Chicken Fried Dreams

While we were in Georgia way back in July, we ate family-style at The Smith House. The girls got their first experience with the fried chicken drumstick:

AE knew just what to do.

HJ picking away.

Every once in a while, HJ just gets overcome:

Praise Jesus! This chicken is G-O-O-O-O-O-OOOD!

Lest You Think Too Much of Our Efforts...

...to be healthy, we also eat junk food. I did not take a picture of the TWO half-eaten bags of jelly beans. I bought two because I couldn't decide which I wanted. NOTE: I said "I wanted"! Starburst and Sweetarts are the two varieties I am sampling. So far, Starburst is winning.

A couple ladies asked if I bought the protein powder that Seleta used in her smoothie recipe. I found the same brand at an awesome local health food store, but I don't think it's the exact same as she had in her link. I searched the link she had to find a store near me.

Here's a picture of what I bought:

I've even had it just mixed with milk. I'll warn you, it's green!

We Try

Yes. I've documented my girls eating problems here before. I've taken to finding new stores to shop in and new ways to getting some new HEALTHY food items in their diets.

Smoothies with SPINACH in them:

Y'all! The smoothies have SPINACH IN THEM!

I got the sneaky recipe from Simply Seleta, a very fashionable and chic mom living in Florida. She has a fabulous blog and the recipe can be found HERE.

Straight strawberry is better for us and doesn't have the RASPBERRY SEEDS that made it UNDRINKABLE to AE. I do advise against using a mixed berry version.

A couple ladies asked if I bought the protein powder that Seleta used in her smoothie recipe. I found the same brand at an awesome local health food store, but I don't think it's the exact same as she had in her link. I searched the link she had to find a store near me.

Here's a picture of what I bought:

I've even had it just mixed with milk. I'll warn you, it's green!

So, anyway...

My girls WILL eat fruit but they are obsessed with these two "dried" and "freeze dried" fruits. OBSESSED, I tell you!

Both are from Trader Joe's, and I sadly lament the fact that there is no Trader Joe's in our area. Last weekend when I made that short trip to Atlanta, you can bet I made a dash over there to pick up some rations!

Seriously. I can't drink it, but they are FOOLED.

One of my favorites. HJ's too.

Neither girl has gotten into these, but both have at least tried them. I like them. CRUNCHY!

THE BEST ONE YET:

Apple sauce with carrots hidden inside!

They love the packaging. You just twist off the top, squeeze and suck! (Also from Trader Joe's)

Here are a couple of losers:

I thought these might taste like our favorite All Natural White Cheddar Cheetos, but I was WRONG. HJ ate a whole bowl full after nap time one day. AE spit hers out and cried foul. I ate one and quickly put the bag away.

I've been on a sea salt kick lately, so I bought these. They're not bad, but the girls didn't go for them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Something Light and Fluffy

Frequently, C. and I try to eat dinner together before we put the girls down for bed. Because the girls eat around 5:30, they usually don't join us or I give them a snacky dessert while we eat to keep them occupied and happy.

Tonight they each had a bowl of marshmallows and were standing at the ottoman to eat them. C. and I blessed our food and began to eat. We then heard A.E. begin to sing, "Jesus Loves Me". Then, she bowed her head over her bowl and began to bless her marshmallows.

H.J. took this opportunity to take some of A.E.'s marshmallows. Halt prayer.

A.E. began again, "Dear God, thank you for this day..."

Swipe.

"Dear God, thank you for..."

Swipe.

"No, H.J.!"

So much for that.

Trading Spaces

A.E. and H.J. traded spaces for tonight's dinner

H.J. doing a good job with her fried shrimp and strawberries

A.E. did equally well in her comfy chair

What funny girls! They thought the whole idea was hilarious, especially when the Phillips Phamily Daddy came home and called each of them the "wrong" names! Just another day in crazy town.

"Girl" Cheese

Yesterday I made an important discovery! Doc Greens has KIDS EAT FREE on Wednesdays--all day! If you have one paying parent, you can get up to two kids' meals free. Yummy! I enjoyed a nice meal and let my children split the free meal, which as an added bonus, you can get mandarin oranges instead of chips. The meal also comes with a drink and choice of cookie.

A.E. said, "This is girl cheese, not boy cheese."

