#makeamothersday Some little trick I use....

I saw Courtney DeFeo's post calling moms witth blogs to share their tricks for making parenting easier and thought-"great! I love learning little tips and trick from other moms!!"

Then I realized I might have a few super simple things I can share that I've added to my arsenal for surviving, oh, I mean simplifying.

1. Make a pb and j less messy by stirring the pb and the j together in a bowl (or coffee cup) before spreading on your sandwich. 

No more jelly globs escaping from the kiddos grip! 

*this does not guarantee that they won't find another way to make a mess, but keeps the lunch box neater!

**this is also my secret dessert trick when we're out of everything else. My grand mommy made this for me when I spent the night at her house and I still love it. 

2. When we get a popcorn at Target I always ask for another empty bag before leaving the snack bar. I divide the popcorn among the two bags so they are sharing the snack without grabbing/ripping/hoarding the same bag.

You could do this with lots of thing when baby sister or brother insist on having their OWN snack.

3. Layer the crib bedding. The best unsolicited advice I've ever gotten and so the best unsolicited advice I love to give. When you make your sweet baby's bed put a waterproof mattered pad, then crib sheet, then another mattress pad and sheet. You can do three layers, I did 5 when my babies were babies. If a sheet gets messy, just take off a layer and you're ready to lay baby down on a clean bed! Genius!! Easy! No changing sheets in the middle of the night! Thank you, stranger in the baby store, thank you.

4. In the innermost secret zippered pocket of my purse there are always two ring pops. They are the absolute, SOS, hail-mary, last resort and have saved us when caught in the unexpected hour-long traffic and rural detour while on a trip, dried many tears. No one knows they are there-if they did then this trick wouldn't work.

5. I say yes when I can. Most of the time when the kids want to do something themselves or help me do something and I say no they'll ask over and over, possibly get in trouble and certainly have a bad attitude or melt-down. It can ruin 5 minutes or ruin a while day. By saying yes and letting them try, or help or learn they feel accomplished, we grow closer, and they typically only want to participate for a short while then move on to something else, leaving me to peacefully complete the job task just like I hoped to do in the first place. This is true at our house every day, 10 times a day. 

Helping to cook.

Sunglasses on by myself...wrong boots on the wrong feet....happy gal. 

Sprinkles on your snack...

You get the picture.

Click here to visit Courtney's blog Lil Light O'Mine and see more amazing tips and tricks from Mom's that will make you go "Ah-ha! That's Awesome!".

Happy Mother's Day Weekend, y'all!

Happy Heart

A happy heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. -Proverbs 17:22

Because meditating on a few ancient words from the lips of God will do more for me, today, than any parenting book ever written.

Teaching and learning is the constant cycle at our house. All day I'm teaching, teaching, teaching these little ones.

Don't run around with a mouthful of Skittles, you'll get choked. 

It's easier to take your socks off if you are sitting down.

We don't touch the garbage can. 

Don't drink bath water.

Say you're sorry.

Let's pray.

In this role as parent its easy to see yourself as a teacher, perhaps even one who knows everything and has all of the answers. Then your child turns 2 or becomes more independent or refuses to say sorry or just can't help himself from hurting others no matter what you have tried to teach him.

You realize you don't have all of the answers, in fact, by the time bedtime finally draws near you feel like you have no answers. Everything is a challenge, a battle, a test, a problem.

Then Hallelujah!
Its bedtime, he sleeps and you can prepare to get up and do it all again tomorrow.

We're in an interesting time with Jay. He is so sweet and loving, so thoughtful and well spoken. But then, out of nowhere some of the darnedest things come out of his sweet mouth and Joseph and I just look at each other, stunned.

I know we aren't the only parents who are going through this phase. I pray it is short lived for us and that he only acts out in this way in front of us and not in front of others.

We have been thinking that he simply does it for the reaction he gets, so we're being proactive by trying to give him lots of positive attention in the hopes that he will not seek out negative attention. But, he is in fact three and logic does not necessarily apply when you are three.

God showed me these words in Proverbs one recent morning and with all 5 members of this household being sick (yes, even the dog kept us up the night before) this verse stuck with me as I managed to pray and read a bit while following Lizzy toddle around the house and cooking breakfast.

I'm so thankful God speaks to us the words we need to hear.

