When I first came across Sarah’s site, Sarah’s Cucina Bella, I was super impressed and excited! Her recipes were easy, first of all, the photography is lovely, and finally, her food ideas look delicious enough that my son might even enjoy them! I’m not a natural cook, so I’m always on the look-out to find new ideas for meals that my little guy will like. I asked her to put together some of her favorite easy and fast recipes for kids. I can’t wait to try her Creamy Fruit Dip with Zachary – he’s just starting to enjoy dipping his foods and I think he’ll love it! Make sure you check out Sarah’s site and leave a comment if you like the post!

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Fast, Easy Snacks

Do your kids love snacks? Mine do. Sometimes I think that if I let them, they would skip all meals and just snack from dawn till dusk (don’t worry – I don’t let them!). Since my kids are such snack-devotees, I actually spend a lot of time thinking of how I can let them have a snack without having it be total junk food. I mean junk food is fine as a once-in-a- while thing but I would rather they associate snacking with fresh and healthy options … I think it’s better for their eating habits in the long run.

These are a few of my tried and true ideas for snacking, which fill my kids up and keep them satisfied. Enjoy! And visit me at Sarah’s Cucina Bella for family-friendly recipes for every meal of the day.

- Sarah Caron

Popcorn: Did you know that popcorn is a whole grain? So, this is a snack you can really feel good about, even with the sweet addition of a little chocolate. Your best bet with this is to use a popcorn popper, but if you don’t have one, you can purchase plain (as in no flavorings) microwave popcorn and use that instead.

Chocolate Popcorn
serves 4-6

6 cups popped popcorn (it should be just popped and still very hot)
2 tbsp hot chocolate mix (the better the mix, the better the popcorn — make sure its sweetened)

Combine ingredients in a large resealable bag. Shake vigorously. Pour into a bowl and devour.

Cheese and Fruit Plates: Are your kids little cheese hounds? Mine are! And this is a great way to get them to have a little extra calcium and vitamins (from the fruit, of course). Arrange sliced fruit, a few pieces of cheese and some crackers on a plate and let the children eat it as they wish … maybe they want to top a whole grain cracker with a slice of cheddar and a bit of strawberry? Anything goes!

Fruit and Dip: I don’t know about your kids, but mine absolutely love dipping things. Whether it’s grilled chicken in barbecue sauce or fruit in a creamy dip like this one, it’s a surefire way to get them to munch happily. Firm fruit like pears or apples work well with this, as do strawberries, grapes and blueberries. Avoid too-soft fruit like bananas though which won’t stand up as well to dipping.

Easy Creamy Fruit Dip
yields ½ cup
¼ cup reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup marshmallow fluff
¼ tsp cinnamon

Combine the cream cheese, fluff and cinnamon in a bowl and stir until smooth. Serve with fresh fruit for dipping.

Ajira is my new friend, a fellow photographer and mom from California who I met on Twitter! She has a little boy a few months younger than Zachary who is just adorable, and she shows off her photography and blogs about her clients & her life over at her website. Her post is all about balance – running your own business, being a mom, and keeping it together. I know from my own experience that it’s tough. Read more to hear Ajira’s thoughts…

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A balancing act

As we DMed back and forth about this guest post, Karen suggested I write about balancing work and motherhood. I literally laughed out loud. A little crazily actually, so I was glad she couldn’t hear it because she would have been frightened. HA!! I was frightened, and I’m with myself every day!! (Ho ho ho – I’m hilarious, right?)

I agreed to though because I think this is a subject that plagues most of us. How do we find balance between our personal lives and our work lives? Especially when our personal lives include caring for loved ones?

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That was the magic answer. Did you like it? Ha!!

Okay, fine. There is no magic answer. :( We each have to plod along, trying different things until we find the system that works for us. The key is to keep trying different things, while keeping your goals in mind. Oh, you don’t have goals? Hmm. That will be a problem. Seriously. You’ve got to write down (I mean it, don’t just think of some great ones, write them down) and put them somewhere where you’ll actually look at them again. On your wall, bathroom mirror, journal, whatever. It’s important that they are visible to you. It actually makes a difference. Not only because you’ll have them in mind that way (without carrying them in your mind, as it were), but also because you can adjust them as you need to. There are all kinds of great exercises for goal writing. Start as simply as you like.

I’ve been called a dreamer, an idealist, unrealistic and sometimes even foolishly optimistic. It’s alright though, I just don’t see why I can’t have my cake and eat it too. I can’t help believing that all things are possible. So here I sit, writing this surrounded by boxes of our belongings. We’ve been packing for what seems like forever and in a few short hours we’ll be moving to our new home. Once we get there, surrounded once more by boxes of our belongings, I’ll be rereading this and then sending it off to Karen.

