Talkin toddler snacks and food, yo

We are so blessed to live in this age where moms come up with brilliant ideas and market them to the general public.

Here are some things I love right now. A few of these are from companies started by moms. I love that!:

Camelback Water Bottle
I have a water bottle like this that I use every single damn day. It was great when I was nursing all the time when the boys were newborns and I was dying of thirst. I'd fill it up in the morning and with the handy ring in the top, could easily tote it around the house, along with my boppy under one arm and the baby in the other. When I saw that they had these at Target for kids in the lunch aisle, I balked at the $12 price tag, but it was the only green water bottle they had and JM needed one for school, so I splurged. Have I mentioned that JM has a small green obsession? It MUST be green. Anyway, this bottle has been well worth the money. Every morning I fill up both our bottles with ice water and it reminds us to drink water all day. I love these things. JM uses his little hook to carry his into school, so that's one less thing I have to carry!

Goodbyns

JM's teacher has told me no less than 10 times how much she loves JM's lunchbox. It's great for toddlers because he virtually needs no help opening bags or boxes to retrieve his lunch. He takes off the lid himself and voila, lunch is served. I love it, because I don't need any ziploc bacs or other containers. Having all those little compartments helps me get creative with his lunches, adding all sorts of nuts (tree nuts are okay in his classroom, thank God), veggies and dips. Once in a while they'll have these on Gilt.com deal emails or do a Google search for coupons on them.

Portable fruit and veggie purees

I have no problem getting my boys to eat fruit of any sort, so packing up a little snack cup of blueberries for an on the go snack is an easy no-brainer, the truth is that I'm lazy and getting out fruit and a cup and finding the lid is way more than I can handle most days. Enter the portable smoothie and purees. These are an awesome thing to throw in the diaper bag. I love that some of them have veggies in them, so they get veggies, too. It's fun to watch John Michael sucking down spinach because he's keen on the "green" of the smoothie package. You can get these at Babies R Us (sometimes they have 10 for $10 which is still expensive, but you pay for convenience! :)

Brothers Freeze-dried fruit crisps
My friend Karen brought these to playgroup when our older kids were like a year old and all the little toddlers gobbled them up like candy. The only place I've ever seen them is Costco, but I think you can order them on the interwebz through (evil) Amazon.com (who is currently selling a book showing a picture of the Virgin Mary in a bikini which disgusts me, so I'm currently boycotting) They are like $14 for a huge pack of them, but they are another awesome thing to throw in your purse for an outing. Both my boys love them and it's pure fruit!

George Foreman paninis
Who needs a $200 Williams Sonoma panini machine? Butter up some bread and throw it on your George Foreman grill with some mustard, cheddar and turkey and you've got a tasty panini! JM won't eat lunchmeat sandwiches ungrilled, but I figured out that he will gobble up some paninis. I also take tortillas and add black beans and shredded cheddar (we like cheddar in the H house) and both boys love those, too! Hint: When I'm making lunch for JM and Michael in the morning, I make myself and Noah a panini for when we eat our lunch later on. I love having lunch made for all of us at 7:30am! I hate coming up with lunch ideas on the spot. Why it took me so long to figure this out, I don't know. Make your lunch when you're making everyone elses! Duh!

I'm always looking for new lunch and snack ideas that are nutritious. What do your kids like?

P.S. Another thing that I love, the Ergo baby carrier, is the babysteal today. Go get you one for 50% off!

Easter bunnies

I am such a sucker for smocking. Love them!

First Haircut

Before

During

After

Noah was a total trouper. In fact, JM has never minded getting his hair cut either. And, yes, playgroup mamas, I took the boys to the "dirty" haircut place. :) There is a kids haircut place kind of by our house that always seems a bit unclean (the owner also has a restaurant in the same strip mall and I told Michael you couldn't pay me to eat there). Sometimes you just need convenience! From here on out I'm saving up my coupons and taking them to Great Clips. $15 for a kids haircut is crazy!

6ish am check in

Dear Noah,
The multiple overnight wakings and 6 am wakeup time with LOUD screams like you're being attacked by bloodthirsty aliens are not fun.


