Today is our 8 year anniversary. In some ways it seems like it's been forever, but in other ways it seems like I was just planning for our wedding. This is kind of a one of a kind anniversary for us. It represents two different times of our lives. We had 4 years of infertility, and now we've had 4 years of pregnancies and raising our wonderful kids. We found out we were pregnant with Madeleine 4 years ago yesterday, and that was the end of our lives as we knew it for the first 4 years of our marriage. It's been a wonderful 8 years, and I am thankful for the first 4 years and for the last 4 years. I won't lie, the first 4 years were hard in some ways, but now that I know how it turns out I wouldn't change a thing. God knew what he was doing for sure. I can't wait to find out what He has in store for our next 8 years!
I love you Ken, Happy Anniversary!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
More about reading
Oh my goodness! We are on lesson 11 in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and Madeleine is already sounding out words! She knows the sounds m, long e, short a, r, t and s. So she can read me, see, rat, sat, mat, etc. She is doing so well and is so proud of herself when she sounds out a word. She even asks to do reading lessons! Today we were listening to one of her favorite songs from Music Class called Sam the Dinosaur. When we got home I told her that she could read the word "Sam." She couldn't believe it! I had Ken write it out for her and she was amazed that she could read it! Then she tried to write it. We also bought her some Alphabet wipe off cards today at Borders and she spent 45 minutes writing and tracing the letters she has learned. She even wanted to do it again when we got home. I'm loving that she is so into this!
So the reading lessons take longer than usual lately, because she has to bring Elmo, Pooh Bear, and Baby Bear with us. Then they each have to take turns doing the lessons. She does voices for them and everything. And they even have to point under the letters and say the sounds. I'm going to take a picture of this Baby Bear she has.. it's about an inch and a half high and she carries that thing everywhere! I am shocked that she hasn't lost it yet!
And the Bud used a fork for the first time today! He ate a pancake for breakfast with it and did fantastic! Then he ate his chicken with it today at dinner. I was shocked how well he did. Plus he loved it. We started pushing his seat up to the table instead of using the tray, and giving him a plate. He's doing great and not throwing food as much (that is a big problem in our house!) Also he's saying a few more words! He says ball all the time, and also says "cack" when we ask what a duck says. He says "moon" for goodnight moon, and "Pop" for Hop on Pop, and also for lollipop and popsicle. He also says Poo Poo when he goes and gets a big smile on his face. And of course he says Tee Tat for the cat and every other animal.
And as for number 3, I am definitely feeling him moving around! I love that feeling - it's my favorite part of pregnancy!
So the reading lessons take longer than usual lately, because she has to bring Elmo, Pooh Bear, and Baby Bear with us. Then they each have to take turns doing the lessons. She does voices for them and everything. And they even have to point under the letters and say the sounds. I'm going to take a picture of this Baby Bear she has.. it's about an inch and a half high and she carries that thing everywhere! I am shocked that she hasn't lost it yet!
And the Bud used a fork for the first time today! He ate a pancake for breakfast with it and did fantastic! Then he ate his chicken with it today at dinner. I was shocked how well he did. Plus he loved it. We started pushing his seat up to the table instead of using the tray, and giving him a plate. He's doing great and not throwing food as much (that is a big problem in our house!) Also he's saying a few more words! He says ball all the time, and also says "cack" when we ask what a duck says. He says "moon" for goodnight moon, and "Pop" for Hop on Pop, and also for lollipop and popsicle. He also says Poo Poo when he goes and gets a big smile on his face. And of course he says Tee Tat for the cat and every other animal.
