Judah's First New Years

Judah had a wonderful first New Years Eve as he partied with everyone downstairs at the Santos' as we all awaited the new year to arrive. For his parents, it was a night of good food, games, and laughter, but for Judah, it was a night of cruising from one set of arms to the next with each person trying to make him giggle. Some succeeded. You would think a 6-month-old would be tired that late, but no. After a short power nap, he was ready to go all night, until of course he crashed at 11 pm. Now before you think we are bad parents by keeping our kid up, trust me, he showed absolutely no signs of being tired after that nap. Here are some highlight photos from our celebratory occasion.

Our delicious Chinese food to celebrate the evening.

Casey & Judah.

"I'm just so excited I can't stop drooling!"

"Index fingers are my favorite."

Moments later, Blake's nose was in Judah's mouth.

Happy Year 2011!

FMF: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer's Apprentice - Rated PG - 109 min - Released 2010

If you like fantasy adventure movies, then you will certainly enjoy The Sorcerer's Apprentice--for the most part.  The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a live action movie by Disney about a young boy who stumbles into a magical antique shop and meets Balthazar Blake, played by Nicolas Cage, who would 10 years later become his wizarding master.  Dave, played by Jay Baruchel, is a geeky college kid with a natural, or perhaps supernatural, talent for physics.  Obsessed with Tesla Coils, he spends most of his time locked in an underground laboratory, until one day he reunites with Balthazar: the same strange man from the magic shop.  Balthazar, who is in search of the only one who can defeat the evil and powerful Morgana, tries to convince Dave to be his apprentice in hopes that he may be the one who can save the world against an uprising of the dead.  Dave, who is torn between his destiny as a wizard and winning the heart of a girl, Becky Barnes, eventually comes to terms with his abilities and of course saves the day.   
     Now I said that you would enjoy The Sorcerer's Apprentice "for the most part" because everything in this film lives up to the Disney standard up until the end where I felt very let down by an unexpectedly anticlimactic ending.
I will say that this movie kept me laughing almost the whole way through, had a lot of adventure, including some really awesome stunt driving, and encompassed concepts in terms of magical movies that I had never seen before.  As for questionable content, the scene with the Chinese parade dragon coming to life may be frightening to some.  And the fact that the movie is based around wizardry doesn't necessarily score wholesome family bonus points either.  But, overall, it isn't anything I would shun based on the prior reasons.  My recommended viewing age for this movie is 8 years old.

Overall Rating: 6.5 out of 10

My Little Bunny's Beautiful Face

I wanted to share some of my most favorite pictures of Judah taken so far.  I feel so blessed to see this face each and everyday.

 

3 Months Old

Looking beautiful.

Having fun at the zoo.

Kisses from Daddy.

Christmas Joy

All I want to say today is "Praise Jesus & Thank You".  I praise Him for His love, His provisions, and most importantly His birth, because without Jesus I would not have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. I also want to thank the Lord Jesus for all of the blessings He has granted in my life especially my husband, son, and father. Truly the three most important people in my life.

As for Christmas Day, I could not have possibly been blessed with more.  I received my  fair share of gifts, but what really mattered to me was my little bunny, Judah, who received some of the most amazing and heartfelt gifts imaginable, including a card from my Dad that instantly made my eyes well and then overflow with tears of gratitude and love.  Judah was so funny and precious Christmas Day when opening his gifts, surprisingly acting as though he knew exactly what was going on: unwrapping presents like it was a baby reflex or innate instinct.  I suppose he may have had some practice when I let him play with the tissue paper when I was making Christmas preparations.  Either way he made me smile and melted my heart as well as all of those around him.

I would like to share some of the wonderful moments we had making memories this beautiful Christmas 2010.

Christmas Cookies

These are the Christmas cookies I made for our Christmas Eve gathering my husband's family has every year.  I got this recipe from Food.com, they are called Tri-Cornered  Cream Cheese Cookies w/Jam Filling and they were amazing!  Truly a hit that I will be repeating for events to come.  I hope you have as much fun baking, sharing, and eating them as I did! 

I used Boysenberry and Strawberry Jam.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

1 (3 ounce) package creamed cheese, softened 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 cups  flour

1/4 teaspoon salt 

jam(s) of your choice

powdered sugar for sprinkling

The powdered sugar reminded me of snow, very festive.

Directions:

(The dough) 

1.In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter and cheese and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, egg, flour, salt and blend well. 

*Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours for easy handling.

(Shaping & Baking)

2. Pre-heat oven to 375°F 

3. On lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough at a time to a 1/8" thickness.(Meanwhile keep rest of dough in fridge)

  

4. Cut with 2 & 1/2" round cookie cutter (I use a the mouth of a large cup) & place each round 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

5. Spoon 1 tsp jam on the center of each round.

6. To create the triangle shape, fold down 3 sides without covering the jam too much (I personally like to cover a little of the jam, the cookies look better after being baked.)  Pinch the corners to seal.

7. Bake for 7 - 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool for 1 minute and remove from baking sheets.

8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar as desired and enjoy! 

