"Joy" to the World!

To add to our already long list of Christmas traditions Jorge and I decided to take Lori to see Santa Clause at Stanford mall last week. We waited in line for a little while and when it was Lori's turn the "Helper Elf" (He wasn't dressed like one but it was his job all the same) came up to me, very animated and said "OK, here's what we're going to do, we're going to have you "back her in" while you step over here and distract her, while we take a few pictures" My response was, "uh, I don't think she'll have any problems, but ok"
He looked at me and Lori, and then repositioned himself so he could PHYSICALLY block Lori seeing Santa. "Yeah, we don't like ones her age to see Santa" Evidently he takes his job very seriously! (and rightfully so, what would Christmas be with out pictures with a mall Santa?)

It didn't take him long to realize that Lori was in no way worried about meeting the Jolly white-bearded fellow so he let me go a head and put her on his lap.

This might have helped change his mind.
(Lori smiling at her Daddy taking a picture.)




Once Lori was permitted to sit on Saint Nick's lap they took some pictures, very quickly I might add and then it was time to go, but not before we purchased our photo package. (and those things ain't cheap!!)

As we were leaving the "Helper Elf" says to me and Jorge, "That is that happiest baby." I said thank you and something along the lines of "yay Lori, way to go!" and I shrugged it off as the elf just trying to get us to buy pictures BUT I realized that I had already bought the pictures. Then he looked at us and in all seriousness said "No, seriously, I've been here for 47 days straight and that is the happiest baby I've ever seen!"

and here's why he said that...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Love Jorge, Dana and Lori

Stay at Home(made) Mom part 2

Back in August our friend Tammy Myers showed me how to make my own baby wipes and I LOVE IT! There are many advantages to making your own wipes, the first of which is obviously cost. A box of baby wipes cost around 2-4 dollars depending on where you get them from and they usually only have about 80 wipes. When you make your own wipes you use "select a size" paper towels, which only cost about 2-3 dollars. Each roll has 133-140 sheets per roll AND you cut those in half so you actually get between 266-280 wipes. Because the "recipe" calls for baby wash the wipes are very gentle, gentle enough for wiping her face, hands and neck. And on top of all that, they smell really nice!

Besides the paper towels, there are a few supplies that you'll need but most of those you'll have lying around the house.

Here's what you'll need: Baby wash (your favorite brand and sent), Olive Oil, 1 roll of Select-a-Size paper towels (I like to use Bounty), a mixing bowl, a container for the wipes, a tablespoon, a 1 cup measuring cup and Distilled Water

Using a serrated bread knife cut the paper towel roll in half



Place the roll, cut side down, in to the container.



Then in a mixing bowl mix together 2 cups of distilled water,



1 tablespoon of olive oil,



and 2 tablespoons of baby wash.



pour mixture all over paper towels, making sure to pour in AND around the cardboard roll.



remove cardboard roll



Vuala!


Lastly,Tammy recommend writing the "recipe" for the baby wipes on the side of the container for easy access. She was nice enough to give me her old container that she used with her kids!

Lucky pushpins!

I'm not one to believe in "luck" but I do think that God does allow for some pretty close calls... our family just experienced one that had it gone the other way my life would have been forever different.

Tonight, while I was helping out with the kids choirs at church, Jorge took Lori to Walgreens to pick up some pictures for me. While he was there he decided to get some pushpins so he could hang a poster in Lori's room. It took him a few minutes to find them, pick between colored or clear (he went with clear) and check out. As he was walking out of the store he heard sirens and just then a car came RACING through the parking lot, no more than 5 feet in front of him (and Lori!!) followed closely by a cop car! Jorge said that had he not gone and gotten those pushpins he most likely would have been in the car backing out and would have been t-boned by that car! He said that even though he could hear the sirens he still would have backed out because when you hear sirens you don't think that they'll be racing through the parking lot your in.

Thank God for those pushpins!!

So much to be thankful for!!

(After reading my sister's blog I felt the need to write a little bit about out Thanksgiving this year.)

We were blessed to have my WHOLE family join us for Thanksgiving this year!

They all got here on Friday and after we had lunch I introduced them to the joys of SuperTarget! (My sister Megan loves Target, so I knew she'd enjoy a SUPER one!) For dinner we all went to Logan's Roadhouse, a staple for all out of town company! Logan's has the BEST rolls known to man, and they GIVE them to you! You can't go wrong with a place that has free bread, ribs that fall off the bone, and that lets you throw peanut shells on the floor!! The best!

On Saturday we made our first Thanksgiving "lunch"



Ryan helping, enjoying himself to the fullest!

Dad working on his stuffing, or dressing as it's called in Texas

Megan makin' a pie. Note Megan's little belly in the top of the picture on the right! (I love it!!)

