Three Things Thursday

I've been MIA again; such is the theme to this blog! I've been hot, sick of the rain, and pregnant. Also suffering from heartburn. But life goes on! As do my three things!

1. Matt and I can NOT agree on a girl's name for our baby. We are polar opposites it seems, and we think the other's suggestions are crazy. I love Violet, Piper, Lavender and Paige while he has issues with all of them. I think we will end up choosing one of his names, so I won't list them, but I'll give you his specifics: doesn't like names ending in "et", two syllables or less, and not Piper. PLEASE give me some suggestions! (I'll throw my specification in there, which is preferably not ending in "y" or that sound, since we already have a Zoey). We have a boy name already so no need to worry on that. This happened last time too - we chose the boy name right away, and waffled forever on a girl name. It's just killing me.

2. I'm so thankful the weather has turned around and it's no longer raining. I never knew how much I could hate the rain until I had a toddler chanting "walk!" 24/7.

3. I think Zoey might have some sort of nut issue. She threw up once when I put cashews in her oatmeal, and today she threw up after eating a homemade granola bar with pecans in it. This has never happened with peanuts though. Kind of strange! I wonder if it's a coincidence or not.

Can you think of any names that fit? Help!

Hilarious hair day

The condo version of a kiddie pool

Hallelujah!

The sun is out! FINALLY! Yesterday it snowed for a strange few minutes, but today, it's sunny! Already we have gone for a walk, played at the park, bought some gluten free bread and buns at the g bakery, and now Zoey is having a nap! All before 11:15 am!

I don't have much else to say... I know lots has been going on lately in the world, and I am very thankful that my family is safe, that my sister and brother and law didn't go to Boston this year, that I am healthy so far in this pregnancy, and that I have a hilarious daughter who is learning new things every day.

What have you done to enjoy the weather?

Three Things Thursday

Two for two TTT! I'm on a roll!

1. I did NOT get that chair. And I don't even want to talk about it. I'm that disappointed.

2. I just ate a gluten free bagel that was so delicious that I had to double check the package to make sure I didn't buy regular bagels. It's Glutino's multigrain bagel, and man it's good! I used to not be the biggest glutino fan, but their english muffins are delish and now I'm a bagel convert. (After looking at the website, neither product that I love is on there... Strange)

3. It snowed again today. Oye vey.

And since it's also Throwback Thursday, I'll leave you with a picture from my first solo excursion with Zoey. How the times have changed! Today I had to convince her to come out of the elevator for two minutes while I held two extremely heavy bags of groceries.

Three Things Thursday

My first Three Things Thursday! (I think...)

1. I am obsessed with getting this chair for Zoey. She is so over her lobster chair and I've been coveting the ridiculously expensive stokke chair for years. They are hard to find on kijiji and when they are there, they are still really expensive. Yesterday morning, one popped up for $50!! That's a good $100 less than most used ones, so I emailed the seller (twice) in hopes for a response. The chair in conveniently located in High River, where Matt works (and where most other Calgary shoppers don't live) so I hoped I'd be a shoo-in. Well fast forward to today when I FINALLY got a response which basically said "how high are you willing to go" since they got so many responses. The only thing keeping me from offering $125 is that it's disassembled, so there's no way to truly verify that all pieces are there. I wrote a response that showed my extreme interest, reminded her of quick pickup, but that also wasn't just a blank cheque, and I'm dying to hear back. The suspense is KILLING ME!

2. We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday which was actually our first one this pregnancy. We got confirmation that there was only one baby, and that it has all the normal limbs and organs. They don't give much more info than that (other than the sex, which we opted not to find out), so I guess I'll find out at my midwife appointment next week if there is anything concerning.

3. I think my heartburn has returned. When I was pregnant with Zoey I had awful heartburn for the whole second half of the pregnancy, and wouldn't you know, at 20 weeks and one day, I started to feel the slow burn again this time. I guess I'll be walking around with a bottle of Gaviscon in my purse. I feel like Elaine's co-worker from Seinfeld who walked around with tic tacs in their pocket and drove everyone nuts. That's me but with heartburn relief! Oye.