Dear Tooth,
Please come in. I can't handle this much longer. I have gotten spoiled with my 7:15 clock-in time and I much prefer it. The long days of unhappiness requiring me to tap-dance repeatedly are also seeming a lot like unpaid overtime.

Love,
Mama, off to make coffee.... K, thanks, bye

Get Out

I hate to admit it, but I've been feeling pretty glum the past few months.
Whereas at first, I felt like I could bring Noah with us wherever we went and he could snooze in his car seat or sling, when he starting napping regularly I quickly turned into a shut-in.
It's easy to do at this stage. Your baby needs to sleep twice a day and a nice crib is at home and it makes him happy to be in it.
The problem is that I am not a very good homebody. I like to do stuff. To see people (particularly adults). When I don't get out, my mind sort of goes all spongy and I get all sorts of inward-looking, (read: boring). Part of my problem is is that Noah is a great napper. With 4 hours of my day occupied with him sleeping, it leaves little time in between feedings to go anywhere.

Since Noah is nowhere near dropping his second nap, I am on a quest of late to get myself OUT of the house and out of my boring morning routine (afternoons we do get out, usually, but they are going to get hot soon!). Last week, I went to playgroup and Noah slept in his car seat in Celeste's room for an hour an a half. The week before I went to Michele's and Noah didn't nap (not good later, but so nice then to chat). Today I texted Celeste that we were thinking about going to Zilker and sure enough, she was available and all 5 of us spent the morning riding the Zephyr, playing on the playscape and eating ice cream. Noah happily slept in the Ergo and seemed no worse for wear.

It's probably not good for my kids to be so rigid all the time, either, so I'm working on one day a week letting Noah nap somewhere other than his crib. It will probably be good for all of us! Do you have more than one child? How did you handle the stage from 3 mo-15ish mo when they napped twice a day? Motherhood can be really isolating, but at least we live in the modern age of the internet where we can connect and share ideas with people outside the house, even if we can't see them! I'd love to hear how you did it!

10 months

Oh my. The other day I was saying to Michael that I couldn't believe that Noah was growing out of some of his 6-12 month clothes and Michael said, "well, he is going to be a year in two months." Whoa! Noah is going to be a year in two months! In my mind, he is like 7 months (just like in my mind, I am still 27). So I sadly had to get out some 12-18 month summer pajamas of JM's and they seemed way way too big boy. I was so eager to get JM into shorts and polo shirts at this age, but with Noah, I'm keeping him in onesies and "baby" outfits as long as possible! We have plenty of time for cute shorts, but so little time for baby clothes!

Food
I'm still nursing, though I can't pump out as much anymore, so I think Noah's getting more solids, by far. My plan with the nursing is to go with it as long as he is interested, or until he gets old enough for it to seem weird. As far as solids go, I'm in a bit of a quandary. Noah doesn't like traditional baby food all that much (once you've had Papa Johns, why would you want Gerber Graduates? :) and is sort of picky about which table foods he will eat, so I am constantly worrying about his eating (even though I told myself I wasn't going to do it). He will eat fruit until the cows come home; strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, watermelon, grapes, bananas, but veggies, proteins and carbs? Not so much. He also loves to drink ice water or for that matter, any beverage we are drinking out of a cup. The other day I gave him some of my grapefruit juice and I was surprised that he loved it and wanted more!

Sleeping
He is a great sleeper. 12 hours at night; usually 7:30 to 7:30 and two two hour-naps. Love that!

Talking
Lots of ma ma, ba ba and da da. I swear he can say "hi", too, but he gets all mum whenever I get out the camera (see below). He loves to come crawl up to me and say "ma ma ma ma" and raise his arms to be picked up. It melts my heart.

Teeth
Still just the four, two on top and two on bottom. Lots of drool the past few days, so maybe some more are on the way!

As for the rest, I'm going to let the photos speak for Noah on what he's up to.

Standing
In the past month, you've gone from reluctant on knees, to a wobbly stand, to full-on standing all the time, like when you wake up from your nap in your crib. No cruising, yet.

Speed crawling
Duder is fast!



