Just eat it!!!!

So, it's going to be one of those types of days. Let me explain what that means around my house:

1. The day begins before 6 am.

2. There is a lot of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth (by children and mom).

3. There are still tons of errands to be done and lessons to be administered before lunch begins.

4. See #2.

5. We fight about food and sleep.

6. Dad comes home and mom turns into a zombie.

Now, to explain to you who don't know the in's and out's of the Petersen family (note correct usage of apostrophes--see blog post below) my kids have two main issues: food and sleep. My kids are well-behaved, they don't destroy my house, they do as they are asked, they love me and my husband...okay really this is mostly describing Ryanna because Owen is too young to deserve such accolades as of yet. Back to their issues.

My daughter is not a good eater as you read about a couple of posts ago. She has an iron will about not eating things she doesn't want to eat. Big deal you say, my kid is the same way. That may be, but does your child take an hour to eat a piece of toast? Do you have to allow an hour for your child to consume her lunch which consists of 4 chicken nuggets (the dinosaur shape by request) and about 10 carrot sticks? Do you have to repeatedly remind your child to eat while she's at the table and there are no toys, other humans or anything else remotely fun in sight? Well, if you don't, you don't understand this struggle.

Two meals of the day Ryanna usually gets to eat food of her own choosing (chicken nuggest, fish sticks, bean burritos, etc. for lunch) and (go-gurt, apples, toast, cereal, etc for breakfast). It still takes an hour for consumption.

My sweet, little boy was looking to be such a great eater. He would gobble down his rice or oatmeal cereal whether it has anything mixed in or not. I thought, "Finally, I deserve this. God knew I couldn't deal with this again." Well, starting last week Owen jumped on the food issues bandwagon. He now immediately spits out all cereal I attempt to place in his mouth. Think of one of those play-do toys where you place the play-do in one end and push the lever down and see it come quickly out the other end. Only with Owen, the food is going in and coming out the same hole and it's not fun for the whole family.

Okay, so the kid doesn't want cereal, what does he want. Let me tell you what I've discovered that is: chicken and ONLY chicken. Did he miss the train when cave men were coming to earth and just come a couple thousand years too late? Am I not nurturing the masculine side of him? Should I get him a club and buy some chickens to run around the backyard and let him go at it? Come on, just eat already!!!!

You know, I would blame my husband for all of this, but he's not a picky eater at all. I don't think I'm particularly picky, but definitely more picky than him (I don't do watermelon, sweet potatoes, undercooked meats...I'm sure there's a few more things I haven't thought of).

Not only does Owen not want to really eat anything other than meat, he refuses to take naps in his crib. As soon as I lay him down he stands up and screams and cries at the top of his lungs for...forever really. I usually let him do this for about 20-30 minutes because I'm in the middle of trying to give my daughter some attention. However, today it's going to be longer because I just need the break.

Featured below was the funny face that he used to make when I would feed him something new. Oh how I long for those days...

Audrey's Derek food fun

So, the perks with my hubby's job continue!

Wednesday night we went out to dinner with some friends of ours. We were "recruiting" them to come and work at my husband's firm. I am beginning to wish that I could recruit people once a week it was so yummy.

We ate at Ruth's Chris. Have any of you eaten there? I never had until last night, but it was worth the wait!!! It's a steak house and it's way out of the price we normally spend to eat out (think Panda Express $12 for the whole family), but when you're not paying, why not? I had the Ruth's Chris salad, filet and a side of Au Gratin potatoes. Of course I saved room for dessert which was a delicious creme brulee.

The only thing that could've been better is the name. Seriously, as an English major, what the heck kind of name is that? Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. So.... what does that mean? Ruth's Chris would mean that Chris belongs to Ruth, okay that makes sense. Now, we've established the Chris is Ruth's, but what is the Chris? Does Chris mean restaurant in some language? That wouldn't make sense either since its Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. This is some complex English enigma.

I get really annoyed at these businesses that don't do the apostrophe correctly. You know you've seen it everywhere! Bobs Paint and Supply. So, how many Bobs work there? Oh wait, you mean Bob owns the store? Did you know there's actually a way to signify such ownership and it's oh so easy to do? I realize with items such as Chris paint and supply it gets tricker to navigate--those darn s's and I also realize that the rules behind grammar are changed through the course of time and usage, but some things must be respected.