FMF: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Rated G  - 91 min -  Released 1996

For those of you unfamiliar with the story  (at least in the movie) The Hunchback tells the tale of a young disfigured man confined to a bell tower by the evil Judge Frollo.  Quasimodo, the hunchback, yearns to break free and essentially live without fear amongst everyone else in the world.  Quasimodo gets the help of a beautiful gypsy girl named Esmeralda, who is an outcast herself, and the two become an unlikely duo with one passion: break free from Frollo's oppression.


I've never read the classic novel, so I'm not about to compare this movie with the book, but the movie standing alone is absolutely excellent.  There is adventure, love, tension, humor, and a great array of songs.  We all know that most Disney movies include some songs, but this film is jam packed.  My husband and I joke that this movie can easily be translated to a Broadway musical targeted towards adults.   The humor in this movie mainly comes from the three stone gargoyles that are perched on the bell tower with Quasimodo.  You may recognize Jason Alexander as the voice over for the portly gargoyle named Hugo.  And just as with everything else Alexander embraces, he's hysterical.

The love story in this film is rather sad because you want Quasimodo to get the girl, but in the end looks win out: as seen when Esmeralda falls for her knight in shining armor, Phoebus. This is especially upsetting because Quasimodo is pure in heart throughout the movie, as opposed to the charming Phoebus, who eventually does indeed get the girl. But of course like most American movies the ending is cheerful and you don't feel quite as bad for Quasimodo because he does win the hearts of the citizens of Notre Dame.  Furthermore, the thematic development throughout the story is equally compelling.  The themes explore the realms of the semantics of monstrosity, man's inner conflict with his conscience, and man's conflict with society.

Now as for questionable content (here is where the tension in the story lies), there is one song in particular that sticks out in my mind because it clearly deals with lust of the flesh and is somewhat frightening to watch.  The song is sung by Judge Frollo (played by Tony Jay who does a fantastic job), who  is evil through and through and is just plain scary to look at.  He sings "Hell Fire" which goes "hell fire, hell fire, choose me or you will burn!" It is based on his  inner struggle regarding his passion for Esmeralda.  He says if she does not choose to be with him then he will burn her at the stake; I'd say that's pretty creepy and would call for some major marriage counseling or psychotherapy.  In the midst of that song the flames start surrounding him like he is in the depths of hell itself.  And his hideous countenance is still burned on my cerebral cortex--not awesome; well it is because it was emotionally appealing, but this scene would certainly be scary for children under six.

Due to storyline, the song "Hell Fire", and Frollo's creepy face, I'd say an appropriate viewing age for The Hunchback would be 6 years old. 

Overall Rating: 9.5 out 10

10 Reasons I Support Breastfeeding & 10 Tips

Keep in mind everything in this post is based on personal experience, but personal experience is something you won't find in most books. Also, there are certainly many more than just 10 reasons and 10 tips pertaining to breastfeeding, these are just a mere few.

Here are a list of reasons why I support breastfeeding and encourage others to do so:

1.  You save a lot of time & money since you are not always running to the store to buy formula.

2. Your milk is readily available to baby anywhere and anytime, which is especially useful during those 3 am feedings.

3. Your milk is the perfect food for your baby by helping build immunities and reducing their risk of certain allergies.

4. Breastfeeding helps reduce the size of your uterus faster and helps reduce your weight significantly by burning 500 calories a day.

5. Breastfeeding encourages strong bonding between you and your baby.  This is where Judah and I had our first real conversation.

6.  Breastfeeding is a good reason to "get away" and get some alone time with your baby if you need a break from a crowd.

7.  Breastfeeding may reduce the risk of breast cancer, cervical cancer, type 2 diabetes, as well as other various health problems.

8. Breastfeeding may reduce the risk of getting pregnant again because of lowered estrogen levels,  but do be sure and use another form of birth control if you are not intending on getting pregnant in the near future.

9. Breastfeeding has been linked with a reduced risk of childhood obesity as well as risk for Vitamin E deficiency, and anemia.

10. Breastfed baby's spit up does not stain and their diapers are significantly less odorous.


 Here are some tips that I have compiled based on my personal experiences with breastfeeding:

1. Get a good rocker. You'll be nursing a lot and you want to be comfortable.

2. Get a cover that goes around your neck. It helps keep you securely covered with a fidgeting baby.

3. Invest in quality nursing pads.  No one wants to leak or see leaking.

4. Use a cream like Lansinoh to heal and protect sore nipples.  It really works wonders and you don't need to worry about wiping it off before nursing.

5. Be sure to eat your extra 500 calories to produce sufficient breast milk because believe it or not you will be more hungry than when you were pregnant.

6. Invest in a good quality breast pump like Medela Pump in Style if you need to relieve yourself from engorgement, store breast milk for when you may be separated from baby, or are planning to work and still breastfeed.

7. Invest in a Boppy Pillow.  This makes breastfeeding much more comfortable especially when your little one is a newborn and has many great uses as baby gets older.

8. Relax when you are nursing and make sure you are not tense or frustrated from an outside situation because baby will definitely sense it and may not cooperate as easily.

9. Don't be afraid to nurse in public. You need to feed your baby and you can't be confined to your house forever.

10. Most importantly don't give up, it absolutely takes time. It was a good 2-3 weeks before I felt confident.


Breastfeeding Websites:
Breast Milk Storage
Benefits of Breastfeeding for You and Baby
Breastfeeding: Health Benefits for Mother and Baby
Breastfeeding.com
Breastfeeding Benefits