Kiersten’s Blog

I recently bought two new cookbooks.  One is Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.  The other is The Sneaky Chef Returns by Missy Chase Lapine.  I thought these would bring some great ideas into my normal cooking.  You see, the problem is, London doesn’t like vegetables.  At least she says she doesn’t like vegetables.  I try everything I can to trick her and make her eat them, but the fact of the matter is, if she thinks it might be a vegetable, she won’t eat it.  When I found these books, I thought it was the perfect solution.  And it would have been, except that it doesn’t work.  Somehow, that girl can identify vegetables in ANYTHING!  She doesn’t even know it’s vegetables.  She just knows that she doesn’t like it.  I thought it would be a no-fail with stuffed shells.  London loves cheese.  The vegetable (cauliflower) was hidden in the cheese, so even if she didn’t eat the rest, at least she would eat the cheese.  Wouldn’t you know, she announced after one bite, that she didn’t like that kind of cheese.  Okay, maybe I was a little too overzealous with that one.  I tried mozzarella sticks How could one go wrong with mozzarella sticks?  That cheese was no good either.  I have tried a number of concoctions with ideas from those two books.  Not one has worked.  Today was sweet potatoes in grilled cheese sandwiches.  I didn’t even like them.  For the record, Ashton loved it.  I just told London to cover it with ketchup and she wouldn’t taste it.  That’s what I did.  At least she ate it that way (and she got nutrition from tomatoes in the ketchup, which was probably more than she got from the sweet potatoes in the sandwich).

There is another reason these books don’t work for us.  I think the recipes are good ideas, but really, how much vegetable puree can one hide in any one thing?  Not much.  London would be better off to just eat two bites of sweet potatoes.  It would probably go down a little easier (at least faster) and it wouldn’t have to ruin her otherwise moderately healthy meal.

Verdict: it’s probably time to post the books back on Amazon and give up trying to get my 4-year-old to eat her veggies.

I have never given blood in my life.  I am 31 years old and I am starting to feel a bit selfish.  You see, my brother-in-law, Denver, always gives blood.  Whenever he gets the chance, he’s there.  Even if that means fainting every time.  And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even have a really cool blood type.  It’s probably something wimpy like A- or A+.  But here I sit, a universal type O blood donor, and never give.  I think it’s time for me to think of others.  So many people die because they need blood.  I can help them.  Why don’t I?  This morning our stake (church organization) had a blood drive.  I thought about going.  In fact, I almost planned on going.  Then I forgot until it was too late.  And, once again, I didn’t give.  Selfish?  Probably.  Chicken?  Definitely.  But I’ve given birth.  Twice.  I’m pretty sure I can spare some of my blood.  Next time.

Yesterday was my dad’s 60th birthday.  We decided to go up and surprise him for his big day.  Tuesday night we drove to Taylor’s aunt and uncle’s house where we slept that night and last night, since they are much closer to where my dad was that day.  He and my uncle Dee were planning on making it to Carpinteria last night.  Once we got up into Ventura county, we called to find out where my dad was.  Then I dropped Taylor off near where they were and he rode his bike toward them.  He passed them about a mile or two later.  They, of course, didn’t recognize him.  Taylor saw them then crossed the street and caught up to them.  He pulled up beside my dad and asked him what he was doing way down here.  Needless to say, he was happy and surprised.  Taylor then rode with them for the next 40 or so miles to Carpinteria.

While they were all riding, I took the kids to Solvang and met up with my mom.  Solvang is this cute little Danish town.  It was fun to walk around a bit.  Then we headed back toward Santa Barbara, stopping to pick blueberries along the way.  I had seen a sign advertising blueberry picking on our way to meet my mom and thought it might be something the kids would enjoy doing.  Boy was I right.  London had a great time picking, but wouldn’t eat them.

Ashton wasn’t too interested in picking at first.  Mostly he just wanted to push the stroller around.  Then I made him try a blueberry.  There was no going back.  He found a bush and started stuffing blueberries in his mouth.  I couldn’t stop the boy!  At one point his started walking down the row toward my mom and I asked him, “Do you want to go pick some more with Grandma?”  He realized he could have more.  He stopped walking, signed and said, “more,” (or, “ma, ma, ma”) and kept picking right where he was.  He would have been content to stay there forever.