Spring!

Although I think it's supposed to snow tomorrow, we have really enjoyed our last few days of amazing weather. 

We are also thoroughly enjoying the long weekend. Now that Zoey can walk, she LOVES walking outside. If we carry her, she wriggles out of our arms saying "walk". She also says "hello" and "buh bye" to each person who passes. I am reminded each day why I love living downtown in such a great walking community. One evening after supper we walked around the corner to a playground and played for a while before bed. Delightful. 

Yesterday we walked to a park a few blocks away and Zoey spent quite a while exploring the playground. She is such a daredevil, just scrambling up the play structures and sliding down the slides all on her own. We then ran a million errands and took her to my mum's community garden and she showed her all around. My mum has been working on this garden for a couple of years and it looks amazing. It has sophisticated (to me) underground "plumbing" that collects water and then it seeps somewhere else and waters the gardens. I don't really get it but it's super fancy. Anyway she's there all the time and has wanted to bring Zoey there for a while to show her around. Zoey doesn't really get the concept of a hill yet so it was pretty funny to watch her all of a sudden start running down a hill or fall backwards when she came to an uphill. She'll get it eventually.

Today we walked to the diner for breakfast and then walked to a different park and she played some more. I need to film her walking on the tiny rocks some parks have because it is hilarious. (A few playgrounds near us have the solid rubber ground, which is really nice, but some of them have the old school rocks). The rest of today has been cleaning and napping. 

Tomorrow we will have a mini easter egg hunt and an easter dinner. I didn't want to give Zoey chocolate but I still wanted to do something fun, so I hit the dollar store and got a bunch of pom poms, foam shapes, plastic bracelets and little pinwheels to put in hollow easter eggs. We will hide a few and then give her the rest. I'm sure she will have no clue whats going on but oh well.

What do you do for easter? My dad has a sweet tooth, so the easter bunny was always very generous and we had lots and lots of candy to hunt for. One fateful easter, I stole one of my sister's "big ticket" easter chocolates and my punishment was that I couldn't eat candy for two weeks and had to give my whole collection to her. It was horrible. Although she was mad, I am pretty sure she snuck me some anyway since she doesn't love candy as much as I do. 

Have a great weekend!  I'll leave you with a few photos of Zoey walking down the hall of our condo building. If anyone has a welcome mat outside their door, she HAS to walk over it. 

What I've been working on

Totally haven't been posting. I'm tired and busy. And if you follow me on twitter then you know the reason why is that we are expecting baby number two!

I'm trying to be a little more regular with taking pictures this time around, but so far it's a total fail.  I will try harder. (And I'll also try to post more in general.)

13 weeks

17 weeks

I still have to figure out the best way to take those pictures... sideways makes sense to see the belly but front ways shows the quirky shirt more, so I'll experiment. Excuse the tired look on the 17 weeks photo; I was.

2012: a few thoughts and a look forward to 2013

I don't have a really insightful post ready and prepared, but between a whirlwind of working, snowstorms, and baby cuddles, I thought I'd take a second to reflect on this year. And what better way than in point form.

• We started the year with a three month old baby, not really knowing what we were doing but working mainly on instincts. I quickly realized that most of what I wanted to do was along the attachment parenting style. I wouldn't say everything, but a lot of what "felt right" for us fell into that category. This brought a few raised eyebrows but mostly support from those around us. 
• I started training again for a half marathon and though I completed a pretty good race in May, I completely fell off the running wagon after and have barely crawled back on it 8 months later.
• We took a couple of fun trips with family so that more people got to meet our happy smiling baby. We went to Montreal in March to visit Kristen and to Vermont and Toronto in June. Everyone loved Zoey and she loved them. I realized that traveling with a baby was harder than I thought it would be but not impossible. Good thing she's so cute!

