Ponytail!

2 Years

Nora loves my ponytail. She plays with it, sticks toys in it. It’s a plaything.

I cut Nora’s bangs a few weeks back because she refuses to wear any accessory in her hair to hold her bangs back. Now I wish I’d started sooner to put said accessories in her hair so she’d become used to them. 

I’ve started to attempt ponytails on Nora. It’s slightly working. She’s so intrigued she can’t stop touching it. She made it work for one night out, so I will try to continue so she gets used to it. 

And - it’s crazy cute.

Touch touch!

Wow - who is that KID??

34? Not Too Shabby.

December 10th, 2013: I turned 34 years old. Wowie. I think that was an age I remember my Mom being when I was little!

The day started out… bad? Snow on my birthday is always awesome. Two hours to get to work in the snow traffic? Not so great. 

Our office was in the middle of a ping pong match and I was in the finals of the “average” bracket [there was a “pretty good” bracket as well]. The final game was against my work friend [and Creative Director] Dale. He likes to talk smack. Getting into the game, we were fairly even. I lost 18-21. The second game went bad; I basically defeated myself by hitting the ball beyond the table too much. Lost 10-21. Oh well! I was pretty proud of myself for getting so far! Childhood tennis paid off! 

I had a meeting that day at 1pm in Mason. Which means an awkward ending time; 2pm - do I drive all the way back downtown to work 2hrs or somehow get away with going home? I mentioned this to my Director [who is a totally awesome Mom to twin 2 1/2 year-olds] who said “Go home after your meeting!” The most valuable gift to a Mom: TIME.

I stopped by Kroger and got home close to 4pm. It was in the mid-20s and sunny so what did I do? Run. In the daylight. Only 4.5 miles, but it was delightful! 

Cleaned up and picked up Nora - who sang the entire Happy Birthday song to me! Awww!

Tim [and Nora] bought me a bag of items that included a reflective running vest [yes!], iTunes gift card, fancy coffee and chocolate-covered potato chips! I love a goody bag!

The night ended with dinner with Tim and a bottle of champagne - perfect.

Can’t quite tell, but some ORANGE lipstick I  bought for my birthday!

Here’s to 34!

Oil Pulling & Oral Health

So as you know me, you know I prefer all-natural products and methods. I don’t want to absorb or ingest toxins, nor do I want them in my family members. 

Back in May, I was fed up with my “adult acne” that pops up randomly. I still border on cutting out [or back] dairy and sugar, but instead I went to an oil-cleansing method for my face. I have been cleansing with a mixture of castor and safflower oil at nights and it’s worked fairly well. It removes my makeup and moisturizes too.

Early this week I found out about oil pulling from this blog post:
http://trinaholden.com/healing-cavities-a-true-weve-done-it-story/

I’ve read some testimonials and talked to a few people who’ve actually done it - all positive outcomes and some people experience repaired dental problems and disappeared cavities - !! My coworker just had a bad dentist appointment this week complete with an x-ray, so she’s going to start as well - she has documentation [x-rays] from her Tuesday appointment that we’re all curious to see if oil pulling benefits [or repairs!] her. 

Did I mention I work on P&G oral care brands? Ha! 

I had some coconut oil in the cupboard since the uses for it are endless [skincare, cooking, baking, etc.]. I started on Wednesday morning and it was strange. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so at first it felt like Crisco in my mouth. But it has a very low melting point, so within a minute I was swishing it around. 

I thought 20 minutes of swishing seemed ridiculous, but I did it before I got in the shower and continued as I did my hair and - bam! 20 minutes passed. I spit it in the trash [it will solidify in your pipes] and done! 

I told my team I would report back any findings come the new year. So will my coworker - she could have evidence of repair I hope! 

Swish on!

Nora “Calls” Grandpa

Winter Weather!

