A little tip that'll save lots of time

This tip is useful for many things... cupcakes, baby food... you name it.

I had to teach a cupcake decorating class last week for a church activity and while researching different stuff I came upon this...

Once your batter is made, pour it into a large zip lock bag. Carefully cut off one of the bottom corners and gently squeeze out the batter into the cups until they are 2/3rds the way full. This save so much time, grief and mess. I hate filling those liners because the batter for muffins and cupcakes is too thick to pour so it ends up getting all over your hands and takes so long. Try it and then thank me.

This morning I used this method for filling ice cube trays with pureed sweet potato (Jane's baby food... we don't normally chill our drinks with sweet potato). It took me less than a minute to very neatly fill up two trays. I am so going to do this from now on.

You should know

1. I am going to meet Ree, The Pioneer Woman, tonight. Yes, we WILL be on first name basis after approximately 9pm Central Standard Time.

2. A man sitting next to me at the Dermatologist office decided to clip his finger nails as we waited. He also decided to leave them on the coffee table when his name was called.

3. My sweet little baby is getting her two little bottom teeth in. I am taking this opportunity to be overly excited instead of dreading it because even though I didn't think she could be cuter than she is now I think she will be. And by overly excited I mean, checking her mouth every 2-3 minutes to see if they've come in any further... yay!

One little hand

What I saw when I opened her door to wake her from a nap. I love her.

Fall Favorites

I feel like we missed Fall this year because it rained a lot as the trees were changing. By the time we got to go on a walk to enjoy the pretty colors most of the trees were already starting to lose their leaves.

I was happy to find that the plants in the front of our apartment building are "late bloomers"... They are still slowly changing color and when we leave our building we are blinded by beauty. I have to catch my breath each time I see them in the sun light. See for yourself.




We did get to see some pretty ones down by the beach a few weeks ago. It was so pretty I had to get a picture with my camera phone.


Fall will forever be my favorite.

6 month checkup

Jane had her 6 month checkup on Monday. Here are her stats...

Weight: 15 lbs 13 oz (2 lbs more than at 4 months) (25%)
Height: 25 inches (.5 in taller than 4 months) (25%)
Head: 42 cm (25%)

She got 3 shots and I wanted to cry. She was SOOOOO sad and in so much pain. I seriously almost started crying for her. I almost hip checked the nurse giving them to her and said, "You jerk, that's my baby... can't you see she's in pain!! What kind of person are you!?!?" But then I got it together and picked her up and nursed her back to happiness.

On a happier note and because we all love happy Jane...
We had a photoshoot on Sunday for a little project we're working on and here are some of my fun favorites from it...




Oh, so you'll notice Jane's in the 25%tile. On our way out of the building a woman stopped us and asked how old "he" was. I said 6 months. She was surprised and said, "WOW! He's a big one! You've got a football player on your hands. He'll probably be a line backer! Won't you little guy?" Jane was wearing purple pants and a purple onesie with flowers. Now either she didn't notice that or thought she was a frilly boy. Either way, that's like the opposite of destined football player.

Jane: 6 months!!!

WOW! A half a year! It's been a great six months.

This month Jane has changed so much. She...
*Can sit by herself!
*Eats solid food and eats it fast too.
*Learned new sounds like "dah", "lah", "buh" and "muh".
*Rolls over like crazy and is started to scoot.
*Laughs a lot.
*Loves me... at least that's what I think when she acts like she wants "me".
*Is sleeping closer to 12 hours at night.
*Sleeps on her tummy.
*Is starting to get bored with her baby toys.
*Started the trainer sippy cup.
*Blows a lot of raspberries.
*Stays awake a lot longer.
*Got a little cold twice :(
*Knows how to SCREAM!
*Pushes off of me to turn around.
*Loves her feet.

She has really changed. We love her so much. Dad is always worrying about her, especially when she coughs. We still miss her when she goes to sleep so we constantly turn on the video monitor to see her.

We love you little lady!

She sits

I LOVE this little girl. I mean, I REALLY love her. I want her to stay this way forever. I'm serious. She is so fun to snuggle and (lightly) wrestle with and play peak-a-boo with. We are having a wonderful moment in time right now and I LOVE it.

Halloween 2009

This Halloween was great! We started it off with a church party 2 weeks ago. We went as last minute pirates, which our neighbors Kate and Jeff lovingly provided from their stash of awesome outfits. Jane went as two things... A troll while she was inside and a Fraggle while she was outside. Here are some pictures...
The little Fraggle:
The little Troll:
Some characters from LOST stopped by... Jin and Shannon. Who knew they were an item? But, look how happy Shannon is... I've NEVER seen her that happy :)


Then this last Saturday we had a party at our place. It was AWESOME! About 16 people showed up so we had a packed house. I made grave yard enchiladas, punch with frozen ice hands, spider web guac and bean dip, and themed sugar cookies. Brandt made his delish apple cider and our friends brought some yummy food too. It was really fun. We don't have many pictures but here's one of the guests that dressed up...


And last, here's Jane pre-Halloween. Her outfit says "Don't feed the lamas" and had a lama on it with yarn hair. I tried to veto this when we got it but Brandt said it was the coolest outfit so we kept it. I'm glad we did because it's pretty cute on her.

Product Advice

Jane will soon be needing a high chair and the next stage in car seats. I have no idea which to buy because there are so many different kinds and costs so I'm asking you...

What high chairs do you have and what do you like/dislike about them?

What car seat did you use after your child exceeded 20 lbs? What do you like and dislike about it? We don't have a car so the one we buy would need to be able to go into different cars quickly.

Thanks! And to pay you back for your advice... I will start working on our Halloween post.

Ja-ja-Jimmy

I mean Tyson, I mean Chet, I mean Katelyn... Whatever your name is I love you!

When my sister called at 5am to tell me my nephew was here I didn't believe her. She was a couple weeks early and I thought it was a joke. I made her give me the number to the hospital and hung up so I could call it and see if she was telling me the truth. I jumped for joy when I realized she was telling the truth.

This boy is so different from his brother. For one, he was heavier... sturdier. He was also a little, should we say devious? At 3 months he would cry if I looked away from him and smile when I looked back at him. He's one smart little guy. You could always tell he was thinking away even though he couldn't express his ideas. He knew how to sit, crawl, and talk long before we knew he could.

I'm so glad I got to be there for the first 6 months of his life. I would run over to my sister's house everyday after work and school to hold him. I loved holding him. He made me want to have a baby so bad but then he would get fussy and I could give him to his mom. That was nice.

Jimmy, you rock. I love that you're learning. I love hearing you talk. I still have messages on my phone of you saying my favorite of your first words... "pizzaaaaa". Miss you to pieces all ready!