• Matt worked up north for two ish months and I was alone with Zoey for two weeks at a time. That was probably one of the hardest things either of us have done in a long time. I was faced with many night time challenges (like teething, gas pain and growth spurts) and Matt had to be away from his new daughter and watch me struggle from afar. There were many times where I wanted to just let her cry and cry, but at 6 months old, I just wasn't prepared to do that, so I shushed and rocked and nursed her all night. We took many late night walks to get her to sleep after me trying unsuccessfully for 2 + hours. I would lay beside her quietly once she was finally asleep, not even wanting to cough in case she woke up and I would have to start all over again. It was hard, but the payoff was worth it, and now we have a little more money (from matt!) and a baby who sleeps wonderfully through the night and wakes up happy and healthy every morning.
• My return to work in October was harder than I expected. We found great childcare, but leaving my family at home still is very difficult, even three months later. I know that this job allows me much more time at home, but it's still hard picturing Matt and Zoey at home playing without me, while I sit alone in a hotel room. I thought I'd love the time to just relax by myself and sleep alone in a huge bed, but I really just feel envious of Matt at home and wish I was there too. I'm still waiting to get part-time status, which means I have to fly 30 fewer hours, so perhaps that will make it a little more enjoyable. 

• As much as I thought I'd get back into working out hardcore, I really haven't. I struggle to make it a priority and although I feel a little guilty sometimes, I mostly am comfortable with my decisions. I've gone to hot yoga a few times, I tried out the new spin studio down the street, and I signed up for a half marathon in February that I have barely trained for. Though I enjoy it when I'm there, the cost (of the first two) and the time commitment of running just isn't easy. Zoey, now almost 15 months old, isn't super keen on hanging in the stroller for more than 30-40 minutes. That means running without her, when Matt is home, and honestly, I'd rather be at home playing with them. I know in a year or two I may feel differently, but right now I'm content with low-moderate exercise. 

• This year I am looking forward to learning how to parent a toddler and teaching her new things. I really like looking at what she is doing and seeing if I can teach her something small that can make her playtime a little more interesting. I'm not huge on teaching her random things (like what sounds animals make for example) but I like to just add a little to what she already knows. It's fun to see her kiss people good bye, clap when she hears applause, say hi when the front door opens... it's a really cool thing to see her learn at her own pace.
• I REALLY can't wait until she walks! I know I wasn't in a rush before, but now that she's heavier, I'm really ready to have her walk beside me instead of always carry her. Time will tell.
• I think this year will be full of adventure. I can't wait to see what it brings!

December

It's mid December, and I feel like all I've been doing is working!  This month I've been gone for three nights at a time, which is taking it's toll on me. I asked for Christmas off, which I got, but in return I didn't get my short two day work shifts like I've had for the past two months. Working for four days, especially in the high travel and weather delay season, is physically and mentally taxing. Luckily things are great at home with Zoey, Matt and our nanny, so I don't have to worry about that. Also, being gone for four days means Zoey is weaned off breastfeeding, which I feel fine about. I wanted it to be a natural and gradual thing without being "traumatizing" for her, so this was a nice way to have it happen. I got home from my first four day and she nursed for about a minute, then just stopped and hasn't since. So that's that I guess!

When I get home on Wednesday, I'll be home until the 27th, so we can fit in all the holiday dinners and festivities. Zoey really likes Christmas trees and decorations, and I really think she will love opening her presents and stocking. She isn't walking yet, but she's standing on her own and crawling like a crazy woman! She is really starting to understand lots which makes life a little bit easier. She can say quite a few words, like "ya", "eau" (which is water in french), "uh oh", and she can shake her head for "no". She loves dancing and she sometimes sings along to music. I feel so lucky to have such a happy and hilarious daughter!

Hopefully my next post will have lots of pictures, but for now I'll leave you with happy and fun wishes for the holidays!

Etsy holiday gift giving guide

Although it might be pushing it time wise as far as online Christmas gifts go, I thought I'd share some things I've gotten for or as gifts from Etsy that you might like!

