A bit of this and a bit of that

It's been one of those weeks that just keeps going and going and going. Part of the problem is that it is SO cold here that I don't want to leave the house with the kids unless it is absolutely necessary. I truly can't imagine living in a place that gets in the single digits (or below zero!) regularly. I think I'd hibernate and never see the light of day. I'd have my groceries delivered and I'd been an online shoppaholic (I think I may be heading that way anyway). Fortunately, it isn't that bad here. But when the high is 27 degrees and its super windy, I just don't even want to go outside to check the mail or take out the trash. Much less bundle up both kids and go somewhere.

This is going to jump all around because there have been multiple things that I've wanted to blog about but just haven't really had enough on each topic to give it its own post. So...

When do kids start eating things you cook? I don't like to cook, but because I know its bad for us to eat out all the time both nutritionally and financially, I am forcing myself to do some cooking. Not a ton. But more than I care to do at least. For instance this weekend I made fried rice one night and the next night I made chili. Both are pretty much "comfort foods." Its not like I made some strange dish with a billion veggies and odd spices. But did my kids eat either one of these meals? No, not a bite! Well, I take that back. I forced my daughter to eat some fried rice. But she sat there for about 20 minutes after we finished eating. I was loading the dishwasher while she sat there sulking over her tiny pile of rice that just wouldn't disappear. Then because she was so squirmy and fidgety, she fell out of her chair. This produced tears. I dried them and then put her back in the chair to eat the rice. Seriously, its FRIED RICE!! If I remember correctly, that night all the kids ended up eating were their pears and the half a banana I gave them as something to fill them up a bit.

The next night, neither she nor D would touch the chili. I even served it on spaghetti noodles so it would look more like spaghetti. This didn't help. In fact this particular night, my daughter began crying at the table because she didn't want to eat what I made. She even said (through her tears), "why couldn't you have just made nachos?" Well, my love, because we'd all be as big as cows if we ate nachos EVERY night! All she ate was her applesauce that evening.

Tonight, I gave in. I didn't cook. D ate a hot dog and yogurt (I should add that I had to spoon feed him because he wouldn't eat at first) and C had a bagel with cream cheese and yogurt. Dinner of champions? Absolutely not. Am I embarrassed to post what I fed my kids. Yes. But, I am just glad they ate. Sometimes I feel like they exist on air, juice, and goldfish crackers. Seeing them ingest something other than those three things makes me satisfied.

On another note, I have begun using Bio-Oil on my belly to try and keep my skin from stretching SO much that I come out of this pregnancy looking like a tiger. With both my previous pregnancies, I used Palmer's Coco butter and with both pregnancies, I got a billion stretch marks. And I itched like crazy. So, this time around, I decided to try something new - Bio-Oil. I see it advertised in my parenting magazines all the time so I am giving it a shot. What's the worst thats going to happen? More stretch marks? Does it really matter at this point? I am WAY beyond bikini wearing.

But, guess what, not only have I not gotten any new stretch marks (yet), but I really believe my old ones are improving. Like for real. My skin on my belly looks considerably better than it did before I got pregnant. I am just hoping that the Bio-Oil does what it promises and will also help prevent new ones from forming. So far so good. :-) Yay!!

I will leave you on that positive note. Have a great week, friends!!