1/21/2012

Just randomness

I've been trying to take more pictures lately. I try to tell myself that the girls don't have to do anything special for me to take pictures. But like I said earlier, it's hard to take pictures if your camera isn't that great. Oh well. So, here's some pics...
Lex and Lane. Most of the time they are great to each other. Unless one of them doesn't get enough sleep. Then all bets are off. Lexi and Lanie sleep in the same room, which can be mildly entertaining at times. Lexi's on the top bunk and Lanie on the bottom, and because of that, Lexi make Lanie into her little minion every once in a while. If there's something in the room that Lexi wants, she'll tell Lanie to get it.
So every once in a while from the living room, we'll hear: "Lanie, get that Barbie. No, not that one. The other one. No, keep going. No, by the dresser. No by the dresser Lanie. Come on Lanie, get the barbie!" It's pretty funny. And the whole time Lanie is like, "This one? This one? Oh, this one? Where is it?"

Lexi asks to hold Rett about a billion times a day. And as I was going to take a picture of it, Lanie saw that camera out and of course hammed it up for me.
My sweet Lanie. Just wanted to take a picture of her and she obliged. My girls love smiling for the camera.

Again, Lex holding Rett. Nowadays, she is actually holding him all by herself, while standing. With me right there of course. She feels like such a big girl.

Lanie has gotten a lot more independent in her playing lately. Just in the past few days, she is playing with the Polly Pockets and having them talk to each other. Up until now she's always kind of watched what Lexi does and just copied it. Now she's doing it all on her own.

Rett loves smiling. Honestly. If you give him an ounce of attention, he'll start smiling and giggling. He loves smiling at Lexi too. But he gets so distracted by the camera that it's hard to get a good shot. Here's one attempt.

I love this outfit, and I actually got him to kind of smile for the camera. So cute!

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1/20/2012

Hair ideas- Basic French Braid

I've decided what I want for my birthday this year. A new camera. Mine is 5 years old. I'm pretty sure my phone camera is better than my regular camera. Maybe come April we'll have better pictures. For now, these will have to do. :)

Anywho, today we have 2 hairstyles in one post! The basic french braid, AND braid into two ponies. Here's what the french braid will look like...
And then what the braid/2 ponies will look like...
I wanted Lane's hair to be up, but when I do that, the front tends to fall out unless I put a small ponytail or braid in the front. So, here's the french braid.

Start with the right tools, spray liberally, and use your comb to get a section of hair on the top.

This section will be the basis for your braid, so choose the amount of section in the front that you want. Split into 3, and then start the braid.

Take a section in the front, take the hair until it meets the braid, and add it into a piece.

Smooth out the hair before you continue the braid.


Then take the next section on the other side. The key to a good french braid is threefold- 1)take even sections throughout the braid, 2) place your HANDS where you want the braid to go- hand placement is very important, 3) keep your part on the opposite side as straight as you can.
Smooth out the hair before you continue.

Continue the french braid until you are at a place that you want to stop. See the part on the left and how it's relatively straight? That's what I meant earlier.

For this hairstyle, I wanted to continue the braid to be able to put in in a ponytail. You can either do that, or just put a ponytail where you stopped the french braid. Either works fine.

A cute french braid in the front of her face. You can stop there, OR...

Keep going with 2 ponies. Lanie's hair was down the day before and I hadn't washed it, so I wanted to put it up. Use spray gel to help you get a good part for two ponies.


Get the ponytail all ready to go before you put the braid in. I usually do that at the last minute.

You can either do a high pigtail or you can keep it low and flip the hair up like so. It's easier to keep the ponytail low or else you might mess up the braid.

Repeat on the other side. Make sure that you keep the two ponytails on the same level.

Here they are side by side.
Then I used the straitener to give the hair some curl to cuten it up a little.


All done!
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1/14/2012

Girls' Hair- 4 Ponytails

Another hair post! Yeah! I'm starting to realize how hard it is to do hair AND take pictures at the same time. Hmmm. We might have to think of a different solution...

So, today, we are doing 4 little fancy ponytails. Here is what it will look like...
Sorry, she was very cranky that morning, so the pic isn't great. But you get the jist. I like finding hairdos that will get my girls' hair out of their face, but that I can still leave most of their hair down. So, this is a cute solution.

First, you need the right tools. Start by spraying generously and making a little part with your comb and create a little ponytail at the front of the head.


That's a really bad pic. Just put a rubberband in that little pony tail.

Repeat.

Repeat again. Until you have 4 ponytails. The key to this hairstyle is that there needs to be room on the scalp for 4 ponies until you hit the cowlick on the back of the head. AND your ponies have to be all the same size and the parts for the ponies have to line up.



Still repeating...

Okay, I've got 4 ponies.


Then I use the same technique as the waterfall ponytail, but upside down. You see, you create a part in the middle of the little ponytail...

And then you pull the ponytail over the TOP, not down below.
Push it through the top...

Pull it all the way out...

And tighten. Repeat for the rest of them. This way it lays flat to the head, and doesn't stick up like the waterfall ponytail.


Tada!
This keeps it out of her face, but it's still pretty cute. A variation on this would be to do just one bigger ponytail, and pull it through the top for just one fancy pony. That works too. I do it ALL the time.

Couldn't resist this messy-face photo! :)

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1/06/2012

Hair Ideas- Waterfall Pigtails


So, I have a lot of people-- okay, maybe like 2 people-- ask me for hair tips and advice for doing girls' hair, so I thought I would try and put one hairdo a week on my blog and see if it helps any of you guys.

I'm no expert- trust me. And most of the time I just try to duplicate what I see on other little girls. But I wanted to start with my favorite little girl hairstyle- the Waterfall pigtails. Let's start with the essentials... the products.

I just can't do my girls' hair without them. Garnier Fructis Curl Shaping Spray Gel- it's a hairspray that stays moldable and it's easy to wash out, a comb with a point on the end, and non-stick elastics. I get mine from walmart, and they come conveniently color coded.

Okay, step one for these pigtails- make regular pigtails. :) Spray the part in the hair generously with the spray gel, then use the comb to make a good part.
Make the first pigtail. Remember to spray generously with the gel. Trust me, it helps.
Next, do the second pigtail. You're gonna want to make sure that they line up on the same level.
Once you have the pigtails in place, get your comb out and make a split in the middle of the pigtail.
Spread the ponytail out enough to pull the ponytail under the band.
Use the comb to help pull all the hair out.
Split the hair in half and tighten the ponytail.

Repeat on the other side. Note that my kid is watching tv. That's the only way I can get her to sit still. :)

Then I use the straitener to give the hair the perfect curled bounce, and she's done!

I love this style because it's cute, but also because the ponytail lays flat to her head and it won't hurt her when she takes a nap.
Welp, hopefully that all made sense and it helps!
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