Sweet P joins the church

Last weekend, Sweet P was baptized. She has 2 AMAZING Godparents who were traveled far and wide to join us for this special event. Uncle Ian (not really an uncle if you're suddenly confused) lives in Chicago and Auntie Em (Auntie Maria (M, get it?), who is also not really an aunt if you are again confused) came all the way from New Ahlans (New Orleans)! Gammy (my mother) was also here. So the little farm family suddenly had a very full house (or apartment, I should say).

(Apparently this post is going to have a lot of parenthesis.)

Everyone got in on Thursday (the baptism was Sunday) so we had tons of time to have tons of fun. Friday morning we took a short trip to an apple orchard (Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge, IA). They have a play area for kids (we're not big enough yet, so we just looked). Lots and lots of fun stuff! Plus, the 3 little pigs houses!!! So dang cute, I can't even tell you! I'm just gonna post pictures so you can see for yourself. They have the best honeycrisp apples! (I'm eating one now!)

Uncle Ian juggling apples (and taking a bite of one!)

Saturday was a trip to the Farmer's Market. We hadn't been in awhile so we were glad to spend a lot of time there. And then some shopping with Gammy and Auntie Em while the Farmer and Uncle Ian went to the farm.

Ready for a nap at the Farmer's Market

Sunday was the baptism and she did awesome! She even smiled when the priest poured water on her head and then annointed her head with oil! Gotta love that kid.

Of course, the time with them wasn't long enough and by Tuesday everyone had gone home. We miss them! But we have tons of pictures to look back on (Thanks to talented Auntie Em!).

PS You can read more about Uncle Ian on the Farmer's blog.

Eres tu mi mama?

One way or another (if you're like my mom, you are now singing song lyrics "I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha." Sorry.), I am going to teach Sweet P Spanish. For some reason I am really gung-ho about this. When I talk to her in the little, broken Spanish that I know; it somewhat drives the Farmer nuts. Do you think it's because I talk in a high-pitched, extremely excited voice when I speak Spanish?

You're right. Probably not.

Sweet P's Godfather is fluent in Spanish. I told him that his duty as Godfather was to make sure she knew Spanish. But since he doesn't live here, I figured I better help him out a bit.

When Sweet P was 3 months old, I took her to an Hola Amigos class that was part of one of my Mommy & Me classes. I absolutely loved it. Did she? She liked it about as much as she likes any class I drag her to. But even though she didn't really have a clue what was going on, I learned a lot about teaching her another language. I even know Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in Spanish. Here are a few tips for you on teaching another language to your baby.

Speak it whenever you can. Don't worry about pronunciation or if you're doing right. Those silly babies are smart enough to know what's right even if it sounds wrong.

Read to them in other languages. If you know how to read other languages, I say go for it in any language. I am sticking to Spanish because it's what is most familiar (but if you are familiar with French, Italian, German, etc. try those too!). FREE tip: Check out bilingual books from the library. It's free! I checked out 2 today and read Eres Tu Mi Mama? (Are You My Mother?) to her tonight before bed.

If you know songs in another language, sing them to your baby! She'll love hearing your voice and the different sounds that other languages make.

Learn the ABC's and numbers in other languages. Fortunately, I remember this from high school Spanish (and I know French counting from ballet class). You can also make flashcards with simple vocabulary (colors, numbers, animals) such as Ojo Pardo (Brown Bear) or Dos Gatos (Two Cats).

If you really want to go for it, check out local classes in your area on teaching your children another language.

Sweet P may not be fluent by age 2, but she'll at least have heard me talking like a cartoon character in Spanish as often as I can. She'll benefit from hearing different sounds than those in the English language and I bet I'll learn a little bit, too.

Nix the Dryer

I have a big baby. 18.3 lb to be exact (and probably rising since our last appointment). Most would think my child was well into 6-9 mo clothing, with some possible 12 mo clothes as well. However, due to my amazing laundry skills (pthhh, right), my child remains in 3-6 mos (and a few 0-3 mo) right where she belongs.