1. My grandma is a huge stationary and card writing lover, as most people who are pushing 90 years old are. I got her some personalized stationary this year and I hope she loves it as much as I do. Bonus: because I got her two sets, I got two free cards with MY name on them as a thank you gift from the seller! 

2. For my sister's birthday last year, I got her a running medal display for her wall with a personalized message that says "don't think, just run". I haven't been to her house since so I don't know if she has put it up yet, but I thought it was a pretty cool gift (if I do say so myself).

3. For Mother's Day this year I got a beautiful necklace  in yellow gold with "zoey" stamped on it. I like it because it's a little different than your typical name necklace (aka the "carrie" necklace from sex and the city). I get compliments on it weekly!

4. I got a friend of mine a custom baby onesie, burp cloth and bib when her son Charlie was born. I got to choose the fabric, initial and font. Unfortunately, the shop is closed over Christmas, but you can save it for the next time you need a baby gift!

5. For Matt's groomsmen gifts, he got them each a secret flask in a book. He got to choose the books too! He got one for himself (what is with guys and doing that?!) and he still uses it as a little secret hiding place. I often mistake it for a real book and drop the flask on the floor when I open it to flip through the pages.

I did a lot of my shopping online this year and it has been such a pleasure not to be in malls weekend after weekend. If you're still looking, maybe give Etsy a try!! 

I have also done a fair amount of xmas shopping this year on Zulily, which is a sort of discount steals type website. Right now they have a special section with guaranteed delivery by Christmas, so you could give that a try too!!

Happy Shopping!

Snow way I'm running in that!

The competition is on!

Please head to Calgary Natural High's facebook page and "like" my photo! I'm currently in second place and I'd love to win!

Thanks!

Delayed

You know when you know something is overdue and it stares you in the face every day, but you just can't bring yourself to do it? That's how I feel about my blog. I like most things about it, but I just feel overwhelmed every time I sit down to post. Maybe I'm trying to fill people in on all that's going on instead of just saying a thing or two. Either way, I know I've been absent, but I'm just doing my best.

I finally got my lazy butt out the door for not one but TWO runs so far this week. Monday, I dressed Zoey up in her winter woolies and we tackled 7.3 slow kms. I had a great time and even snapped a photo for Calgary Natural High's photo competition. (If you don't know about Calgary Natural High, it's a new low pressure fun running group in Calgary. They meet Sunday mornings and run various distances and speeds. Check out their website and facebook page!) It was pretty cold but not too bad. Zoey took a nap and then said "hi" to all the passers by.

Our entry for the snowy running contest. I figure babies get votes right? I think voting starts December 1 if you wanted to check it out.

Tuesday I ran my first treadmill run in over two years! I honestly don't remember the last place or time I was on the treadmill, but normally I'm in a hotel, and yesterday was no different. I went down to the shoebox sized "gym" in my hotel in Edmonton and ran just under 5 km. It was interesting... Not great but not bad. Today I took a rest since I had a very challenging night. I got home from a long and delayed work day around 1:00 am and Zoey was tossing and turning until about 4:30, keeping me up the whole time. This morning, Matt suggested that next time I get home late I should sleep in the guest room so that I don't disturb her. Anyway, we had a rough go today and after some snuggly naps, I felt human around noon. We took a nice walk and that was that for the day.

Tomorrow, my plan is to go for another run outside with Zoey and tackle maybe 6 or so kms. I think I'm gearing up for the Hypothermic Half, but I may reconsider and check out the race that Leigh will be running, Run for L'Arche. I'll look into them both and decide before the end of the week, when the fees go up for the Hypothermic Half. I'm just not sure if I can pull off the training for it yet since it's earlier, but I may just go for it anyway. Thoughts?

I'll leave you with a few pics of Zoey enjoying her first steamed milk!

Zoey turns 1!

This post is a little late, but I've been busy working in between Zoey's TWO birthday parties. We decided to split the guest list in half and celebrate twice so that there was less chance of being overwhelmed and we would be able to manage it space wise. I'm very happy we did that since everyone had a great time, got to spend a little time with Zoey, and she didn't get freaked out.

