I don't think I'm a particularly picky eater, but I guess I am not really a vegetable person. At least my list of dislikes is probably longer than my list of likes. I do however do fairly well at eating and cooking healthily (despite my penchant for treats!) I don't buy anything processed (or process anything bought or sold or sell anything processed or boughten... in the words of John Cusack). I buy mostly fresh foods and do all my own prep.
Since Maddie is such a good eater, I try to imagine her a little older and having her parents be more picky than she is. And with this in mind, I'm forcing myself to branch out.
Last night, Rob and I had our meatloaf and green beans with a side of mashed cauliflower. Which does in fact taste just like mashed potatoes. I steamed my cauliflower, pureed it with a bit of sour cream and parmesan cheese and voila -- "mashed potatoes." The only off thing was the texture (and my brain which kept screaming, "you're eating cauliflower!") The texture was a little too creamy, but perhaps that's just a result of oversteaming my veggies.
Next up... Kale Chips. I love a good oven roasted veggie, so why not?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Picture Time...
Do you know I actually have no pictures of Maddie up on my walls? I have photo albums around, and a framed picture in my bedroom but no pictures up on the wall!
It's always been my intention to dedicate a section of my long gallery wall (that borders my living/dining room) with framed pictures. I've done the living room section with wedding pictures, so the dining room section I thought would work like a curated Maddie exhibit, using these frames. But I've never gotten around to buying the frames.
And though we have some absolutely amazing pictures of Maddie, we (a) rarely print them -- the danger of this digital age and (b) every time I decide on a picture that should go on the wall, she grows and changes and provides us with another picture that is so much better! With over 1000 photos, how is a mama to choose? I think you should vote for your favorites and tell me which ones. That's assuming you all have so much time on your hands that you can sit and look at all our Flickr pictures.
And by the way, given our current situation this is one of my new favorites:
As a postscript, my Grandma is doing much better! I had a great conversation with her about March Madness on Monday. She was able to tell me that she was cheering for Syracuse, and that's a tough word to say. Yesterday she was moved to a Rehabilitation and Therapy Center, so no more hospitals... We are on the mend!
It's always been my intention to dedicate a section of my long gallery wall (that borders my living/dining room) with framed pictures. I've done the living room section with wedding pictures, so the dining room section I thought would work like a curated Maddie exhibit, using these frames. But I've never gotten around to buying the frames.
And though we have some absolutely amazing pictures of Maddie, we (a) rarely print them -- the danger of this digital age and (b) every time I decide on a picture that should go on the wall, she grows and changes and provides us with another picture that is so much better! With over 1000 photos, how is a mama to choose? I think you should vote for your favorites and tell me which ones. That's assuming you all have so much time on your hands that you can sit and look at all our Flickr pictures.
And by the way, given our current situation this is one of my new favorites:
As a postscript, my Grandma is doing much better! I had a great conversation with her about March Madness on Monday. She was able to tell me that she was cheering for Syracuse, and that's a tough word to say. Yesterday she was moved to a Rehabilitation and Therapy Center, so no more hospitals... We are on the mend!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Update Time!
Well, my power just went out for some mysterious reason. It is raining, but not storming or doing anything torrid. We just got home from another long day and luckily Maddie is just beat so she's napping while Rob is out running the errands he needs to for work. And I find myself with a moment.
For those of you who have been calling to check in with us, thank you very much for your concerns! My grandma is doing much better, much much better! It seems that every day she is exponentially better. She had a minor stroke on Saturday night but was luckily found shortly after it happened and rushed to the area's best stroke center. I saw her on Sunday and she wasn't able to talk much, but I now wonder if a large part of that wasn't because she had hit her jaw when she fell and wasn't able to move it. I just got back from a brief visit to the hospital where she could very clearly annunciate a bunch of words and gesture to tell me she was only half-heartedly cheering for Duke, that she had a St. Patrick's Day card for me, and laugh at my pictures of Maddie.
Earlier in the day, I went with my cousin Kate to see her florist to hear about her wedding flowers. I had called Mom before leaving to check and see if she needed anything but Mom wasn't home. We tried to call again later, without success. I had a feeling she was taking my uncle to the airport and maybe going down to Grandma's house, but we all were discussing that we didn't know where Mom was. When we got home from the florist, I got a call from Kate who had gone over to the hospital to see Gram. Grandma was able to communicate to Kate and my aunt, exactly where Mom was -- telling them that my uncle's flight had been cancelled and that Mom and Jack went to Grandma's house to get her slippers. Now that is a lot of vocabulary for a recent stroke victim!
We expect that by mid-next week, Grandma will be moved to a rehabilitation center. After a set number of days in rehab (heh), she'll probably be moved to a nursing home, but it will depend on the progress she makes. Since she can already walk around, do high kicks (she demonstrated for Mom this morning!), talk quite a bit, I'm rather hopeful for a good recovery!