I'm thankful that I could share these words with Jay that morning and Joseph and I can think about this message as we combat some of the surprises, challenges and frustrations life can throw at us.

A happy heart is good medicine.

Indeed.

We have much to be happy about. Its our job to reflect God's love and the joy that comes with it to others.

Even when it's hard. Even when I don't have any of the answers. Even when my job so clearly is not teaching, but learning.

A happy heart is good medicine.

I've been using this verse for weeks now. Repeating to myself. Speaking it to Jay. Explaining that happy words come from happy hearts. Happy hearts like to make others' hearts happy. Happy hearts make smiles and fun.

The night before his first day back at school I dug a heart shaped foam sticker out of our craft supplies and sharpi-ed a happy face onto it. Before bed, I showed that "happy heart" to Jay and together we put it on the inside of his lunchbox. We talked about it again in the morning in carpool .

Just this evening Joseph told me that he heard Jay telling his grandmother about his happy heart in his lunchbox. It was so good to hear that he was talking about it.

Today's Build 'Em Up topic is Creative Correction. At our house we use time-out for Jay and set a timer. It is effective in that it gives him a chance to think and us a chance to calmly discuss inappropriate behavior and sincere apologies. It isn't creative, but it gets the job done.

My only other "tactic" is what I've referred to as "filling in the blanks with Jesus". If we have time throughout the day where the kids are just playing around the house-I press play on their kids' worship cd. If we're reading books or just pulling them all off of the shelf, I will pick our Bible or one of our new prayer or devotional books or the Jesus Calling Storybook version and read a short story from it.

A happy heart is good medicine.

If we are having a particularly grumpy, ill-tempered, testing-the-boundaries kind of day I am reminded of this verse and try to turn it around by making sure my joy is visible and tangible. I will openly discuss things we are happy about and thankful for. A distraction of attitude if you will. What I'm learning is that this type of distraction is what we are called to do daily-whether we are adults or little adults in training. 

Thankful.

Happy.

It doesn't always keep bad behavior at bay, but it's been a simple way to remind a three year old (and thirty three year old) about being the person God has called us to be and changing our hearts to reflect love and joy rather than becoming mired in frustration and what isn't going our way.

A happy heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. 

I've linked up with the Build 'Em Up Series today and want to say thank you for stopping by and sharing your stories. I'm praying you are encouraged and lifted up daily by the wonderful work of raising little people. While we know it isn't easy it is important to show our children the joy we want them to know through Christ. Its vital that we change our hearts when necessary to reflect God's love, joy and peace to our children. I'm praying for you and that your love, joy and peace shine brightly, in all ways, at all times. 



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Winner, winner (not chicken) dinner

Yesterday, I told you about our nuggetless month. I thought I'd share some new favorites we've found.

1. Mini Tomatoes-orange, yellow and red. I first mentioned them here.

2. Fried Okra!

Photo Source

Remember, this has been a month of introducing new things and eating more veggies, not necessarily "clean" eating.

Jay really, truly likes okra now and has even ordered it instead of fries at a restaurant. Of course there's ketchup involved and that's okay with me.

Grab a bag of frozen, or make your own when okra's in season, get out your iron skillet and it takes half the time of making French fries in the oven!

3. Meatballs {2 ways}

I don't know about you but ever since this episode of Duck Dynasty, I've questioned myself when making spaghetti and meatballs.

I made turkey meatballs (added plenty of seasoning), browned in a skillet and added a jar of sauce then simmered for maybe an hour. I also used vegetable spaghetti noodles. Jay has asked for "bisghetti" and meatballs over and over.  Joseph also asked me what kind of sausage I used, so I would say I seasoned it well and we didn't need pizza.

I also made "porcupine" meatballs, again using ground turkey. I used a Lipton onion soup mix and one bag of (uncooked) brown minute rice to make my meatballs. I browned them in a skillet, added a can of cream of mushroom and some chicken broth and covered the skillet to simmer for about 40 minutes.

I served them with a big salad and some Mac-n-cheese, (made with veggie noodles). Lizzy and Jay both ate them easily and I will definitely be keeping this in our rotation.

Sorry no food photos. I can't figure out when food bloggers take awesome photos of "what's for dinner" whilst actually cooking, serving and eating dinner. Perhaps I'll get that figured out soon. 

That time I forgot to buy chicken...

Almost a month ago, a perfect storm came about...

