Something to Ponder

If you ever wanted to see the list of ingredients in vaccines...here you go. I wouldn't put that junk in myself. I most certainly wouldn't put that junk in my growing baby.

The Sneaky Chef

Most of you know that Emma has some pretty severe food allergies. She is also EXTREMELY picky about what she will eat, so meal times have become a battle. Where she once used to adore all veggies, now she will only eat peas. Her list of foods can basically be tallied on my two hands. Needless to say I have been extremely concerned about what to do. We are quickly approaching cold season, and I would really prefer her immune system be up to par so we don't catch every single cold. This would require her to eat a little better than mac and cheese and goldfish.

Enter The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine. I was desperate to find some help, so I checked this out from the library. Now I intend to buy it and go find the author and hug her. Her concept is basically to create several different kinds of purees once a week ranging from carrot sweet potato puree to blueberry spinach. Then she has several different recipes that you disguise these things into. The point is basically that you are giving your kids veggies in their usual favorite meals, only they are redone so they are healthy but taste very similar. She claims that you can gradually increase the veggies and things until your kids are used to the taste and will even eat them outright. I admit I was skeptical at first. I made the Grilled Cheese Muffins for Emma this morning at breakfast and I waited for her to throw it off her high chair. Imagine my surprise when she ate not one but TWO!!! And then she ate another one for lunch!!!! I called my mom maniacally laughing screaming "I win!!!!!" The recipe called for 3/4 cup of carrot sweet potato puree and she didn't taste it!! My only caveat would be that I don't personally think it tasted all that great, though I could not taste the veggies. In other words, it wouldn't be the kind of thing you and your hubby would necessarily eat. But who cares?! You are getting your kid to eat veggies! I am currently making the breakfast cookies for tomorrow morning, and I feel the same way about them. They are a little bland to me. But I don't care at all if it means Emma will eat something that's actually good for her for a change. I would HIGHLY recommend this book. While I don't agree with the concept of being deceitful, I do think we as moms need to be creative and make these things palatable for our kids. If that means disguising it, then by all means I am ok with that. But I would not flat out lie as the author hints at doing in places. Anyway, it's a great book.

The other thing I want to recommend is callendula cream. Back when I was nursing Emma I was given a container of straight callendula cream for cracking and soreness while nursing. Well Emma has recently started sucking her thumb really hard and making it crack and almost bleed. I was looking around for my container of Aquafore (sp?) when I found the callendula. I thought, you know it's for cracking skin, and if it was okay to nurse with then surely I could put it on her thumb. I tried it and a few hours later you couldn't tell the skin had been cracking. I was so thankful! So if you have any issues like this, check out callendula. It's a nice safe natural way to deal with the problem!

Outside Adventures

Since I really really really dislike hot weather, poor Emma never got to go outside unless there was a pool involved. Now that it's so nice and cool in the morning and evening, we go outside everyday and explore. Emma has loved every minute. It's so fun to watch her learn about her surroundings! So here are some pictures of our adventures outside. Oh and yes, it was raining, but who cares. She needed a bath anyway!

Such Sweetness

Emma and I had been playing quietly in her room because Brian is sick. When she started to act really sleepy, I told her she was going to get in her crib now and proceeded to pick her up. She immediately looked at me and said "night night." It was so precious!!

Another product shout out

I just wanted to recommend this workout video I have been using called Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds. I got the 1,2, and 3 mile workout videos from the library, and I absolutely LOVE them! I jumped right into the 2 mile walk since I was already walking, and I don't always use weights (which are a very manageable 3 pounds when you do chose to.) I have been doing it consistently the past couple of weeks, and coupled with watching what I eat I have actually managed to lose a pound or two! It isn't a quick workout, per se, but you really do feel better after doing it. It's not cheesy, and the instructor is actually a christian. It's really not hard to do, and it offers a no excuse way to work out since you're doing it in your own home. I have been really happy with it, and it's the first video I've done in a long time that I really like doing. So if you were looking for something new, give it a try.