So how do I do it? I don't dry ANY of her clothes. Now, for those of you with multiple children, this may not work for you. I only have one child right now and don't mind hanging up all of her tiny clothes on tiny hangers. With 3 kids and loads of laundry, I might change my mind. But for now, save money on buying the next size, by not drying baby clothes.

By not drying, you also get to keep the bright colors of the clothes. I don't know about you, but I want to get the most out of my kid's clothes and want them to be in good shape when (if) I have a another girl.

Nix the dryer, you'll be glad you did.

How Great is Our God

A friend of mine posted a blog on Facebook today so I decided to check it out. After I did I was immediately ashamed that I chose to read a post about awkward Facebook "likes" before reading the blog. I cried, tear streaming down my face as I read about this woman and the children of Uganda.

I thought about my own blog and how my last post was to save money on cleaning your comforter. After reading kissesfromkatie, my blog post seemed so superficial, so materialistic. I am blessed to have a comforter. I am blessed to have a bed, a roof over my head, food on the table and a healthy baby. Katie is such a giver, such a servant of our Lord. I can only aspire to be such a servant as she is.

We are wealthier than 94% of the world's population and I worry constantly about our finances. (To see how rich you are visit globalrichlist.com) It is our call as Christians to be doers of the Word and not sit idly by. You can't be a lukewarm Christian. Right now I am thinking of ways that I can be more of a servant. Certainly not by reading Facebook or blogging for my own benefit.

May we all be as selfless at Katie in our giving to others and saving the children of the world. Please visit her blog for more information on how you can help Amazima Ministries.

How to save $25

Yesterday I vacuumed my bedspread. No, really. I did.

We have a sliding door in our bedroom that is not sealed (trust me, we've already told the apartment manager). Because of that, a lot of dust comes into our bedroom (yummy, huh?). A lot of hot air in the summer and a lot of below zero air in the winter. It got so bad last winter that we slept in the guestroom until the Farmer duct taped window sealer over it. Supposedly, the apartment has to call a contractor to fix the entire door. I digress. This post is about saving money, remember?

Our bedspread was disgusting. I could hit it and dust would fly through the air. It reminded me of PigPen from Charlie Brown. I wanted to wash it, but the tag said DRY CLEAN ONLY. Oh the dreaded words. I was going to ignore it, but remembered we don't have the most trustworthy washing machine in the world and nixed that idea.

I called a drycleaner and asked how much it would be and she said it depended on the size and quality. I said it was a Queen and she said those started at $25. $25?! Now, I know $25 is not a lot of money. But when you're trying to save money, it is. So after my sister mentioned it, yesterday I vacuumed my bedspread. And it worked just fine and dust doesn't fly up when I hit it anymore. And I have $25 in my pocket.

Ok, it's not in my pocket, but you get the point.

Just a minute

I'll be there in a minute.
Just a second.
Can you hold on for 2 more seconds?
I'll be right there.

I'm trying really hard to remove those from my vocabulary. 2 reasons.

1) Last night I told the Farmer I'd be to bed in a minute. 30 minutes later I crawled into bed next him.
He said, "My watch is broken." (I immediately thought he was talking in his sleep.)
"What watch?" I said. (Still thinking he was talking in his sleep and wanting to see what he'd say next.)
"The one that counts minutes. Because you said you'd be a minute. And on my watch a minute was a long time ago."

It got me thinking about trust and when you say one thing and do another. I said I'd be there in a minute. Full knowing it would be a heck of a lot longer than one minute before I headed to bed. So that brings me to reason number 2.

2) When Sweet P starts asking me to come here or if we can leave or when she can do something and I start answering with "in a minute" when it really means 10 minutes, I'm not helping her out in the least. Well, I am helping her. Helping her not to trust me when I say one minute. I'm also teaching her that what I am doing is more important than what she needs. I owe it to her to tell her the truth. That if it's going to be 10 minutes, then I should tell her that I need 10 more minutes. At least I'd be truthful AND help her learn to patience (which a lot of kids don't have). But better still. I could tell her I'll be there in one minute.

And actually be there.

Besides, who could leave her:

waiting?