Experiment #2

It worked! I have no pictures, because my camera battery happens to be dead right now, but this morning I made applesauce muffins. The recipe calls for applesauce, lots of oats, and butternut squash puree. They totally have orange flecks throughout, and I expected that to throw Aidan off, but he ate them! And of course, Neely ate them. She's my awesome eater.

The only catch with Aidan is that I had to call them something other than their actual name. For example, when I make banana muffins, I add chocolate chips and tell him they're chocolate chip muffins. Otherwise, he wouldn't touch them. So today's muffins were called cinnamon streusel muffins. I just left out that yucky applesauce part. If he gets wind of a fruit or vegetable, he's gone.

This is exciting. My kids ate SQUASH for breakfast!

Experiment #1

Experiment number one was a fail. I made egg puffs with yellow squash puree baked into them. I ate one, and they were great, just like scrambled eggs, only a little fluffier, and I could only taste a hint of the squash. If I hadn't known what it was, I probably wouldn't have realized it was there.

In hindsight, egg puffs probably weren't a good idea. My initial thought was, "Oh, how adorable. They each get their own little ramekin. They'll love it!" Since I've never presented them with an egg puff for breakfast before, they were a little wary.

Neely probably would have eaten hers on a normal day (if it were dumped out of the cup and cut up to look like her scrambled eggs usually do), but she's been teething for a few days and her appetite isn't what it usually is.

After much coercion, Aidan tried one bite. If he didn't have this whole "I do not try new things" thing going on, he might have even admitted that he liked it. He sat at the table with it for a little while, but he never did eat any more of it. What did happen is that Neely climbed up in his chair and began beating it with the spoon. She's at this place where she really wants to try to use silverware, but she doesn't quite get it yet.

The only other problem with these is that the little ramekin stays hot for a good little while. Like I said before, I didn't totally think this one through. If you had kids a little bit older, it would probably work out great!

My next experiment will be muffins - something familiar, yet they'll be a little different. Hopefully, they'll go over better than the egg puffs.

I'm armed and ready...

...to try and trick my children (but mostly Aidan) into eating vegetables. I thought my pureeing days were gone when Neely outgrew baby food, but I spent the afternoon making a few to try some recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. The first experiment launches tomorrow morning at breakfast. I'll have my camera at the ready and pass along the results.

Hooded Towels

In between not sleeping and soothing a teething baby this past week, here's what I've been up to. Last week, an old friend asked me to make hooded towels for her two kiddos. Of course, I said, "Sure!" They turned out to be adorable! Now, I'll share pictures, because I wouldn't want anybody thinking I haven't been productive lately. ;)

Congratulations!

For those who care, I wanted to share. (No more rhyming, and I mean it!) I only wish all these awards weren't giant eagle heads. Oh, to have a man room. One day.

Master Bath "Do".

I finally got one room in our house totally decorated...the master bathroom. I didn't even set out to finish it first, it just kind of happened. It's funny, because the master bathroom was the one room that never got any love in our last house.

The new bathroom is crazy big compared to the last bathroom we endured. This is the first time we've ever had a double vanity (a dream come true), but since our last home had only a sink with no counter to decorate, I had to improvise. I think the only things in this bathroom that were in the bathroom before are the shower curtain and the wire basket on the back of the potty. Oh, and the towels.

The tiered basket has been moved back and forth between my kitchen and dining room for the last couple of years. I think I actually like it better in the bathroom. It's been a catch-all since we moved in, but I added some jars for more clearly defined places for things to live, and it looks awesome. Ignore the purple Q-tips. They didn't know they were going to be visible. They will be replaced with white ones when I have to refill that jar.

The curtain used to hang on my front door. I folded it up a bit, attached some clip rings, and voila! Instant curtain. Please also ignore the light shining over the top of the curtain. I need to raise it a few inches.

These feather and egg prints once hung in my entryway, but I no longer have an entryway. Since I can't hang them for everyone who visits my home to see, why not put them in the bathroom? I love them. I'm glad I get to look at them every day.

And my cubes. I got the cubes on the cheap at Target last summer. They sat at the foot of my bed for a while, but they match perfectly with everything else in the bathroom, so why not? They're helping fill up the dead space on that side of the room.

I just looked at my big picture at the top again. Try not to judge me for my trash. I should've emptied it before taking the picture. Whoops! Anyway, I'm sharing because I feel like I've finally accomplished something with this house! What's next? Living room? Master bedroom? Neely's room? Who knows?!

At Church

I got a cute little bow in Neely's actual hair (and not, you know, attached to a headband) for church today. It's not the best picture, but she sure looked pretty. It stayed in, and she didn't try to take it out once that I saw. Impressive.

Neely says: I'm beautiful, and I know it.