Pajama Girl

Don't you sit in the bins that you keep your things in?

I know Joli looks kind of washed out in this picture but her eyes just look so blue!
These are one of the new pairs of pjs that we bought her tonight.
She doesn't know how to pose or anything!
One of Joli's new things is to say "cheese"! I think maybe I take a lot of pictures!

One More Time

Well I finally got my printer working last night, and was able to put together the last little love pillow!
Joli woke up to find it this morning, and was happy as ever to see herself with her Dada!

Circle Round

Joli and I had a very fun and exciting afternoon. My friend Jessica and her family came down and wanted to eat on the bay, so I took them down to Seaport Village. Although our service was horrible, we did have a very good time. After we ate we walked around and got ice cream. Then we came to the carousel and decided we would all ride. Joli was old enough that if we sat on a bench then we would have to pay for both of us, but if I stood next to her on a horse then we would only have to pay for her. So I decided to go ahead and do that, and I put her on one between Jessica and her sister, and then I stood next to her. The only problem was that it went up pretty high, which made us all a little nervous. But I strapped her in and she didn't let go of the pole. At first I wasn't quite sure what she thought.
I think she may have just been taking it all in. There were so many lights and sounds, not to mention the up and down, round and round that was making ME nauseous.
Then she really got into it and was swinging one arm with a loud squeel, and giggle. We were all cracking up.

Here I am holding onto her and trying not to fall over from the force of the carousel and laughing.
Then there was more happiness and laughing. It was so adorable, next time I'm getting it on video.
The only problem was that once it started slowing down Joli started yanking on the pole and trying to make it speed up. I think she had a wonderful time!!

To See or Not to See

I ordered some new glasses about a week and a half ago and just finally got around to picking them up last night. What do you think?
Joli thinks I look funny. She laughs every time I put them on! Just wait little baby!

New Faces

One of Joli's new favorite toys is a basket that used to hold fabric. Since she has discovered it, the basket has become something that she can carry around and put all kinds of things in. Tonight she decided that the basket was also the perfect size for a small child.
She just looked so cute all folded up inside the basket. It was like she was getting ready for it to take her off to a magical land. I have a feeling her Daddy would have been there.
Later in the evening I started to work on a little project so I set Joli up with some crayons. She had a great time pounding the crayons, then scribbling with them, the breaking them, and then putting the pieces in the box and taking the back out. Then of course she started all over again. She had a great time though!

The project I was working on was more pillow. I wanted to do three more but my printer started acting up after the second one. These are the ones that I did do though.

Now Joli can have her mommy and her daddy!

Dada?

Part of my attempt to help Joli deal with Joe being gone has led me to something called a "Daddy Doll". It's obviously something that was started by a mom trying to help her child deal. Although they are cute, I don't think it's worth the price that is being charged for them. So I decided to go down to Joann's and get some printable fabric and make Joli a pillow. So I printed out a picture of Joe that Joli really likes and made a pillow.

She was a little amazed that she can hug the picture!

Here I am with my husband!

Then Joli carried it around for awhile.
She's finally got her daddy (sort of).

Family Art

When we went to Ikea yesterday I found some unfinished pictures frames for way cheap. So I decided I would paint them and make a kind of artsy collage out of them. While I was painting I also set Joli up to do some finger paint and I gave her her own frame to paint as well. She loved it!!

It took her a few times, but she finally understood that paint doesn't taste good. It does, however make a very nice hair color.

After I got her all cleaned up, she spent a good hour playing with all my paint brushes, and taking them in and out of the tin they are in.

This is what I started out with. The square one is actually a mirror. I thought it would go good as the center of the collage.
This way Joli's painting once she was finally finished.
And this was her picture frame.

This is what the frames looked like after I got them all primered.
Then I painted them all the appropriate colors and put them on the wall! I plan on adding pictures to top it off, but this what I have so far.

Shine Down On Me!

Joli got a new addition to her bedroom today! We went to Ikea with Kacie because I saw this sun light last week, but I wasn't quite sure if i could make it work. After coming home and figuring out the mechanics of the light she had in her room, I decided to give it a shot. The light comes with directions on how to wire it to the ceiling and everything. It doesn't however, explain how to unwire the old light. So decided that instead of trying to become an electrition, I would just try and use the light cover. It took about an hour and half, some sticky-tack, three bungy cords, and eventually medical tape. But it's on there and looks good, so I'm happy!

This picture was it without the flash.

Then I turned the flash on. The is the sun light next to the butterfly I put up in October.

Joli certainly enjoyed the new edition, and the fact that I was laying on her floor. She layed down with me on her "rug", which is the quilt I made for her and layed on her floor.