Her first party was at my mum's place.

Good thing she had help opening her presents... those packages are hard to get in to!

She looks so thrilled to be wearing her party hat.

She ate that giant piece of carrot cake in about 1 minute.

Her second party was at our house instead of the park since it was minus 4. She had a great time there too!

She got this fun baking set to go with her kitchen. And has been wielding the wooden knife ever since. 

This is her cool train cake. With a little too much sugar in it, we later found out when she was still partying at 9:30 pm

Zoey loved tickling her friend Nathan.

And there you have it. You can see from the picture with the party hat that I turned her weekly photos into banners and hung them at both parties. I would like to maybe put them around her room permanently and I'm most likely going to make a photo book too. Some of them are definitely better than others, but all in all the project was a success!  I'm still trying to decide how to post them on here... Should I really do all 52?

Overdue

No, I'm not overdue right now like I was a year ago, but a post is overdue! I have a lot going on right now, so a bullet list is in order!

• Yesterday was my last day of maternity leave. Sad face.
• I start re-qualification training on Monday (yes, Thanksgiving Monday. Oye.)
• I will be away and flying on Zoey's first birthday.
• We are having two parties for her! One with one side of the family, and one with the other! (Only family this year... We decided that we have years of big birthday parties ahead of us, so for her first one, one she definitely won't remember, we'll keep it casual.)
• I have been madly studying and completing homestudies which take FOREVER in preparation for work training. I forgot how annoying these are.
• I have been battling with Photoshop and trying to get Zoey's weekly photos all done and edited before my 30 day trial runs out. I really wish I had: remembered to smooth out Zoey's onesie before taking the pictures, tried to white balance the camera, and taken them at the same time of day. Oh well. They are what they are. (I'll post the finished product soon!)

I think that's it for now. My brain is a flurry of random airplane facts and to-do lists. I'll leave you with a couple of pics from our fall photo shoot!

MEC 10 km race report

I promised a prompt race report - oops. But here it is anyway!

We drove down to Edworthy park and arrived around 8:30 am for the 9 am start. Matt ran with Zoey and I ran solo. My friend Jess dropped her babe off with her sis and ran the 10 km solo as well - her first time racing without pushing her little man! As we were waiting to start, I got a little nervous since the field was so small. The smaller the race, the more likely I am to finish last! When the guy said "go!" on the megaphone, I started my garmin since I knew it wouldn't be chip timed and I wanted to have the official time on my wrist. We ran along the bow river path and I was feeling pretty good since it was nice and flat. Around 3-4 km, I saw Leigh and up ahead and decided I would catch up and say hello. We chatted for a bit and I probably told her 25 times throughout the race that she could run off if I was slowing her down, but she assured me repeatedly that she was feeling good running at my pace. I was doing 10 and 1s because I knew my lack of training would kick my ass if I didn't. Normally for a 10 km, even if I train with 10 and 1s, I can race straight through (or with one walk break at the water stop) and still feel ok, but this time I would have DIED had I done that. Three cheers for under preparedness!

Around the 5 km mark I started to have to pee pretty badly (here comes some post baby TMI stuff so feel free to skip), but I was hesitant to stop at a washroom because I HATE stopping during a race. I complained a little that I needed to pee and Leigh said "oh look, a port-o-potty!" which was just up ahead. I really didn't want to stop, but she said "go ahead, I'll wait" so I dashed in. Well good thing I stopped, because what I thought was "holding my pee" was really "letting a few drips here and there come out" and I was wearing grey pants. Sweet. I haven't had any real issues with bladder leakage since having Zoey, but when I run hard and down a hill, the pounding is a little too much for my poor little pee holding muscle. I was definitely happy to pee and that I wore a longish shirt so I didn't actually look like I peed my pants. (I didn't really pee my pants pee my pants, just a little drippage. Ok enough, this is gross).  I told Leigh of my sitch when I got out of the port-o-potty and I'm sure she was thinking "awesome, love talking about peeing your pants with near strangers!"  (Side note, Jess saw a woman stop and take a large dump out in the open during the race, so at least I didn't have that happen!)

