Having fun around the house

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the winter? I hate being cold and I especially hate being stuck in the house all day. The same must be true for Eli too because by 10am (only 3 hours after waking up) he is stir crazy. Before becoming a Mom I used to wonder why people had sooooo many toys for their kids to play with. Now I know! You can only play with the same toys so many times before you want to throw them out and get new ones! Luckily we are in Georgia and spring is just around the corner for us! Until then I have had to come up with things to make being in the house just a little bit more tolerable- I mean fun!

“Look at my new hat Mama!”

“Shoot!” We shoot the ball all day.

I didn’t teach him this but he thinks he can touch his tongue to his nose!

Not really sure what this is all about. Although he does think he needs to climb on everything and anything he can.

Eli uses Jack as a step stool for getting up on the couch. Peek-a-Boo Mama!

Eli goes ‘boom!” This is what happens when I don’t get him off the couch quick enough.

When Eli sees the salad spinner he goes crazy pointing and yelling, “Oooooo! Oooooo! Oooooo!” until I give it to him to play with.

Obsessed with the stove. Even when there is nothing in the oven Eli is constantly by it. He loves looking at his reflection in the glass. And just yesterday I caught him with his feet on the handle of the drawer. He basically climbed up the stove. After telling him NO I turn around and there he is opening the oven door. Thank goodness it wasn’t hot!

There is never a dull moment around here and I love every little minute of it!

Drinkin’ Buddies

Eli is already establishing a “drinkin’ buddy!”  :) 

There’s nothing better than kickin’ back with your sippy and sharing a snack on the kitchen floor! 

Try it!

If you cook with chicken broth or chicken stock you HAVE to try this!  As you know I am always searching the grocery store for healthy great tasting food.  When you start reading labels you will be shocked at how much sodium there is in everything!  Chicken broth is one of the worst when it comes to sodium.  Late one night while channel surfing I saw a commercial for this brand of stock.  I usually buy the same old kind and never even paid attention to any other brands.  The commercial made all these claims about the wonders of this stuff.  So sure enough there it was on the shelf in my grocery store.  I bought it and will never buy another brand again.  I also won’t ever buy stock with salt again either.  The reason stock and/or broth has so much sodium is because it wouldn’t have any flavor otherwise (there is some salt in the unsalted but it’s minimal).  This stuff is loaded with flavor.  I use it all the time now.  I also love that it is in a box.  I use what I need and then store the rest in the refrigerator.  In addition to it’s flavor, less sodium, and being in a box, it’s also great because it’s less expensive than buying by the can.  

What do I use it for?  Let’s see… I use it in my soups, I use it in place of water when boiling rice, couscous, and quinoa, I use it when sauteeing veggies (pour just a little in the pan and the veggies will soak it up adding a ton of flavor), and this week I am using it with some mexican seasonings for my chicken fajita marinade on Taco Tuesday.  I keep trying to come up with ways to use this stuff because it is delicious! 

I hope you will like it too!  Happy cooking. 

Jinx

Just when we were moving along smoothly things STOPPED!  Milan and I knew it was bound to happen and it has.  What am I talking about?  I am talking about eating habits!  Only two weeks ago I could have won an award for having the best eater in the 1 year old category.  Seriously the kid was chowing everything in sight.  I just knew in the back of my mind it wasn’t going to last.  Milan was so excited about Eli’s massive appetite he went as far as to comment about it on Facebook. I do believe it was right then and there that he jinxed us!  Eli turns his nose up at everything now.  Unless it is cheese, yogurt, or crackers he won’t it eat.  What happened to the salmon, black beans, veggies, even fruit??  I have so many friends with children older than Eli that I was prepared for the eating game but I wish it would have held off a little longer. 

My personal parenting motto (stolen from some other Mom in passing) is this…

“I will parent without letting my emotions control my reaction!”

This is much easier said than done but I really am working on it.  It is so easy to get upset when your child doesn’t want to eat (or do other things you know they should do).  Especially when you know they should be hungry and you have offered them food you know (well knew at one time) that they’d like. 

If you ask Eli if he is ready to eat he will run to his chair and try to climb up.  However the minute he sits down he refuses to eat.  He throws it all on the floor.  If he does take a bite he chews it until it is all nice and gross and then proceeds to spit it out down the front of his shirt.  Are you thinking, “then put a bib on him Jen!”? Don’t think I haven’t thought of that!!!  Like socks, shoes, and coats Eli refuses to wear a bib.  I know I know “Just make him do it.  Don’t give him a choice.”  Ha! I dare you to try making Eli do anything.

This is where my quote comes in handy.  I could react with emotion in these situations.  I could force him to sit in his chair, wear a bib, and eat what I cooked for him all the while listening to him kick and scream because I want to be in control OR I can calmly remove him from the situation and tell myself he will not starve to death.  I have tried both and quickly found that eating is the very first thing in a toddler’s world that he has control over.  Of course he is going to try to exercise his right to choose.

It is very hard as a parent, especially a type A parent like myself, to sit back and not have things exactly as planned.  Dinnertime can be a very busy even stressful time of day so I have decided to not let my emotions control my parenting.  I don’t get stressed if Eli chooses to throw everything on the floor or spit it all back out at me.  Now I just laugh and say it’s ok I know it’s just a phase.  This too shall pass!

Luckily I snapped this picture of my sweet boy on a good night at dinnertime! 

Just for Smiles

Eli’s personality continues to develop daily.  As it does I keep seeing more and more smiles like these below.  It constantly melts my heart. Eli is so sweet and affectionate.  He offers hugs and kisses all day long.  I can not begin to express my gratitude for being able to stay home with him. 

