Rainbow Hair

After watching a video on one of our favorite You Tube channels, I felt a little inspired and asked Amalia if she'd let me completely redo one of her Barbie's hair.  Usually she balks at any permanent change of her dolls, but after showing her the video, letting her peruse my yarn collection, and showing her which doll I was thinking of, she actually said, "Yes!"

I think the selection of the doll was what really got her on board.  You see, her doll Honey Lemon (named after one of the characters in Big Hero 6) - seen here on the right - has some unfortunate hair.

From the outside it looks okay.

But once you start brushing it and pull the top layer aside, you find the under layer is disgusting.  Apparently they were a little heavy-handed with the glue when they initially rooted her hair, and some of the glue they put inside her head has seeped out through her "scalp holes".  It is a sticky, greasy-looking mess.  Or, at least, it was.

But then Mollie let me take over and try to fix the problem.  First, I had to remove the hair.

Cutting her hair off was fun, but it was also insanely sticky and I was really happy with our doll selection for this project.

Next I had to pull out all the tiny little hairs from the inside.  And, as it so happened and as I figured it would be, I also pulled out a TON of glue.

This is just part of the pile I removed from her head.

Now, with a wonderfully blank canvas ...

... it was time to start the reroot.  Amalia picked a multicolored yarn to use, as I has suspected she would, and I was excited to get going.  Each strand is put into the scalp using a doll needle (found at our local Field's Fabrics and then knotted before it is pulled back into the head and snipped at the other end.  (The aforementioned You Tube video does a great job showing how to do all this.)

I'll admit, the whole process was a bit morbid, and Mollie eventually requested that I stop making screaming noises every time I pushed the needle into Honey Lemon's head.  I agreed that it was probably a good idea.

I didn't reroot every "scalp hole" because the yarn is much, MUCH thicker than the regular hair and would have given her an unmanageable head of hair.  As it was, her new 'do was pretty full!

Once I had all the strands in, I gave her a trim.

Then I cleaned off the neck post (it, too, was covered in glue) and reattached her head.  Voila!

Mollie is super excited about the results, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with them as well.  It's certainly different, but she's got a ton of blonde Barbies so this is certainly a nice change of pace.

Mollie wanted to style her hair like the one in the video, so we found a clip and pinned it back.

Then Mollie added another one for safe keeping/fashion.

It was a little tough, especially taking out all the old hair, but it was also a lot of fun and I'm glad we tried it!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's 53rd birthday, so I thought I'd show you all some pictures of her childhood.  Wasn't she a cutie?!

Mom, thank you for being there for me, helping me out, loving me as much as you do, and passing your adorable genes on to my kiddos!  I love you so much!  Happy birthday!

Eli and JoAnn's Wedding

This weekend we drove across the state to attend friends Eli and JoAnn's wedding. The church was amazingly beautiful (sadly, I didn't get a picture of it ... not that it would have done it justice) and the ceremony was sweet.

The reception was full of personal touches and featured stunning reds and creams. Exhibit A: the cake. It was gorgeous! And, I later found out, it was RED VELVET CAKE! Major style points for carrying the red/cream theme throughout. As a bonus, it was totally delicious!

We three got all dolled up for the occasion ... my hair hadn't looked that good in months! Thanks goes out to my sister for the use of her adorable shirt! It was perfect!

Little B was a champ at the wedding, happy just to have a high chair and some good books.

Of course, luck being what it is, Bubba pooped right before the first dance started so I missed it. But my husband, being smart and thoughtful, took some pictures of it! Yay, Bryson!

What a cute couple!

They were so sweet together.

Once we got back, Little B and Big B were reunited, and I think I noticed my husband getting a little choked up during the father-daughter dance as he held our son. Mariah Carrey's "Hero" was playing. Ah, the perfect storm of emotion!

In about the middle of the mother-son dance, my son laid his head on my husband's chest and just sat still. So cute!

Sadly, right after the picture above was taken, my beautiful boy burst into tears and we carried him out into the lobby area. The music was just too loud for him, so he and I went back to the hotel for some pre-bedtime fun while my husband stayed behind to spend some time with his friends.