She was eating grilled cheese.

Meet "Failure to Thrive" and "Eating Problem"

My two kids can be identified as "Failure to Thrive" and "Eating Problem". A.E., our firstborn, is the former Miss Failure to Thrive. At her 18 month appointment when I was in my ninth month of pregnacy with the future Miss "Eating Problem", we had THAT doctor's appointment. It was a well-check, and A.E. had "failed." Translation: she had not gained a significant amount of weight. Another translation: mama had also failed. Nine months pregnant and receiving the report card that literally said "Failure to Thrive" was not a good combination. Hello, waterworks! She went through the blood work tests and all that F-U-N that is the doctor's office with no conclusive diagnosis as to why she wasn't gaining weight. Translation: mama's not doing something right.

Now A.E. is a WhOPPing! 27 pounds and knocking on the door of three years old.


A.E.'s likes: PINK, dresses-NOT shorts, Mama-, pretending, 101 Dalmations, Mary Poppins, Bambi, Cinderella, Little Bear, cheese, chocolate milk, finger painting, chalk, bathing suits, a trip to the dry cleaners, going to church, Bear Snores On, Going on a Bear Hunt, Amelia Bedelia, taking a weekend at the mountain house with Nana and Papa, taking a weekend at the beach with Poppy and turning on and off lights

Her dislikes: most general food products, toys "in the wrong place", leaving playgroup/playgrounds, Daddy's music

First word: Dada

Crawled: 9 months

Walked: 15 months

Best friend: Brodie Harris

Potty-trained: NO, working on that!

Favorite number: 57 (that's how old she is if you ask her)

What she'll be doing in ten years: Making all the boys cry





H.J. is the current Miss "Eating Problem". She is A.E.'s little sister and just celebrated her 15 month milestone with another one of those F-U-N well-checks at the doctor's office! In the last 3 months, H.J. has gained 0 pounds and grown 1/4 of an inch in height. In the past 9 months, H.J. has gained 3 pounds. UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGH! Not this again! Now H.J. eats, which is what is so funny? about the diagnosis of "eating problem". Again, it literally said "eating problem" on her report card. The doctor even went so far as to prescribe an appetite stimulant. Which I have not filled. Which I probably won't. I explained, politely, to the doctor that at about the same age the same growth pattern occured with A.E. She replied, "Oh, so that's why you're not worried?" Yes. NOT WORRIED.

H.J.'s likes: her bunny, sucking her thumb, 12-hour nights and 3-hour naps, dancing, any form of music because then she can DANCE, mandarin oranges, blueberry muffins, White Cheddar Cheetos, tomatoes, peanut butter and jelly, laughing, chasing her big sister and crazy dog, I Love You Through and Through, Baby Cakes, That's not my Bunny, waking up at the mountain house or beach in the same room as her sister, cuddling in the lap of anyone, afternoon snacktime, bathtime, and going to church

Her dislikes: cheese, being rocked to sleep, being held down, doctors looking in her ears/mouth/eyes, toys being snatched from her, the word "NO!", getting hit in the face by the crazy dog's tail

First word: doggy

Crawled: 10 months

Walked: not on her own yet

Best friend: Dylan Harris

Potty-trained: no, it'll probably be time to start once A.E. decides to do it!

Favorite number: ummmmmmmmm

What she'll be doing in ten years: Making all the boys laugh


Having two children and getting "two chances" to get things "right" doesn't always mean you will. I've found that my favorite advice now for new parents is to "Give your child up DAILY to God." Denise Glenn has a wonderful Bible study for mothers in two books called, Freedom for Mothers and Wisdom for Mothers. From those studies, one of the things that has stuck with me the most is that idea that if God has a plan for you, then surely He has a plan for your children. They are first HIS not mine. I can't control everything they eat, do or say, but I can try to train them up in the way they should go, so they may not depart from it. (Eph. 22:6) My job is not to make the doctors happy, make the other mothers think I've got it all together, or make my kids into mindless, obeying robots. It's hard to remember in the midst of mealtime, but it sure helps to look at the big picture.

As my husband once said to me, "A.E. won't expect you to feed her in the bouncy seat with Oprah on when she's 16 years old."

So, I'll just keep on telling myself not to worry. And turn off the Oprah.