Once we had our fill of blueberries, we decided to go to Santa Barbara and see if we could find the men.  We had no such luck and headed to Carpinteria where we checked into the hotel room where they were all going to stay.  Not long after we got there, Taylor called to let me know they were close by and to be ready when they rode in.  We screamed and hollered at them and I was hoping to get a little video, but I pushed the wrong button and got a still shot instead.  According to my dad and uncle Dee, yesterday was the hardest day.  They were glad to be where they could rest.  It was fun to see them and I’m excited to see them again on Saturday when they’re all finished.  I’m so proud of my dad!  But I still think he’s crazy.

Yes, that's my dad. And yes, he's wearing shorts.

I think my dad is insane.  Somehow he came up with a crazy idea that he wanted to do something big and adventurous for his 60th birthday, so he decided that it would be a good idea to take a week and bike down the southern coast of California.  You may think this is a crazy thing for any 60 year old to do, but I think it’s crazier for my dad.  You see, he’s never really been the exercising type.  A couple of years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes.  That was his wake-up call to get up and get moving.  Since then he has taken up biking.  It’s his preferred mode of exercise.  He also gets up really early and goes to the gym every morning.  He lost a bunch of weight and is doing really well.  In fact, his numbers are way down and he doesn’t have to be on diabetic medication anymore!  Anyway, I don’t really know what was going through his mind besides the fact that he thought that it might be a great adventure, but he decided to take this trip and even convinced his brother to ride with him.

About a month ago I was putting together some things to send my dad for his birthday.  I wanted to get him some exercise clothing and asked him how many outfits he planned on taking on this trip.  His answer, “well, I only have one pair of sweats.”  Oh boy.  I headed to Kohl’s and picked up some things, boxed them up, and sent them to him.  I even bought him shorts!  I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen my dad wear shorts unless he’s swimming.  And that doesn’t happen very often either.

My dad and my uncle started their trip on Monday in Big Sur.  They plan on making it to the Mexico border by Saturday night and they’re still on track to do that.  I know my dad is stubborn and has a lot of motivation.  He’s come far and I’m sure he’ll make it.

I have needed new running shoes for quite some time.  On Tuesday, I was finally able to hit up the running store in San Diego.  I have been wanting to check it out for months.  I went in and they assessed my feet.  I stood on some sort of computerized thing that tells how you distribute your weight between your feet.  It tells information about your arches and other things.  I already knew that I had high arches, but I didn’t realize how freakishly high they really are.  After that assessment, I jogged on the treadmill, barefoot, while their little camera recorded me.  We watched the playback, and I could see exactly how I run.  This information would help in choosing the best pair of shoes for me.  I tried on a number of pairs and finally settled on some that I really liked.  The problem was the $90 price tag.  I opted to walk next door to the clearance store to see if they had anything comparable for a lesser price.  I was excited to find a similar pair for only $30.  I was pretty excited about it and I think they’ll turn out to be great shoes for me, although I wonder if I should have bought a half a size bigger.  I’ll just be sure to keep my toenails short.  I’m excited to get running again and hopefully not have a sore ankle anymore.

In my search for running shoes, I took my kids along.  London wanted her feet measured and tested as well.  She did throw a fit when she was told that she couldn’t try the treadmill because she was too young.  I told her I would bring her back when she’s 8.  She was pretty excited, though, to get her feet measured.  Then she really wanted a pair of running shoes of her own.  The store we went to doesn’t carry running shoes in a small enough size for her.  She was quite disappointed.  I told her we would keep looking, knowing that we probably wouldn’t find anything any time soon.  She knows that the 10K that I ran last month had a mother-daughter option and she decided that she should really run a race.  I told her that she would have to stop complaining about her knees hurting if she really wanted to run a race.  Today, after looking through her shoe drawer, she came out wearing a pair of shoes that I forgot she had.  They were given to us a couple of years ago and I forgot all about them.  Now, her feet are the right size for them and they happen to be . . . running shoes.  She came in my room wearing them and said, “Mom, are these running shoes?”  Of course, we had to go running.  Running with a 4-year-old isn’t the best way to get one’s heart rate up, but it is exciting.  She ran about a half a block (since she doesn’t know how to pace herself) and then started noticing flowers and other things.  Eventually, I got her to run most of the way around the block.  I can only imagine that she’ll be bugging me to take her running every day now.  I suppose it could be worse.  At least she’s getting exercise!  We’ll see if she’s ready for a 5K next year.

Remember when I told you about the couch to 10K program I was doing?  Well, I finished it with a bang today.  I ran the Aflac Iron Girl 10K.  The program promised that I would be able to run a 10K in 13 weeks and that I would be able to run the whole thing.  I was a little skeptical, but I did it!  And it wasn’t bad at all!