And as for number 3, I am definitely feeling him moving around! I love that feeling - it's my favorite part of pregnancy!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Priorities and early nesting
So I read this article:
If anyone is wondering why I'm not texting and returning emails as much as I did before ;)
I've been trying to put down my phone unless the kids are not around, and I haven't plugged in the computer at all unless they're in bed. I'm trying to give them my full attention and spend Bud's entire morning nap doing things with Madeleine. She is EATING UP the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. In fact she wanted to keep going today so we did two lessons in a row. She's learning her letter sounds and sounding out short words already on lesson 10! She's also finding the letter sounds she knows in her books. I'm really impressed and loving seeing her learn! (Of course this has it's drawbacks. For example she has this book she loves called Dirty Joe the Pirate (I know!)) Ken and I don't really enjoy the "moral" of the story at the end, so we change the words around a little. It says, "If you've got an older sister then I feel bad for you, for just as long as she's alive she'll tell you what to do." We change it to "If you've got an older sister then I feel glad for you, for just as long as she's alive she'll be there to care for you." She's on to us.
So the nesting is kicking in quickly this time! I'm figuring out how to move around everyone's rooms. I think that we're going to leave Madeleine in her room - she's got a pretty girly room. There's a room right next to hers that is the spare room (or Sew's room hahaha!) That has all our storage in it - wedding stuff, college stuff, craft stuff, file cabinets, bookshelves, etc. I gotta find a place for all that! We have a great screened porch but it has a giant hot tub in it that we've never used in the 6 years we've been here. I put it on freecycle today. I can't wait to get rid of it. So after we get that room cleaned out, we're going to eventually move John Paul into it - he can have Madeleine's old crib and old changing table/hutch. Then we can make her room a big girl room. That way, we can use the nursery as it's already set up for the new baby. Perfect plan ;) I can't WAIT to actually be able to use the screened porch!
The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In
If anyone is wondering why I'm not texting and returning emails as much as I did before ;)
I've been trying to put down my phone unless the kids are not around, and I haven't plugged in the computer at all unless they're in bed. I'm trying to give them my full attention and spend Bud's entire morning nap doing things with Madeleine. She is EATING UP the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. In fact she wanted to keep going today so we did two lessons in a row. She's learning her letter sounds and sounding out short words already on lesson 10! She's also finding the letter sounds she knows in her books. I'm really impressed and loving seeing her learn! (Of course this has it's drawbacks. For example she has this book she loves called Dirty Joe the Pirate (I know!)) Ken and I don't really enjoy the "moral" of the story at the end, so we change the words around a little. It says, "If you've got an older sister then I feel bad for you, for just as long as she's alive she'll tell you what to do." We change it to "If you've got an older sister then I feel glad for you, for just as long as she's alive she'll be there to care for you." She's on to us.
So the nesting is kicking in quickly this time! I'm figuring out how to move around everyone's rooms. I think that we're going to leave Madeleine in her room - she's got a pretty girly room. There's a room right next to hers that is the spare room (or Sew's room hahaha!) That has all our storage in it - wedding stuff, college stuff, craft stuff, file cabinets, bookshelves, etc. I gotta find a place for all that! We have a great screened porch but it has a giant hot tub in it that we've never used in the 6 years we've been here. I put it on freecycle today. I can't wait to get rid of it. So after we get that room cleaned out, we're going to eventually move John Paul into it - he can have Madeleine's old crib and old changing table/hutch. Then we can make her room a big girl room. That way, we can use the nursery as it's already set up for the new baby. Perfect plan ;) I can't WAIT to actually be able to use the screened porch!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Happy Father's Day
To the best Daddy in the whole wide world. Madeleine, John Paul and Ice are very lucky to have you!
And thanks for making me a Mommy. It's my dream come true. Love you!
And thanks for making me a Mommy. It's my dream come true. Love you!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Reflections on two boys and a girl
First of all, I'm only 13 weeks 3 days, but the baby has measured bigger than that all along. Yesterday he measured right at 14 weeks. I'm keeping my original due date of December 21st though, so when he comes early, it'll just be a happy surprise! (Please God, I want to be home on Christmas morning!!)
When I got into the room, the u/s tech asked if we wanted to find out the gender. I said yes! (I can't wait.) I asked her if we'd be able to tell today, and she said maybe. Then as she was moving the wand around on my belly, I saw it and said, "That's a boy, right?" And she said, "Uh, yeah." We got some good views - she actually said she was 90% sure it was a boy but I SAW it. It's a boy.