It Gets Things Moving Along…

Eli has had tummy issues all his little life. Once he started solids it switched from reflux to constipation. Of course the medical world doesn’t accept it as constipation until the baby hasn’t pooped in 7 or more days. Are you kidding me? Listen, I am not medically trained at all but I do not think 7 days without pooping is healthy. Would you want to go that long without pooping? I think not.

There are lots of suggestions online and in books to help aide the baby in getting things moving along. I tried several of them but not all. I just couldn’t bring myself to do some of them. Then one day while worrying aloud to Whitney she told me about giving Harrison Flax Seed Oil and how it got him regular and kept him regular. I’m pretty sure you could hear my tires hit the road in search of this Flax Seed Oil. Milan and I eat flax seed all the time and I knew it was full of fiber but I had no idea you could give a baby the oil.

Here it is… the miracle oil.

The reason I am telling you this is because it WORKS. Eli has not been constipated at all in almost 2 months. This stuff is not for babies alone so I highly recommend adding it to your own diet. It doesn’t taste bad and it is great for you (besides helping things move along). Don’t worry, you don’t have to search high and low for it. I got it at Kroger in their Organic section. I love how the grocery stores are starting to carry all this wonderful stuff now!

Please pass this tip on to anyone you know who has a baby. It really made Eli feel so much better. I put it in his yogurt and he gobbles it right up. :)

Happy pooping!

Lucky You!

Welcome to my world friends! Milan finally has a blog to voice his opinions!  I have been listening to his thoughts, ideas, ,rants, and raves for I can’t remember how long now.  Now it’s your turn!  Click on the link to his blog from my blog so you too can enjoy some good reading material.  Become a follower so you can keep up with him!

Some people are not going to agree with the things Milan has to say.  It’s not really about reading what he says and agreeing with it all.  I think it’s more about hearing another perspective.  I know most people of our generation don’t have the time to really pay attention to politics.  We are busy with careers, raising children, taking care of our homes and families etc. I know I never paid close attention to it until recently.  Of course I watched the news (not Fox at the time) and pretty much didn’t know any better than to listen to what they said and believe it.  I’m also pretty sure if Milan hadn’t opened my eyes (like he hopefully will for you if you read his blog) I’d still be one of the many Americans who have bought into the mainstream media’s version of what is happening to our country. 

We all have opinions.  So before reading Milan’s blog and getting mad at him because you don’t agree with him I want you to ask yourself this… Where is my opinion on this topic coming from?  Was I raised to believe this way? Did it come from doing good research on the topic? Is it from my friends? Is it from the mainstream liberal media? Is it from my college professors? Why do I believe it and could I stand my ground in a debate with Milan?  I used to have some ideas that I believed pretty firmly.  I quickly realized when I tried to argue it with someone who felt differently than I do that I couldn’t verbalize why I believed it.  That’s when I started asking myself where did my views come from?  If you can’t verbalize through debate why you believe what you believe then I think it’s at that point when you start asking yourself those questions I posed.  And just for the record, Milan and I agree on a lot of things but not all of them.

Milan will debate you until he is blue in the face.  He believes that strongly in what he says and thinks.  That says so much to me about a person. I know Milan well enough to know that his ideas are not just pulled from thin air.  Milan pays close attention to what is happening in our country and is constantly reading about it.  It shocks me in a lot of ways to see Milan this passionate about politics.  I admire him for his courage to say what he thinks whether it is the popular thing to say or not.  Milan does not care about being “politically correct” and you have to admit there are very few people out there who are like that.  I do believe many of us think what Milan says but are far too afraid to actually say it aloud. 

Anyway, whether you are a conservative or a liberal I think you’ll enjoy reading Milan’s blog.  If nothing else it will give you something to think about and debate about with your loved ones.  In my opinion the topics of conversation in our houses really need to shift their focus from what’s happening on the latest reality TV show to what is happening to our country.  I challenge you to start debating your political ideas and thoughts with others if you don’t already.  I also challenge you to change the channel on your TV to Fox News for just a week.  Ditch The View, Good Morning America, and the Today Show in the morning for just a week and you will see what Milan means when he calls out the mainstream media.  I know Fox News has a reputation of being republican based (and it is true that there aren’t a lot of liberals on there) but they are fair and balanced just as they advertise to be.  You will not believe the stories they cover that are not being covered at all on ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, or CNN.  You can’t tell me Fox is making these things up. 

Just a side note… I have heard many people my age say things like “oh there’s nothing I can do about it” or “I’m too busy to worry about what is going on in Washington” or “I don’t even pay attention to it.”  I used to be this way too.  But the thing is this- we do not live in a bubble in our little houses in the suburbs.  Decisions are being made every day by our elected officials that directly affect us.  You have to be aware of what is going on.  You need to be voting in all elections- big and small.  Most people wait until every 4 years when there is a presidential election to get out and vote.  I know I was one of those people. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even vote in the primaries.  I just waited to see who was on the ballot.  The smallest elected official like town mayors for example should matter to us- they really have an affect on our bubble that we live in.  I hate hearing people complaining about things they don’t like and yet they feel their hands are tied.  It’s not true.  Get out there and get involved in the world around you.  You have a voice.  Let it do more than gossip on your cell phone, send text messages, post thoughts on Facebook, and discuss the stupid things the people in Hollywood are doing.  I will stop here before I carry on about these ridiculous people in Hollywood. 

I am preaching way more than usual but I am working really hard on becoming a better person outside and inside my bubble.  I can’t stand what our country has turned into and the world our children are being raised in.