My goal was to run it in less than an hour and to not have to stop and walk.  I didn’t have to stop and walk (even on the hills) and I even sprinted the last 0.4 miles.  I clocked in at just over an hour.  My final time was 1:02:37.  I’m definitely happy with that result.  I’m more happy, though, that I got off my couch and got running.  Now I need motivation to keep going!

Taylor and the kids came along to cheer me on.  It was an early morning for all, but it was nice to have a support team.  London was excited to see me as I was crossing the finish line.  She has asked me many times since then if I won.  I just tell her, “yes.”  Of course I won!  I finished and I ran the whole thing!  That’s winning to me!

Every year we have a cleft palate team meeting with London’s doctors and every year they tell me how great she’s doing.  Today’s visit was no exception.  They told me that she doesn’t have to go back for 2 more years.  With her team visits, she sees a number of doctors: audiologist, ENT, pediatrician, dentist, speech pathologist, social worker, geneticist (which we didn’t see today), plastic surgeon, and probably more.

At audiology

They always tell me the same thing, that she’s doing great and that she’s just adorable.  Everybody loves her little voice, her big blue eyes, and her curly hair.  Of course, she still has a tube hanging out in her right ear (for almost 4 years now) which may or may not fall out any time soon.  She also still has a bit of nasality in her speech, but it’s hard to detect without the special “listening tube.”  It was amazing how much air I could hear escaping out her nose with the tube.  But she knows what to do to stop it and she does when she remembers.  So I just have to keep reminding her.  We’ll follow up with the speech pathologist in six months.  London does well with the small amounts of therapy she has had and we always get comments on how well she speaks.  According to the doctors today, it looks like she should be okay to never have a surgery again!  Yay!  One surgery at 10 months old was definitely enough for me!  We walked out the door of the hospital with smiles on our faces and covered in stickers, so tired that both kids promptly fell asleep in the car.

Ashton wanted in on the action while visiting with the ENT doctor

It’s been over three weeks and London just can’t seem to stay healthy.  We took a trip to urgent care today to get a prescription for antibiotics.  She has another ear infection.  It’s the second in less than 2 months.  Poor girl.  She has had a fever all day today but she won’t take tylenol so I can’t really help her much.  Taylor was the only one to go to church today.  London will miss school again tomorrow and she missed it on Friday because she was throwing up again the night before.  I sure hope things clear up for her soon and I really hope that all of the rest of us stay healthy.

We paid a visit to the pediatrician today.  We’ve had the same insurance and same PCP for over a year now and I have never met my own.  Honestly, I don’t even know my doctor’s name.  In fact, I’ve never even met my OBGYN and I had a baby less than a year ago.  Sure, I know my certified nurse midwife well, but no doctor.  That said, I know many pediatricians.  Not only have we visited our kids’ PCP many times, but we’ve also visited a number of other pediatricians, just to get a same day appointment in the case of illness.  I think it’s funny how many times I have been to the doctor with my kids, but I myself haven’t ever visited my doctor.  I take that back.  I went once to get my ears cleaned out by a nurse.  Anyway, I took London to the doctor today.  It was a waste of time and gas and 10 bucks.  I should have just stayed home and let her nap (exactly what she’s doing now) but I was worried about her.  She’s had a nasty cough for two weeks now, and this week she has started throwing up.  I know it’s better that the doctor thinks it’s nothing and I guess that makes me worry less.  It’s just annoying.  And it’s not like I wanted to get her on antibiotics or anything.  I just wanted to know what was wrong and what I can do to fix it.  Nothing.  I just have to wait it out.  We just have to wait it out.  I could have diagnosed that myself.

A while back (6 weeks ago) I started a couch to 10K program.  I’m very proud of myself for sticking with it so far.  I’m halfway there now and I’m feeling great!  It started out REALLY easy.  It’s quite a bit harder for me now, but I’m seeing results!  I stepped on the scale today, and it says I’ve lost 5 pounds!  It’s completely possible that the scale isn’t quite right.  I’m pretty sure that’s the case, but either way, I have lost weight.  I feel better about myself and I look better.  I’ve actually started to really enjoy my morning jogs.  I go three times a week and then sometimes on my off days I do pilates.  I don’t feel like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, although it is hard to get up early.  I’m glad I made the goal and I’m excited to continue to get in shape.  Now if I could only curb my sweet-tooth…

Thanks for listening to my self-absorbed ramblings.  But isn’t that what blogging’s all about?