Gesturing
You can wave "hi" and just started raising your arms for "so big!"


...okay so this video isn't the best, but he was waving to me so cute before this shot started, I swear!

Weird hair
Your hair is starting to get a little "party in the back"/hair over the ears/comb-
over in the front going on, so I think we're going to get you a little pre-Easter haircut this week, which will be your first haircut. :( You have a lot more hair than your brother, who got his first haircut at 18 months!

Drama
As for drama, you are still very emotive. This is when you cried when your brother took away the saw of his you were using. You were happy a second later when he gave you a hammer in replacement. You let us know when you want something or don't like something. You are also horrible about having your diaper changed! You won't lay still, at all and like to cry because we are keeping you from crawling! Oh, Noah!

Bluebonnets!

Miracle of miracles, there was a huge crop of bluebonnets right there in our backyard at the lake house.

Is there nothing cuter than two brothers? I kind of love the second one, even with JM's scrunched up face... and can I get a woot for getting a real smile out of the JMster in the first?

Thankful

Since I've been such a Debbie Downer the past few days, I feel the need to focus on my blessings. Today they are:
1. Healthy kids. Last night poor little Noah threw up twice in the middle of the night, but he was better today. Maybe a 24 hour bug? Overall, we are just so blessed that they are relatively drama-free. Some two almost three year-olds are on annoying nap strikes at the moment, and changing sheets covered in vomit half asleep is never fun, but they are still pretty amazing kids.
2. Water table. This provided a good 20 min of dirty, sandy fun this afternoon, so I could do other things like fold laundry, I mean watch Oprah.
3. My awesome husband, Michael and his flexible job which allowed him to come home slightly early so I could...
4. ZUMBA!
5. And our instructor, who let 4 of us latecomers join an already full class. I really didn't want to run on the treadmill, so bless you!
6. Torchy's Tacos. Where I went after class ALONE and scarfed down two delicious tacos not having to worry about feeding anyone besides myself. The Mr. Miyagi totally rocked (ahi tuna, cabbage, delicious sauce and crunchy things on top).
7. Feeling happy and re-energized after some me-time.
8. SweetTarts Jellybeans, of which I have eaten quite a lot of today, offsetting Zumba.
9. It's no red wine, but my new drink of choice, the greyhound, of which I am going to go make myself one right now... I feel blessed to be an adult where we actually have liquor and fruit juice in the house so if I want to make a cocktail, I can.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm blessed!

In a kitchen daydream

We're probably adding on to our house!
Our architect just left.
Yes, our architect!
We found a nice lady who was recommended by a contractor I met with last fall.
Yes, last fall. I've been doing research for a while, but I think we're moving forward.
I've been feeling tired and grumpy lately (understatement), but this project inspires me.
My 1960s kitchen has no counter space and I've got sippy cups and leftover containers piled on top of cookie sheets in some spaces.


Right now, we are in the dream phase, where no discussions of cost have taken place.
So I'm dreaming of a farm sink.
Of a marble and butcher block island. (ehem, cost, marble... cough... dream)
Of a "nook" where my kids can sit and do their homework and I can have a desk. A desk! (I don't have a desk now, so my filing system is a portable poly binder and our printer is in the living room cabinet).
I've been getting a lot of ideas from GardenWeb's forums. We'll see what reality turns out to be, but right now it's looking like a lot of white cabinetry, some sort of grey, marble looking if not marble countertops, and a traditional look to match the look of the rest of our house. The first picture is my favorite and inspiration (one someone did based on the Something's Gotta Give kitchen, which I also love). So exciting!

Not the bluebonnets of yore

I feel like I "should" have a bluebonnet picture with Noah.
I mean I did it the past two years with JM.
But getting them both all dressed up, and to a field, and when the bluebonnets actually look good and at exactly the right time when no one is napping is tricky. Hence the other day we were on a walk and I saw some bluebonnets and got out my cell phone. Heck; these may be our only bluebonnet pictures this year.

It's hard being a child photographer. Runny noses. No one is looking. No one is smiling. Older child is picking at bluebonnets in between his legs and it looks like he's grabbing his crotch... Maybe this weekend at the lake we'll get a better one with them in pristine seersucker outfits....