So, now that you've heard me out, just explain it to me! And, for future use--(feel free to ignore this portion of my blog, it's for my own self-soothing and reassurance).

The Apostrophe's Usage:

1. To Show Possession
Apostrophes can be used to show possession.
Singular possessive- add 's to the end of a singular noun to show possession
the book's cover
Mom's oven

If the word already ends in s, just add a '
Mr. Bates' cat

In compound nouns, place the apostrophe in the last word.
John and Cassie's house

Plural possessive- add ' to the end of a plural noun
managers' instructions
dogs' bones

2. In Contractions
Use apostrophes in contractions to show missing letters.
don't (do not)
I'd (I would)
Who's (who is)

3. To Make Plurals
Use apostrophes to make plurals for numbers, letters, and symbols that don't have plurals.
11's
A's, B's, and C's
do's and don'ts

4. To Show Dialects
Use apostrophes to show dialects or unusual English.
'd ye s'ppose ye 'ave

5. In Dates
Use apostrophes in dates to show missing numbers.
'69
'04

6. In Time or Quantity
Use apostrophes in amounts, times, or quantities.
three day's worth
This morning's headlines

Victoria Beckham or Audrey?

So, I got my haircut on Saturday, by the greatest stylist of all time--my friend Brooke. Seriously, I wish I had a scanner to show you all some of my first arrived at BYU photos when I was a freshman. Not that I'm the most stylish person now, but I did need some help. Okay, lots of help in reality. I think all of my roommates who were from big cities really enjoyed the idea of transforming this country bumpkin into someone a little more pretty.

Well, after graduating from BYU, Brooke decided to go back and get her cosmetology license. Ever since then, she's been the only one to cut my hair. Crazy that we both ended up back here in Arizona. I always let her pick whatever colors and the cut as well.

So, here's the latest...

So, whadda ya think?

Food, Glorious, Food!

I don't know how many of you are aware of my constant food battle with my daughter. She started off life being such a great nurser...it's been downhill from there.

Seriously, she is very much like me in that she is always wanting to eat chocolate or any other type of treat, but when it comes down to eating food of real substance, it's honestly used to be almost a daily battle at our house until my the doctor gave me some good advice.
A couple of years ago my pediatrician told me to not make it a fight. He said, "If she says she doesn't want to eat, tell her that's fine and let her get down, but let her know that when she comes to you and says she's hungry, she's going to have to eat the food she didn't finish." Well, I implemented that rule on and off for a while. It actually does work. At least I thought it did anyway. It's worked up until yesterday/today.
The deal with Ryanna is that she's got no allegiance. She loves bananas one day and won't touch them the next day. I will make a meal such as roast and she'll eat it up and tell me how great it is. The next time I make it, she turns her nose up at it and won't even try it! It's not as thought I'm forcing all these exotic dishes down her throat, she can't make up her mind what she really likes.
She's been on this kick for several months now where she hates cheese. She loves bean burritos and when I say bean burritos, I mean just that--beans and a tortilla. No cheese thank you. The funny thing was that during this whole cheese hating phase, she's always continued to eat pizza. For some reason, she didn't realize that pizza is covered in cheese.
So, yesterday afternoon I made this pasta dish that has cream, peas, bacon and tortellini. Ryanna has eaten this several times with no problem. We gathered around the table to eat yesterday and Ryanna refused to eat any of it because it was "too much" for her to eat. Not that she didn't like the flavor or texture, it was just too much food. Okay, whatever. We let her get down and then at dinner we offered it to her again. She didn't want it and wouldn't eat it. She wanted to only eat toast (I have to say she is pretty faithful to toast, but only with butter, don't put jam or jelly on it or she won't touch it). Well, we didn't allow her to have any other option, so she didn't eat any dinner either.

Now, it's Sunday morning just before 7 am and I am nursing Owen when Ryanna comes into our room, flops herself on our bed and starts making vomit noises. Derek grabs her and runs her to the toilet. After this little episode, he goes to her bedroom to discover that she's thrown up all over her bed.

