Developing Taste Buds

I know most of you know my opinions about getting kids to eat healthy... start them young! So, when I read this article I was so excited! I was feeling way more than validated. It's an interview with Dr. Allan Greene. Dr Greene is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, an Attending Pediatrician at Packard Children's Hospital, and a Senior Fellow at the University California San Francisco Center for the Health Professions. He has a couple of books out there on feeding baby. The interview focuses on things like feeding baby whatever the family is eating, even peanut butter! He suggests that holding off on allergenic foods might make a child more susceptible to the allergy (when there is not already a history of allergens). When we feed our babies exciting foods early they learn to love them. Here's the interview. Here's a link to his website. Here's some proof from my family... Both Elijah and Luci loved this cobb salad complete with lettuce, cabbage, grapes, carrots, cucumbers, shrimp, and eggs. The trick to getting Eli to eat it is chopping it up in a food processor or blender with a little salad dressing.

Also, his little blurb about milk was such an answer to my prayers today.

These Two

Oh, lately I've just been feeling a little frazzled. Okay, a lot frazzled. My little kiddos have been sucking the life out of me...one of them literally right... Elijah wakes up 3 times a night, he's getting teeth, he actually wants to be held where he used to be so content, he wants to eat real people food, he gets mad at his toys when they won't come to him. Luci wants to be held because Elijah is getting held, "you're my mommy too, I need some attention." She always has to go potty as soon as I say I need to go, she wants all her food 'on the side' everything separated, she needs me to sit next to her to watch her shows. She's constantly thinking of things she needs..."but mommy, I need...I need...I need...I need something!" It makes me so frustrated! But then when I sit down to rock Eli and massage his swollen little gums I really just wish I could do it forever. When I finally lay down on the couch so Luci can listen to my heart, give me shots, take my blood pressure, and tell me to be brave becuase, "this is just going to hurt for a second mommy" I wish I would have done it sooner. Everything that comes out of her mouth is so cute when I take the time to listen. She loves to fix Jacob's broken heart. He tells her that his heart breaks when he has to leave in the mornings because he will miss her so much. So, Luci tells him to sit down and do a puzzle with her because that always fixes broken hearts "it will make you feel better daddy".

disclaimer: my kids are really, really good kids by the way, I'm just a crazy mom sometimes...lack of sleep can probably sum that up, well mostly...

My Babies

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.


by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

7:02 pm

It just took one hour for Luci to go to sleep. I'm not sure if it's because Jacob wasn't here tonight, or if she really just couldn't live without that one extra song that she begged over and over for. While she was up there she practiced saying 'no' in her meanest voice over and over, said she needed to go potty a million times, informed me that she was 'awake now mommy', cried for her special blankie (which she can't have b/c she peed on it this morning and I haven't washed it yet), etc... what a crazy lady. I love her though, I do. I love the way she stroked my hair as I finally gave in and rocked her til' she calmed down, love the way she tells me I'm the 'bumb' except she really means to say the 'bomb', love the way she eats vegetables dipped in blue cheese, love the way she gives me arm tickles when she's sitting on my lap, love the way she holds my face right next to hers when she has something important to say, love her energy. Just love her.

Eli took exactly 2 minutes to go to sleep tonight. Seriously, what a chill guy. He fussed a little so I knew he was tired. I wrapped him up in his soft blue blankie and he smiled at me. I sang him two songs, layed him down, and left him there wide awake. Went back two minutes later to find him out cold. love him. Love the way he gets excited when we read him books, love how chunky he's getting, love his deep blue eyes, love his cute little noises and the conversations we have, love how he enjoys his bath.

Life is good peeps. later gaters.

Lessons

Lately I've been learning a lot of lessons. Lessons that probably would have seemed really hard if they were in any previous time in my life. Okay not really hard...maybe just a little difficult. Learning how to balance 2 children, a husband with a job, and my own needs and wants is definitely a puzzle. I have found that I can get by on the basics, like cereal for breakfast, jammies all day, popping in a movie for luci when I'm tired, making frozen ravioli, saving jobs for Jacob to do when he get's home, etc... But I enjoy my life so much more when it pushes me to my limits. When I plan fun adventures, yummy food, when I read good books, have meaningful scripture study, plan interesting crafts and activities, look pretty for my husband, take care of my home, and really soak in every moment with my children.