Even though no one is looking or smiling, I like this one. It's a happy reminder of this time. Anyway, I think the important thing is for me not to put so much pressure on myself. What are your "shoulds?" Beware the shoulds!

Miss Jackson, if you're nasty...

As if we weren't already dog tired from the wedding stuff and cousin visit and not to mention close to the poorhouse with paying babysitters for said occasions, Michael and I decided we could not pass up an opportunity to see Miss Jackson, that is Janet, if you're nasty, at the new Austin City Limits venue on Sunday night. I am not the kind of Janet fan to wear a concert tee to the concert, but I did spend a lot of time on Kelly Doze's grass in 3rd grade making up dances to "Control" and pining over high school boyfriends to "Again" et cetera.

It was amazing to see such a living legend. This tour is targeted at smaller venues, so that Janet (who by the way is "Skinny Janet" at the moment, akin to "Skinny Oprah") can "get in touch with her fans" playing all of her number 1 hits, which are many. The new ACL theatre in the W Hotel is super mod, serves a full premium bar and with only 2900 seats, is a VERY cool place to see a show.

We opted for one of the 75 standing floor seats, which meant that we had this view of Miss Janet. I'm not sure if we'd do it, again, considering with my 4 inch heels off I couldn't see a damn thing besides Janet's body and a light. Michael had a great view being taller than me. But, with the added 4 inches, I could both feel Janet's sweat flying off the stage 10 feet from me and see her. Note to self: bring Toms in purse next time. Janet looked and sounded great. At first, it seemed like she wasn't working the crowd the way she should in such a small venue (maybe she spent the day out on Lake Austin and needed her Monster energy drink to kick in, I dunno), but after she got going, we were feeling the love. A great moment was her encore, when she did "Together Again" and the screen behind her flashed all sorts of pictures of she and Michael growing up and the whole place was dancing and singing. It was a pretty emotional moment. At one point she threw her arms up during the line where she says "There are times when I look above and beyond. There are times when I feel your love around me, baby" and especially having lost my dad, my heart broke a little for her. There was big talk in the hall prior to the show, wondering if she'd do a "Michael" tribute. She didn't, so the "Together Again" was the only other nod to him, the other being when she did a virtual duet in "Scream" earlier in the playlist. As much as she tried to make her own name in the 80s and 90s, I think what she did do was perfect. I would imagine trying to sing his songs would be difficult, emotionally. Anyway, Janet, you rock. You seem a pillar of quiet strength. I just want to hug you!

Something I'm filing away from the evening... I was walking back from the bathroom and had a very dramatic moment where a well-dressed gay was walking past me going the other direction. He said "I LOVE your dress!" and I replied "Thank you!" It happened without either one of us stopping to miss a beat. For the record, I went with a light grey Jennifer Beals 1980s cotton cropped thingy with a large elastic black belt that was about 4 inches shorter than anything I'd normally wear. Anyway, dear gay, the self esteem of this tired 34 year-old mama of two says THANK YOU!!!! That one should keep me going for a while...

Love and Dirty 6th

My brother had his small wedding three weeks ago, went on their honeymoon to Barcelona, then came back to host a huge party last night. Although our wedding was lovely, I have to say that Peter and Sarah had the right idea with this concept. Both celebrations were really nice and intimate and more importantly, not filled with lots of stresses that a lot of weddings have. Their first dance at last night's reception was "The Safety Dance" played off an iPod. How cool is that? I loved our wedding, but I spent a lot of time worrying about flowers, wedding programs, DJs, transportation and money. Peter and Sarah didn't have any of this. Or, didn't seem to.

Anyway, because of the party, my "Chicago" cousins are in town (28 and 22, respectively), which has meant that we've gone out the past three nights in a row, which is not something I have done since my early 20s. And, in a town of a million different bars, somehow we wound up going to Cheers on "Dirty 6th" (the area east of Congress) twice in that time. Heck, I'm just going to let the pictures from my phone speak for themselves, here. Yes, you are correct. That is flaming alcohol you see. Stay klassy, parents of young children... Good times