I try.

my lovely little gem of a two year old daughter is not the best eater. despite my many efforts.  From eating healthy during my pregnancy with her - to making her baby food from scratch with all organic foods, i promise (scouts honor sign up) i try.

after she made the switch to table food i still tried to stick with the healthy food thing...to no avail.  she wanted nothing to do with any vegetable, meat, fruit or even pasta.  (what italian doesn't like pasta??)  I even attempted good ol mac n cheese despite the scary article i read about it's harmful dye (ooooo rebel!).  honestly, what child doesn't like mac n cheese?? that would be mine.  whatevs...more for me :)  i'm pretty sure the child has survived on yogurt and applesauce for many months.  i may not be a gourmet chef or anything, but jeff is pretty picky and he eats what i make at home so i figure it's at least edible.

well, slowly but surely she has been introduced to "good stuff".  As we leave the house and pass those golden arches or a dunkin donuts she yells "FRIIIIES!" or "DOOONUUUTS!".  i mean, i have to give it to her, she's only voicing what i'm thinking, but still.  i eat my fruits and veggies, i'm allowed! ;)  i knew we had a problem on our hands when we recently pulled away from the ATM and she cried because I didn't have any fries for her.  ha! well.

so i've recently been trying to come up with little tricks (with the help of my good friend Pinterest) to try and fool her into thinking she's eating the "good stuff".  This girl ain't no fool.  I've tried the "banana pancakes" cut into hearts - fail.  "ants on a log"- fail.  you know all the little tricks to make her think the food is fun.  she does not find it fun.

one of my most recent attempts was "sweet potato chips".  this girl LOVES herself a "wip".  plus she liked the sweet potatoes i made her for baby food way back when so i figured it was a slam dunk.  wrong.  i asked her if she wanted a "chip" and she came running to the kitchen excitedly and took a bite.  the look on her face showed no forgiveness for my level of deception.  so i decided to try one.  fine.  she was kinda right.  moving on.

Next, I decided to make "ice cream" out of frozen bananas.  as I give her my latest creation - what most of you would have heard was "mmmm! mommy, this good!" but what i heard was the hallelujah chorus in the background, and in an english accent (because those kids always sound so polite)  "Mommy! This is the most delicious thing i've ever had in my whole life.  Thank you so much for all your efforts.  I love you! Please make me more wonderful things!" She ate the whole bowl of "ice cream" and even asked for seconds! a success on many levels.

next up...healthy homemade "popsicles"!!! do you hear the cheer in my voice?? that's how i will present them to her :) i already have one strike against me because they look nothing like the brightly colored sugary ones from the store.  hit or miss? only time will tell....

(the surely delicious healthy "popsicles")

(leah thoroughly enjoying a brightly colored popsicle from the store)

jeep ≠ truck

as most of you know - i grew up in a small farming town, and one thing i have learned from moving to the suburbs of chicago is that people often refer to any vehicle of the SUV type as a truck.  say what? how does something without a bed or a tailgate constitute as a truck? it will forever baffle me, and i will forever correct them ;) it was odd enough for me to move to a land where boys didn't drive trucks - or even want to for that matter.  then i married one.  it's ok though, he's a good one ;)

so, we were recently in the market for a new vehicle for jeff.  he's pretty into cars.  and by pretty - i mean very.  typically of the smaller, faster, sportier type (despite my many hints over the years about how much he'd probably love a big manly truck, because...well, for no other reason than boys love trucks, right?).
after a lot of looking and many test drives of his typical kind of car, we ended up at a jeep dealership.  for most who know jeff, this comes as quite a surprise.  after much research and deal making - i saw my husband (who bleeds BMW) shake hands with a salesman on a jeep wrangler! a jeep wrangler! that's just a hop skip and a jump away from a truck, you guys!  so i ran around the dealership waving my hands above my head in a champions clasp.  ok, not really, but in my head i did :) what i really did was say, "i'll see you at home, new car paperwork takes way too long for me". (smooch)  plus i had to put the girls to bed.

so, fast forward to the next evening when the girls and i were watching for daddyboy (yes, this is what leah calls him, and on her own accord ha!) to come home from work...he pulls up in his new Jeep.  Leah (my lovely little gem) begins to excitedly and repeatedly shout "DADDYBOY! TRUCK! DADDYBOY! TRUCK!" you can imagine my look of horror.  obviously, i have my work cut out for me :)