This weekend we’ll be attending birthday parties, painting the downstairs, prepping the front and backyard for spring planting, building a bookshelf for The Littlest Apple’s room, and decluttering the office.  Just kidding!  We’ll be lucky if we get ONE of those things done, but I’m looking forward to knocking out something on our “to do” list.

Here are some favorite blog posts I’ve bookmarked from the last few weeks….

Apple Zucchini Bread @ Simple Organized Living

White Chocolate Macadamia Magic Bars @ Baking Bites

Ingredients to Avoid in the Foods You Eat @ Food Your Way

Clean Out Your Inbox: My 7 Step Program to Email Success @ Life as Mom

Spinach and Feta Hummus @ Tasty Kitchen

What Is Your Life Really Magnifying? @ A Holy Experience (an excerpt from One Thousand Gifts, which I’m reading now!)

What I Want You to Know: Living With Food Allergies @ Musings of a Housewife

100 Days of School Activities @ Tip Junkie

Have a great weekend!!

I had an “AHA!” parenting moment this week that I thought I’d share.

You have to express your expectations to your children!

Good discipline begins with clear instruction. Tell your kids what you expect of them ahead of time!!

Such a simple concept, yet it was something I had overlooked in my often hectic life with a preschooler.

In the past, my clear instructions were mostly of the “No, we’re not getting any toys when we go to Target today” variety, and usually only in response to begging and pleading for toys in the car.  I’ve had trouble with The Littlest Apple throwing toys during playdates, pitching a fit in the library, or not wanting to sit still with me during prayers at school during Devotions.  But had I ever told him what I expected of him in each of those situations?  NO!  No wonder we were having so many conflicts!

What kind of expectations should be expressed?

No screaming in the store

You must hold Mommy’s hand in the parking lot.

When we go to the library, you need to use a soft voice and stay with Mom.  We are going to select 4 books for you today, then get Mom’s books, then stand in line.

When it is time to say a prayer at preschool or Sunday school, you need to be still and stay quiet.

I expect you to listen to your teachers and make good choices today at school.

When your friends come over this afternoon, you need to share your toys with them, and don’t throw things.

For some kids, expressing your expectation may be enough.  End of story, enjoy your grocery shopping!  (And also, lucky you!)

BUT, if you’ve got a super curious little one (as I do) that always wants to know “WHY?” and refuses to do anything unless HE thinks there is a good reason, then you may also have to concisely explain your reasoning for these rules (“grocery store rules” or “playdate rules,” etc.)

For instance:

Expectation: You need to use a soft voice at the library

Explanation: People are trying to read books and concentrate, and if we are too noisy they won’t be able to read their books.

OR

Expectation: You need to hold my hand in the parking lot

Explanation: The other cars may not see you and you could get hurt

Now I’m making an effort to talk to The Littlest Apple in the car or before our activities and quickly outline some basic expectations I have.  What a difference it has made!

The Littlest Apple is starting to follow the “rules” I set out, without any need to be reminded.  He just DOES it!! (Do you have any idea how infrequently that happens around here?!)  It’s been truly amazing.  I’m sure quite of a few of you are saying “DUH!”, but this was such a breakthrough for me.  Obviously, I’m curious to see how this pattern continues, and obviously there will always be exceptions, but for now this is really working for us!

How do you let your children know what is expected of them?  What are some of your basic expectations?

I hope all of you had a great Valentine’s Day!  I celebrated with my 2 Valentines at home by cooking a dinner of Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Red Sauce, Spinach and Strawberry Salad, Garlic Bread, and Chocolate Pudding for dessert (requested-and later rejected-by The Littlest Apple).

I’ve been saving this recipe to share with you now that Feeding Tube Awareness week is over.  I’ve used this recipe TWICE in the last week and a half, and I am NOT a pizza lover.  I’ve never really tried figs before, but after I saw this on The Pioneer Woman’s website, there was no doubt in my mind that this was the pizza for me!  In fact, I wanted this pizza SO BADLY that I didn’t even mind making 3 different kinds of pizza those nights!  Let me explain: there’s no way my husband would try Fig and Prosciutto Pizza, so I made him Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Pizza.  And there’s no way The Littlest Apple would eat EITHER of those, so he had cheese pizza.  And by cheese pizza, I mean pizza dough topped with mozzarella, no sauce or any toppings.  Welcome to my crazy world of picky eaters!  All of that work on Family Pizza Night was SO worth it, though!  I LOVE this pizza!  The sweetness of the fig preserves, combined with the saltiness of the prosciutto is perfection!

