SpongeBob Birthday

Jeremy, our nephew, turned 5 at the end of April. So my sister Camille threw him a totally fun SpongeBob Squarepants Birthday party with all of his friends on Saturday. Since I'm not familiar with the show (yet, that is. Give me 2 more years) I was totally confused by the sign at the front door that pointed to "Bikini Bottom! this way!". But once in the backyard, I quickly soaked up all the SpongeBob lingo.

In the backyard, Camille had made the most adorable props and scenery. There was a "Snack Bar" that looked like a bamboo hut (where Eric, Laura, and Meredith spent most of the day making snowcones and cotton candy for the kids. I think the record was 6 cotton candy sticks for one kid. Yikes). There were cute cardboard cutouts you could stick your head through and take a picture (of course I had to do it too).
There was tons of good food (thanks mother Cindy).
And just what the kids always love...a jump house. It was so much fun to see the little kids running around and having a great time.

They even played along with the "cakewalk" game (prob since they all won prizes). The spongebob music was a nice touch. And the adults seemed to be enjoying the chitchat with each other. I spent most of the afternoon taking pictures of everything, which was fun. And my favorite pic of the day was the little blond girl who just loved her cotton candy, despite her missing teeth. So perfect.

Great party Camille!

The best part for me....I didn't have to worry about anyone but myself the whole day! (how selfish, I know). Casey's guy friends were shooting a film at his parent's house in Simi Valley that day, so he needed to be there for it. So...he took Lucy along with him! Woohoo. Freedom for a day. It was a nice break after a long week of Lucy being sick. Today, however, she's been a doll. Back to her normal self: smiles, laughing, toddling around the house. It is such a relief.

2-Part post (ebay is funny; g diapers are, interesting)

I like ebay. I've sold many things on there, I've bought many things on there. I no longer have to go to garage sales cause I can find all my deals online!

So this week, I'm selling: g Diapers. Have you heard of these? They're like the modern cloth diapers....environmentally friendly, yet disposable. Basically, you have "little g pants" with a plastic liner inside, then you put a disposable pad inside that. And there's your diaper. When the pad is used up, you just flush it down the toilet! (or you can throw it away) and load the next one into the little g pants.

I really liked the idea/concept. Especially when I learned that it takes hundreds of years for normal disposable diapers to biodegrade (although, since disposables haven't been around for hundreds of years, I'm skeptical of those numbers). But still, I do worry about environmental impacts. I'm no granola, but dumping masses of dirty diapers into landfills just can't be good for the world. So, I decided to try out the g Diapers. Cost wise, they're about double what I pay for Target diapers (yikes). But I picked up a starter kit at Wild Oats for $22. Comes with 2 pants and 10 disposable pads.

And....the diapers work pretty well. Plus, the little g pants come in really cute colors. It was nice to double-up the pads at night too since Lucy normally seems to leak out while she sleeps. But, the downside I've decided, is that the diapers are really bulky. It gives Lucy a total bubble-butt! Her clothes don't fit right over them. I'm sure this was the same with cloth diapers when we were kids. But once you're used to how small and compact disposables are, it's hard to change Lucy's wardrobe to accommodate bubble butt. So basically, I'm here to report that I'm choosing fashion over the environment. Sadly, it's true.

Which leads me back to.....ebay and why I find it funny. So I bought the diaper starter kit for $22 at Wild Oats Market. You can also buy it directly from gdiapers for $24.99. I used up 5 of the 10 pads, and I used one of the g pants a few times and then washed them. Basically these are used goods. So I posted the remnants of my starter kit on ebay for $9.99, and a week later, it's now up to $25! Check it out HERE. This is why I find ebay to be funny. Why are people willing to pay MORE money for a used, 1/2 full kit when they can just go to the store and buy a brand new one for less?! I'm not complaining. Believe me, it's awesome! But some people make me shake my head.

Bottom line: Go ebay. And Go g Diapers. If you don't mind the bulkiness, I think they're a great idea.

Lots of Flowers! Happy Mother's Day

Well, this marks the second year I was able to stand up in church for being a bona fide mom (and not just for being a woman over 18 years old....although I never mind getting free stuff). Our ward gave out huge Hersheys Bars. They've figured out that what we women love most is chocolate (or food).

But of course, I love flowers too. And since Lucy's too young to make me Breakfast In Bed (although Casey did offer)....my sweet husband treated me real nice by buying me tons of flowers! He went to my favorite flower stop: Trader Joes and bought me three bundles of flowers. So I had tons of fun arranging and filling our house with pretty flowers. I had enough for the front room, on top of the piano, and even our bedroom. Thanks honey!