I kind of knew it was a boy just because John Paul is totally giving me a run for my money, with his destroying things, throwing things, general wildness. I figured I'd get two boys 20 months apart or so, and they'd be partners in crime!
But now that it's sinking in, I think this is perfect. Madeleine can still be the "queen bee" around here - a position she revels in, let me tell ya! She absolutely LOVES her brother - it's really amazing. She calls him "Little Buddy" or "Handsome" and loves to play with him. We haven't really told her we're going to have a new baby yet, just because I think 6 months is a very long time for a three year old to wait for anything. But she's still praying and asking God for a new baby. Last night Ken asked her if she liked having a brother, and she said YES! Then he asked if she'd like to have two brothers someday, and she said, "No, I want 20 brothers!" She is a crazy kid!
When I was little I used to pretend I had lots of brothers too - I had a family of cousins who have 4 boys, and we used to spend quite a bit of time with them. I used to pretend I had 4 extra brothers in addition to my 1. I think Madeleine will have it great - always having several people to play with (and probably boss around.) Siblings are really such blessings to each other!
I think John Paul will have a best buddy. They will be able to share a room someday and hopefully will be great friends when they get a little older. Yesterday when I was driving back from the doctor I saw two little boys playing catch in their yard. They looked like they were 7 and 9 or so, and they were having so much fun together. I'm excited that JP and M will get that! Plus we have one extra room that I want to move John Paul into, and then we can leave the nursery set up as it is. We even still have all the infant clothes we kept in there.
I still do want to have another girl someday for sure, just so Madeleine will have a sister. But I'm sure excited about this sweet little boy!
Now to think of a name....
When I got into the room, the u/s tech asked if we wanted to find out the gender. I said yes! (I can't wait.) I asked her if we'd be able to tell today, and she said maybe. Then as she was moving the wand around on my belly, I saw it and said, "That's a boy, right?" And she said, "Uh, yeah." We got some good views - she actually said she was 90% sure it was a boy but I SAW it. It's a boy.
I kind of knew it was a boy just because John Paul is totally giving me a run for my money, with his destroying things, throwing things, general wildness. I figured I'd get two boys 20 months apart or so, and they'd be partners in crime!
But now that it's sinking in, I think this is perfect. Madeleine can still be the "queen bee" around here - a position she revels in, let me tell ya! She absolutely LOVES her brother - it's really amazing. She calls him "Little Buddy" or "Handsome" and loves to play with him. We haven't really told her we're going to have a new baby yet, just because I think 6 months is a very long time for a three year old to wait for anything. But she's still praying and asking God for a new baby. Last night Ken asked her if she liked having a brother, and she said YES! Then he asked if she'd like to have two brothers someday, and she said, "No, I want 20 brothers!" She is a crazy kid!
When I was little I used to pretend I had lots of brothers too - I had a family of cousins who have 4 boys, and we used to spend quite a bit of time with them. I used to pretend I had 4 extra brothers in addition to my 1. I think Madeleine will have it great - always having several people to play with (and probably boss around.) Siblings are really such blessings to each other!
I think John Paul will have a best buddy. They will be able to share a room someday and hopefully will be great friends when they get a little older. Yesterday when I was driving back from the doctor I saw two little boys playing catch in their yard. They looked like they were 7 and 9 or so, and they were having so much fun together. I'm excited that JP and M will get that! Plus we have one extra room that I want to move John Paul into, and then we can leave the nursery set up as it is. We even still have all the infant clothes we kept in there.
I still do want to have another girl someday for sure, just so Madeleine will have a sister. But I'm sure excited about this sweet little boy!
Now to think of a name....
