Tricking the Lock Jawed Infant and How Mommy Wins.

This week has been a challenge with Trent.

Word to the wise. Do NOT under any circumstances combine teething, trying to crawl baby with said baby's flu shot.

The result is an emotionally unstable baby thats vacillation between happy and sad could give you whiplash. I should also add that the multiple wakings from an otherwise sleep through the night kiddo will make parents zombies. Be sure to have caffeine on hand.

Not to mention baby's unwillingness to eat ANYTHING! Here have your favorite,applesauce...baby proceeds to lock jaw and purse lips giving you a horrendous look of
consternation. This look should produce a bubble above the infants head that says, 'Who do you think you are?' This look will put mommy in fits about what happened to her good eater.

Parents will start adding up the no eating, no sleeping, fussy pants baby symptoms and think, '''Ohhhhh maybe an ear infection'''

Call pediatrician and talk to overly sympathetic nurse who confirms your thought process. Appointment in 30 minutes. You think, 'Get the amoxicillan and sleep will be mine!'

Proceed with plan, wake baby from nap(which will only increase fussiness later and make for a 'joyful' evening), lug baby and sister to doctor. Have doctor look in ears and proclaim them PERFECT!....Mommy grumbles up to desk and pays copay. Placate older sister with lollipop from doctors stash. Thank baby for once again duping her with textbook symptoms to be told, 'It's probably a cold'.

Sigh...home we go.

Dinner has come. The mommy is prepared with a new plan. She was made a fool once today, but not again.

Put non-eating baby in high chair and begin listening to fussy soundtrack being emitted. Pause nerve grating noise by handing baby spoon.

But not just a spoon.

A spoon with food on it! Teething baby will now place spoon willing in it's own mouth driven by desire to eat on all things plastic and colorful. (Read about about teething above)

Baby will give you look....'You tricked me!'

Baby thinks, surely she will not try that again....but mommy does over and over and over again until all food is IN or ON the infant.

Mommy will giggle with glee at cleverness of the plan. Success is mine!

(Note: total food consumption for this day was 14 oz. of formula, 1 jar of food, and little puffs. That's about 1/3 of what is normally eaten.)

So, ummm, I went Shopping.

Even better. I went shopping without the kids.

Sigh. Breathe in the freedom, even if it was just the grocery store.

I am often astounded by how much concentration it takes to grocery shop, especially when using coupons! There were several moments last night when my brain felt taxed by the math.

Here's a list of what I bought....

2 Enfamil Powder (35 oz.)
3 boxes Lactaid pills
2 Pop Secret popcorn 6 pack
1 bag bell peppers
20 Beechnut baby food
2 boxed Ritz Crackers
2 Duncan Hines cake mix
2 boxes Instant oatmeal
2 bags Cape Code Chips
3 cans Rotel
2 pkg. Hormel pepperoni
2 Kraft Catalina dressing
2 Herbal Essence Shampoo
2 Yo Plus Yogurt 4 pk
2 Crisco oil - 32oz.
2 Yo-baby Yogurt 4 pk
1 Stoneyfield cottage cheese 4 pk.
2 jars Vlasic pickles
1 Perdue chicken breast pkg.
1 Newmans salsa
2 Natures Own English muffin - 6 packs
3 Capri Sun - 10pk
1 Angel Soft Toilet paper

I got ALL that for $151.00, I saved $75.04(roughly 34%)

Then, THEN....I went to Kroger across the street and racked up this bill.

6 Healthy Choice Meals
3 Birdseye Steamed Veggie
1 Adele's chicken Sausage
1 lb. ground beef
3 bags Goldfish
3 bags Quaker Rice Cakes
2 Annie Cheesy Pasta Shells
1 Schick razor blades - 12 pk
5 Crystal Light powders - (8pks)
2 Mahatma Rice pkgs
2 Dove Deodorant
2 Arm & Hammer toothpaste
1 Crest toothpaste
3 boxes Tampax - 20 ct.
2 cans diced green chilies
2 bags Twix minis
1 box Barilla pasta
2 boxes Triscuit
5 jars Pace picante
2 cans Kroger blk beans
2 cans Rotel
10 cans Hunts tomatoes
5 cans Delmonte Corn
10 cans Delmonte Green Beans
2 cans Delmonte carrots
3 cans. Delmonte peas
2 lbs. apples
5 cans Organic pumpkin - (.69/can)
1 box Kellogg Cereal
2 boxes Quaker Granola bars
2 box Ronzoni lasagna noodles
1 box Cascade
4 case Diet Coke, regular coke (12 pk)
1 Huggies diapers - 140 ct(they were on closeout for $12 off per box)
1 case Miller Lite - 18pk(this purchase completely blew my savings %)

All of that came to....$182, and I saved $92(roughly 33%)

And now I won't shop for non-perishables for over a month! We will still have the weekly fresh fruit/veggie, milk, cheese and meat bill, but that I can hold to about $50/ wk. And I KNOW some of this will go far beyond just the next month.

Sweet Potato Rounds with Parmesan.

These have become an addiction for me, especially on the days when life is hectic. We use them as a substitute for fries or just an on the go snack the next day.

Sweet Potato Rounds With Parmesan

4 Sweet potatoes
grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt pepper

1. Wash sweet potatoes. Cut off ends.

2. Cut sweet potatoes in slices about 1/8" thick and place in large mixing bowl

3. Pour about 1/8 c. olive oil over potatoe slices and mix

4. Dump slices onto pregreased cookie sheet. Spread out so rounds are lying as flat as possible.

5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle with 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese or use to taste.

Bake at 425 degrees for 30-40 mins...