I'd been feeling like I wasn't doing enough to keep healthy veggies on the menu for the kids...

Jay's 3 year checkup and encouragement from our doctor to get and keep Jay eating new fruits and veggies....

I totally flaked and forgot to buy chicken nuggets at the store.

So, I thought this might be a good time to force us to eat different things instead of going back to the freezer to ol' faithful night after night.

I'm happy to share that we survived a month without chicken nuggets for dinner.

Not to say the kids haven't had their fair share as in a few trips to CFA and a couple of dinners out with grandparents, but we have only had them out and in moderation which is a win in my book.

We've tried lots and lots of new foods, not had a single fit or meltdown and no one has had to go on a hunger strike. I'm proud of this little accidental experiment.

And, in full-disclosure I bought some nuggets today and will probably serve them to the kids for dinner tomorrow.

Here's what I've learned--

1. If you don't ask, you won't receive. On the first night of my attempt to "get Jay to eat more veggies" I just cooked some steam-in-the-bag-with-cheese frozen veggies, put 1/2  cup in a small bowl for him and 1/4 for Lizzy. I just asked Jay to eat them and explained that we'd be trying new things like Dr. Malone said. He proceeded to eat his veggies right along with the rest of his meal and was proud in the end. Don't ask why this was surprising to me, it just was.

2. Asking a toddler to try something new is not the same as asking him to pretend he likes it. I had to remind myself that my request to the kids each day was "try it". They did it!! They did not, however, always have a good reaction. Its important to realize they are toddlers, not 5th graders and they do not have to clean their plates or use polite compliments. Nor do they know how. If something was gross to them they let me know.

3. This is not about me. Its my job to offer the new experience and encourage them to try new things, it is not my job to force feed them things they do not like in the interest of saying "My kids eat all of their veggies." or "My kids eat anything I put in front of them." A rejection or acceptance of food is just that. It is not a reflection of my parenting, cooking or care for my kids. It just isn't.

4. Getting them involved helps. This is true with Jay at 3, not so much with Lizzy at 16 months. We've taken more trips to the grocery store and Whole Foods with Jay on foot rather than in the cart. While it is more expensive to go this route, it has proven to get him interested in the produce department, paying more attention to what he sees people eating (in real life and on TV), and tasting things.

5. Samples are your friend. I'm sure this is not always true, but it has helped me to buy things I ordinarily wouldn't have and would keep me from buying things the kids won't like if we try then at the store first. Again, probably not the best tip if you're trying to manage your grocery budget to the penny, but for this it worked. We discovered cherry tomatoes, cherries and guacamole that we liked by doing this. I never would have bought the tomatoes or the cherries. It also provides good conversation points to go back to later.

6. Hide the veggies. Some things we've tried outright and others have been hidden. Chocolate Chip (Zucchini) Muffins are a good example. We've also tried Sweet Potato Biscuits. Both are yummy.

7. There's a place for everything. Yes, I am going back to keeping some nuggets on hand. Why? Because my kids do really like them. They will try new things, eat some fruits and vegetables and sometimes eat chicken nuggets and applesauce. I want them to try new things and find new favorites, I also want them to enjoy mealtimes and treats from time to time. That's what we do as adults, so I see no need to set a false set of expectations for my kids. We're just a real family, not a commercial for "clean" eating.

This month has forced me to cook creatively and rely of some tried and true family favorite recipes. I'll try to share some more this week to help me remember what worked and what didn't  keep handy here on the blog.

We've tried new meats, veggies, fruits, breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinner. It became more of an all around "shake up the menu" than an attempt to try every veggie under the sun. Maybe you've been here before and can share some tips with me or maybe you're on this journey yourself and we can all learn from each other. 

Baking, sharing, giving, receiving

As most every other typical two year old in the history of the world, Jay's  been a tad precocious lately and challenging many of the things I thought I knew about this parenting thing.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Daddio and I have changed our approach in many ways, changed our thinking and our actions in hopes of maintaining some clear boundaries while keeping Jay from full-blown meltdowns every five minutes and talking ugly "between the buoys" as they say.

One of the areas we're struggling with is sharing. With the start of preschool and new baby sister, most of the ways we've addressed sharing is "Don't take things away", "give her that back", etc.

So, after months of struggle in this area (some weeks more than others, like everything, it happens in phases) I've started trying to teach sharing, rather than correcting mistakes. And, since I am most comfortable in the kitchen, we'll start here.

