Sneak Peek....Galow Family

I had the sweet pleasure of photographing this family last week. The kids are precious and they get it from their parents! I did not know this family prior to photographing them, but I am so happy to have met them! The kids are non stop..I only wish I had a handful of their energy. Things would go so smoothly around here if I did!!! Enough of me dreaming, here is a peek into their session. We did get some great family shots, but those will be revealed with this years Christmas card designs in a couple days.








Dont worry Daddy Galow....we got some of you with your kiddos too!




Beautiful couple right?

Thank you Galow family!

Mrs. Robin's Nest

To view your pictures please follow the link below. I apologize for the confusion and the problems earlier. I think I have worked out all of the kinks! :) If you have any questions, please email me at btejedaphoto@aol.com. Thank you!

Mrs. Robin's Nest

Website Problems

I have been informed that there are problems while trying to access the proofing galleries. I apologize for this inconvenience. I am working on the issue right now. Thank you for your patience.

Casting Call

Good Morning! I'm going to make this quick because I have a busy day today! I am in need of one family to act as models for Brandi Tejeda Photogaphy. I prefer a family of 3 or more. I would like to photograph this family one day NEXT WEEK. As in November 1-7. If you are interested, email me ASAP at btejedaphoto@aol.com.

If you are chosen as my model family you will recieve the following at no charge
2 hour portrait session
2 locations of MY choice
1 8X10 and 2 5X7s of YOUR choice
Online photo gallery where you can order additional prints with a discount
5 free Holiday cards and the option to purchase more

You must agree to a model release.

Thank you and please contact me ASAP!

Cloth Diapers - Part Three

Washing Wool!

Wool makes a wonderful diaper cover. I didnt use wool very much with Avah. It scared me. It seemed complicated to wash and care for. It was expensive. I thought she would be way too hot since we live in Texas (or..the surface of the sun)...I was wrong. Its easy to care for. It can be expensive..but I refuse to get caught up in that so I buy used pieces or plain pieces or pieces that have been accidently shrunk and will not fit their toddler..but will fit my infant. I also search for large wool sweaters that I can turn into covers with a little cutting and sewing. Sam never gets hot in his wool. Wool breathes easy. It keeps you cool in the heat and warm in the cold. Its naturally waterproof (you do have to keep it lanolized though) and it is darn cute! We dont own a lot of wool that he can wear right now. Most pieces that I have are waiting for him to grow into. The beauty of well lanolized wool is that he can wear it, it gets damp, you lay it out to dry, and its ready to wear again. I can usually get about 1 week out of my covers before washing again. Thats right...wool is self cleaning! Amazing right? So lets get to the way I clean my wool. I dont have a wool wash bar. You can use one if you want...I may one day...at this moment, if Sam gets poop or dirt (which doesnt happen yet since he pretty much stays where I put him) on his wool, I just wash the piece off that has the poop on it, and stick it in the window to dry. Why the window? The sun takes care of that stain! Remember people...sun = free bleach. But when I notice the wool isnt doing its job as well as it should be..which is to keep the pee on the inside of the diaper..I wash it. Here is how I do it

Gather what I need. Which is only the wool that needs washing and my wool wash. I use Northern Essence. I like this wool wash because it is a wash and lanolin all in one. I also like that I can buy it locally at Cloud 9 Baby in College Station. Tell Joanna I sent ya! :) She is so sweet and has the cutest little shop. The bottle I have right now is "Fresh Linen" scent. Love it!

I fill the sink about 1/2 way with warmish water and shake the bottle of wool wash while its filling. I squirt about 50 cents worth (2 quarter size squirts to be clear) and swish it around with my hand. Before I dry my hands off, I rub them together like I am putting on lotion! The lanolin makes my hands oh so soft!! Bonus!! Then I put the wool into the sink and squish it down making sure its soaked. (Ignore my sink. Its not dirty..just old and stained. I promise!) Oh and the water will look milky.


After about 1/2 an hour..sometimes more if Im busy and forget (that NEVER happens!) I go back to take out the wool. Drain your sink..unless yours is super cool like mine and it drains itself. (nice huh?) Carefully squeeze out the excess. DO NOT RINSE! You want to keep all that yummy lanolin in the wool! Then I lay it out on a towel.


Now you carefully roll it up. Like a jelly roll. (that sounds good...I should make one!) I kind of press on it and roll it over and over. Gets all the excess out so it doesnt take days to dry.


Now its clean, fresh, lanolized and WET! So I hang it up to dry. If its not stained I hang it over my stool that is stored behind my door. If its stained, I hang it in a sunny window (unless its dyed wool...then I dont worry THAT much about stains on the inside. the sun will fade the dye!!) It usually takes our wool about 24 hours to be totally dry...sometimes a little more if its really humid.


And just for fun..here is a picture of some of Sam's wool. He is wearing a pair right now, and is sleeping so here are the ones that currently fit. The others are stored away, and I'm far too lazy to dig them out. I promise I will when he is big enough to wear them!


There are many different types of wool. And just as many styles. Just google Wool Diaper Cover and trust me...there is SO much out there. BEAUTIFUL handmade longies and shorties. I drool over them...but I am too cheap. haha! In the picture below you can see the cream shorties made my Disana. These are my MOST favorite. They arent super cute and stylish...but they are bullet proof. Sam wears them overnight and we never have a leak! LOVE those things! And OMG so soft!!



