smiley

love her sweet smiles :)

best carrot cake

i love carrot cake. it is probably my favorite cake. i finally found a recipe that is a keeper! this cake is sooo moist and delicious! recipe found here. (i skipped the buttermilk glaze and it still turned out really moist. i also skipped the coconut and pecans. but the pineapple is a must!)

Lorelei's blessing

baby sister was blesssed at church on january 8th. such a special day. here's a few photos of her in her blessing dress. (all four of my girls have worn this same gown.)

laughing (3 months)

baby sister started laughing a week ago. it's the cutest thing ever!

we sure do love this sweet baby girl

potty trained!

my big boy is finally potty trained! i initially tried to train him back in september but he wasn't quite ready. so we tried again a few months later and he caught on real quick, especially once we bought him his big boy underpants. he is obsessed with his lightening mcqueen undies! he now goes on the big potty and comes and tells me when he needs to go. he even stays dry all night. i am so pround of him! and sooo happy not to buy him diapers anymore!

3 months

she recently discovered her thumb. hope we don't have a thumbsucker!

peanut butter blossoms

one of my favorite holiday cookies:

1 3/4 C sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C. shortening
1/2 C. peanut butter
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tbs. milk
1 tsp vanilla

cream together the shortening, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar. add the egg, milk, and vanilla. mix until incorporated. blend in the dry ingredients. shape into balls. roll the cookie dough balls in sugar. place on ungreased cookie sheet. bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. remove from the oven and place a chocolate kiss on top of each cookie, pressing down so the cookie cracks around the edge.

wishing you a very merry christmas filled with love and joy!

gingerbread houses

the kids made these cute little gingerbread houses with their cousins over the weekend. i didn't get a chance to take photos while they were making them, so here's a few the morning after.

evan's dinosaurs started attacking his house...

grammy's gingerbread is so delicious!

oranges and lemons

i picked a whole box full of these beauties from my parent's backyard. the kids eat the oranges like candy and the lemons are sooo juicy and delicious.

favorite snack

air popped popcorn with a drizzle of butter and a light sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese. mmm.

i asked evan to smile for me and these are the faces he gives me

finally a smile :)

my sweet boy is growing up too fast. he will be three in february.

recent read...

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is an amazing book. it is the heartbreaking account of the drive of the native american indians from their homeland, told from the perspective of native americans. I highly recommend this book.

2 months

little lorelei is 2 months old. she just started sleeping 7-8 hour stretches at night, which makes me feel like a brand new person! she is such a sweet baby, always giving us lots of smiles.

balla family

this fun session was from back in september. it was a super dark and overcast day, so i had to boost the iso WAY up. between that and the mosquitos that were eating us alive, we still managed to get some cute photos. here's just a few...

gobble gobble

turkey cookie made from double stuff oreo, candy corn, mini peanut butter cracker and frosting. this was a fun thanksgiving activity the girls did today. another great idea found on pinterest.

DIY ikea rast side table

this is a project we did before the baby was born. i had seen this multiple times on pinterest and finally decided to try it! we already had one dresser in the girl's closet that wasn't being used for much and we picked up another from ikea (only $34) so we could have a matching set for our bedroom. i followed the instructions found on this blog. i was really happy with how they turned out.

this is what it looked like before:

and after:

the only problem we encountered was that we bought oil-based polyurethane instead of water-based. the oil-based turned the white paint yellow, so we had to sand them down and start all over again! lesson learned!

bajio style chicken

i've been making a whole lot of crockpot meals since the baby was born. this is a really good recipe that i discovered a few weeks ago. everyone loved it! i served the chicken with tortillas, cheese, lettuce, homemade creamy cilantro dressing, and cilantro-lime rice. recipe for chicken found here.
dressing found here. really yummy to drizzle over the chicken. (i didn't have any green salsa so i skipped that part). also can be served as a salad.

halloween

elayna put this indian costume together about half hour before they went trick or treating. i thought it turned out pretty cute.

baby lolo with her bunny hat

1 month

baby girl is one month old.

she wasn't very happy...

big brother to the rescue. he always tells me "her luvs me!"

*her great-grandma made the blanket.