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Some pics
My Aunt Pat, who is a professional photographer (and also my Godmother) came for a visit and took some pictures of the kids. I told her they were going to be challenging! But she got some good ones anyway :)
Little Bud is doing fantastic. He's not had to have a breathing treatment for several days, and his demeanor has changed totally. He's happy and playful and doesn't follow me around crying all day! WOOHOO! And Madeleine and I started a learn to read book today. It teaches all the letter sounds and also writing the letters. She LOVED the first lesson and she's so excited about learning to read.
Little Bud is doing fantastic. He's not had to have a breathing treatment for several days, and his demeanor has changed totally. He's happy and playful and doesn't follow me around crying all day! WOOHOO! And Madeleine and I started a learn to read book today. It teaches all the letter sounds and also writing the letters. She LOVED the first lesson and she's so excited about learning to read.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Buddy's appointment
Can I just say I LOVE my pediatrician?! I love him. I sat down and told him the whole story and he was great. He checked John Paul over really well and pronounced him recovered from this episode. He said that they don't officially diagnose asthma until about the age of 7, because that diagnosis follows the person forever, the life insurance and health insurance is higher. He also said a lot of kids have this reactive airway disorder, which means their lungs act like they have asthma and react to a cold or other triggers, but they are usually symptom free by the age of 7 or so. He said to go ahead and do a breathing treatment whenever he had a cough - that would be like his cough medicine and it would work better than Robitussin or anything like that (which you can't give to this age kid anyway.) So I only gave him one treatment before bed today. He was fine all morning but in the later afternoon he started coughing and getting really fussy again. He was really really cranky for about the past month or so, and really hard for me to deal with. Now I know he probably couldn't breathe and felt awful! Poor little guy. After his treatment he was great and played outside after supper for quite a while.
So you may remember my Deceptively Delicious post a few days before all this happened. I ordered the first Sneaky Chef book and it came today (I already have the second and really like it.) I got this one for $2 on Amazon used so I was pretty happy. They have some really great recipes in there too! One thing I tried today was called "breakfast ice cream." It was frozen strawberries, avocado, yogurt and honey. It really was the consistency of soft ice cream and it was delicious! A hit with everyone. I can't wait to try some other ones in there. I'll let you know how it goes.
Madeleine has been really interested in writing her letters lately. I picked up a first grade writing curriculum on freecycle today, which is really great, but it's a little old for her yet. Any advice on a 3 year old learning to write her letters?
And I recently hit the 12 week milestone with number 3, aka little Ice. I'm feeling mostly better - still a little sick in the evenings but throughout the day I'm mostly good. I've lost about 10 pounds total and I think I'm done losing and from now on, I'll be packing on the pounds. I have an ultrasound next Thursday and I'm really excited to see this new baby again. I've been so busy lately that half the time I forget I'm even pregnant!
So you may remember my Deceptively Delicious post a few days before all this happened. I ordered the first Sneaky Chef book and it came today (I already have the second and really like it.) I got this one for $2 on Amazon used so I was pretty happy. They have some really great recipes in there too! One thing I tried today was called "breakfast ice cream." It was frozen strawberries, avocado, yogurt and honey. It really was the consistency of soft ice cream and it was delicious! A hit with everyone. I can't wait to try some other ones in there. I'll let you know how it goes.
Madeleine has been really interested in writing her letters lately. I picked up a first grade writing curriculum on freecycle today, which is really great, but it's a little old for her yet. Any advice on a 3 year old learning to write her letters?
And I recently hit the 12 week milestone with number 3, aka little Ice. I'm feeling mostly better - still a little sick in the evenings but throughout the day I'm mostly good. I've lost about 10 pounds total and I think I'm done losing and from now on, I'll be packing on the pounds. I have an ultrasound next Thursday and I'm really excited to see this new baby again. I've been so busy lately that half the time I forget I'm even pregnant!
Monday, June 07, 2010
Not that I really want to remember this
But I did take a few pictures.
This is what he looked like when I was waiting for Grandma to come home to get Madeleine before we took him to Urgent Care. Poor little Buddy.
Feeling better hanging out on Daddy's lap in his cute hospital gown.
