And the Winner Is...

...Nin of Peachy Hollow!

Congratulations! Please email me at MommasGoneCity@gmail.com and I'll get these goodies off to you!

I really wish I could buy one of these for all of you... I appreciate your support! Thank you to all that entered and who follow my blog.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone! xx

GIVEAWAY TIME! UPDATE

UPDATE: I'm sweetening the deal. Throwing in another book, for when you visit NYC with kids, or have friends in NYC with kids. Fodor's Around New York City with Kids :)

I always heard that toddlers were picky eaters. I had no idea how bad it could be until recently, when both of my children basically refuse to eat anything but Annie's Mac n' Cheese and fruit. Birdie still gets suckered into eating veggies out of a jar or pouch, but that's basically it. Bubba needs to be excessively bribed forced AHEM, reminded to eat his broccoli or peas. Or any other veggie under the sun. I've bought countless cook books to find new ways to make eating fun for children, but forgive me when I say that I will never spend over 15 minutes constructing a spaceship out of a chicken nugget just to get them to eat it. I have spent countless hours making food from scratch for them that I was certain they would eat, only to have them turn their little button noses up at it. It makes me want to scream. Especially because I really truly just want them to have healthy food in their tummies so they will grow big and strong. I know that they will eat when they are good and ready, but that doesn't curb the guilt I feel for doing them a disservice by giving them rubbish (as far as they are concerned). Oh, the drama of breakfast/lunch/dinnertime. I digress.



I recently found Jessica Seinfeld's cook book for children Deceptively Delicious at my local Borders. I was introduced to it by a very close friend who actually uses it to cook for her husband (!). The genius behind it is simple: Make purees of various veggies, freeze them and when you go to make your pancakes or scrambled eggs or chicken nuggets, just whip the veggies in. I know that Jessica isn't the only one to come up with this idea but I really just liked her recipes. They are simple, easy and fuss free. Not to mention the food actually tastes really good. My kids even like it. We all especially love the scrambled eggs with sour cream, cauliflower, and parmesan cheese. They still will basically only eat Annie's Mac n' Cheese and fruit, but if I introduce these new foods to them at a good pace then they get the sense that it is new and exciting. Parenthood is all about manipulation, as much as it pains me to say it.

Cutting to the chase: I'm giving away a copy of Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. You can read more about it here.

How to enter:

Follow my blog and leave me a comment saying that you are. If you already are following me, please just leave me a comment on this post stating so. Each SEPARATE comment counts as an entry.

Become a Fan of Momma's Gone City on Facebook (the widget is on the right hand side of the screen) and leave a comment on this post stating that you did or already are.

Tweet about this contest on Twitter, linking this post in your tweet. When you do that, leave me a comment on this post stating that you did so!

I will be using Random.org to tally the comments/entries and pick a winner. Again, each SEPARATE comment counts as an entry!

Random.org will be down on Sunday, when I was originally going to have the contest end, so the contest will be ending on Monday, November 23rd at midnight, EST.

This is just a fun way for me to thank my dear readers and meet some of you that I haven't yet! I hope to see your name pop up. Good luck!

One Word Wednesday

Grateful.

Toddler WIN, Parenting FAIL: A Lesson in Potty Training

Not So Spectacular UPDATE: One accident at Preschool playground, one at the playground after preschool and yet another tonight at home. Discouraging to say the least. He doesn't seem to mind at all. Blurg.

We spent the entire weekend potty training Bubba. I've been told by many parents that you have to devote an entire weekend (it takes four days), preferably with both parents around and hands on, to potty training a child. So we did. And just when we thought all hope was lost in three loads of laundry, a hundred Clorox wipes and countless, COUNTLESS, eleventy billion trips to the bathroom, I am beyond proud to announce that Bubba is just about there!