She can be such a sweet baby sometimes!
Then she stopped being so loving and decided to sit on my face!
She looks a litte freaky in this picture
Sometimes a girl just needs her mommy.

I was able to prevent too much of me from getting in the picture!
Then Joli was off to take on the world again!

New Projects and a Daddy's Girl

Since Joli was born, every time Joe has gone on a trip so have we. Which means we have gone on more than seven trips in the past year in which we have had to drive or fly more than several hundred miles away. So during our last trip I decided that we were going to take a break. We were going to do something new and stay home, get to know people in our area, maybe get involved in some activities. The problem with this is what I have suspected for some time now; when we stay home, Joli knows Joe is gone! To most this may seem like a "duh" statement, but to me it has had a huge impact on my everyday life. We have had a few times when Joe has left and we didn't leave for another week or so, and during those times Joli became much more crabby and clingy. This time she is older, and it is much different. Although she is still clingy, there is now a whole new demension that absolutely breaks my heart. She is now able to communicate what she wants. It took a few nights to realize that Joe wasn't just working late, but last night, I'm pretty sure it sunk in.

Anytime the phone would ring Joli would put her hand up to her ear and say "Hi, Dada. Hi, Dada". Then if I didn't give her the phone she would cry "Hi, Dada!". I tried to explain that Dada wasn't on the phone, so she went and stood at the top of the stairs and pointed downstairs saying "Dada, Dada, Dada". When I explained that Dada wasn't in the garage either, she started hanging on the gate and crying for Dada. So I tried to comfort her and let her know that Dada would be back really soon and he's just working. We have a tape of him reading books to her so I talked her into watching Dada on the television. After the fifth time I thought maybe we should get involved in something else. But when I turned off the t.v., Joli started crying and pushing all the buttons, screaming "Dada". I gathered her up and took her out into the living room to read some books, which distracted her long enough to calm down.

A little while later I put Joli to bed, and although she was still a little upset, she was exhausted and need to sleep. After she fell asleep I searched for a picture of Joe that was fairly close-up and managed to find one of him and Joli when she was just two days old. I wrapped it in contact paper a few times and put it in her crib with her. Even though she didn't get to see it last night, she was overjoyed this morning.
This is when she first discovered the picture. She immediately started saying "Dada, my Dada, Dada". I talked to her about how he's holding baby Joli and how much he loves her, and she just kept saying "Dada".


Eventually I got her to hold it up for me to take a picture. She was so happy to have her Dada.

Joli carried her picture with her all morning until naptime. Then I layed it next to her in crib and told her that Daddy is with her and he loves her. I hoping this helps a little, but the older she gets the harder it gets on both of us. Joe has a hard time with it too. When we drop him for a trip Joli knows if he's just going to work or leaving. She does the whole lip poked out and tiny tears rolling down her cheeks thing. Joe and I usually are holding back tears just seeing her so sad. Last time we dropped him off he didn't even want to take her out of the car, so he wouldn't have to see her upset. I told him if he does that then every time we drop him off for work she's going to think he's going to leave again, and it won't be any easier in the long run. So we got her out and he held her for awhile, and thankfully she didn't cry this time. It's horrible, but I've learned to deal with it and I don't get upset anymore. But how can you help a baby understand and learn not to get upset. And do I want her to be like that? It would be easier on me, but I love that Joli has such a strong bond with her Daddy, and I would much rather deal with my mess of a child, then to have her not even notice. I suppose it's just another part of the package.

In order to keep Joli somewhat occupied, I've made sure we have at least one activity planned outside the house each day. One of the days was to go to Target and get a rod to hang Joli's curtains. While we were there I went through the dollar section and found this cute little coat hanger that I'm using to put all of Joli's hats on.
Then last night I decided to do a project that I've been planning for quite a while. My friend Karina gave me the idea to use some of Joe's old cami's to make a diaper bag. It was fairly easy and I just used the top of the pants so I could use the pockets. I used a leg to make straps and then lined with a red with white star fabric. I used one of the side pockets that didn't go onto the bag and took off the button strip. Then I sewed one side onto the back and use the button on the front to pull it together. It turned out pretty cute and it holds a ton of stuff.
There are also gathers in the back that I can pull together or loosen up depending on how much stuff I have. Plus the name tag was perfect!

I also came up with a solution to my curtain issue. I had some extra scraps of the brown fabric that I used in the back so I just used those as ties. It's way cute and because it's such a slick fabric Joli can easily pull them off if she wants to.
Another thing we did this week was to go to the farmers market. I was very excited to get some more flowers. Unfortunately I think they were bunched too tight because some of them looked a little ragged. But I put them in with the lowers from last week and it turned out fairly nice.
So it hasn't been too bad of a week. We both miss Joe but he'll be back any day and our lives will be complete once again.