My business was born a few short months before my son was conceived. From the start of my pregnancy, it insisted that I take it into account. I was horribly nauseous and vomiting at all hours of the day and night. For months. Calling it morning sickness would be making a molehill out of a mountain. It was ridiculously serious.

And yet… I had sessions already booked and didn’t want to cancel them. So I called up my clients and told them about it. Asked if they minded my bringing some snacks, a ginger ale and a be-ribboned bucket to the session. Luckily for me, they were all incredibly gracious and sympathetic (and amused I think). So. I did my sessions. Slowly, with lots of breaks (seconds long people) to take a deep breath until the nausea or lightheadedness passed and then we pressed on. And we got delightful images!

All this to say that I never got a chance to think of myself as either a mother or a photographer… so it’s never been a question of trying to decide which was most important to me. I love my son in more ways than I can describe and with more depth than seems possible. And I also love creating and capturing connections. Like Avedon said, “If a day goes by without me doing something related to photography, it’s though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence.”

I am a mother and a photographer, all the time. I knew from almost the very start of my business that I would have to fit my business around my child, which is what I wanted. I love that being my own boss means I can choose where to be (at home) and with whom (my child). As my son gets older, I find that while he can entertain himself better, he also needs more of my attention in concentrated bouts. So, I work on my business during naps and after bedtime. Sometimes I can do more while he’s awake. We go location scouting together, and I test all my gear on him. Daily. We often go to client meetings together- they all know about him from reading my blog and talking to me. When I’m shooting a wedding, or need to attend a meeting without him, my husband watches him (he also works for himself). I shot portrait sessions with him in a carrier or stroller when he was younger and he often slept right through them. If I was shooting a family, he would play with the kids after. If I was shooting a maternity session, the mama-to-be got all misty eyed about what she was about to be gifted with as she watched my little one beam and gurgle. As he got older and wanted to run around more, I’d enlist help from a friend who would come with me to the session and play with the baby while I worked and then we’d all (clients too!!) play together afterwards.

Ajira's little guy, Chésaweh (isn't he cute?!)

It is important to me that my son is with me as much of the time as possible. Especially during these most formative years. It is important to me that I get to watch, support, delight in and respond to him. I just want to be with him and see him grow up. I love that my work is not only a balm to my soul but also allows me to be with this wondrous little boy who is so much like his father and I and yet so much more himself. That I get to be with him everyday, that I get to model to him a life spent pursuing a passion, that I get to show him a life lived in love is beyond anything I could have dreamed of or wished for as a child. I am astoundingly blessed.

This is not to say that I do not struggle. Remember the ‘ha!’ at the start of this post? Yeah, that was about the struggle. Sometimes Chésaweh’s teething coincides with moving, writing a guest post, sending clients’ their images and editing sessions. And somehow it’s all got to get done. I do as much as I can for as long as I can and then rest. My goal is to do each thing with all of my energy until it’s done. And then on to the next thing. I aim to minimise regret as much as possible. I don’t have time to waste wishing I’d done things differently- and I know what I’m talking about here because I’ve done it. Oy! I try to remind myself that I’m here now, and this is where I can work from.

There are certainly nights where I am beside myself because I’m trying to get something done for a client but Chésaweh needs me or where I’m playing with him at the park and trying to plan out my schedule in my head. It’s something that is a work in progress with me. Given that both are changing constantly, a certain planning while being prepared for whatever comes is required. While it is sometimes stressful, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Being with my son and my camera makes me happy.

What about you?

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A few of Ajira’s beautiful images:

I was chatting on Twitter today with another mom who was letting her little boy have M&M’s as a treat for potty training. I told her that I was very wary of giving little kids candy like M&M’s until they’re a bit older. It’s not because they might choke on them (though there’s a possibility they could, for sure… they are hard, round candies that need to be chewed and don’t REALLY melt in the mouth)… but it’s because they look too much like pills.

Put a red M&M and an extra-strength Tylenol side by side. Sure, YOU can tell them apart. You’re an adult. But your toddler? I’m betting your toddler would reach for the Tylenol just as frequently as he or she reaches for the M&M. Lots of pills have “sweet” coatings on them too, because people are lame-o and can’t just suck it up and swallow a pill the old fashioned way.