Matt had signed up for the 10km race, but he had run maybe 3-4 times total in training, so I wasn't sure how he'd fare. When we turned around and didn't see him, I hoped it was because he decided to do the 5 km instead and not that he collapsed into a fit of exhaustion on the side of the path.

As we neared the end of the race, both Leigh and I were feeling a little rough, so we weren't pushing it too hard. We rounded the last corner and saw Matt and Zoey there to cheer us through the finishers chute (so he was indeed alive and ran the 5km instead). I think our official time was 57:something, which wasn't too shabby considering. I always hope I can bust out some incredible miracle, but since I didn't train nearly enough, I'm satisfied with that. I'm also happy I had a buddy to run with and complain to and who made me go to the bathroom!  Jess did super well and shaved over 10 minutes off her last race. She wasn't feeling great, but she pushed through.

All in all, a good race. Cheap, easy and no crazy crowds or logistics!  I highly recommend it!

What have I been up to?

I haven't posted in a month!

At first, it was because I was having a really tough time alone with Zoey and I just didn't want to post and have a little pity party. Things weren't going well for me and night time was awful for us both. I definitely almost left her in her crib to cry many a night (not saying that that is wrong, just not something we are doing right now) but late night walks helped us both calm our nerves.  I realized that Zoey was having a rough go with her teeth and her poops, and once those settled, evenings and nights improved dramatically, as did my mood and outlook on life!  She now sleeps through the night until around 5-6, and I nurse her and cross my fingers for two more hours of sleep.  Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't.  Oh well, c'est la vie!

Then I didn't post because I seemed to be too busy and overwhelmed with the idea of updating an entire month! I'll give you the coles notes:

1. Zoey did funny and cute things.

2. I had a birthday and got a Vitamix!!!!!

3. Matt came home and is now home for at least 3 months!

4. I'm running a race tomorrow that I am drastically underprepared for!

5. I have started the "back to work" wheels, ie. trying on uniform (The last time I wore it was January 2011 and it still fits, might I even dare say it fits better!), emailing the appropriate people, figuring out my password for our employee website, yada yada yada.

6. I and an other flight attendant hired a nanny to share.

7. Zoey graduated from her first set of swimming lessons. The comments on her report card included how the teacher liked to listen to her sing and scream when she got excited. My mum told me "the first of many report cards commenting on how vocal your child is".

I'll leave you with a few pictures and the promise of a prompt race report!

Me & Zoey after her first swimming lesson

Hiding under a chair

Showing off her new skill: waving

Making steaming hot soup in the new Vitamix. Is gets steaming hot IN THE VITAMIX. Seriously.

Lately

July sort of whizzed by! Some parts were slow (like every bedtime), and some were quick (having fun with friends), but all of a sudden it's almost August!

August will bring the Olympics, my birthday, and Matt's triumphant end to working out of town! It also brings me one month closer to going back to work. Boo.

What have we been up to?

We went to a blogger meet up at Leigh's house. It was nice to meet some new people! I'll admit that I  definitely wasn't at my best that evening since Zoey screamed, and I mean screamed, the entire way there and home again. She's been having a few digestive issues and she was feeling the effects of a full belly. I was pretty distracted and had to leave early. It was still nice to be there and thanks again Leigh for hosting us!

I started going to a baby bootcamp in the park, and it's made me realize how little I've done in terms of strength training. I am definitely feeling sore but in a good way!

We've begun the search for childcare. Another flight attendant and I are sharing a nanny so we've been conducting interviews. It's a little strange to be on the other side of the interview table for a change!

Zoey ate some grass and choked in the car. I actually had to pull over and run around, get her out and thankfully she threw up just as I got her out of the car seat.  My heart was racing like crazy but luckily my first aid training kicked in! Yikes!

