cup salt

1 T. cooking oil

1 T. cream of tartar

1 c. water

Food coloring of your choice

Add-ins of your choice (i.e. spices, extracts, glitter, etc.)

Stir ingredients together well. Just measure them into the saucepan you will be using to cook the dough, but mix them well before heating up the pan. Over medium heat cook the dough, stirring constantly until it forms a ball.
Let the playdough cool and then knead until it's smooth.

Thanks, Laura!

"It's Playdoh Nime!"

IMG_1615 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

O LOVES playdoh. Playing with playdoh is one her all time favorite activities. In fact, I can't think of anything (other than playing sick/nurse/hospital) that she enjoys playing with more than playdoh. In this picture you can see the little bowls that she requested that I make for her pizza. Then she wanted me to make napkins to sit the bowls on. We also made snakes, and she was pretending to be scared of the big snake in this picture. She gave the snake eyes, a nose, a mouth, and a big tongue! We don't play with playdoh every day at home, but my mom has a "playdoh cabinet" at O's level, so she can get all of the playdoh and accessories herself, so we play with it more often here. I'm definitely going to have to put her playdoh at home in an easily accessible place for her.

Cereal Box Puzzle

IMG_1609 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

I blogged about the cereal box puzzles that I made for O a while back. I planned on introducing them to her within the next few days, so I put them somewhere safe and I've never seen them again :) I've looked everywhere, but I can't find them. So...when I saw a cereal box in my mom's trashcan (O and I are at my mom's house for the week), I decided to try again. O was excited (which surprised me, since she's not a huge puzzle fan). She did a good job and did the puzzle 3 or 4 times before she decided that it was "playdoh nime" (time)!

Update: I'm at home for the 1st time in a week, and obviously I was having a major case of pregnancy brain when I was looking for the cereal box puzzles. They were right there in the cabinet with everything else. They practically fell out on me when I was looking for the blender. Good grief!

Thank You

I am really astounded and thankful for all of the wonderful, thoughtful, and kind comments on my last post. I have to admit that I was hesistant to include so many painful, personal details on a public blog, but after reading the comments and realizing how many of you have had similar experiences, I am glad that I did. I want you to know that I read EVERY comment, and most of these comments have made me cry :) I can't tell you how much it means to me to know that thoughts of my baby exist in many hearts and minds other than my own. Even though my baby existed only for a very short time (and to many people he didn't exist at all), it helps to know that maybe someone other than Elliott and I will remember and think of him (I say him because I had 2 very realistic "boy" dreams while I was pregnant, so I feel that my baby was probably a boy). I guess that sounds silly, but I just don't want his life to be forgotten. So...thank you. Thank you so very, very much!