Jorge and a chalice of chicken drippings

I did my part too...

and then the four of us "kids" headed off to watch the Twilight movie. Needless to say, Megan and I were a little more excited to see it than Jorge and Ryan (our brother-in-law)

We were lucky enough to be able to plan it so that Lori could be dedicated while my whole family was out here. (more on this to come in a later post) It was so great to have them here for such a special time. Earl Baudin took some family pictures for us. He's an amazing photographer, here's the Proof.

We loved having them here. Lori loved it so much that she didn't nap the WHOLE week!

Splish Splash!

Bath time has become a lot more fun since Lori has been able to sit up in the bath. (thanks to a borrowed bath seat from our friends the Kuykendalls) She seems to really enjoy splashing and playing with toys. We even busted out the James Brown CelebriDuck which we have had for years now but never have taken out of it's box. To be honest, I am somewhat leary about letting my daughter play with such a hidious and almost frightening toy, but so far she hasn't had any nightmares. Its so much fun to watch Lori splash around in the bath, it never gets old. The video below is just a snipit of the fun. Keep your eyes open for the James Brown CelebriDuck... the ugliest duck you've ever seen)

Enjoy!

Here are some pictures of bath time!

Stay at Home(made) Mom

I've decided that I'm going to start a little "segment" called Stay at Home(made) Mom (a play on words... "stay at home mom" and "homemade" - get it?) where I can tell all about the things I'm making instead of buying in order to save money. I've recently had a revelation about buying baby food vs. making baby food, so here it goes...

Before Lori was born I decided that I wanted to make my own Baby food. I only started a few months ago, and I have to admit, I have used store bought. To be honest, I wasn't sure if it actually was cheaper to make my own. It wasn't until recently that I realized that it is in fact cheaper. I was talking with my friend Chilly, whose daughter is a little older than Lori and she was telling me that the once Lori gets a little bigger she'll be eating from the bigger jars and that the bigger jars cost more money... almost twice as much as I was paying. I also realized that Lori hasn't been eating a whole jar per feeding yet and she will be soon, which means I'm going to have to buy MORE food than I am. All these things caused me to take a closer look at the cost of BUYING baby food verses the cost of MAKING baby food. And here is what I have come up with...

Right now at Walmart it cost .42 for 2.5 oz of baby food. (that was the cheapest one available) Right now she's eating about half a can a feeding, which equals 61 cents a day. That's not that bad right?

The next size up is 4 oz and it cost 1 dollar. So that means that when she starts eating one of those a meal she'll be eating 3 dollars of baby food a day. (you like my crazy math skills?)

So I went to the store and bought the things I'd need to make baby food and here is what it came down to...

3 lbs of sweet potatoes at .79 a lb = $2.37

a bag of Fuji apples = .99

Ziploc Zip 'n' Steam bags = $2.79 (use these instead of steaming/boiling the fruits and veggies in water... much faster, and MUCH easier clean up!)

So the grand total is... $6.15, so far so good. The next step was to make the baby food and see how much I get.

I started with the sweet potatoes, I peeled them, and cut them in to large cubes and put them in the Zip 'n' Steam bags. I cooked them according to the directions. (7 min) Afterwards I placed them in to my food processor and blended the heck out of them, adding water until it was a good consistency. (I think next time I will add apple juice, she likes it better.)

I had saved up all the empty jars from the baby food I had purchased and I was going to use them for a project with the kids at the school I used to work at BUT I figured I'd use them for this instead.

Then I started filling up the jars. I actually ran out of jars before I ran out of baby food so I had to resort to using small Tupperware containers, and when I ran out of those I used ice cube trays. I repeated this same process with the apples.

When all was said and done I had enough jars, Tupperware containers and ice cube trays to equal 25 dollars worth, more or less. I was pretty happy with the outcome and plan on making more in the future.

If you'd like... I'll keep you posted. :)

Lori and her Laptop

When my mom came to visit us in October she brought her old laptop with her to give to us. I am enjoying the laptop, it's been fun, but Lori has been slightly jealous. All she seems to be interested in are the laptop, the mouse (yes, I use a mouse with my laptop... don't judge) and the remote control. So I got out her "laptop" for her to play with, and she's been enjoying it immensely. It's a toy that I think is intended for a much older child, but she likes to push the buttons and hear the sounds. She also likes to push it around the kitchen floor, whether that's intentional or not I am not sure, but either way, it's super cute! Lori learns something new everyday. She is the most curious child I've ever met, as well as the most diligent. She will not let anything stop her, nor will she take no for answer. Yikes... saying that out loud makes me kinda scared actually.

Here is some video of Lori and her laptop.

It's a little long, I'll admit, but it picks up around minute 4, (I said it was long) so hang in there. You're in for a treat. :)

We hope her smile in this video will brighten your day as much as it brightens ours. Enjoy!