I’m sure you know as well as I do that kids are crafty, too. I clearly remember climbing up on to the bathroom counter when I was about 6 years old, finding a pill bottle in the medicine cabine, and figuring out how to open a “child safe” container — I guess I was just curious — but thankfully my mother taught me about medicine very early on, and that it’s only to be taken when given by a parent. I’ve seen so many pictures on the internet of kids even smaller — three, four, five years old — climbing up on kitchen or bathroom counters. Can you imagine a child opening a pill bottle and thinking it looks like candy because they are used to eating food like M&Ms? The idea of that is very, very scary – if a child were to eat a bottle of Tylenol, the results would be devastating.

Giving your toddler small, round candies is very dangerous. I definitely will not be giving them to Zachary until he’s at least 5 years old and able to understand the difference between candy and medicine.

Edited to add ~ here are a few links which describe how dangerous the “is it candy or medicine?” issue is when dealing with toddlers: Candy or Medicine (Parents Magazine) / Medicine Cabinet Candy / Candy or Medicine Poster / 7 Drugs that can Kill Kids in a Single Pill

Just in case you don’t have the time to read all of the articles listed above, one of them (I believe the last one) discusses that many toddlers/babies ingest pills found in hotel rooms while families are on vacation and are brought to the hospital without even knowing what they’ve swallowed. Please be careful when you travel with your kids this summer and if you stay in a hotel with your young child, do a full sweep of the room/floor before allowing your baby to crawl around — and try to have at least one adult keep an eye on him/her at all times!

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The number one rule when you have a new baby is that the baby is always to be put down on his back – aka, the Back to Sleep movement. This helps to prevent against SIDS – every parents’ nightmare. After a couple of weeks, you start tummy time, which naturally the baby hates, and upon being placed on his tummy, starts screaming, yelping, whining, much like a little dog trapped  in a cage. I imagine that must be what tummy time must be like for a tiny little infant who can’t crawl or move away.

Soon the baby learns how to roll over and discovers that he actually enjoys being on his tummy! After a while he figures out how to scoot or crawl. Being on his tummy is now his preferred state, and his reaction to being placed on his back is now very much like his reaction as an infant to… tummy time. *sigh*

This is where I am with my little dude right now. He is not a fan of being on his back. I know this is common. But boy is it annoying – and tough when doing diaper changes and clothing changes. I look forward to the day when I no longer have to use the changing table – or when my little one decides he doesn’t mind being placed on his back! Of course.. by then I’ll probably have another little one fussing about the very same thing. :)

I meant to post about this a while back, but have been so busy lately that I haven’t had time.

A couple weeks ago I was approached by an intern at New Parent Magazine to be a featured blogger! If you’re a mom, or pregnant, you’ve probably seen New Parent or Toddler magazines in your OB or Pediatrician offices. I was pretty stoked to be asked to write a story for their informative & interactive website.

The story that they featured is called “The Mommy Competition” and describes the competitiveness that new moms often experience following the birth of a child… click here to check out the article, and never forget that your child is a unique individual who will grow at his or her own pace, no matter what anyone else says or suggests. No one graduates high school still sucking on a pacifier, after all, right? :)

Hope you enjoy it!

Zachary has had a fascination with buckles as long as I can remember. Even when he was tiny, he was always very interested in the way his car seat and high chair snapped together and tried to figure out how to un-buckle himself! He loves to play with all the buckles and now that he can walk, he will often just walk up to his car seat and stand there for a few minutes trying to figure out how the whole thing works.

For a while I’ve been wanting to find him a buckle toy, and I took a few minutes to google it this morning and found a few different options. This one, made by The Buckle Toy, is the nicest (with pinch proof buckles, even) and definitely the cutest and most colorful (thus, most appealing to Zachary). The next time I buy Zachary a gift, I might even buy two, so I can keep, say, the turtle toy at home and the small pillow toy in my diaper bag.

I can’t believe it – PDN (Photo District News) reports today that the classic ViewMaster toy is being discontinued! The ViewMaster, while simple, was a favorite toy of mine growing up, and I remember looking at my favorite reels over and over and over.

I guess I can see why it’s going extinct – kids today have so many fun digital games and toys that they can play with. Just the other day my mother-in-law took me and Zachary shopping for some good toys and things for him while she is in town visiting, and the array of interesting light-up and musical toys are astounding. The ViewMaster just can’t compete. Still, I plan to buy Zachary the same classic red ViewMaster that I had as a little kid, as well as some great educational reels (and some fun ones too)!

ETA: My mom found my old ViewMaster as well as the collector’s case with all of my reels! I am so excited to see it! My mom says she thinks that my ViewMaster was actually the one that she kept from her own childhood. If it is the same, how cool that Zachary will be one day be using a toy that his Grandma and his Mommy both used and loved!