It wasn't something we had even planned on doing. It just happened. Like I said earlier that we were working on being diaper free by three, we weren't really going to push it if he didn't seem remotely ready. Some days he was more interested than others: One day he would use the potty three to four times, other days he wouldn't use it at all. We tried the incentive charts, using smiley face stickers and the promise of a toy of his choice if he accumulated enough. That worked for about, oh, 3 days. We tried M&M's and treat bags with little plastic toys. Those also worked for roughly 3 days. After the three days he would just forget about the treats and either go in his pants or ignore our pleas for him to use the potty entirely. This time took persistence and heavier ammo.

Let me preface this next bit by saying that I am the anti-candy parent. I don't think children should have candy at all, or at least in strict moderation, and for the first year and a half I really stuck to my guns. Then last year I put some organic jelly beans in Bubba's Easter eggs and put a few pouches of organic gummy bears in his stocking. Why organic? Sugar is sugar, right? I don't know. It makes me feel better about letting him have candy at all. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This past weekend all of my morality shot to you-know-where in a hand basket. We promised him an entire (organic-WHAT?!) lollipop for every time he used the potty by himself. Well what do you know. The kid is all about instant gratification and I can't blame him one single bit because he got it from his momma. His well meaning yet hyper-hypocritical mother who personally devoured his, her husband's and her OWN entire Halloween stash. It was terribly painful to unwrap no less than FIVE suckers in one day. (I'll have you know that I brushed his teeth after every one! Guilt shmilt), but I'll tell you the child is no longer in diapers after the third day. I bought one of those Potette Plus potty's for when we are on the go, and I set it up at the park today for him to use at his leisure. He used it on his own while I was on the opposite side of the playground wrangling Birdie. The sense of accomplishment and pride was pouring from every single crevice. He asked for a lollipop and he got one on the ride home. The way I figure, he is developing a lifelong habit and the candy most certainly will NOT continue to be a part of our routine. Bubba is still wearing a Pull-Up diaper at night because this is still so new, but he woke up this morning with it being dry.


Using the Baby Bjorn potty

A rough time line of our adventure:

Friday evening through Monday evening, Bubba was strictly (except for sleeping time) wearing big boy underwear, mostly at his request. We basically did not leave the apartment that entire time, and we did, literally, go through at least three loads of laundry. That's at least $20 in our apartment-dwelling world. There was a lot of crying, screaming and frustration throughout the ordeal, but once Bubba started refusing the diaper we knew it that this was it. I am feeling very guilty about giving him all the candy that we did -I even bought him sparkle marshmallows, the HORROR- but I won't let it continue and will find an alternative, sugar free route for the upcoming week or two. The true test will be tomorrow in preschool, where the majority of his classmates are still in diapers. I'll let him choose between diapers and underwear, but I'm pretty confident he's over the diapers at this point. Nice work, little man. We are SO proud of you. I can hardly believe it!


Using the Potette Plus in the Plaza outside of our building

Hellybee Photography

I know this is a little late, but I had to post some of my friend Helene's pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch. She's simply amazing, I don't know how she captures the magic the way that she does, but she truly has a gift. Beyond her gorgeous pictures she is an amazing human being, I am so lucky to call her my friend. She is due to give birth to her second child at any moment and I am beyond thrilled for her. Good luck Helene, we are thinking about you constantly!










Helene can be contacted here, if you are interested. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and primarily works there. I personally am total sucker for professional pictures. I mean, what could be more special?

Sing it, Sister! Review: Tiny Tongs and Silikids

It's been a while since I have done a Sing it, Sister, so when I received these products in the mail I was thrilled! Anything that makes parenthood even the slightest bit easier always has my vote. Especially gadgets. I love me a good gadget.




Tinytongs are really handy for children who haven't quite mastered using utensils (or not even close in my case) and even for children who have. Have you ever noticed that the second you introduce a new plate or utensils to your toddler that dinner becomes exciting again? Both of my kids loved these for those reasons. The smaller children can improve their pincer grasp while all ages can work on their fine motor skills while eating. Brilliant. Tinytongs are made from polypropylene and TPE over-molding, non-toxic, lead, BPA and Phtalate Free. They are recommended for ages 12 months through 5 years, retail for $7.99 and come in pink, purple, orange and green. Best yet, they were designed by a mother, so you know she knew what she was doing ;)



