Lemon Loaf

My mom has made lemon loaf for Christmas as long as I can remember. Now that I have my own family I want to keep some traditions going and start some of our own. Lemon loaf is definitely on the keep list. It is such an easy recipe, and makes a really great gift for friends and neighbors. 

Lemon Loaf

1 yellow cake mix (make sure it's a cake mix with NO PUDDING)

1 3oz. box lemon jello

4 eggs

3/4 cup water

   - combine the above ingredients in the mixer and beat on high for 4 minutes.

2/3 cup oil

       - add oil to the above mixture and beat on high for another 4 minutes.

Grease and flour your loaf pan. I used 5 mini loaf pans since I was handing them out as gifts. Divide the batter evenly, and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Make sure to check the loaves with a knife or toothpick to make sure they are cooked through. They should be slightly brown on top. Here in Utah they took almost 35 minutes. 

Icing

Powdered Sugar

lemon juice

lemon or orange zest

mix to the desired consistency

Once the cakes have cooled, poke the tops with a fork and poor icing on top. 

ENJOY!

Hope you all love this recipe as much as I do. I love being able to start traditions with my little family. Having a baby in the house makes me even more excited about Christmas, even though she has no idea what is going on. 

Please feel free to share your favorite Christmas recipes and tradition with me!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Let down your hair!

My sister in law is surprising her daughter with a trip to Disneyland for Christmas. I can't think of a better surprise for a little girl. This will be her first time going, and we can't wait to see her reaction! My sister in law had seen this beanie on Pinterest and asked if I could recreate one. OF COURSE! 

I crocheted a simple earflap beanie and just ended the earflaps short. Then I just attached long pieces for the braids. I love the way it turned out and can't wait to see my niece sporting it around disneyland!

Yarn basket

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a basket full of little yarn balls. Yarn left over from various projects. Well in my attempt to use up some of this yarn I started making baby hats. I have a great 9 month old model ;) I'm really happy with how they have come out. They are just fun and funky with a bunch of different colors. 

'Tis the season

I am in love with these colors this holiday season. I love the vintage look of the teal, white and red. I have struggled trying to decide what direction to go with for our christmas decoration, and this is a color scheme I can see in our house for a long time. I made this to hang up on our wall and decided to share. Who doesn't love a free printable!

Free Download Here 

Cloth Diapering

When I found out I was pregnant my mom asked me if I was going to cloth diaper. I hadn't really thought about it before then, but I started to look into it. I looked at so many different brands and styles. I could have gone the old fashion route with pre-fold or flat diapers and rubber pants or with pocket diapers. I searched and searched and had a hard time fathoming spending so much on pocket diapers. Most of them run about $20 a piece. Finally I reached out to the Facebook community and a friend of mine recommended Kawaii Baby Diapers! LINK HERE www.theluvyourbaby.com These diapers have been great! The best part is that they are affordable, only $6.99!! I started cloth diapering Ellie at 6 weeks and its 8 months later and I am still loving it. The main reason why I decided to cloth diaper was to save money. Jared and I would be able to afford to buy diapers but if we can save money why not! Not only are we saving money but it's also environmentally friendly. I have 11 diapers total. I could probably use a few more so I didn't have to wash them every day and a half but it's okay for now.

When Ellie was only solely nursing cleaning the diapers was a breeze. Just throw them in the washer. Now that's she is eating solids I have to rinse them in the toilet. Sometime it is gross.....but then I think of the $$$$$$ I'm saving and I put on my rubber glove, rinse and flush.  Using cloth wipes is very useful as well. That way the cloth wipes can get washed with the diapers and you don't have to separate anything. I use a simple wipe solution of water, baby oil, and a little baby wash. Ellie has had very few diaper rashes, when she does I use coconut oil. Coconut oil has worked great every time. For the dirty diapers I was hesitant to buy the diaper bins seen online that are specifically for cloth diapers. They are kinda big and bulky and I wanted something that looked a little more discrete. I found the perfect bin at Ikea for 12.99. I keep it by the toilet and it doesn't let any smell escape or anything! 

LINK HERE http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20193899/

Whatever your reason may be for cloth diapering; whether it's the price or the cause it's definitely a good investment. 

Peach Pumpkin

I continue to explore the world of homemade baby food. Ellie has been eating solids since she was 4 months. She dove right in and has been a great eater ever since. It seems there are only a few foods that are recommended for babies 4-6 months. We have successfully tried:

sweet potato

peas

green beans

zucchini

carrot

pumpkin

pears

peaches

apple

blueberry

plum

bananas

Okay that seems like quite a few, but after 3 months of the same foods every day I eager to introduce her to something new.

With most of the veggies and fruits I have steamed or boiled them, then food processed them and put the mixture in ice cube trays. I usually feed Ellie 3 cubes of frozen food. I defrost them in the microwave and just make sure its not too hot before feeding it to her. I mix in rice cereal or oatmeal with a lot of her food. 

I cant wait until she can eat more foods, so I can explore more recipes!

Its been great to use fruits and veggies that are in seasons. Neighbors have shared their harvest, its been great!

Started Ellie on some finger foods. Carrots, peas and bananas so far. I have them cooked until they are soft enough for her to gum. 

Baby Mason

Over the past few weeks I have been playing around and learning about my husbands camera. It has been so much fun. I have always been interested in photography and there is definitely a lot to learn. What better way to learn than picking up the camera and taking pictures. I go on almost every photo shoot with Jared and observe everything, and even put my input a lot of times. So flying solo was pretty easy, and so much fun. I have a new found respect for him though, I was so tired after shooting an INFANT lol, I cant imagine how tired I would be after a family photo shoot. It doesn't help that his Nikon D700 weighs a ton! 

I had the opportunity to shoot my newest nephew, Mason Dee Medley. I am really happy with how the pictures turned out!

Subway art

I have been wanting to play around with illustrator for a while and I finally sat down and did it. I took my inspiration from different things I saw in pinterest. It's great having Jared sitting next to me to help me out when I get stuck, he is a good teacher. I am excited to make a few things for Ellie's room, hope you like them.

Crazy about Cowls

Believe it or not this was really easy!! The stitch is a V stitch, and it just adds a little more than a traditional single or double crochet. I have been wearing it everywhere, especially since winter finally decided to arrive.Here is a link to the pattern. It calls for a thicker weighted yarn, which I didn't have, but I actually like the way it came out with a lighter weighted yarn better.  http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90652AD.html