Jay gets a big wooden spoon and a bowl of bananas to mash. I measure and together we mix a batch of banana bread.

We prepare four small pans and bake them up and I wrap them--for sharing.

 

Our first batch we shared with a family that is friends with our family who lost someone this week. Jay overheard me on the phone saying "that's so sad" ( this was the morning of our first banana bread day, we'd just taken it out of the oven) he asked "who's sad?" So I got off of the phone and told him who was sad, but not why, and he said "we take her some and make her happy?!?" By the way he was smiling, I knew something was clicking.

As we were baking today's batch, I asked Jay who we should share his bread with. He was stacking the little pans and as he laid them out he named teachers at his school. Great! So, batch #2 will be delivered tomorrow.

The goal is that he can actively learn sharing and giving and happiness, rather than simply be corrected a for taking a toy for the gazillionth time.I hope we can continue this project and similar ways of actively learning to share rather than "no, No, NO" and "don't, stop, quit".

So, if you know us and we randomly show up on your doorstep bearing baked goods, I hope you enjoy them and know that I'm grateful for your gratitude as we experiment with life lessons...and recipes.

And if you're looking for a GOOD go-to banana bread recipe- look no further. This one is great and not too complicated to manage with a 2 year old in the kitchen-which is saying a LOT. We added chocolate chips today so, its a great Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe too! Here is the link to lots of banana bread variations that look awesome, too!

Oh and today, we also baked a big loaf to keep at our house. Lessons learned for a happy marriage.

More than you want to know about a trip to the grocery....

***Warning-this post is heavy on booze and Jesus.***

Here we go...

Checking out at the grocery store one morning this week, the kids were wrangled, groceries were bagged and as I turned from my cart to pay I glanced at the lady in line behind me and noticed she had only two items in her cart. 2-4 packs of small bottles of wine. At 9:30 a.m. On a Tuesday.

I froze.

My heart pounded and I wanted to cry for her, for myself for everyone living with alcoholism--whether its their own or someone else's.

My head was spinning, I looked her in the eye, inside I was shouting "IT ISN'T WORTH IT!!" Because I knew, I knew that this woman wasn't picking up party favors, or planning for a trip to the beach. She wasn't planning to celebrate a big win for her favorite team or celebrate a neighbor's retirement.

She was filling a void. Feeding a demon. Dulling herself. 

Instead of offering her any of the words swirling in my head, I finished my transaction, told the cashier "thank you" and could only muster a "Be Careful." to the woman behind me.

After loading the car and getting the kids settled I was about to drive away and noticed the woman walking to her car. It was a beautiful spring morning, she was smiling and looked fairly put together. She opened her trunk, put the wine in, put her purse down beside it and slipped a bottle into her purse, then picked up a plain plastic cup from the trunk and put it in the driver's side of her car, with her purse. She returned her cart, got in her car and proceeded to pour herself a drink.

I knew each step she would take before she did it. I have known steps like these most of my life. 

At 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, I felt like I was watching my mother as I watched this stranger. I was praying, praying, praying for her, for her safety and wanted to jump out of my car and talk to her, but I couldn't. I felt like a 12 year old girl, afraid because I knew the truth and afraid to let anyone know I knew the truth.

This woman has been on my mind nonstop. I shared this story with my husband AND MY MOTHER. I can't stop thinking about this woman and the countless others like her. I can't stop thinking of her family and whomever she is "hiding" her addiction from. (By the way, most who struggle to hide addiction are nowhere near as slick as they think they are. The ones who love you know what you're hiding. They just love you too much to confront the issue. They are afraid it will hurt you more than you're hurting yourself already.)

I've prayed for this woman, her family and her pain. I've prayed for my family and any other families and their pain. I've prayed that somehow, she will know--they will know what I couldn't bring myself to say.

  You are loved immeasurably more than I can ever tell you. Whatever pain you have, whatever secrets you're keeping, whatever you're numbing, whatever deep-dark-ugly place in your heart hurts--GOD IS THERE. 

God can take your hurt, your secrets and the darkest of deep places and shine a light upon it that will heal you. A light that is your gift from him--that casts away all darkness and will carry you to a place of eternal joy and peace. Its a joy that cannot be robbed, a peace that cannot be shaken.