I’ve adapted the recipe a little to include my own garlicky pizza dough.  I also added the prosciutto before baking the pizza so the prosciutto could get a little crispy around the edges.  Yum!

Fig Prosciutto Pizza With Arugula

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 1/2 recipe of Garlicky Pizza Crust (see below)
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 4 Tablespoons Fig Spread Or Jam (I went lighter on this the second time around so the sweet fig wouldn’t overpower)
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• 12 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella, Sliced Thin
• 6 ounces, weight Thinly Sliced Prosciutto, torn or cut into small pieces
• 1 bunch Washed And Rinsed Arugula
• Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
• ½ cups Shaved Parmesan

Roll out 1/3 of the pizza dough as thinly as possible. Place on a large baking sheet.

Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Spread fig spread (or jam) all over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Lay sliced of mozzarella all over the surface. Sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground pepper. Top with prosciutto.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until crust is golden, cheese is bubbly, and prosciutto is starting to get crispy.

Remove from oven and sprinkle on arugula and Parmesan shavings.  Pop back into the oven for another 3-5 minutes, until Parmesan cheese melts.

Cut into wedges or squares and serve immediately!

Garlicky Pizza Crust

(my recipe, slightly adapted from here)

Ingredients:

• 1 package (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 cups flour, divided
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic

Combine yeast and water; let stand 5 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil and salt. Stir 2 cups flour and garlic in a large bowl; make a well in the center. Add yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 50 minutes.  Add remaining 1 cup flour and knead until flour is incorporated into dough. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.   Let rise in a warm place for 35 minutes.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F with a pizza stone on a rack in the top 1/2 of the oven.

Makes enough dough for TWO thin crust pizzas, or one thick crust.  (I used thin crust for this pizza.)

A Few Things I Want You To Know…

• My son’s g-tube (and gastroparesis) does not define him.  In fact, it’s only a small part of who he is.  He is a high energy, spirited, funny, curious 3 year old who loves trucks, Buzz Lightyear, playing in the sandbox, and singing songs from the Glee soundtrack.
• When you see my son eating fries and a milkshake for lunch, don’t be so quick to judge us.
• The g-tube doesn’t prevent him from doing much of anything.  He is still the same little boy who likes to run, jump, bump, tackle, and head butt.  We probably won’t let him play tackle football when he gets older (much to his dismay), but there will definitely be sports in his future, g-tube or not!  He can still go swimming in the pool or in the ocean, wrestle with his dad, and pretty much anything else he sets his mind to.
• My son is a very intelligent little boy.  Please don’t think that because he has a g-tube that he is developmentally delayed.
• We don’t know what caused his gastroparesis or how long he will have it.  He may have his g-tube for life, though we’re hoping he’ll eventually be able to eat enough calories on his own.  But you know what?  We’re okay with that.
• Don’t feel sorry for him.  Or for us.
• This g-tube is SUCH a GIFT!  I am so thankful for this amazing medical technology, our health insurance, and all of the other many, many blessings in our lives.  This is not something that would have been possible 100 years ago, or even today in many other countries where people don’t have access to medicines and hospitals (let alone health insurance).  We are very fortunate, indeed!

I’ve usually got a pretty good handle on our weeknight dinners with the help of weekly menu planning.  But one thing I frequently overlook are weekday (and weekend!) lunches.  I get bored with sandwiches and leftovers only work if I actually like whatever I cooked the night before (and since I tend to experiment with new recipes often, this is a big IF).  I’m not sure why I’ve had such a problem planning for lunches, but I have.  Recently, I started prepping a meal toward the beginning of the week specifically for lunches, and this has worked out great!  Yes, it’s a little extra work, but it gives me a relatively healthy lunch I can look forward to.  I’ve usually got enough to last for 3 or 4 lunches.  So far I’ve done a teriyaki bowl with brown rice, baked buffalo chicken with asparagus, and now this salad.  Greek salad is one of my favorites!  This variation has the filling addition of whole wheat couscous.

