Do Blondes Really Have More Fun?

Well...  Do they?

The infamous Marilyn Monroe believed they do; hence her evolution from Norma Jean to Marilyn.

 (Isn't she beautiful?!?)

I have no clue and I have been blonde for 10 weeks.  I have not noticed a difference.  What I have noticed is that I still blink when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.  My hair has been many different colors over the years but this is the first time it has ever been truly blonde since I was 12 years old.  While I like it I am not sure that it is my favorite look.  Recently my 3 year old daughter asked me why I had black underneath my blonde hair...lol...  So now I am at the fork in the road.  Do I stay blonde, go back to brunette or go DARK, as in black (which I have done before and is very striking)?????

Nap Time

Nap time.  Ugh.  You never know how good you got it til the game gets changed.  In many ways I was spoiled when I had my daughter.  Because my husband worked long hours away from home 6 days a week it was mainly just her and I.  This meant that, as a stay at home mom, my world revolved around her & her needs.  I was able to get us into a routine that worked for us and by the time we moved across the country to be closer to my family & keep hubby from working himself to death, she was locked into a set nap routine.  One that meant I got 2 hours free in the morning and 2 hours free in the afternoon.  We moved in with my parents & I kept that routine and pretty much 'convinced' my niece (my sister & her daughter lived with my parents, too- they have a HUGE house) to be on the same routine.  Yay! After I got pregnant with our twins we moved out, our nap routine stayed the same (I know, a 2 year old who takes 2 naps a day?!?) and I was able to get the rest I desperately needed. 

The twins have not been as cooperative as my daughter.  :-(  I know that part of the problem is our daily routine is not as calm.  Mini has dropped her morning nap and it is not like we can just hang around the house while the boys take a nap.  She has school 3 days a week which means we have to be out of the house early and since the school isn't near home and it is near the gym that means we go there next, then it is lunch time and before I know it time to pick Mini up from school.  I took the easy road for the first year and just held both boys to get them to go to sleep for nap time.  Now that they have a set bedtime routine I am trying to get a set nap time routine for at least one nap, the afternoon one since, theoretically Mini takes one, too.

Getting their bedtime routine set was not fun.  It required the use of the Cry It Out method.  Now, before you get your panties in a twist, the twins are 1 year old and old enough to get the concept.  It only took a couple days but they figured it out and now they sleep from about 7:30p-7:00a.  :-)  Nap time has not been so easy.  I put them in their cribs at 3:30p every day and leave them there until 5:00p; 90% of the time Little, Little Man will sleep while Big, Little Man will scream & cry like he is being tortured. It makes me sick to my stomach to listen to him cry and I hate it.  I KNOW he needs sleep and I can't think of another way to make it happen besides holding him BUT I need to get things done without interruptions and, yes, sometimes I need some sleep.  I don't know what else to try and so tomorrow I will do it all over again...

Legwarmers!

Mini loves to wear dresses to school, the gym, the store, everywhere.  Mini lives where it is getting cold fast.   Mini is a 3 year old who is likes to go to the potty by herself.  Tights are no longer an option (pants are complicated enough!)  Sooo....  LEGWARMERS!!!!  We have a couple pairs from when Mini & her cousin were babies and she wears them all the time but more are needed.  They are soo expensive!  So I looked up how to make them from ladies' knee high socks.  I made hubby buy some today (I let him pick the patterns- talk about trust!)  And I made a pair for each kiddo!  (They work great for the boys when we are at home cause it means I don't have to take pants off to change diapers.)  Here's how I did it:

Women's knee high socks:

Cut the socks as shown:

Discard toe and heel sections.  Trim the last piece as shown:

(This will be the second cuff so how much you trim is up to you-

it all depends on how tight you want the cuff to be.)

Sew the soon-to-be cuff WRONG SIDE OUT back together:

Fold the cuff in half so the RIGHT SIDE shows (I missed this pic.  OOPS!)

Turn the sock WRONG SIDE OUT and pin the folded cuff to the inside:

Sew close to the unfinished edge, I recommend sewing it twice.

(You don't HAVE to pin it; feel free to free hand sew it.)  :-)

Voila!!



Not bad for my first go around.  Plus, each pair only cost $2.50 and it only took me about and hour and a half to make all 3 pairs (this was in between taking care of a 3 year old & 2 1 year olds soo....)  Oh & I have some ideas about how to turn them into arm warmers.  :-D

Big, Little Man    Mini    Little, Little Man

in their legwarmers/baby legs

**UPDATE**  Mini has mastered tight and as it gets colder we have found that legwarmers over tights or leggings is perfect for her.