You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be who God made you to be. He did not create the miracle that you are so that you could live your life in pain, sadness, spinning your wheels, feeling worthless. He created you, in His image, to be a light in the darkness. He loves you despite your "flaws", despite your mistakes, despite yourself. His desire is for you to know this and share in His love and His light for all of eternity. 

I wanted this woman to know she wasn't alone. Ever. I wanted her to know that whatever it was worth to her to drink this morning and hide it from someone was NOTHING in comparison to the turmoil and heartache addiction causes everyone it touches.

I wanted this woman to know that others have walked in her shoes, others have been where she is, and I know one woman in particular would tell her that she is killing her self and it just isn't worth it. At least that's what my mom told me today when I told her about the woman from the grocery store that I couldn't get off of my mind.

I know God is showing me things like this for a reason, I don't know yet what the reason is. I do know that as I have gone about my day today I knew I had to write this and share it somehow, even though I tried to talk myself out if it a million times. I even mopped the floors as a way of procrastinating until the end of nap time to avoid blogging today, and wouldn't you know the kids are STILL asleep.

So, that's more than you ever wanted to know about a trip to the grocery store, but thanks for sharing in this with me.

12.14.12

On my knees, alone in my dining room I recited The Lord's Prayer 27 times over.

I couldn't bring myself to sing "Jesus Loves Me" when I put the kids to bed tonight. I just couldn't make the words come out--my heart felt like it would burst. 

I've prayed with every fiber of my being today for those who are suffering both from today's tragic events and those who are heartbroken, afflicted, grieving or lost for any other host of reasons. 

I pray that the light of Christ will burn brightly in the darkest depths of grief.

I pray that the light of Christ will light the way to teach the world a great many lessons from today's terrible headlines and stories. 

I pray that the light of Christ will shine in me and reflect onto everyone I'm close to and every single person who may cross my path. 

Lord, let your light shine and remove darkness from every corner of the Earth, from every secret place in our souls from the most forgotten depths of every heart. Now and Forever. Amen. 

My Husband Hates Pot Roast

Oh, the hubs and his preferences! Just teasing-in general he's a traditional guy--a meat and potatoes man. Just don't put the meat and potatoes in the crock pot and simmer for a few hours-then he's a "I'll just stop and get something on the way home" kinda man.

I personally like pot roast and have had to adapt a bit throughout our married life to try to replace this universally well-liked go-to dinner from our menu. This week I had two success stories that were inexpensive, easy and well received. I thought I would share them here if anyone else is looking for new family dinner recipes.

Pork Loin
(this should have a better name, but I kinda made it up so name it yourself and call it your own!)
1.5 lb Pork Loin
Dijon Mustard
Lipton Onion Soup mix
Salt (few dashes), Pepper (1 tablespoon?)
Other spices on hand ( i used dried ginger and allspice) probably a tablespoon of each.
Most of a 10 oz. jar of CHUNKY Applesauce
EVOO

I patted the pork dry, then coated with Dijon mustard, mixed the spices together and sprinkled over all sides of the pork. Browned the loin on all sides in a heated skillet with evoo, then set aside. I added the onion soup mix and 1/2 water to the hot skillet to "de-glaze"and recapture the lost spices and mustard and renderings from the pork. Placed the pork in the Crock Pot on low for 4 hours, poured the contents of the skillet and most of the jar of applesauce on top.

Jay had the rest of the applesauce for lunch. :)

It was really good, I served with shredded cabbage and John's Slaw Dressing and mac-n-cheese.

Tomato Beef Bake (you could call this roast)
2 lb. Oven Roast
Lipton Onion Soup Mix
Salt (dash) Pepper (several grinds)
Sprinkle of flour
Jar of Sliced Mushrooms, drained
can of Hunt's Diced Tomatoes w Onion and Garlic

Coated the Roast with dry soup mix, pepper, salt then dusted lightly with flour. Add mushrooms and tomatoes, cover and bake (could Crock Pot this and it would be awesome, but I didn't have 4 hours to spare) 350 degrees-90 minutes. Serve over rice. I served with green beans.

One day, when I don't have a 16-month-old on my hip and a baby in my tummy, I might try to photograph some things while cooking. Right now, it's impossible. That's life. 

