Diez Meses

Don't be confused.  I know my posts now say Luis wrote them.  Nope.  Still me. 

 

So, I feel like I say the same thing every time, but this month went by extremely fast!  Raquel is now a 10 month old girlie, and boy does she know it.  Not only is she crazy goofy sometimes, but more than ever she's letting her padres know what's what. 

 

For instance, she no longer likes plain carrots.  She prefers them mixed 50/50 with beef.  Yikes!  Don't tell me my daughter is going to be as picky as I was!  She also lets me know if I mix up the order.  "No mom...a drink of water comes AFTER a few bites of food, not before."  What a silly baby woman! 

 

Seriously though, I wouldn't want it any other way.  I know all moms (me included) have their bad days, but it breaks my heart to hear moms complaining about their kids day after day.  (Don't worry...it's none of you.)  I hope I NEVER get into that rut.  Please slap me if I do!  Children are such a blessing.  Aren't I mommy? 

 

On to the 10 month photo shoot...

 

(I had to include this sweet pout.)

 

Fact Time:

• She is still 28 inces and who knows how many pounds (our scale is mysteriously broken).
• 5, yes 5 teeth
• 10, yes still 10, toes
• She made the ever so slightest crawl forwards and backwards this month.  I'm counting it.
• She fed herself a few bites with a spoon this week.  I don't know whether to be glad or fearful:)
• She now says, mama, dada, amen, and uh-oh (which sounds more like uh-mmm)
• Her new favorite game includes taking her socks off in the car (or anywhere, really), and jabbering about it until we look.  Then she laughs and grins because of how clever she is!
• She's back to waking only once a night - phew!

I'm going to try including a video again.  Let's hope it works.  It's another favorite game of hers.

 

 
 
 

Disney Quiet Book Part 2

It's official.  It's done.  It's officially done!

 

My Disney Quiet Book is TOTALLY completely officially done!!

 

To be reminded of Part 1, follow this link:

http://saltandpepper321.blogspot.com/2012/10/disney-quiet-book-part-1.html

 

And now, for part 2...

 

The Princess and the Frog - Fishing

This idea came straight from my sister-in-law, Julie.  The only difference is that her fish are much cuter and I added a frog to make it work for Princess and the Frog.

Minnie Mouse - Weaving & Paper Doll

I love how these two pages turned out!  I was really nervous about drawing Minnie's face.  I was ESPECIALLY nervous about drawing Minnie's face using paint!  But, it turned out to be just fine.  My favorite part about this page is that the weaving doubles as a hidden pocket.  What do I need a hidden pocket for???  Minnie's clothes!

 



 Okay, so making all these clothes may have been my absolute favorite part of the quiet book.  Period.  I think I may have gotten a little carried away.

 

(And there's still more.  Yep.  Completely carried away.)

 

Beauty and the Beast - ABC's & Telling Time



 

 I looked and looked for cute ABC beads that were FLAT, but had no such luck. So, I had to go for some chunky beads, but that's okay because they're cute.  I really wanted the letters to slide across a straight line, but I couldn't figure out how to get the ribbon to be tight.  No matter how much I tried, they kept being loose.  Oh well.

Up - Colors & Buttons

Get it?  From the movie Up?  I love it!  This is such a classic quite book page, so I was excited to have an easy idea to start with, but still make it my own.  The only NOT easy part?  The buttonholes!  No matter how hard I try, I CANNOT get my machine to make buttonholes.  I finally had to send these pieces away in the mail to have my sister complete them.  Lame.  I know.  Thanks Charisse!



 

Oh yeah, and the house is the pocket.

Monster's Inc - Paper Doll & Zipper

This is probably the most exciting page of all because...

Luis made it!

That's right.  He came up with the idea, drew out the pieces, and cut them all out.  I did sew them, but the rest?  HIM!

Can anyone say A-DOR-A-BLE???

 

All the pieces fit into this pocket, which includes my very first zipper ever!  (Okay, not ever because I have a vague memory of sewing a zipper in home ec...but still, it's been so long that I don't really think that counts.) 

 

Luis made the Monster's Inc logo too.  Best daddy ever!





 

So there you have it.  My Raquel's Disney Quiet Book...once she gets it for Christmas.