I sauteed my chicken using the method described below, but rotisserie chicken would be easy too.  I don’t really like raw tomatoes, but some cherry tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes would make a great and colorful addition to this salad.  Lastly, I used a bottled Greek salad dressing, but next time I’ll definitely make my own dressing (so easy to do, and much healthier!  I just didn’t have lemons on hand).  This salad can be served warm or cold.

Greek Chicken and Couscous Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (or almonds)
• 1 cup whole wheat couscous, uncooked
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup bottled or homemade Greek dressing
• carrot pieces (optional)
• arugula or baby spinach

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and oregano.  Add chicken to skillet and sautee until cooked through.

Toast pine nuts in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.  Remove from heat.

In a medium saucepan, cook couscous according to package directions.

In a large bowl, combine couscous and all ingredients but arugula/spinach.  Toss to combine.

Serve over a heaping plate of spinach or arugula.

In case you missed, it please check out Our Story to find out why The Littlest Apple has a g-tube.

Today I want to share some of the details about what it’s like to have a g-tube.

What it looks like

I debated whether I wanted to share this, but I know so many of our friends have been curious.  The Littlest Apple is more than happy to show off his button to anyone who asks (and sometimes even when they don’t!).  I think the button looks like an air valve on a beach ball or pool toy.  It sticks out a little bit, but when he’s got on a shirt, you can’t even tell it’s there.

How does it work?

The button stays inflated with water.  When it’s time to change the button, you use a syringe to take the water out, and the button slides right out.  Here’s a little illustration I found in the manual that shows the balloon inflated inside the stomach…

How often does the button have to be changed?

Every 4-6 months.  Our surgeon told us that we could leave it in until it falls out (I think the stomach acid eats away at the balloon over time…), but we wanted to be proactive about it.  It would be just our luck to have it fall out in the middle of the grocery store or something.  We just changed The Littlest Apple’s for the first time over the weekend, and it took less than 10 seconds.  So easy!  This is such a cake walk compared to the NG tube changes.

When do you use it?

We use ours only at night, hooked up to a continuous very slow feed (40ml per hour) via feeding pump (see photo below).  There are some kids who use theirs during the daytime for bolus (gravity) feeds (which wouldn’t work in his case) or carry around a little pump in a backpack, but The Littlest Apple eats orally during the day.

Feeding Pump

Here’s our feeding pump, attached to an IV pole.  Ours is a Kangaroo Joey.  We keep it next to The Littlest Apple’s bed.

We feed the tubing from the IV bag up through his pajama pants (he has to wear long pants, or his legs would get all tangled in the tubing), taping it at the bottom of his leg and on his undies.

Can/does The Littlest Apple unhook himself from the pump?

No.   And thankfully, he always remembers that he’s hooked up and doesn’t try to jump down out of bed.  It can be a huge pain when he decides he needs to go potty again after he’s already been hooked up.  Then we have to undo everything, untape him, and pause the pump, go potty, come back and do it all over again.  That’s been happening way too frequently lately.  And it feels kind of mean to say “No!  You just went!” when we’re about to pump him full of fluids all night long!

How many hours do you use the pump at night?

About 9 or 9.5 hours.  (The doctor wanted it to be 12 hours…before he found out that The Littlest Apple doesn’t sleep as much as other kids!)  The Littlest Apple goes to bed at 8:30, and usually wakes up before 6.  As much as I’d love to teach him to stay in his room until X o’ clock, we can’t really do that.  Being pumped full of fluids all night means he REALLY has to to potty first thing in the morning!  (and sometimes he has to go in the middle of the night).

What formula do you use?

During the day, The Littlest Apple drinks Boost 1.5 (and he still drinks that from a bottle….we’re picking our battles.)