Food Challenge: Week 1

Something you should know before we get started: As a rule, I am the most boring grocery shopper ever. It really NEVER occurs to me to "shop" while I'm getting groceries. I buy what I know and that is it. I am largely brand-loyal and boring. Some of these things may seem like no-brainers to you but for me this week has really been shaking things up. Overall I think week 1 went well for all of us!

Wednesday Lunch:
Black Bean and Cheese Quesadilla-whole wheat tortilla with mashed black beans, cheddar cheese, toasted (I didn't want to cook it in a pan with added butter), pineapple
Result: Jay loved it! Very Easy. Day 1 is a success.

Thursday Lunch:
Egg Salad Sammy-Easy and a no-brainer? Check and check..BUT since we're breaking the mold here Jay had cereal (like a big-kid) and fruit for breakfast and he is not a big meat-eater, so I thought Egg Salad for lunch would be a good way to get in some protein.
Result: B, the only negative being that Jay isn't really wild about cold foods, but we're learning!

Thursday Dinner:
Chicken and Broccoli Penne the best thing about this recipe? I had everything to make it already at my house! Fast and simple. It's amazing what happens when you look at the back of the box! *Note: I used some Tyson Simply Grilled diced chicken that was already in my freezer, so my version was even faster and easier. Also, I think it would serve 6 people easily. I froze half and we still had leftovers.
Result: A

Friday Snack:
Yummy Muffins from this Yummy Recipe I found over at The Mastins-Whitney mentions when giving the recipe that it could be a little sweeter, so I added about a cup of Golden Raisins that I just had in the pantry. The muffins were good and veggie-packed, Jay ate two for snack.
Result: B+, Daddio was not a fan, but I drizzled just a touch of cream cheese frosting on some that we ate for breakfast and they were much better for him.

Saturday Breakfast:
Multi-grain frozen waffles, cream cheese and strawberries
Result: A+ added bonus of the house not smelling like Waffle House. :)

Sunday Dinner:
Pre-made refrigerated Spinach and Cheese Ravioli--yes, it was convenient and another good way to get a few servings of veggies in without heating up canned, processed veggies, so it achieved my main goal. It was very quick and something I've never tried before. I probably could have made a more wholesome choice here, but it's better than spaghettios and something we could all eat.
Result: C, Fast but a tad "blah".

Monday Leftovers.

Tuesday Lunch:
Chicken Salad and Crackers, Hummus and Crackers and fruit
Result: A++. The hummus was very well received! Maybe it will be helpful as we add more meats and veggies.

That wraps up week 1. I hope to continue our challenge next week so we can keep expanding our wholesome food horizons. I'd love to hear what your kids are eating and what keeps things interesting and healthy for you!

Issuing a challenge

I receive a number of daily emails from parenting and pregnancy websites and magazines filled with updates on safety recalls, top 10 tips for getting baby to do this or that, shedding baby weight, etc. Usually I scan through a few every day or so, sometimes while in line on errands, waiting for Jay to wake up and what not.

Because I scan through them haphazardly, I retain very little of the information but one tid-bit I read months ago has stuck in the back of my mind for months-

"If you ate only what your child ate for a week, would you be healthy?" 

I have to say, the answer is yes, probably healthier than if I am making the choices for myself. But this week I've asked myself, "But would you be bored?" again I think the answer is YES.

At 13 months Jay's daily menu looks like this-
Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg with a dash of ketchup, 1 biscuit with grape jelly and 1/2 cup of fruit, 8 oz. whole milk.
Lunch-Chicken Noodle soup, Spaghettios, Ravioli, Beefaroni, or maybe some leftover pasta, veggies like green beans or Lima beans or cooked carrots, 1/2 cup of fruit 8 oz. whole milk
Snack: YoBaby yogurt, vanilla goldfish or a fig newton, milk
Dinner: Veggies (above) pasta or starch that we are having for dinner, 1/2 cup fruit (almost always strawberries, pineapple, occasionally melon)

Every.Single.Day.

While I take a great deal of pride in his balanced, colorful meals and the fact that overall he is a good eater, I am somewhat ashamed by the fact that lunch and snacks everyday are canned-pre-made and boring.

So, I'm challenging myself over the next few weeks. My goal is to introduce new foods and present balanced meals everyday that are outside of our standard, mindless grab a can from the pantry and nuke it.

Not that I am trying to become a baby gourmet, but the hope is that everyday we will be able to enjoy new meals while maintaining the easy mealtimes that we both love.

Wish us (all) luck!