The Food Wars

We've had quite a week at the Gilmore household. I had had enough of my picky eater (Jackson) and his love for the PB&J sandwich. There's nothing wrong with a PB&J. I love it myself..but Jackson was starting to ask for it at EVERY meal. He had written off his love for mac n cheese, chicken, eggs, sweet potatoes..and I was getting frustrated. Lana and I went to lunch the other day at a restaurant and Jackson wouldn't eat because there was nothing on the menu he liked. So he sat there and sulked. I decided it was time to put my size 7 1/2 foot down and tackle this beast.

Wednesday night I made Poppyseed Chicken, green beans, and rice pilaf. I put it on Jackson's plate at 5:30pm and presented it to him. Not to my surprise, he rejected it. Told me it was nasty. I left it on the table and went on about my business. 8:30 rolls around and guess who comes up to me and says, "Mommy, I'm hungry." So I direct him to his food and tell him he has to eat this or nothing. Now, there have been many nights that Jackson has gone to bed hungry because he wouldn't eat what I prepared. He doesn't care. Of course the next morning his first words out of his mouth are "Mommy, I need breakfast." I bet you do buddy...Anyways, I asked him to eat one bite of green beans. It took lots of coaxing and many airplane motions to the mouth, but he ate it. And he ate a lot of it. His bribe was a handful of chocolate chips. So I kept reiterating the dessert bit and he took it. Meanwhile, Charlie is sitting next to him housing his green beans and Poppyseed Chicken...that's a whole other story! Charlie doesn't have a shut-off valve and we have to decide when he's had enough... Last night I made chicken and green peas. He ate that also. I don't know what has clicked in him, but he's doing much better with food. At least he will try something now, even if it's only one bite. I read somewhere that it can take up to 12 times of presenting a food to a toddler before they will accept it....well, I'm on a mission now and I plan on sticking with it. I admit, it's easier to give in and let them have whatever they want, but I don't want to raise a picky eater or have to deal with child obesity. I don't think I'll have any problems with Mr. Charlie. He hasn't rejected anything I've given him yet...in fact, he just put down an entire veggie burger patty and a peach....and is eyeing his brother's plate.
So if anyone has any suggestions for me for meals or advice, I would be grateful. I've been rewarding Jackson with a small dessert after he cleans his plate. It's working for us so far...

Since we're on the subject of food, I thought I'd share my new favorite snack...for those of you who are interested...(I don't even know if anyone really reads this blog I pour my heart into.) Anyways, they are granola bars, and they are delicious! I found them at Wal-Mart. They are the perfect blend of salty/sweet, not to mention only 160 calories...perfect for a snack! I always have them stocked in my pantry now. Get some for yourself and see!

Note: I was not paid for this endorsement:)

Just a pic of the boys. Jackson likes to hitch a ride on Charlie's walker and Charlie pulls him all over the place. They giggle and it's the cutest thing...

Up to no good

I haven't posted pics of the boys lately so I thought this would be a good time. They are so funny to watch together...and I know it's just going to get more comical as they get older. Charlie's face lights up everytime he sees Jackson and Jackson is very good with him.

They're lounging in their chairs watching Baby Einsten...while mommy gets something done!

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We went outside after dinner the other night and James and I sat and watched them play with the hose. Jackson had tons of fun spraying his brother and Charlie didn't seem to mind at all!

Champ had to get in on the action since water was involved and he lucked out and got a bath out of the situation....

baby mohawk!


He's so cute...and growing up too fast.


We made the rule "not in the face" and it worked out pretty well. As you can see in the picture, Charlie's the only one that got wet..he'll get his revenge some sweet day.

splashing in the walker. It worked out well, the walker needed a "bath" as bad as Champ did!

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Charlie likes to mosey into Jackson's room and pull books out of his bookshelf one by one. This will keep him entertained for a good 20 minutes, but in the end it's me that is left behind to clean up. Some days I feel like all I do is go behind the kids and pickup after them. Jackson is pretty good about picking up, but Charlie is into EVERYTHING. I'm going to have to childlock every cabinet door in the kitchen because Charlie opens them all and pulls everything out.

Checking out his work...

In the end, he polished off that shelf...he was headed for the bottom shelf until I stepped in. I had had enough.

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So my mom sends the boys those cards that play music in the mail all the time. She started sending them to Jackson last year and they continue to roll in. The boys love them and play with them all the time. Our favorite one is actually the first one she ever sent to Jackson. It's called the hampster dance card...and if you haven't seen it, go searching for it at your local greeting card store. It's hilarious and we've (James included) been known to break it down and dance to it. One of us will hold the card and everyone else will dance. It's good times...

We wore out the original hampster dance card so Nana sent us a new one (by request of course) a couple of weeks ago.

Charlie pounding on the table, I believe he's playing "I can't get no satisfaction" by the rolling stones...hahaha

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I picked these cute little leggings up at Target the other day for Charlie. I have seen them many times at Target and just thought, "He doesn't need those." Which is true. But I broke down and bought them the other day. I had noticed that his little knees were getting kind of callousy so I thought these would fix that problem, plus they are so darn cute on his chunks. Not that he is a normal crawler...he still does the "army crawl." I don't know that he'll ever pick that gut up off the floor and go. He prefers to glide across the floor...

