The good ole' days...

Remember when you were younger and the thing that you looked forward to most in the summer was the ice cream truck? Well, I never had that luxury. I lived on a hill. On a farm. No trick-or-treaters, no ice cream trucks, no kids to play with. :( Sad, I know.

Now that I live in a suburb of Louisville, in a neighborhood packed with kids, we see the ice cream truck every day. As soon as the weather starts to turn slightly warm, here come those tunes of "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "The Wheels on the Bus" billowing down the street. And sometimes, we have several ice cream trucks that zoom down our little street (one of them rings a bell though, the music box is broken).

Lately, my little man and I have been sitting outside on the front porch in the afternoons when it is cool. We always look for the ice cream truck to drive by our house and little man always waves to the driver. Well, the other day it was a little hotter than normal so I decided to get the little guy an ice cream. I chose the push-up (sherbet) which is what I always used to get. He LOVED it! He also loved going up the the truck and seeing all of the pretty colors/flavors of ice cream listed on the side. Here are some pictures of him devouring his cool treat:

As you can see from this last photo, he REALLY enjoyed it! :) The only negative thing about the whole experience was the fact that prices have went up on these yummy treats.....$1.50 for a push-up? Come on!!!

Baby Food - Snacks

Isaiah (my little one) LOVES his snacks! Fortunately, nutritious snacks are easier to come up with than his main meals. And, since his palette is becoming more and more interested in different tastes, I am finding more and more foods for him to snack on. For example, I just found these the other day at Walmart. They are $1 for a bag of all-natural dehydrated fruit (this one is strawberry-banana):

Some other snacks that he loves are string cheese, crackers, graham crackers, fruit cups, fresh fruit, Kix cereal, and yogurt. This yogurt is his favorite:

There are two flavors in the pack, strawberry-banana and peach, and the texture is perfect for little ones. The yogurt is thick and sticks to the spoon, so it is great for toddlers who are learning to self-feed. Isaiah loves to hold a spoon and "dig" the yogurt out of the container. It's messy, but I just love watching him learn. :)

Oh, and another thing he likes for a snack (which are also great if traveling) are these:
I really wish Gerber made more flavors than just strawberry-banana, but these are great for now. I really like the Gerber Graduates snacks that are for toddlers, but they can get kind of pricey.

Any ideas for other snacks I can give to my little one?

Baby Food - Lunch

Just like breakfast, it is also hard for me to come up with good meals for lunch for my little man that are also healthy and nutritious. It would be so easy to give him chicken nuggets and french fries, but he needs some veggies in there too. By the way, has anyone been watching the show Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? In one of the episodes, a french fry was actually considered a vegetable on the school menu!! What has our food world come to?

Anyway, I try to make sure that he has at least a fruit and a vegetable for lunch every day...although some days it may be one or the other. Some of the fruits he loves are diced peaches, pears, pineapple tidbits, grapes, and mandarin oranges. One thing I like, which I recently discovered, is that Walmart makes a Great Value brand of canned peaches and pears that do not have any sugar added. Instead of heavy syrup, these canned fruits are packed in 100% pear juice.

Another thing I like about the Walmart Great Value brand is the veggies. They make several kinds of canned veggies that are No Salt Added (I've only found peas and green beans so far), and they also make little take-along packs of veggies that are perfectly diced for little mouths. I've found carrots, green beans, and corn in these packs.

I know fresh veggies and fruits are the best way to go, but sometimes you need the convenience of canned foods. Although, I am a lover of frozen fruits and veggies as well, and sometimes they are considered even more nutritious than fresh.

Some other things I have been feeding my little man for lunch are: Grilled Cheese sandwiches, rice, soup, mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, spaghettios, and Chef Boyardee microwaveable meals (although not that often). One of the Chef meals that I don't mind feeding him, though, is this one:

It has rice, chunks of chicken, peas and carrots in it. The only thing I am not too crazy about is the sodium content.

Okay, so I know a lot of the food I listed is either canned, processed, or not as healthy as it could be. That's why I need ideas and suggestions! What about you? What do you feed your children? What do you eat for lunch?

Baby Food -- Breakfast

Since this blog is all about food, and my little one eats food, I think it is appropriate for me to post about some of the food that he eats (for a change). :) He just turned a year old this month and is now eating table food, but it is so hard to find things to feed him for breakfast, especially since I am not a breakfast person. And, since he is no longer on the bottle, I have to make sure that he is getting sufficient nutrients, vitamins, etc. from his food.

For breakfast every morning, he eats this (mixed with lactose-free Vitamin D milk):

and this:

There are actually several different kinds of the Healthy Harvest applesauce, and he loves them all. You can see all of the different kinds here. One of my favorite things about this applesauce is that it is just applesauce and pureed fruit with no added sugars. Plain and simple.

I try to have something in addition to these things for breakfast for my little man. Sometimes I will fix him blueberry pancakes (so easy! recipe below), regular pancakes, scrambled eggs, muffins, toast, or waffles. This morning we had pull-apart biscuits (his first time having biscuits!). He loved them. I've tried turkey bacon, but I don't think it agreed with him, and sausage is just too greasy for him right now. Anyone have suggestions for other breakfast items? Like I said earlier, I'm not much of a breakfast person.

Here is the recipe for blueberry pancakes (and they do turn out blue!):

Blueberry Pancakes

Pancake mix (prepare according to directions on box)
Frozen blueberries

Put about 1/2 cup blueberries in a microwave-safe bowl (or more if you like more berries). Heat in microwave for about 45 seconds or until thawed. Pour blueberries, juice and all, into pancake batter and mix well. Batter will be blue. :) Pour onto hot, greased griddle. Flip when one side is light brown and brown other side. These pancakes will be a little more brown than regular pancakes because of the density of the batter. Enjoy with maple syrup, blueberry syrup, or by themselves! (My little guy eats them plain - too much sugar = one hyper little baby!)

The Nursery

So... I realized that I haven't even put pictures of Isaiah's nursery on here. I absolutely love it (and so does he!)!! First of all, let me give you a little background. I....LOVE...Turtles!! Ever since I was little, I have adored these cute little reptiles (amphibians?). Even as a freshman in college, the turtle was our sorority mascot. I have a huge collection of them and thought, since I have so many, why not incorporate them into a nursery theme?

I surfed the web trying to find a cute turtle theme, something that could be for both a boy and a girl (just in case!). I found several, but my favorite was the Turtle Bay theme from Cocalo. Now I have to tell you, it was not easy trying to find everything I needed for the nursery...especially since after I registered for everything it was disontinued! After many a website, I finally found all of the items I needed: bedding, curtains, pillows, mobile, wall hangings. There was a lamp as well, but it was $45!! Ummmm...no way. Anyway, here are some pictures of our little boy's favorite room in the house:

He was only a couple of weeks old here...notice the bumper pad

No bumper pad (started rolling over at 3 weeks, so we were afraid he would roll next to the bumper pad and smother)

LOVE this glider and ottoman (Thanks Ann & Chas!)

Changing table/Dresser &
Name blocks (each letter has a scripture on the back - Thanks Holly!!)

I hope you have enjoyed your little nursery tour. Blessings on your week!