And even though we were running late for church, I thought Lucy and I should take a Mother's Day picture. We took 4 shots, and each one of them turned out the same: Lucy with a worried look on her face. Oh well, it must have been a worrisome Mother's Day.

We spent the evening at The Willard's house in Simi Valley with Casey's parents and his brother and sister-in-law, Chad and Lauren. We had a nice dinner (eating outside under their gazebo, which I love), had YUMMY chocolate coconut cake (compliments of Lauren), and celebrated Linda's birthday as well by watching her open fun presents! It was a nice relaxing evening. Lucy was still feeling sick and only wanted to be held. So that was a bummer. I just hope this fever passes soon. She woke up this morning still feeling hot. But after a kick of tylenol, she was found doing this in our bedroom closet. She may be on the road to recovery!?

So Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there....especially the new-timers. Welcome to motherhood! I love it!

sick baby

It honestly seems that every two weeks, Lucy gets sick. I guess playing on the toys at the mall is her worst germ enemy. She woke up this morning acting really whiny. We gave her breakfast, and she was still whining. So we put her back to bed. She woke a few hours later bawling and her body was roasting hot. So I gave her some tylenol and basically we spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch together watching Baby Eintstein, taking naps (she took 4), watching more tv, drinking milk, and you know, not doing much of anything. She constantly wanted to be held, so it was nice having Casey here for a hand-off. Sick babies are definitely a family affair.

We all get to endure the fun. I guess this is just how life is with small children.
See if you can find Lucy among the messy front room (I guess I did get some laundry done today). She looks so old sitting up on the couch, watching TV. And here she is with dad. Chilling, watching Lord of the Rings. Hallelujah that she is now in bed.

Things About: Me

Okay, I've been tagged. So here I am to share some details about my life.....stuff you may not know, stuff you may not care about, and stuff that makes me hungry.
I've combined three different lists of questions that have been floating around.
So read what you'd like:

If i wasn't online right now I'd be...
working on the mounds of sewing projects that have piled up, at the Mall toys with Lucy, balancing our checkbook, working on our filing project (actually that's almost done!), or at Target!

My favorite foods...
melted cheese: grilled cheese, pizza, cheesy casserole. And ice cream. I got a dairy thing going on.
I also love broccoli, asparagus, salad, oranges, rice pudding, and strawberries. Oh, and canjun shrimp boil is reallll yummy.

What I always order...
woah, this could get detailed.
- In N Out: #2, no onions no spread, ketchup and mustard instead
- Chipotle: small quesadilla, 1 hard-shelled taco a la carte with rice and barbacoa, side of rice, and a small drink (diet coke with a little dr. pepper and a lemon)
- Titos: 2 tacos with cheese, lots of salsa
- Wahoos: #1, charbroiled chicken taco with black beans (and no drink. They carry Pepsi, not Coke)

- Del Taco: small red burrito, spicy jack quesadilla, small drink
Okay, I'll stop

Dessert of choice...
Fresh peach cobbler with Breyers vanilla ice cream

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Kitchen Assistant at the BYU Morris Center (made vats of scrambled eggs at 6am. mmm)
2. Tape Operator for KBYU Blue&White Sports Network (I ran the instant replays for football and honestly had no idea how the game worked.)
3. Personal Assistant to Juliette Lewis (cuckoo)
4. Universal Pictures Executive Assistant in Story Development

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Back to the Future (parts I and II)
2. Ferris Bueller
3. Liar Liar
4. Ghostbusters or Groundhog Day (it's a toss-up)

Four places I have lived:
1. Santa Ana, CA
2. Provah!, Utah
3. LA, CA
4. Pasadena, CA

Four television shows I watch:
1. A myriad of Food Network programs
2. Friday Night Lights
3. Family Guy
4. 24 and LOST (both have had love/hate relationships with me this season...although 24 has jumped the shark)

5. The Office!

6. 30 Rock (0kay, I know that's more than 4. But who doesn't have more than 4 shows?)

Four places I have gone on vacation:
1. Peidras Negras, Guatemala
2. Cancun and San Felipe, Mexico
3. Caye Caulker, Belize
4. Europe (Belgium, Paris, London, Netherlands)

Four websites I visit almost daily:
1. Gmail
2. Blogs - my own and my friends
3. Youtube
4. CNN

5 Things you may not know about me:

1. I love to dance, sing, perform on stage, act silly, and make little movies.
I performed with a comedy improv group in Santa Monica for a year, while I was single.