Californian Thanksgiving x 3

One day, while browsing through some Thanksgiving crafts, Raquel got an idea.  Her idea required crayons.  It started out great...

 

...but quickly turned to this...

...which then evolved into this (note who is and who is NOT using the crayons).  What was this craft, you may ask?  Keep reading and you'll find out!

But first, on to our Thanksgiving!  This was our 3rd Thanksgiving here in California.  Last year, we got together with some fellow Utah-transplants and had a Thanksgiving feast.  We decided to go ahead with that same plan this year and have a Moreno-Mohlman-McGary feast! 

 

We were in charge of the turkey this year, which meant basting every 15 minutes for a couple hours.  Thankfully, we only had a few other dishes to worry about since the other families were doing the rest, so it wasn't too bad.  Luis played some football in the morning this year which I actually supported (I know right?  Usually I'm too clingy-especially on holidays.)  After that, it was parade time, which I LOVED!  Then it was the dog show, which Luis LOVED!  (Snooze.)  Although this year, I admit that I did get into the action and soon found myself taking a few trots around the apartment with my little puppy.  

During another moment of non-basting, Raquel insisted that we look through the Black Friday (aka Black Thanksgiving) ads so she could point out a few toys with which she might be amused.

 

387 bastes later, we were carving our turkey with the best of them with the use of our NEW (okay, slightly pre-owned) electric knives... thanks Medicos!

And then, our feast commenced.

 

 

Remember the craft I mentioned at the beginning of my post?  (If not, then your memory is slightly worse than mine.)  Well, it's time for the big reveal...

 

Ta-da!  Luis got his very own turkey hat with Raquel-hand feathers!

I think he loved it.  Can you say, "Thanksgiving tradition?"  (he he he)

 

We have so much to be Thankful for this year.  Obviously, having Raquel with us all year long has made this year the best yet!  We are also grateful for amazing friends that help fill the void of not having family close to us.  They take care of us and we love them so much.  It's humbling to realize we would never have met these (and many other) wonderful friends if it had not been for the gospel.  We're especially grateful to have the truths of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in our lives.  It is true and we know it!  We love our dear, loving, brother and Savior, Jesus Christ.  The more we realize how hard it is sometimes to be good, the more we come to admire His perfect life.  We're grateful for our knowledge of our Heavenly Father.  Life would sure be different if we didn't know we had such a loving Father.  Goodness, our list (like yours) could go on and on about all we are thankful for this year.  We are very blessed.

In Our Fancies

Throughout his days at Western, Luis has spent many after school hours putting together a Spanish course that will one day help pharmacy students learn to communicate with their Spanish-speaking patients.  Right now, he's heading the program along with one of the assistant deans of Pharmacy.  I've had mixed feelings about this because it has meant more time away from ME, but I'm really proud of his dedication and hard work.

 

Because of his leadership role, Luis was recently inducted into Phi Lamda Sigma, a pharmacy leadership honor society, and Raquel and I were invited to attend a banquet in his honor (there might have been others inducted the same night, but let's not talk about them and just pretend the whole shabang was for Luis and Luis only).

 

Raquel and I are both fine ladies, so we HAD to get all dolled up for the occasion.  Our friend, Jen, let us borrow this absolutely darling dress for Raquel.  Eeeeek!  I loved it!  And the jacket?  It was mine from babyhood.

Three things made our night extra special:

1. The banquet room sat atop a hill overlooking the valley for a fabulous view.
2. The party colors were gold and green, so we kept imagining we were at a John Deere Tractor Convention.
3. The banquet room next door had some very fine mariachi music blaring all night, which gave our Tractor Convention some Latino flare.



 

 

At one point in the night, we played an ice breaker game in which my team discovered my 6 sibling roots.  Immediately, one of the girls asked if I was LDS. Later, she confessed that she already suspected that I was LDS because I was wearing a shirt underneath my dress and looked way too modest NOT to be LDS.  Then, when she found out how many siblings I had...well, that confirmed it!  By the way, she was LDS too.

The banquet went far beyond "bedtime" for Raquel and she tuckered right out.  Still, she was an ANGEL all night and stole the hearts of many.