Jackson likes to imitate Charlie and crawl like he does...

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Today we went to the Mandeville Trailhead
and met up with Jackson's friend, Nick, and his mom and baby brother, to play at the interactive fountains. We did this last week and had a great time. It's a good place to take the kids so they can run around for a couple hours and then go home because a nap is a sure thing after all that fun in the sun!

Nick and Jackson playing

Charlie getting in on the action in the baby sprinkler. His excitement lasted only a couple of minutes and then he was done.

So that's what we've been up to lately. Besides James, Lana and my little stomach bug earlier in the week...at least the boys didn't get it. Yet.

Happy Father's Day

This Father's Day was extra special. I've been saving my babysitting money and bought James a new grill for Father's Day. I got our friend, Hern, to pick it up at Lowe's and stash it in our backyard til this morning. It worked out perfectly. This morning Lana helped me move it to the "grill spot" to replace the old one....let me tell you, we were in dire need of a new grill. The old one was so bad you had to remove the grates to light it and stand way back and dodge flames so your eyebrows didn't catch on fire. Yeah, it was that bad. Needless to say, James loved it...he had actual tears in his eyes when he saw it! It's got all the bells and whistles on it. We got him new grill gadgets/tools/etc. It was fun. I love giving gifts. Especially ones that you know are a real surprise!

We went to church and came home and ate sandwiches then headed to the pool. Lana and Charlie stayed home and napped so I actually got to lay on a lounge chair and get some sun...alone...relaxed...uninterrupted..it was awesome! Jackson and James swam the whole time. Jackson is really getting brave in the pool. He jumps off the side and swims to one of us. We haven't put him in swimming lessons yet, that's next year. But he's doing a great job on his own.

Then it started to rain so we packed up and headed back home. James and Jackson fell asleep watching racing on tv and as I contemplated a nap, Charlie woke up...so there went that idea. Always seems to happen like that. Oh well.

We decided to go to dinner tonight at Houston's across the lake where Lana works and visit her. The Pagliarulo's went and we had a nice dinner. We've never had a bad meal at Houston's! So we got back home around 8 and now I'm taking advantage of the peace and quiet. The kids are in bed and James fell asleep in Jackson's bed I think, so now I've got to go fish him out of there. Hope everyone had a fun Father's Day!

Heatwave Classic Triathlon

We loaded the kids up on Friday about noon and headed up to Jackson, Mississippi (Mistersippi according to Jackson) for another triathlon. James' friend, James, came with us too and James' mom met us at the hotel when we got there. It was a nice, quick trip. This was the longest triathlon James had competed in and he was a little nervous. It consisted of:

1/2 mile swim

26 mile bike

6 mile run

and James finished in 2 hours 35 minutes! He did great and it was a fun day! It started to get really hot though as the morning progressed. Enjoy the pics....

James' age group starting the swim.

James coming out of the water...he already looked tired.

Strapping his helmet on and getting ready to ride

Coming in from the bike ride. He said the trail was nice and shaded....but too many hills!

Getting ready to run!

And he's off!

We had to kill some time between transistions so we found a shady place to play. Jackson would go to the top of a bank and run down it into Jo Ann's arms. He had beads of sweat running down his face after about the 30th time of doing it.

Charlie enjoying the view.

This is such a good picture of both of them! (I know you're going to love it, Grandma!)

He told me to take his picture...so I did. And then my camera died. I got one picture of us as a family before it went dead. Next time I'll be sure to bring backup.

To add torture to pain, they had to run UPHILL to the finish line!

The first smile I saw on Daddy Gilmore's face all morning! He sure was glad it was over with! We hit up the Cracker Barrel afterwards for the guys to refuel. And did they ever! The boys slept the whole way home. It was a pleasant car ride home:)

Tornado Sighting

Lana and I were sitting at the table looking outside at Jackson playing with the water hose and this is what we saw. We were howling in laughter. Quickly, I bolted for the camera. It's the best "twirl" he's ever made...It makes me laugh every time I look at this picture.

Charlie is crawling and pulling up on everything. He's got a bruise on his chin and bumps his head everyday. I'm thinking about ordering him a safety helmet. Just kidding! Come on, I would never make my child wear one of those. It's almost as bad as making your kid wear one of those "Kid Leashes" in public! I see the "safety" side of it when you are in public, but really, I wonder if that leaves any deep down emotional damage to your child. If I were ever (never) to put Jackson in one of those I'm afraid I might jerk him really hard like I do our dog when we are on a walk or something and make him fall down and injure himself when he won't "come." Yikes.

chocolate milk please....hold the milk

Jackson asked James tonight if he could have some chocolate milk. And James says, "Ask your mommy." So I said yes. James pours the Hershey's syrup in the glass and proceeds to the refrigerator to get the milk and Jackson says, "that's ok, I don't need the milk." So he's sniffing the glass of chocolate and drooling at the same time. He's wanting this yummy stuff in it's pure form and we say no. "Jackson you have to have milk in your chocolate." Next thing we know he's dashing around the corner with the glass of chocolate and chugging. All we could do was laugh...:)