It's been a hectic, hectic week. Rob has worked at least 70 hours this week -- gotta love the coffee biz during Spring Break time. I took a day off to help Mom, but sadly don't really have more time to spare. Mom has very graciously been coming to my house to watch Maddie until I get out of work. I get out at 2 p.m. every day, whip down to spend a few minutes with Gram and then zoom back to let Mom get to the hospital. I'm sure its been very exhausting for her and I really wish I could do more to help her! I'm glad she has my uncle with her for a few more days, because I think it's really good for her to have an extra person around to help.
This has been a situation that all of us have feared for a long time -- particularly my Grandma, whose mother had a stroke. I can't imagine how difficult it is on her to face her worst fears. But the moral of this story is, there is definitely a strong light at the end of the tunnel. I'm heartened by the incredible progress we've seen, and reminded that my Grandma is no ordinary Grandma!
For those of you who have been calling to check in with us, thank you very much for your concerns! My grandma is doing much better, much much better! It seems that every day she is exponentially better. She had a minor stroke on Saturday night but was luckily found shortly after it happened and rushed to the area's best stroke center. I saw her on Sunday and she wasn't able to talk much, but I now wonder if a large part of that wasn't because she had hit her jaw when she fell and wasn't able to move it. I just got back from a brief visit to the hospital where she could very clearly annunciate a bunch of words and gesture to tell me she was only half-heartedly cheering for Duke, that she had a St. Patrick's Day card for me, and laugh at my pictures of Maddie.
Earlier in the day, I went with my cousin Kate to see her florist to hear about her wedding flowers. I had called Mom before leaving to check and see if she needed anything but Mom wasn't home. We tried to call again later, without success. I had a feeling she was taking my uncle to the airport and maybe going down to Grandma's house, but we all were discussing that we didn't know where Mom was. When we got home from the florist, I got a call from Kate who had gone over to the hospital to see Gram. Grandma was able to communicate to Kate and my aunt, exactly where Mom was -- telling them that my uncle's flight had been cancelled and that Mom and Jack went to Grandma's house to get her slippers. Now that is a lot of vocabulary for a recent stroke victim!
We expect that by mid-next week, Grandma will be moved to a rehabilitation center. After a set number of days in rehab (heh), she'll probably be moved to a nursing home, but it will depend on the progress she makes. Since she can already walk around, do high kicks (she demonstrated for Mom this morning!), talk quite a bit, I'm rather hopeful for a good recovery!
It's been a hectic, hectic week. Rob has worked at least 70 hours this week -- gotta love the coffee biz during Spring Break time. I took a day off to help Mom, but sadly don't really have more time to spare. Mom has very graciously been coming to my house to watch Maddie until I get out of work. I get out at 2 p.m. every day, whip down to spend a few minutes with Gram and then zoom back to let Mom get to the hospital. I'm sure its been very exhausting for her and I really wish I could do more to help her! I'm glad she has my uncle with her for a few more days, because I think it's really good for her to have an extra person around to help.
This has been a situation that all of us have feared for a long time -- particularly my Grandma, whose mother had a stroke. I can't imagine how difficult it is on her to face her worst fears. But the moral of this story is, there is definitely a strong light at the end of the tunnel. I'm heartened by the incredible progress we've seen, and reminded that my Grandma is no ordinary Grandma!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Babysitting
My brother and his wife are in town today to see my grandma, and while they are at the hospital I am watching my niece Annie and of course, my own darling Maddie. I must admit, I was a bit nervous about this --seeing as I have proclaimed to several friends who have twins what saints they must be, and several friends with two young ones that they must be crazy. I myself have no intentions to have a second child until this one is potty-trained!
But to my surprise, Miss-I-Never-Nap instantly dozed off, and my niece gave me a look like "If you don't lay me down, I'll just fall asleep sitting up." And Voila! I've got one baby asleep on a bear-skin rug in front of me, and one asleep on the couch behind me. For more than 1 whole hour. How crazy is that? And Annie's parents will probably be back in about 30 minutes or so. I'm actually a little bored!
I wonder if I could borrow Annie more often. Do you think it would help Maddie figure out that NAPS ARE GOOD? Although to give credit to my daughter, she was the one who seemed to have inspired Annie.
But to my surprise, Miss-I-Never-Nap instantly dozed off, and my niece gave me a look like "If you don't lay me down, I'll just fall asleep sitting up." And Voila! I've got one baby asleep on a bear-skin rug in front of me, and one asleep on the couch behind me. For more than 1 whole hour. How crazy is that? And Annie's parents will probably be back in about 30 minutes or so. I'm actually a little bored!
I wonder if I could borrow Annie more often. Do you think it would help Maddie figure out that NAPS ARE GOOD? Although to give credit to my daughter, she was the one who seemed to have inspired Annie.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Just getting over the hump...
And I mean that not in any disturbing way. I haven't felt much like blogging lately, and that just leads to blogging being harder than it is. As most of you know, my Grandma had a stroke this weekend. While she does seem to be doing better (though we still don't know what to expect in terms of recovery), it definitely put a little chaos into our lives particularly Maddie's. She also had her shots yesterday. And now after sleeping through the night last night (surprise!) and taking her two good naps today, she has fallen asleep for another nap this afternoon. This is clearly a bad sign for this evening, right? There's no way this can lead to a night of good sleep. Ah well. That's really all I have to say...
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