At night, we experimented with using blenderized meals for about 6 weeks.  I LOVE knowing exactly what is going in to his formula, and I fully intend to return to blenderized meals at some point.  BUT, for the next 3 months we’re using the super high calorie Boost 1.5 (the same stuff he drinks during the day) for a “calorie blast” to see how much we can get his weight up during that time period.

Here’s the 500ml Bag filled with Boost…

And here’s the Littlest Apple pretending to be all tucked in and ready for bed (and clearly not happy about it: “Mommy, why haven’t we read stories yet?  We didn’t sing Twinkle yet!  Why are the lights still on?!”)

Nighty night!

I’m hoping to squeeze in one more post for Feeding Tube Awareness week, so if you’ve got any questions, now’s the time to ask!

I’ve got another post in the works for Feeding Tube Awareness Week, but I thought I’d share a couple of snacks for Valentine’s, since that’s right around the corner.  I served these at a Valentine-making playdate recently, and they both turned out so cute!

Orange Heart Fruit Cups

Similar in concept to the Jack-o-lantern Fruit Cups for Halloween, I simply cut a large hole in the top of each orange, hollowed them out (using my hands), then used some small heart cookie/candy cutters to punch out shapes on the side of the orange.  I found it easiest to start the cookie cutter on the inside and push out instead of the other way around.  (No, oranges aren’t particularly Valentines-y, but I thought doing this with apples-I needed 4- might be a little too tedious.)  I filled the orange cups with heart shaped watermelon slices, strawberries, and apple.

Valentine’s Snack Mix

The fruit cups were super cute, but all of the kids really enjoyed this snack mix which includes chocolate, strawberries and just the right combo of salty and sweet.

Ingredients:

• Popped popcorn
• Chocolate Teddy Grahams
• Pretzels
• Dried cranberries
• Freeze dried strawberries
• Chocolate covered raisins
• Valentine’s M&M’s

Just pour it all together and serve!

I was so excited to have some of our 3 year old friends over to make Valentines.  We had a table full of supplies: Red, pink, white paper, doilies, ribbon, glitter, heart cutouts, foam stickers, and paint.  The kids were way more interested in playing and snacking.  However, the mommies had a fun time putting together a few little Valentine’s while we visited.  Maybe there is something to be said for an afternoon of crafting just for us mommies?

I’m sharing this post with…..

It is Feeding Tube Awareness Week, and I’m excited to share some information about feeding tubes and what it is like to have a child that needs to be fed via feeding tube.  Today I’ll share the story of how we got to this point, and in the next few days I’ll share more details about what life with a feeding tube is like, the details of what it looks like, how we use it, and how it has changed our lives.

Our story: Why The Littlest Apple has a feeding tube

The Littlest Apple was born small (4 pounds, 9 oz, which is tiny even for 36 weeks) and spent 10 days in the NICU.

5 days old

As an infant and toddler, he struggled to gain weight.  He was diagnosed with reflux, FTT (the dreaded “failure to thrive” label) despite his high energy level, and later, food allergies (milk and eggs) and severe eczema (as a result of the food allergies).

The Littlest Apple developed oozing patches of eczema on his cheeks and head (mostly hidden here). You also can't see the socks over his hands to keep him from scratching himself!!

We got the food allergies and eczema under control, but he continued to struggle with gaining weight, and after tests, tests, and more tests, at around 18 months (Jan 2009), he was diagnosed with gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying).  His stomach empties extremely slowly, so he’s never hungry and never eats much.  Oh, and he’s super picky.  But still VERY active!

around the time of gastroparesis diagnosis

After a long and desparate year and a half of trying everything under the sun (changes to diet, medicines, etc) to help him gain weight, we finally decided it was time to move forward with the feeding tube option. In early May 2010, when he was 22 pounds at 32 months old, we started with an NG tube, just to see if this method of feeding would work for The Littlest Apple (because it doesn’t work for everyone!).

shortly after NG tube placement. still not on the charts for weight.

We wrestled with the NG tube for 5 rather miserable months (more on that here).  Then just after The Littlest Apple started preschool-September 2010…

Tired and apparently all wet (?) after his first day of preschool, Sept 2010. Month 5 of NG tube

…The Littlest Apple had surgery for a g-tube placement.