Peanut Butter

Trisha introduced me to this great peanut butter she got from Publix called Naturally More Peanut Butter.. It's only $3.29 for the container, which is a better price than you would pay to get the freshly ground stuff from Whole Foods. Basically it's peanut butter mixed with ground flax, egg whites, wheat germ, and flax seed oil. It is really good, really good for you, and comparatively cheap! It's really not much more than you'd pay for the regular stuff! I found mine in the organic section, but Trisha found hers with the regular peanut butter, so it could be in either place. Oh, and when you first open it you have to stir it quite a bit, but since you store it in the fridge it thickens and that's less of a problem. So there you go...Emma is up from her nap and is singing her "come get me!!!" song..tata

A round-up

I have found several sites in my meanderings that are either really enjoyable to read or have great advice or tell you about great deals. I figured I should share them with all of you, and hopefully you can find helpful stuff from them too!

(p.s. keep scrolling! I posted another post too! I know I know..when it rains it pours!)

http://thefashionablehousewife.com/ - This one gives cute fashion advice and deals
http://momfinds.com/blog/# - This one gives good deals and they have contests
http://mikeadamick.com/blog7/ - This one I already mentioned before; Great for a laugh!
http://www.starfall.com/ - Emma loves to look at the letters on this one! Speech therapist approved too =). Rebecca first brought it to my attention.
http://home.comcast.net/%7Esbreaden/datelist.htm - Great for finding consignment sales.
http://www.mom4life.com/ - Lots of "Why didn't I think of that?" products.
http://thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com/ - The same quads blog Kelley talked about.


Hope you enjoy these!

Almost Fall!

Fall is my all time favorite season. It's such a pleasant change of pace from the horrid hot weather and I plan on spending every single day with Emma at the park. I cannot wait for 70 degree temps and sweater weather! I am so excited!!!!

Well, not too much has happened these past few weeks. Brian started back with little fanfare, and is loving all his classes. He is gone a lot, but he is home Tuesdays so it gives us a nice break in the middle of the craziness. Emma waves goodbye every morning and cries when he leaves. It's heartbreaking because three days a week that's the only time he sees her. But it is nice that she loves her daddy so much.
Emma is doing great and has hit a huge growth spurt. Suddenly (to me) her infant carrier was way too small so we had to go get a big girl one. She loves facing forward and seems to like sitting in it in general. I bought her a pair of 12-18 month pants from old navy that she wore for the first time today and they were too tight!! When I took them off for bedtime there was a red ring around her waist! And MUCH to my shock they were almost the right length, just a little too long. She is not a baby anymore, and we were just in awe today of how long she is and just how old she looks! A few days ago I showed her bubbles and she immediately said bubble back to me. She now says it when she sees the bottle or even if she doesn't and she wants to play with them. It was her fastest word so far. It usually has taken a few weeks to get one down, so doing it in a matter of minutes was definitely new! She points to every radio and dances, and when I ask her if she wants music she goes crazy. She is starting to pretend a little bit, and loves to play with me or without me depending on how much sleep has been had and how bored she is =). All in all she is doing great! Did I mention I cannot believe she isn't a baby anymore?
I am doing great. Emma and I both got awful colds this week, and mine had moved into my chest yesterday. I was really concerned that I was going to get bronchitis, but it seems to be clearing up today for which I am extremely thankful. I guess taking it easy really does help =). Other than that, I have just been kicking around with Emma and enjoying watching her grow!

Last night, Brian's boss gave us his tickets to the last pre-season Falcon's game, which were on the 45 yard line in the executive level. We went with the secretary and her husband and we had a great time! Just before we left, Brian's boss told us he had called ahead and made reservations for us at the nicest restaurant there and he was paying for it. It was so unexpected and so sweet. It was fantastic and we really had a great time. Then when we went to our seats, four rather large women were sitting there. When it became apparent they were in no mood to move, we opted to take their intended seats, which were on the 50 yard line. Darn. Nicer seats? Do we have to? It was really really nice. It is THE way to go to a football game and I would TOTALLY do it again. I was very skeptical, but Andy insisted I go just to get the experience and I am SOOO glad he made me!
So without further ado, here are some pictures of our fun last night, as well as some cute ones of Emma playing the piano (which she LOVES to do, by the way. She will sit there and play then look at me with a big grin on her face, clap, and play some more. Precious!!)