This is all interesting to me because while I find that I enjoy my life more, I am also tremendously tired at the end of every day, and some moments are really stressful as I try to be intentional in everything that I do. Sometimes it's because I don't plan good enough, or I plan too much. It's hard to fail and have your day blow up in your face. Something my dad taught me though is that, "if you don't get hurt sometimes then you're not trying hard enough". So, I've been pushing myself and praying for strength. Strength to push through the tired moments with a smile on my face, to not complain when I want to , to be okay with the times that I do get hurt. I really have to rely on the Lord, especially when I'm starting to lose patience. You say, "how could I ever lose patience with that sweet little curly haired red head" well, I'm sorry to say that sometimes I do. She doesn't deserve it though.

A few things that have really helped me lately to have perspective in this phase of my life as a young mother are

1. Country Music...yes it's true. They're always singin' about how "you're gonna miss this" you know, when you're kids grow up. It's so true though. My babies are going to be 24 and I'm going to be 50 before I know it.

(She's practically 24 and mothering me already)

2. Other's experiences that have been or are much more difficult than mine. I listened to an episode of Everything Creative on the Mormon Channel yesterday. It was about a mother with an amazing story. She had some really hard things to handle, and yet she did it creatively. It was Episode 7. Listen to it when you have a little while, maybe while you're folding laundry...

3. The Scriptures. We're studying the old testament in Sunday School, and we have a great teacher... Anyway, the children of Israel had some pretty stinkin' hard trials. The women who traveled with Nephi and Lehi too. Bearing children in the wilderness, surviving on raw meat, yucK! Okay, and the ultimate example and heroine to me is Eve. The first woman on earth, no parenting books to read, no internet to look up what to do when your child's temp. is 105 degrees. Not even a mother to call to ask for help. No one to babysit while she ran some errands, or planted her garden. Wow, I really am glad that she did it, and not me.

So, even though I'm tired, I love my life. And I know that I'm doing what I'm supposed to. When I'm intentional about it I feel so much better.

Happy

Oh, we are tired but we are happy. Okay, Luci's not tired, just happy. Luci is as cute as ever. She says the funniest things. She keeps us laughing all the time. Here are a some of them,

"Luci, what's on daddy's face?"

"--Fur"

"Cheer up Charlie, Don't be afraid"

She loves to request either Blue Cheese or Caesar for her salad.





















Mom came to town to help and visit for a week. We are so grateful that she came! And Pops too :) He came for the last couple of days. Luci loved all the attention, and so did I. Thank you mom, we miss you already.

Bliss

Today was day number 5 of luci being sick...again. This time she's had a high fever and no other symptoms, so the doctor finally decided to put her on antibiotics just in case. Well, that means more antibiotics for poor little luci. And lots of days waiting in our cute little house until she gets better. Jacob is super busy volunteering, working, fulfilling his church callings, working out, reading, and driving to and from his externship. He only comes home at a decent time twice a week. Otherwise it's just me in my little house while Luci sleeps. It's really hard to motivate myself to eat good, among other things, when he's not around to cook for. So, when my visiting teachers dropped by these cookies, the battle had begun. To eat dinner, or to eat chocolate chip cookies. In the end I ate both. Some cookies before, during, and after dinner though. This was my favorite, Smore's sandwich. Have you ever tried it? Why have I never tried it before?? I think Elijah might have more of a sweet tooth than is humanly possible. Sweets have been just so wonderful lately. So has my luci girl. She certainly is not quiet, or still, ever. But she is wonderful. She really does "make me happy when sky's are grey". Every night, as I pick up her little things, shoes, purses, pictures she's scribbled, I can't help but be happy.

A Life Saver Smoothie

While this combination might look somewhat odd to some of you, I'm sure many of you would agree with me about it's life saving abilities. Oh the green drink. So delicious when made right. It's one of the only things I can get Luci to eat when she's sick, or refusing vegetables. It's so nice for me to know that I can drink a big glassful of this and get so much out of it! Because really, it is hard to make sure you get in those leafy greens everyday. This is one of our favorite combinations:

1.5 cups water
2 tbs oj concentrate
1 cup plain yogurt
3 tbs ground flaxseed
1/2 cup frozen raspberries or blueberries
1 orange
1 large banana
as much kale or spinach as you can handle!

