all sorts of riveting information... including the pregnancy companion giveaway winner!

Before I announce the lucky winner of my Pregnancy Companion giveaway, please keep in mind that I will be doing another giveaway for two more copies of The Pregnancy Companion next month. I'm certain you will love this book, and then want to pass it along to other pregnant or TTC friends. (If you missed my review, you can read it here.)

On another note, have you seen the Memos brand new facebook page? No? Well then... like the Memos here please!

Did you see that I'm putting together a list of 100 finger food ideas for toddlers? Please take a moment and check out the awesome ideas in the comment section and then add your own. All contributors will be linked to when I compile my final (downloadable) list... coming up soon.

Also, I am in the process of moving the Memos to another platform so you may or may not hear from me for a few days. No promises either way.... but we'll see how it all goes.

And lastly... a big congratulations to Alicia, winner of The Pregnancy Companion!

Please email or facebook me your complete mailing address within 24 hours to claim your prize. If not claimed within 24 hours I will choose another winner.

Dear friends, I've had a big week this last week. Lots going on in the little world of the Bookers and I'm so glad it's the weekend so that I can just relax with my family. I hope you have a beautiful weekend. Now, do you have a facebook fan page? Leave the link in the comments below and I will be sure to visit. And be sure to leave your suggestions for toddler finger food ideas on this post! (Congrats again to Alicia - enjoy your fabulous new book!)

love,

Current giveaway: Two Peekabooby nursing covers (closing 5/25).

Pregnant Blogger? Join in with the Bloggin' Babes & Babies of 2011 (a link-up for expecting mamas).

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011
do not reproduce without written permission

tricky toddlers at the table: 100 finger food ideas in the making

Is your toddler a picky eater? Do you struggle with finding the right balance of healthy foods at mealtimes?

Or perhaps you've cracked it - the magic code of the toddler mind, knowing exactly what makes a food "num" and what makes it "yuck". (Tell me your secret!)

Or maybe you're one of the lucky ones who has a kid who will shovel down anything? (Lucky you. I'm happy for you... and jealous.)

As much as I don't like to admit it, I have one of those toddlers who is selective about what he eats. (As a recovering "picky eater" myself I have come to loathe the word picky, so selective it is.)

And don't be fooled by the colorful spread of veggies in the photo above. Every last one of those peas deliberately ended up in the fold of Mr. Clever's bib. And the pumpkin chunks weren't far behind. (Sound familiar anyone??)

When Levi was a baby he ate anything spooned into his mouth (starting on solids at six months old). We pureed all of our own baby foods and he ate every vegetable or fruit that he was introduced to. (Although he has always been a painfully slow eater and not a shoveler!) Same with meats, pastas, curries, and plenty of other things. As long as they were pureed he liked them.

Then we started introducing finger foods. At first it was fun, but things have gone downhill ever since.

Flash-forward to the present:

My boy eats an enormous breakfast. A normal breakfast for him would be a scrambled egg, an adult-size bowl of shredded-wheat type cereal, a piece of fruit, and a big serving of yogurt. He eats three times as much as I do (and I'm not even joking). At lunch he will easily eat an entire sandwich on whole grain bread, plus some cheese, plus some fruit. (Again, he eats more than his mother.) But by the time he gets to dinner he will often just have a few bites, and of course this is traditionally when I would try to feed him veggies and meats and other things (whatever we're eating basically).

He would literally live on cereal, toast, sandwiches, eggs, fruit, and crackers if we let him. But veggies? He no longer likes veggies. Not a single one. I've even tried giving him dinner-type meals (with meat and veg) in the morning when he's most hungry. No dice. The only way I can get him to eat veggies at the moment is pureed in those expensive baby food squeezie things, because God forbid Mr. Independent would need to be spoon fed! (And he hasn't really mastered the spoon for himself yet either.) As for meat, he could take it or leave it. And pasta? He spits it out every time... even mac and cheese. (I didn't even think there was such a thing as kids who don't like pasta, much less mac and cheese!!)

I'm no dietician, but I'm pretty sure my child needs more than cereal and sandwiches to be in the best possible health.

So how in the world I give this kid a balanced diet is beyond me. But--in between peanut butter and jelly sandwiches--I'm trying. And I know I'm not alone.

I want to compile a list of 100 simple finger food ideas for toddlers. My list is started, but not complete. This is where you come in. Will you leave your finger food ideas in the comments below? Once collected and sorted and edited I will make a PDF that can be downloaded and shared (and will include all contributors in the credits). I'm not looking for recipes, just ideas in bullet form will be fine (ie rice cakes with avocado spread or veggie burgers bites dipped in catsup).

I'm hoping this will make my job as head toddler chef in our household a tiny bit easier... and perhaps it will help some other desperate moms too. Because surely I'm not alone. Right?    Right?         Right?!

Ok friends, GO! What are your favorite tried and true toddler finger food stand-bys?

i ain't no masterchef but i do my best,

Current giveaways: Two Peekabooby nursing covers and one copy of The Pregnancy Companion.

Pregnant Blogger? Join in with the Bloggin' Babes & Babies of 2011 (a link-up for expecting mamas).

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011
do not reproduce without written permission

i'm a woman in love... with sleep.

I can’t remember when I first fell in love with sleep, but I definitely remember sleeping in until noon on the weekends as a teenager.

I also remember sleeping in until 10:30am on the weekends during my twenties.

And in my thirties I now spend time “dreaming” about sleep.

I have dreamt of sleep while tossing and turning in bed at 2:00am with pregnancy insomnia. I’ve dreamt of sleep while nursing my newborn at 3:00am. I’ve dreamt of sleep while rushing like a madwoman to get things done at 11:00am during my baby’s nap times. And I’ve dreamt of sleep (“just one more hour”) while lying in bed awake at 7:00am listening to my chatterbox toddler in the room next door.

I still love sleep. I probably always will. Always a night person, never one to enjoy the getting-out-of-bed process in the morning…

But these days I also get a lot of joy and satisfaction from seeing others sleep.

Again, behold:

In my opinion, that's an eyeful worth looking at twice.

How can you not love a sight like that? Father and son sharing an afternoon snooze. If I weren’t so busy adoring I just might be jealous.

Sleep, glorious sleep.

Dear friends, how’s your sleep life lately?

sleepy,

Current giveaways: Two Peekabooby nursing covers and one copy of The Pregnancy Companion (book).

Pregnant Blogger? Join in with the Bloggin' Babes & Babies of 2011 (a link-up for expecting mamas).

linking in with faith:

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011
do not reproduce without written permission