Sea World

This weekend we went on a trip to San Antonio to visit our good friends Kathy and Chad and kids Sammy and Sarah. Our trip took 8.5 hours which is about 3 hours longer than it should have taken. It was not because of the kids. They did great. Caroline slept most of the way and Katherine watched her "funny TV" (a portable DVD player). It took us an hour to get through a 4 mile town due to construction and a wreck and then it took us an hour to exit the highway to Kathy's house because they were repainting stripes on the road - Urgh. We arrived at midnight and went straight to bed.

Saturday we all got up and headed to Sea World. We decided to buy season passes because once you include parking it was only going to cost $30 more as a family. We thought there was a good enough chance we would be back in the next 15 months to take the chance.

We started off at the Cannery Row Capers. It is the show with seals and an otter. It is pretty cheesy but entertaining.
Next we went to the beluga whale and dolphin show. They also had divers and acrobats but somehow I did not get photos of them. It is hard to watch the show and take photos all while nursing a baby.

We ate lunch and walked around the park some. We stopped at the penguins. Katherine does a great penguin impersonation that I need to get on video. You notice that she is on Sam's back. We are so glad that she is light weight so we can still carry her. Riding on the back is not her favorite thing but she was not doing a good job of staying close to us when she was walking on her own.
Our final show was to go see Shamu. The killer whales are pretty amazing and beautiful. It is hard to remember at times that they are actually killers. I don't think Katherine knows that word yet but we mainly called Shamu an Orca whale.



We went to pet the dolphins. They came right up to us even though we did not have any fish. Katherine tried so hard to pet them but her little arms just were not long enough. Sam got to pet them though.

In all Katherine did a great job. She enjoyed the shows and had a fun time. By the time we left she was exhausted and fell asleep before we left the parking log. Caroline did well too. She slept most of the time we were there.

Back to the Pumpkin Patch

This week we returned to the Arboretum on Monday with Madi and Janna (and kids) and on Friday with our MOPS group from church.

Monday was Columbus Day as well as Mommy and Me Monday so it was packed. They also had a kids concert which was fun. We ate our picnic right in front and the kids had fun playing with our cameras, eating and dancing.

Katherine is right in front (blue dress).

Caroline enjoyed the concert from her car seat.

Back to the pumpkins. This is a really cute fall dress that my childhood friend Karen gave us.

At the petting zoo

Friday it was not as crowded but there still a number of kids. Amazingly Katherine decided to sit still and pose with a few friends. Here she is with Laurie Jane.
With Baby Sister -
And with her friend Elise.

Her favorite activity of the day was walking along the fence on the pumpkins and trying to climb over the fence (which was not allowed).A friend made a Halloween tutu that we borrowed for Caroline but she was not very excited to post for her picture in it.

My Village

I have heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. Here is my "village". Janna, Madi and Jen are Katherine's other mothers. I see one of them almost every day of the week. Our kids play together and they fight too! I trust all three of these women to take care of, love and discipline my girls. We help one another out, rejoice in the good times, cry in the hard times and pray all the time. I love you guys!

The Bumbo Seat

We put Caroline in the Bumbo seat for the first time this week. We are also borrowing the play tray so she can look at toys. She liked it but only for about 5 minutes.

Katherine decided to try out the Bumbo again. Amazingly she still fits just fine.

Caroline's Dedication

Last Sunday we had Caroline dedicated at our church. This would be similar to an infant baptism or christening in other churches I guess.
We do not believe that this dedication does anything to help her gain favor in the eyes of God, nor does it give her salvation. Rather, it is more about me and Sam, our family and friends, committing to raise Caroline in a Godly home and environment. We hope and pray that some day she will come to know Jesus as her personal Savior on her own.

On stage, waiting for her dedication.

Brian explaining baby dedication to the congregation.

Brian praying for Caroline.

Each baby being dedicated is prayed for individually by our family minister. Here is the prayer that Brian said for Caroline.

"Caroline Marie we ask for our God and Father in heaven to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. We ask that you respond at an early age to his desire for you to believe in Jesus. And we pray that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power that you might be a woman marked by endurance, patience and thanksgiving. In Jesus name. Amen"

After the dedication we had our family and some close friends over for lunch and a fun time of fellowship.

"

Grammy and Grandad with the grand kids

Nana and Pops with Caroline

Nathan, Hannah, Katherine and Emily at the "kids table"

Nathan holding Caroline

Homemade Wipes Tutorial

It seems that everywhere I turn on the blogosphere I am running into "tutorials" on how to do things. So, I thought I would post a tutorial that could be helpful for all of my mommy friends.

As most of you know, we use cloth diapers part time for a number of reasons - save the environment, health, and cost. I have a number of friends who have ventured into cloth diapering as well. But, what about wipes? With Katherine I used a bunch of cheap washcloths with plain water and threw them into the wash with the diapers.

For those of you who do not use cloth diapers, I would like to tell you how to make your own wipes. Before you laugh, it also saves money and is better for your kids because it does not have all of the chemicals in store bought wipes. It was funny because I had the directions and wrote "make wipes" on my to do list. After I finally made them, I laughed because it was so easy that there was no need to even add it to a list. Full credit should be given to Janna for this tutorial as she gave me the "recipe". Since she does not have a blog, I will post it.

Homemade Baby Wipes
Needed:
Bounty Paper Towels (I like the "select a size" ones as they are great because each paper towel is about half the size of other brands and a better size for wipes.)
Choose 2 of the following: Baby Lotion, Baby Soap, Baby Oil
Boiling Water
Air tight container with a lid

Take the paper towel roll and cut is across the middle so that you have two short, rounded paper towel rolls. Place one roll inside the container.

Boil the 2 cups of water. While the water is boiling, measure 2 Tablespoons each of 2 of the items listed above and add to the pot. Stir till dissolved.

Then pour the mixture over the top of the paper towel roll in the container. Place the lid on top and let it set for 5 minutes. Make sure the lid is on tight and flip over where the lid is on the counter and let set for 5 minutes. The wipes are ready. Before using, take the brown roll out of the wipes and proceed to use the wipes from the middle of the paper towel roll.

I love that I can use the soap, lotion or oil of my choice so they can be more natural and with a fragrance I like. Also, since it is basically a soapy towel, we use them to wipe hands and faces as well.

As far as cost, the homemade wipes are $.015 per wipe (when you buy paper towels by the case at Amazon). Pampers and Huggies wipes bought in bulk are $.03 each. When you consider the number of wipes that are used of over the course of a baby's diapered time, that can add up to a lot of savings.

This post is a part of Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer. Head over there for more great ideas.

Pumpkins!

Saturday we went back to the Arboretum as a family. The weather was beautiful and we had a wonderful time playing in the pumpkins, having a picnic and walking around. I was much more successful in getting some cute pictures of Caroline and both girls together.