The benefits:

The oj and banana completely kick the flavor of the greens, and add vitamins. The flax meal gives omega 3's, magnesium, fiber, and more. Plain yogurt for texture, calcium, pro-biotics (especially good when taking antibiotics), and vitamin D. Raspberries have anti-oxidants, vitamin C, iron, vitamin A, and more calcium. Oranges, well we all know the good things about oranges. Bananas equal potassium, better texture, and flavor. And kale, oh kale, just look at the charts on this baby here.

I have lots to post about, so look forward to some more posts. I hope I can squeeze them in before this baby comes! It's technically only a month away you know.

Dry and Clean

This is what we are doing today...

While it does this outside...

Most schools are closed today because of the snow, of course Jacob is lucky enough to get out a whopping 30 minutes early. Come on law school, you're not really that hard core are you? Speaking of Law School, ya-hoo for Jacob who came home with a few pretty awesome grades yesterday. I'm so proud. There are still more to come...
I'm so proud of my Luci too. She is doing a great job potty training so far :) Feel free to call and congratulate her, she loves the praise and sure it helps reinforce the training. Along with the chocolate, fruit snacks, pretzels, and Cheetos... Fun stuff!

A fussy one

This little one has been giving me quite a test the last week or so. For some reason she refuses to sleep. She just screams instead. To the point that she has lost her cute little voice several times. So she's completely overtired, bags under her eyes and all. This means days filled with, "NO!, no, No!"coming from her sweet little mouth. Distraction is a great tool. Especially reading and her baby doll. Poor girl.

Well, last night Jacob gave her a priesthood blessing and decided to put her in a different room. She still fussed for a little bit, but no screaming! I wonder if she is afraid of something in her room? Is it separation anxiety from starting nursery at church? I guess she'll be sleeping in her pack and play until we figure it out. Until then, I'm so glad it's the weekend so Jacob can help me...I was starting to go crazy. I did crazy things yesterday. I almost bought hostess donuts at the store, and I made macaroni and cheese with canned peaches for dinner. Those that know me can attest that those things are considered crazy for me. Since I really don't like packaged mac and cheese, and hostess donuts are packed with hydrogenated oil (a contraband in our home). Pray for me my friends and for my sweet little girl to get over her fears.

Last Week

I made some muffins last week. They have a ridiculously long ingredient list and I'm not sure what to call them. We'll just say they were Pear, zucchini, flax, banana muffins. Yummy, healthy snacks are a must have around our house. Mostly for me, since I am constantly hungry. Well, okay so is Luci. So if I don't make healthy snacks then we end up eating pretzel sticks and cheese everyday. Okay! We still eat those everyday too. Anyway. On with the story. So I put Luci on the back porch to eat her muffin while I cleaned up a little. I could hear Luci saying, "Mmm, Nummy, muffins, mmm, nummy, (pause for chewing), Mmm! Nummy, muffins." Literally the whole time she was eating. You could say I felt pretty good about my muffins. It's so fun to have a child that appreciates my cooking. A husband too.

Speaking of the husband. What a charmer he is. I'm glad that now you all know why I like him so much.

I'll Always Be There For You

While doing some research for a family home evening lesson on respect I found this story that gave me an urgent desire to instill this phrase in Luci and my (hopefully soon to come) other children. Do our children know that they are uncomprehendingly loved? Do they know that we will be there for them no matter what? This talk by President James E. Faust can be found here.

Warning**...Tear Jerker

In 1989 there was a terrible earthquake in Armenia that killed over 30,000 people in four minutes. A distraught father went in frantic search of his son. He reached his son’s school only to find that it had been reduced to a pile of rubble. But he was driven by his promise to his son, “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!” He visualized the corner where his son’s classroom would be, rushed there, and started to dig through the debris, brick by brick.

Others came on the scene—the fire chief, then the police—warning him of fires and explosions, and urging him to leave the search to the emergency crews. But he tenaciously carried on digging. Night came and went, and then, in the 38th hour of digging, he thought he heard his son’s voice. “Armand!” he called out. Then he heard, “Dad!?! It’s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told ’em that if you were alive, you’d save me and when you saved me, they’d be saved. …

“There are 14 of us left out of 33. … When the building collapsed, it made a wedge, like a triangle, and it saved us.”

“Come on out, boy!”

“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, ’cause I know you’ll get me! No matter what, I know you’ll be there for me!”

All family relationships should be honored including those to our kindred dead. Love, service, and help should flow between brothers and sisters and the extended family.