2. I secretly wish I could be on American Idol...but I'm too old (haah, like that's my only excuse).

3. I once asked my mom what county we were from....um...Orange, County, the OC. That was just a couple years ago. (there are more details to the story. I'm only partially idiotic)

4. I'm very patriotic and always dreamed of having a red, white, and blue wedding dress for my reception. But since we got married in October, it didn't happen. Casey was relieved.

5. I was once asked to slow-dance by a 14 year old boy, while chaperoning a youth dance. I accepted the dance, but warned him that I was a little older than he thought. When he asked if I was in college, I didn't have the heart to tell him I had graduated from BYU...4 years before then.
Everyone thinks I'm 12, but really, I'm 30.

And there you have it folks. Things about me.
I guess now I tag the next victim who will share some fun info....so...Rachael and Laura....you're both it!
And for Heather, here's a pic of me with the curly hair. This was at the Monrovia Street Fair a couple weeks ago. It's so fun! You gotta go (every Friday night)

little help?

Lucy loves to play outside. The moment she hears me open the door, I hear her come running. She has very simple pleasures and mostly just crawls up and down the backyard steps, playing with the leaves. This can entertain her for a good 45 minutes. It's genius.

I peek my head out the door every few minutes to check on her. Usually I can tell she's fine because I hear her funny baby talk through the kitchen window. Yesterday morning, however, she decided to play on the stairs in the front (which is new territory for her). She was all fine and dandy until I heard her whining. It wasn't a cry, but more like....uhhhh.....mommm.... ? I went out to see what was wrong, and discovered...she was stuck, smashed between a huge bush and the stairs. She must have climbed off the path and into the bushes. It kinda made me laugh (for a moment) and then I pulled her out. All was well. She went on playing.

But here's what she looked like. (Photos are reinactments. Am I a cruel mother? It was only for 2 seconds)

The Hair CAN Go Straight

Some of you know me as Dana with long-hair, some of you just recently met the Dana with short-hair. Personally, I consider myself a short-hair person (but I think I'm growing it out again!)

Anyway, it wasn't until I gave birth to Lucy that we found out...my hair is totally curly! That is a Dana I'd never met. But it's been pretty fun. What straight-haired person hasn't wanted curly hair?? Of course, the grass is always greener, and once my hair was curly, I missed being able to style it straight. Until today! Because I was able to do it! (and without a flat iron). I'm not a high-maintenace person, so if straightening my hair involves a flat iron, forget it. But my hair has grown a little and so today I was able to do it with just a round-brush. Ahhh.

I'm still gonna be a curly head. But it was nice to spend the whole day without any goopy product in my hair. Here's a picture of the 'do...and the very yellow bathroom we shower in (yellow from the paint, that is).

I know this is more than you ever wanted to know about my hair. Thanks for reading. And hey, one of these days I'll post pics of the "many hairstyles of Dana." I'll even include the 80s. I'm sure my cousin Kam could beat me on that on though.

The Park

Casey's work had "Hall and Partners Playgroup" on Saturday at Griffith park. We got together with 6 other co-workers and their families. It was so nice to meet the spouses and the little kids! And I had no idea there was such a great park right there in the middle of HUGE Griffith Park. To find it, go past the Zoo, and follow the signs to the Merry-Go-Round (didn't know that was there too). Go to the 3rd parking lot, to Shane's Inspiration! There are tons of park toys. We took Lucy down the slide a few times. We tried to get her to go down on her bum. But she decided that sliding on her stomach was easier. Of course her favorite is the swing. It was a hot item, and we actually had to wait in line. But once she was swinging, she did NOT want to get off. We tried taking her out, and she bawled, so we put her back in for another 10 minutes. Here she is, swingin away.

Monrovia Street Fair

The perfect way to spend a warm friday evening?... eating bbq pork sandwiches and walking the Monrovia street fair! It happens every Friday night, right off Myrtle street, and I only just NOW found out about it! What a hidden gem. The fair is a fun mix of Farmer's Market produce, yummy grilled food, live music, petting zoo and rides for the kids, and all the trinkets you'd never need to buy. The street was pretty packed with people, which made it fun. But since Lucy prefers to walk where she wants to walk (and doesn't notice the people around her)...I noticed a few adults quickly jumping out of her way.
Casey and I had some yummy bbq sandwiches and listened to the live music, while Lucy walked around shaking her bowl of cheerios. Then we walked the street, bought some strawberries, ran into friends, and of course, scored some Kettle Corn on our way out (um, all we did was eat?! It sure sounds like it).

If you've never been to Monrovia, you gotta go! It's next door to Pasadena, and oh-so fun. Of course, I'm sure there's a local Street Fair happening near you. Check your local listings! (?)