I went to a back carry class at Babes in Arms to learn how to wear Zoey on my back. I'm a huge fan of carrying Zoey in our Ergo but so far I've only worn her on my front and occasionally on my hip. I learned how to get her in the ergo on my back and also bought a long woven wrap to explore all sorts of carries with that too. The Ergo I have isn't the best fit for my body type and back carries, and though it will work, I might get a little sore after wearing her for a long period of time. The woven wrap is way more customizable for different body shapes so hopefully I'll have some luck with that. It's super confusing right now to learn but with practice I'm sure I'll figure it out.

We are so happy that the heat has subsided a little bit! I can't even explain how much I hate the heat!!!!

This weekend is the Calgary Folk Music Festival, and I THINK I'll be going on Sunday.  Matt is volunteering Friday-through Sunday evenings and so we're hoping to make a day of it as a family.  I don't actually have a ticket and it's sold out, but we're looking on kijiji and I think we've found one.  We shall see!

Zoey is a moving machine! She is crawling, kneeling, pulling herself up to kneeling and sometimes a little higher, and getting into everything she shouldn't. She loves eating flipflops (gross!), sucking on iPhone chargers and sleeping on her stomach. This week has brought a lot of changes for her. Matt will hardly recognize her!

Do you all have fun August plans?

Summer Fun

After the hair posts I apparently didn't have much else to say!

A few fun days have happened since then. Canada Day brought some fun down at Fort Calgary.

Then the Stampede started, but Zoey slept through her first visit so we're going back tomorrow! I can't wait to see her around all the animals!

We also had some fun at Sandy Beach (a little park with a tiny, rocky beach... the name is a little deceiving) and Riley Park (a wading pool).

Also, Zoey started crawling and sitting up by herself! How exciting!  She's doing mostly the army crawl but every once in a while she pops up on all fours and crawls across the floor.

She's on the verge of getting her two front teeth and that combined with the heat wave has made things a little interesting around here in the evenings. (And by interesting I mean terrible.)  I HATE the heat. It definitely brings out the worst in me  so I'm working hard to keep my cool (pardon the pun) when Zoey freaks out at night. Heat, teething, no Matt, cranky me... It could be the perfect storm.  BUT, I'm doing my best and that's as good as it can get!

How do you deal with the heat?

No heat curl

I've always had straight hair. Stick straight. No volume or body. In humidity, it gets straighter. I need a ton of hair spray to keep curl in, and even then, it rarely lasts the day.

One of my new favourite blogs is The Paper Mama, and she has pretty much the same hair type as I do. When she posted this, I knew I had to try it.  If someone with stick straight hair can achieve curly hair that lasts, I want in! What makes the tutorial even better was that she posted a video, so you can actually see how she does it instead of guessing through pics.

Even though my pics are virtually the same as hers, I thought I'd post them anyway.

The first two are after my shower, with damp hair but not totally wet. I've done it before with it totally wet and the curls are a little too curly for me. I use the goody slipless headband so that it doesn't slip when sleeping (hence the name). You just wrap your hair around the headband, picking up sections as you go. Then you go to bed.

This one is after I woke up in the morning. A little messy but still all wrapped up.

This is after I took out the headband. It's a little random and messy, and they aren't perfect curls, but unlike every other day of my life, my hair has body and it's easier to work with. I find I can "do" my hair so much easier with a little curl in it, but I can't be bothered to curl it with an iron just to put it up. 

The hat pictures  in my previous post feature curly hair done with this method. 

I used this method last night before bed, and today I decided to do some messy french braids. Instead of stuck to my head flat braids, I got a little more volume and "oomph" without spending more than a few minutes.

So there you have it! Here is the link to the video one more time in case you'd like to try it.

Another hairstyle I'm doing a lot these days is this one from the Uber Chic for Cheap blog. I LOVE IT. Instead of doing the "gibson tuck" using an elastic as featured in her video tutorial, I just backcomb and pin up. I find I get the little tail of the pony poking through after an hour or so of wear.