Previous Posts about Cloth Diapering
Part One
Part Two

Cloth Diapers-Part Two

Today I will describe my laundry routine. Alot of people hear I use cloth diapers and they wrinkle their nose and say OMG what do you do with the poop? First of all, Samuel is breastfed and that means his poo is not yucky! I dont have to swish my diapers in the toliet or do any crazy pre-wash routine. I take the dirty or wet diaper off of Sam and throw it in a diaper pail. The pail is lined with a pail liner. Then on wash day (which is about every other day for us) I dump the whole thing in the washer...pail liner and all.
1. I run a COLD (so you dont set in stains) rinse cycle just to kind of get all the yuck off
2. Run a HOT heavy soiled cycle with a whole scoop of Tide, a capful of Calgon, and a squirt of liquid Dawn original blue dish soap.
Here is where I do things diferently. Tide is listed as a no-no detergent because it contains enzymes. Well..I have super hard water. All of those wonderful crunchy, save the earth but not your wallet kind of detergents just dont get the job done for me. I have tried just about every detergent out there that is "safe" for diapers...and not a single one will get my diapers clean and fresh. Tide does a great job and my diapers last long enough to use through 2 kids so far...No..they dont all look brand new (the ones I passed down) but they are diapers. They get pee and poo on them regularly and they get washed often. I feel like if they make it through 2 kids I got more than my moneys worth! I also use a WHOLE scoop of Tide. Some people use 2 teaspoons or 1 tablespoon or a 1/4 of the reccomended amount to wash their diapers. More power to them if that works. I cant seem to get the poo smell out if I use that little bit of detergent. This could be because I have very hard and mineral rich water. I dont know...
3. Run a couple of extra rinse cycles until all the soap is out. Usually around 2 for me. Depends on the amount and type of diapers I have in the wash.
4. I like to hang my diapers on the line to dry. I dont always get to do that...sometimes there is rain or its just too cold or even too hot. Or maybe the kids are going crazy in the house and I cant take the time to hang them. Or maybe I waited too long to wash and NEED diapers like NOW! So sometimes I use the dryer. But let me tell you...if there is a stain...it goes right out on the line, or in a sunny window. The sun is like free and safe bleach! It gets all our stains out!!

So that is how I get our diapers super clean!

Next up..how to wash wool diaper covers! yay!

Previous Posts about Cloth diapers
Part One

Cloth Diapers- Part One

Most you know that we use cloth diapers. I adore cloth diapers. Yes, they can save you money, they are better for baby, they are environmentaly friendly...but to be honest, I use them because they are darn cute! I love ALL things cloth diaper...I could talk about them forever. I love when people ask me about them...so I decided to create a series of blog posts that describe what diapers I use, how I use them, how I clean them, where we store them, and so forth! Today Im starting with cloth wipes. I chose not to use disposeable wipes because I kept getting store bought wipes mixed in with my diaper laundry. Not a huge deal...but still annoying to peel the pieces of wipes off my clean diapers. Plus...they work MUCH better. Imagine that! I dont know why I was so suprised! Cloth diapers work way better for us...why wouldnt the wipes? Anyway, here is a little picture demo of how I prepare the wipes for use. I have to do this about once every 3 days. I use a wipe warmer because Sam likes them warm..wouldnt you? But you could do this in an old wipe container if you wanted. I also bought wipe solution cubes from a work at home mom. Mine is scented with tea tree oil and lavender. Yummy!! Smells so clean!
The best part is..the tea tree oil keeps mildew and mold from growing. Ok so here ya go!

Ok here is all you need to create warm, soft, effective wipes!! A coffee mug to melt the wipe cubes, 2 wipe cubes ( I find 2 work better for us), wipe warmer, pile of wipes.

wipes can be made from all sorts of things. There are super fancy wipes made with velour and bamboo and a million other expensive fabrics...but I use gerber rags and flannel. Its not that I dont care what wipes my son's bottom...I just find these work just as well and are soft enough for us! Plus, they are cheap enough to replace often if I want a change!

I place as many wipes as I can fit in while they are still dry... once I wet them, I can add more.

next I add about 2 oz of water in the mug and put the two cubes in the mug. microwave for 30 seconds. Then I add more water to fill the mug.
After that, I pour the whole mug in the wipe warmer over the wipes. Fill the cup again, and pour it all over the wipes. At this point, there is water on top of the wipes, so I add more wipes on top to soak it up. I turn them over a few times and tuck dry wipes in different places in the pile! Then I take it and plug it in to warm up. Green light = happy wipes!


Next to the wipe warmer is my accessory station. Top drawer holds hand wipes (for getting icky fuzz from inside his hands. Since he keeps them shut all the time, it can get smelly), snappies ( I will explain later), and pins

Second drawer holds diaper cremes, wool wash (explain later), thermometer, guaze pads..things like this..

bottom drawer holds wipe cubes in a zip loc bag

Here is the whole drawer system. 5.00 from walmart. great investment!

And, because he is so cute..the little guy who gets to enjoy these yummy smelling wipes...