2 days after surgery

We couldn’t be happier with his g-tube (from here on out, I’ll refer to it as his “button”)!  Progress has been slow and steady, but he is finally (barely) on the charts now.  The Littlest Apple, age 3 1/2, currently weighs 27 pounds and is 36 inches tall.

taken yesterday. Licking the brownie batter bowl after helping Mom. (and sporting a new haircut)

That’s the short version.  I’ve written quite a bit about our story before, so check out these posts if you want more details….

• The Pickiest of Picky (Any parents of picky eaters will appreciate this)
• Gastroparesis: Always Feeling Like You Just Ate Thanksgiving Dinner (I’m particularly proud of this post that explains gastroparesis in detail)
• Running Out of Ideas and Patience
• Tube Time
• NG Tube Placement
• A Balancing Act (extra calories=crazy kid?)
• Decision Time (where I weigh the pros and cons of NG tubes and G-tubes)
• Surgery and Recovery
• Adjusting to Life with a G-Tube

Go ahead and ask me!! Tomorrow I’ll be sharing details about what life is like with a feeding tube and clear up some of the misconceptions about feeding tubes  Do you have any questions for me about our situation or feeding tubes in general that you’re curious about or have been too uncomfortable to ask before?  Want to know more about any of the specifics?  Ask away!  There’s no such thing as a stupid question!

For the last two days, we’ve been stuck at home due to “snow” (and I give that term quotes because it was the hyped-up snow storm that never quite got to our house).  The Littlest Apple has been bouncing off the walls, and even though we got him a Jumpolene for Christmas, he doesn’t use it.  (Of course he doesn’t!)  So yesterday and today, we piled up a whole bunch of pillows and couch cushions next to my bed, covered all of it with an old featherbed, and covered THAT with a duvet.  Then The Littlest Apple jumped, dived, and leaped to his heart’s content.  (I joined in on the fun a little too!)  It kept him busy for about 30 minutes each day, and was a great way to burn some energy on a day stuck inside!

Also, the whole time I’ve been writing this post, I’ve had this song in my head….

And if you clicked the link, I’m guessing that you do too.  You’re welcome.

I LOVE to check out paint colors in other people’s houses, so when I started reading about the Paint Color Party over at The Nesting Place, I knew I wanted to join in!  If you’re thinking of painting, checking out the paint colors in someone else’s space is a great way to get started.  The number of paint chips available at the hardware store is completely overwhelming, isn’t it?  Obviously, the color may look different in your own home depending on the light, carpet, furniture, etc, but I definitely consult other bloggers’ paint choices as a jumping off point!

Over the last 5 years, I’ve (and I say I’VE because The Picky Apple doesn’t do paint) slowly replaced most of the white walls in our house with colors we love.  Our tastes and color preferences have changed since we first moved in from warm colors to cool colors, so I’m doing some re-painting too.

Master Bedroom:

custom color, mixed at Home Depot

Master Bath: still builder basic white!  I plan to paint it the same as our Master Bedroom.

The Littlest Apple’s Bedroom:

Main Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Faded Denim

Stripes: Benjamin Moore Blue Suede Shoes

Stripes: Benjamin Moore Mystical Blue

The Littlest Apple’s/Guest Bathroom: This is the same color as the lightest stripe color from The Littlest Apple’s bedroom, but it looks SO much different when there is a whole room of it.  This photo was really for the cabinet makeover, but you get the idea of the wall color too…

Benjamin Moore Mystical Blue

Loft:

Sherwin Williams Rice Grain

Living Room/Kitchen and the Entire Downstairs (in progress): this will be replacing the red dining room, yellow kitchen and living room, and chocolate brown powder room. (I’m SO over the warm colors right now!)  I’m excited to create a more cohesive look and a mostly muted color palette for our entire home.  This color is slightly darker than Rice Grain, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

Martha Stewart Hickory

(a sneak peak of the paint….the old color was Benjamin Moore Barley)

Rooms that don’t have paint yet: Playroom, Office

Thanks for stopping by to check out my paint colors!

Do you try to keep a cohesive paint palette throughout your home?