This is what we did the majority of the time - hopefully this doesn't offend anyone ;)
He enjoyed the hospital food and box of vanilla soy milk.
He loved climbing in and out of his car seat in the room. Here he is waiting for Ken to come pick us up, since we rode the ambulance to the hospital, Ken's car (which was I was driving) was still at the Urgent Care. Ken brought him clothes since his outfit he wore to Urgent care was pretty dirty.
So he slept 11 hours last night and woke up feeling pretty good! He is still coughing and I continued his breathing treatments today, and he has 2 more days of steroids. But he seems to be getting back to his old self! It's great to see him with energy and playing with his sister, smiling and laughing. He's been super cranky for a few weeks and that was one of the symptoms in the packet they gave us about asthma. So maybe now that he can breathe better he'll be back to his old happy self. Thanks again for all the prayers.
This is what he looked like when I was waiting for Grandma to come home to get Madeleine before we took him to Urgent Care. Poor little Buddy.
Feeling better hanging out on Daddy's lap in his cute hospital gown. 
This is what we did the majority of the time - hopefully this doesn't offend anyone ;)
He enjoyed the hospital food and box of vanilla soy milk.
He loved climbing in and out of his car seat in the room. Here he is waiting for Ken to come pick us up, since we rode the ambulance to the hospital, Ken's car (which was I was driving) was still at the Urgent Care. Ken brought him clothes since his outfit he wore to Urgent care was pretty dirty.
So he slept 11 hours last night and woke up feeling pretty good! He is still coughing and I continued his breathing treatments today, and he has 2 more days of steroids. But he seems to be getting back to his old self! It's great to see him with energy and playing with his sister, smiling and laughing. He's been super cranky for a few weeks and that was one of the symptoms in the packet they gave us about asthma. So maybe now that he can breathe better he'll be back to his old happy self. Thanks again for all the prayers.
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Let's not do this again for a while.
John Paul and I spent the night in the hospital last night.
John Paul has had a cold/runny nose for about 4 weeks and couldn't kick it. So Tuesday I took him to his pediatrician (actually we saw the nurse practitioner) . She said she thought he had a sinus infection and put him on antibiotics AGAIN - 4th time in 4 months, and thought he might have allergies so she put him on zyrtec. He wasn't getting any better on either drug, and yesterday he woke up coughing quite a bit. We had planned on going to my cousin's house for a cookout about an hour north of here, so we went ahead and went. While we were there, he kept getting worse and worse, started wheezing and really having trouble breathing. I called the on-call nurse at our pediatrician and she told me to go to Urgent Care and he might need a breathing treatment. So we left and drove home to go to Urgent care. I dropped Madeleine off at mom's house and Ken had a wedding gig so he had to go set up. As soon as we got there, the waiting room was full but the nurse called me back immediately because she could hear how he was breathing and coughing. She took his shirt off and she and the doctor saw his chest, and the doctor told the nurse to get a breathing treatment and call 911. I felt like a terrible mother - I should have brought him earlier! I started crying :( I held him and gave him the treatment, then about 10 paramedics came in and started looking and listening to him. It was really scary for both of us! They went and got his car seat out of my car and strapped it right on the stretcher and we went in the ambulance to the hospital. When we got there he was still in distress so they gave him an hour long treatment. It was really hard to hold him still for that long! They also gave him an oral steroid and the doctors and nurses took a very complete history and listened and were very nice and helpful. He was improving but not enough to go home. He got a chest Xray and they said it and all his symptoms were consistent with asthma. They put some numbing cream on his hand just in case he had to get an iv, and brought him lots of toys to play with. They told us we would be spending the night so I called my dad and had him bring me a bag of stuff. I couldn't get a hold of Ken for several hours. He was on breathing treatments every 2 hours all night - and his oxygen kept dropping so they had to wake him up and give him oxygen, take his vitals, give him treatments it seemed like every 20 minutes, while I slept on the futon for midgets ;) By the morning he was doing much better, and they moved him to every 3 hour treatments and then every 4 hours. He was totally hyper from the "baby speed" aka albuterol, exhausted but couldn't sleep, but he really couldn't have been a better baby. All the nurses and doctors were gushing over how cute he is - lol. Madeleine stayed with my mom, we tried to have her spend the night at her house for the first time, but she refused to go to sleep so mom brought her home and put her in her own bed, and waited here for Ken until 1 am. Poor Mom!