Before you all start thinking, "oh, she has the flu, poor girl, I bet her mom feels guilty," don't start. She doesn't have the flu. She threw up because she made herself sick from being hungry. I did cave in and give her a piece of toast with pedialyte to drink for breakfast.

Now, we just tried to eat lunch as a family and guess what I served Ryanna again? Guess what...she's still holding out. If I wasn't so irritated at her, I might have to admire her determination.

Nearly Famous

So, last night our little family went to an Arizona Diamondback's game courtesy of my husband's new job. Our tickets were amazing--23 rows back from directly behind homeplate. You could see the ball and the players and just about anything you wanted to see.

Free tickets; two sandwiches with drinks $26; parking my car $10; parking Derek's car $5 (he met me there from work); the whole experience $priceless!

Although Derek and I didn't get chosen to be on the Kiss Cam (it's where the camera in the stands pan around looking for couples to display on the giant screen and if you're chosen, you are supposed to kiss--cute idea), we did get onto the big screen. That's right, our little family had our picture broadcast throughout the whole stadium. How cool is that? My 10 seconds in the spotlight. Good thing I did my hair and wore make-up yesterday!

"They" Are Ruining My Life!!!

I used to complain to my husband on a pretty much weekly basis about how our little rental was going to drive me bananas because it was too tiny for our needs and we were running out of space and I was going to lose it if we didn't move. So, now we've moved. The place where we live now is significantly larger than our old place and now I have a different gripe.

My father-in-law is known for saying "They are ruining my life!" Who are they? That's the mystery. It starts when your child is old enough to recognize the discrepancies between your parenting and her friends' parents. She'll say, "They always get to go to McDonald's." As you age, you find "they" are always around doing the things you wished you were doing. "They" always wear the nicest clothes, drive nicer cars, eat at nicer places, look better, etc., etc.

I've discovered the "they" that is ruining my life and it goes by the following names: Pottery Barn, IKEA and Crate & Barrel. Maybe some of you get catalogs from these companies like I do. I am always excited to see what new designs are out and what color schemes I would love to duplicate if I had endless amounts of cash on hand. The bedroom pages don't bother me, it's the rest of the house that starts causing my paranoia.

Let me tell you what these photos do to me:

1. I start thinking that my counter tops should not have any scraps of paper or spare parts or stray items.
2. I begin to think that I own too many items to ever accomplish this design and begin to hunt through my stuff for items to throw away, give away or destroy.
3. I start to get rid of some pan I haven't used in a couple of years and then realize that I may need said pan in a couple of months for a certain recipe I have that I haven't yet made because I don't have the room to store all the ingredients needed to make the recipe.
4. I put back the pan and turn around to see my living room which doesn't have matching wood accessories. That's when the panic starts...
5. I run from room to room searching for cleanliness and order and trying to ignore the mismatching items.
6. I find the catalog that ruined my day and light it on fire.

Okay, so I don't really light the catalog on fire, but I do go through the other discouraging steps. Why hasn't someone started a revolution with design and gone for something called, "Goodwill Couture for Kitchens" or something along those lines? In the house I grew up in, I only recall the couches matching. Now it seems that there's a whole movement to make us feel insecure about our homes unless they look as though they were designed by someone.
Would I love for my house to look like no one ever lived there? Ironically, yes. Isn't that crazy to want to accomplish a design that isn't real? Have you ever noticed that the pictures with the bookshelves always look so pretty and nearly empty? Honey, if I'm buying a bookshelf it's because I own a lot of BOOKS! Not because I like to see bare wood that would require dusting in about a week's time if there weren't books covering it up!
So, one day, maybe if I'm lucky, you'll be able to come over to my house and think, "Gosh, does anyone live here?" Then you'll know that I'm living the Pottery Barn/IKEA/Crate & Barrel life. Until then, just pick up those dozens of DVDS Owen has strewn around the floor, ignore the piles of papers on my counter tops and desks and if you want to, borrow one of my hundreds of books, so I can make room for some more that are hidden in boxes.

What a Wonderful World

Make sure you turn your volume on for this hand puppet show!