But don't you worry, Baylor and I had fun, too! We explored the hotel room, opened all the drawers, went to the front desk for toothpaste, and then read a ton of books! And yes, the little man is almost tall enough to open the doors in hotels, apparently.

The next morning we got to snuggle in the giant bed for a while and relax for a bit. Then the explorations began, resulting in the phone needing to be disconnected. Ah, such a wild child!

We had a lovely time, and it was so good to see everyone and finally catch up. Congrats to Eli and JoAnn, and thanks for having us! Congrats to Matt and Emily on their exciting news! And a belated congrats to Phil and Alexis on their happy marriage! We're so glad we got to hang out with the Lyman Briggs crew, even if for a short while! Hope to see you all again soon!

More Pictures from the Trip

Our makeshift high chair for the trip. No five-point harness, but it worked well enough.

Ah, there's nothing like a diaper check in the well/trunk of a minivan to get a boy all excited! Not quite.

My son's first time on the beach ... his toes were made for digging in the sand. And he smiled all the while.

Something new ... whimper-crying when we are tired. Here he is out to dinner, having it up to here with being a big boy. He alternated this with huge smiles ... it was quite cute.

With Oma and Grandpa E ... excited about a Spartan victory and their trip to the Final Four!

Hope you enjoy the pictures! I'll try to post some more soon!

Pictures from the Trip

My son is amazing in the morning ... he is a total morning person and I love that about him. My family does too and felt really excited to see his beautiful little face every morning. Here are my dad and sister with him on the couch in the condo.

This was his first time in a pool float. As you can see, he wasn't overly impressed with it, but he eventually warmed up to it. It probably didn't help that he was super tired at the time.

Yes, I decided to go with the bikini. Every tankini I tried on made my waist disappear and they didn't seem to offer as much support as this athletic bikini did. I felt a little self-conscious in my bikini, but eventually I just forgot about it and went with the flow. Bikini bonus: my son can't pull down my top in public. Thwarted again, little man!

I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks this ... but I think my son looks soooo much like my sister. She's beautiful, he's beautiful ... plus those gorgeous baby blues! What do you think?

Yup, my son was obsessed with the drain at the swimming pool. We think it is because it looks like stripes and he has an affinity for stripes, but I suppose we'll never actually know the truth. So cute.

Anyhow, I'm hoping to put up more pictures of the trip (we have a couple awesome whole family shots that I would like to post), but we'll see what I can get to. The house is a mess and with the little man spending more and more time on the floor I really feel like I need to get the carpet in better shape (i.e., vacuum, sweep).

Have a wonderful day!

Florida or Bust!

Yeah, we're going to Florida on Monday. Ah, woo hoo! My husband, my son, and I are flying down with my parents and sister to Captiva Island, Florida (just off Ft. Myers), and we are sooo looking forward to it. I am bringing my camera and my computer cord (my sister and husband are both bringing their computers so I will have access ... yay!) so I will hopefully be able to post while we are down there.

In the meantime, we are trying to pack up for our first vacation with our little man. There are so many things to think about and bring - car seat, stroller, pack n' play, clothes, hats, blankets, toys, sunscreen, vitamins, etc. Whoa. Not to mention the leap of faith I feel like we are taking checking a bunch of this stuff. If it it was a direct connection I wouldn't worry, but we are going through Detroit and if his car seat gets lost en route we are a little screwed.

*Deep breath, Nicole.*

And then there is the issue of sleeping arrangements. My son will be spending the night in his pack n' play. Whether he sleeps in it or not is another issue. I have been trying to get him to nap in it, but to no avail. Here is how I found him today after his TEN MINUTE nap in his pack.

Ugh.

*Deep breath, Nicole.*

And then there's the flight ... how will my son do with the change in air pressure? The massive amounts of new people? Not getting to play on the floor?

*Deep breath, Nicole.*

I keep having to remind myself that he is an awesome kid and will do just fine. He will be just fine.

In fact, it will be fun. We are going to Florida! He gets to visit his first new state. It'll be his first time at the beach. And it'll be his first time swimming!! I get so excited about all the firsts ... which reminds me - I need to bring more batteries for my camera.

One more thing to add to the list.

Alright, back to packing and the NCAA tournament!