Anyway, he is doing much better now, he's sleeping in his own bed. He is going to be on steroids for 3 more days, and the 4x a day albuterol treatments for a few more days, then he's supposed to see the pediatrician this week. He's also supposed to have some allergy testing done within the month. Right now I'm exhausted and sore and going to bed!
John Paul has had a cold/runny nose for about 4 weeks and couldn't kick it. So Tuesday I took him to his pediatrician (actually we saw the nurse practitioner) . She said she thought he had a sinus infection and put him on antibiotics AGAIN - 4th time in 4 months, and thought he might have allergies so she put him on zyrtec. He wasn't getting any better on either drug, and yesterday he woke up coughing quite a bit. We had planned on going to my cousin's house for a cookout about an hour north of here, so we went ahead and went. While we were there, he kept getting worse and worse, started wheezing and really having trouble breathing. I called the on-call nurse at our pediatrician and she told me to go to Urgent Care and he might need a breathing treatment. So we left and drove home to go to Urgent care. I dropped Madeleine off at mom's house and Ken had a wedding gig so he had to go set up. As soon as we got there, the waiting room was full but the nurse called me back immediately because she could hear how he was breathing and coughing. She took his shirt off and she and the doctor saw his chest, and the doctor told the nurse to get a breathing treatment and call 911. I felt like a terrible mother - I should have brought him earlier! I started crying :( I held him and gave him the treatment, then about 10 paramedics came in and started looking and listening to him. It was really scary for both of us! They went and got his car seat out of my car and strapped it right on the stretcher and we went in the ambulance to the hospital. When we got there he was still in distress so they gave him an hour long treatment. It was really hard to hold him still for that long! They also gave him an oral steroid and the doctors and nurses took a very complete history and listened and were very nice and helpful. He was improving but not enough to go home. He got a chest Xray and they said it and all his symptoms were consistent with asthma. They put some numbing cream on his hand just in case he had to get an iv, and brought him lots of toys to play with. They told us we would be spending the night so I called my dad and had him bring me a bag of stuff. I couldn't get a hold of Ken for several hours. He was on breathing treatments every 2 hours all night - and his oxygen kept dropping so they had to wake him up and give him oxygen, take his vitals, give him treatments it seemed like every 20 minutes, while I slept on the futon for midgets ;) By the morning he was doing much better, and they moved him to every 3 hour treatments and then every 4 hours. He was totally hyper from the "baby speed" aka albuterol, exhausted but couldn't sleep, but he really couldn't have been a better baby. All the nurses and doctors were gushing over how cute he is - lol. Madeleine stayed with my mom, we tried to have her spend the night at her house for the first time, but she refused to go to sleep so mom brought her home and put her in her own bed, and waited here for Ken until 1 am. Poor Mom!
Anyway, he is doing much better now, he's sleeping in his own bed. He is going to be on steroids for 3 more days, and the 4x a day albuterol treatments for a few more days, then he's supposed to see the pediatrician this week. He's also supposed to have some allergy testing done within the month. Right now I'm exhausted and sore and going to bed!
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Deceptively Delicious!