I feel like Cincinnati is the city that Cries Wolf; 2 out of 3 times, the bad weather predicted is not bad weather. Most times I take the bus to work on bad weather days because I feel so safe on the bus and don’t have to deal with the hazardous conditions. Which I did this past Friday, even though for a split second I thought, “Maybe I should drive to leave early…” [The first bus out of downtown doesn’t leave until 3:40pm] 

Well, ON the bus checking my work email, my coworkers were emailing suggesting everyone work from home - DOH! Easy for the project managers to do, not as easy for the Creatives to do since we work with large files stored on servers. Oh well. 

I got some work done and emails out, Stephanie was super sweet and offered to pick me up and drive me home around lunchtime. Was nice to see her and later on very thankful I got home early. 

It was awkward timing to pick Nora up from the sitter because she was probably laying down for her nap, so I let her stay there until I knew the nap would be over later. So I got stuff DONE at home; worked some more, dishes, cleaned bathrooms, vacuumed, tidied up, etc. Any Mom knows how glorious 3hours of alone time is. 

By the time I went to get Nora at 4:15, conditions actually WERE bad! I could not appreciate the Subaru Outback more than during winter months. I love my Outback. Felt very safe getting Nora with all-wheel drive. 

On the other side of the coin, Tim called at 5pm [he’d left work at 3:45pm] to say he’d made it ONE exit, had already bounced off a pickup truck and slid off the highway. Dear Lord. The snow wasn’t going to let up, so we decided he should just keep inching along. 

Nora and I hung out playing and were getting ready for her bedtime when Daddy walked in at 7:10pm! Thank God he made it home safe! And just in time to kiss Nora goodnight. 

Today, the roads were very well cleared here in Milford, and we went out to play late morning - Nora’s 1st time in the snow! Yes. We’re kind of late on that train. We were only about about 15 minutes since it was below 30˚ - Nora really enjoyed it, Ailo was having a ball. 

We had an awesome low-key family day!

Snow Doggie!

First time walking in snow!

Another new puzzle!

I Have a TWO-Year Old

24 Months!! I think by 2 years old, I can stop saying how many months old Nora is.

Man, Tim and I swear she has become so big and articulate and clever-er these past two weeks. Since I had a client meeting on Thursday AM, Tim took Nora to her 2-yr appointment… and she barely cried. Because every appointment I take her to [ALL of them] involved mass amounts of tears. Nora is 75% percentile, 31lbs and the pediatrician was very impressed with Nora’s speech and knowledge! [woohoo!] She asked Nora, “What comes after 1? “Umm…. TWO!” What comes after two? “Umm…. THREE!” Tim said Nora cocked her head to the side and held her hand under her chin. I totally missed out.

Since Nora’s birthday was a Wednesday this year, I put her in a dress for the sitter’s house and sent homemade cupcakes. We gave Nora an animal puzzle that she opened that evening which she really enjoyed. 

She’s been enjoying all her gifts and having a ball this week!

Nora loves videos of herself.

Woody & Sriracha teeshirt from Aunt Molly & Uncle Jonathan!
*I’m pretty sure all the Woody photos with Nora are the cutest she’s ever taken.

Nora’s birthday puzzle from Mommy & Daddy!

Awesome Sesame Street playset from the Morrisons!

Extra Batty T-giving Photos

Thanksgiving Break: Friday

23 Months, Week 4

Friday of Thanksgiving is the Krons’ celebration - we had tried to get to Nana & Papa’s in time for Nora’s nap, but of course, she fell asleep 10 minutes before we arrived in the car and had a failed attempt after Nana tried to put Nora down. Oh well! Holiday party time. We had a great time and Nora enjoyed celebrating her second pre-birthday party!

Thank you Aunt Amy!

I Made The Cut

23 Months, Week 4

After weeks of blowing and swiping her hair out of the way, I finally took scissors to Nora’s bangs. I didn’t really want to because I loved the swoop of bangs, but she won’t keep barrettes in or any hair accessory. Darn. Either way, she’s still a cute stinker!