We had a fantastic Memorial day weekend - Ken had 4 days off, we went to the zoo, my brother and sister in law and nephews were here, we did a lot of swimming. It was wonderful. Too bad my camera is in my car and I'm too lazy to go get it, or y'all could see some pictures. I'm sure my SIL has some wonderful pictures on her blog ;)
So instead, my post is about forcing my son to eat a vegetable. Madeleine has never been a picky eater. Sure, she's annoying at mealtimes - plays with her food, stalls, tells stories, bangs her fork, etc. But she eats anything I give her. She loves all kinds of vegetables, fruit, beans, tofu, fish, anything I give her, she eats. It's been pretty great. John Paul, however, is much pickier. He thinks the food groups consist of meat, carbs (bread and pasta), fruit, and his favorite... boobs ;) I have tried all kinds of ways to cook vegetables and serve vegetables but he is not into it. He'll chew on an artichoke leaf for a second and then he throws it on the floor. If I dare to put a piece of avocado in his mouth, he will take it out and throw it as hard as he can. Pretty much any vegetable I give him goes on the floor. So my friend gave me the idea to break out the Deceptively Delicious cookbook again - by Jessica Seinfeld. I have that book and also the Sneaky Chef to the Rescue, but never really used them much since Madeleine wasn't picky. The concept is making vegetable purees and sneaking them into kids' food. So I bought several different kinds of vegetables at the store yesterday and made a bunch of purees - butternut squash, carrot, spinach and broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini. And I've tried several recipes. Last night I made "buttered" noodles - with butternut squash. He ate his entire helping and half of mine! It was delicious! Then this morning I made them "green eggs" which is scrambled eggs with spinach puree. (I am not an egg fan, especially during pregnancy, so I didn't try them) but the kids both gobbled them up. For lunch I made grilled cheese with carrot puree, and both kids and I loved it. It really was good. So I am loving this - he's eaten more vegetables in the past day and a half than in the past month. I have a stock of purees in the fridge and freezer now too, so I'll be using those recipes a lot. Tomorrow I'm making pizza with some kind of veggie puree in the sauce, and probably the banana bread. This weekend I'm making either the chocolate chip cookies with garbanzo beans (SO good! - Ken's all time favorite cookie!) or the chocolate cupcakes for our cookout. I'm still serving vegetables on the side so he'll get used to them, but I feel better that he's actually eating some of them.
So instead, my post is about forcing my son to eat a vegetable. Madeleine has never been a picky eater. Sure, she's annoying at mealtimes - plays with her food, stalls, tells stories, bangs her fork, etc. But she eats anything I give her. She loves all kinds of vegetables, fruit, beans, tofu, fish, anything I give her, she eats. It's been pretty great. John Paul, however, is much pickier. He thinks the food groups consist of meat, carbs (bread and pasta), fruit, and his favorite... boobs ;) I have tried all kinds of ways to cook vegetables and serve vegetables but he is not into it. He'll chew on an artichoke leaf for a second and then he throws it on the floor. If I dare to put a piece of avocado in his mouth, he will take it out and throw it as hard as he can. Pretty much any vegetable I give him goes on the floor. So my friend gave me the idea to break out the Deceptively Delicious cookbook again - by Jessica Seinfeld. I have that book and also the Sneaky Chef to the Rescue, but never really used them much since Madeleine wasn't picky. The concept is making vegetable purees and sneaking them into kids' food. So I bought several different kinds of vegetables at the store yesterday and made a bunch of purees - butternut squash, carrot, spinach and broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini. And I've tried several recipes. Last night I made "buttered" noodles - with butternut squash. He ate his entire helping and half of mine! It was delicious! Then this morning I made them "green eggs" which is scrambled eggs with spinach puree. (I am not an egg fan, especially during pregnancy, so I didn't try them) but the kids both gobbled them up. For lunch I made grilled cheese with carrot puree, and both kids and I loved it. It really was good. So I am loving this - he's eaten more vegetables in the past day and a half than in the past month. I have a stock of purees in the fridge and freezer now too, so I'll be using those recipes a lot. Tomorrow I'm making pizza with some kind of veggie puree in the sauce, and probably the banana bread. This weekend I'm making either the chocolate chip cookies with garbanzo beans (SO good! - Ken's all time favorite cookie!) or the chocolate cupcakes for our cookout. I'm still serving vegetables on the side so he'll get used to them, but I feel better that he's actually eating some of them.
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