Next up: Silikids Siliskin Glass






We've been exploring many milestones with Bubba lately. He'll be three at the end of January and that is "D Day" for many toddlers. We're working on potty training, getting rid of the pacifier, and drinking from a big kid cup (i.e. banishing the straw cups). We've had a rough go at the first two, but the last one is fun and not all that serious. Nevertheless, it's something that needs to be done. We have hardwood floors, so imagine my glee when this cup showed up in our mailbox. It's an actual glass cup, but it's covered in a silicone mold. I've tried dropping it on the floor and it didn't break- kudos to the Siliskin Glass! Bubba loves drinking out of it too because it's just his size and it's glass so I know it must feel extra grown up to him. The bonus of silicone is it's also BPA free, non-toxic, hypo allergenic, does not promote bacteria or fungus growth and it's recyclable. These 6 oz cups retail for $7.95 and come in green and blue. This company has a range of silicone products, and if you are interested you can check them out at http://www.silikids.com/

Empire State of Mind

Whew. Well, we're back in the city and honestly it feels amazing. This trip back to California was just what I needed. We missed daddy terribly, but it was good for him to put all of his energy into his first midterm (which he got a B on, yay!). He missed us too... I think he may have eaten frozen fish sticks and fries 4 nights in a row. I couldn't wait to get home and cook for him- which is exactly what I did all day today. After preschool we hit the grocery store and I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs AND butternut squash soup (for tomorrow night)! The kids did a fantastic job of destroying every inch of the house while I did all that, including completely re-programming the cable box. Amazing what a 13 month old can do. I think they missed trashing their toys and ruling their own roost. The freedom that a HOUSE with a BACKYARD allows them is incomparable to apartment living, but this is their home, and they dig it well enough.

The travels went as smooth as can be expected with a two year old, a one year old, and one parent. I was toast before I ever began being outnumbered like that, but I'll never learn:
We took a town car to the airport at 3 pm on our way to CA. I didn't order car seats because it's completely legal for children to ride in a cab or town car that way. Not that I necessarily agree with that, especially the way people drive in this city, but they were going to charge me $60 extra dollars, and the airport is in Queens. Normally a trip to JFK shouldn't take that long, but guess what? Rush hour in NYC is at 3PM (or whenever it feels like it). It took us an hour and a half to get to the airport. An hour and a half of two screaming, bouncing children in stop and go traffic. This was somewhat tolerable until J started throwing up. He threw up 5 times on the drive to the airport, at which point I threw in the towel -quite literally- and decided that the trip couldn't possibly get any worse. Such a fool I am. Without going into too much detail, I'll just say that shlepping a double stroller, three carry-on's, two babies and dinner onto an airplane is not easy. Nor is it fun. It would have been a fairly painless flight, however, if it hadn't been for Z's diaper explosion, some really intense turbulence and the sour-puss sitting next to us, but I guess you win some and you lose some, right? There was a very bright light at the end of this tunnel, and we got through it just fine. Two weeks in my home town, in my mother's home, with all of our friends and family around us was a complete vacation and totally worth the fuss. It rested and filled us to the brim with love and energy for the travels and life back in NYC. The flight home was amazing. We took a red eye, and because of that I was really nervous but we had an extra seat and the kids both slept together for the majority of the time on the plane. I got to watch Ace of Cakes for 3 hours while making sure they didn't fall off the seats, so when we finally got home I was a zombie. We paid for the car seats for the drive home this time, but the driver was SO terrible that both of the kids got ferociously sick the entire way home. I happen to be very susceptible to car sickness as well, and it took all I had NOT to throw up myself, but I think I was too busy holding plastic bags and cleaning. Done with the barf talk yet? It was FUN. We arrive at our building at 7:30AM to see daddy waiting out in front for us. Happiest. Sight. Ever. Couldn't wait to get upstairs, cleaned up and in our jammies for some quality nap time. Which is just what we did. It's great to be back home in New York City.

Some photos from our trip: Family, friends and fun adventures.












I've got some reviews that I am doing this week that I am excited about, so stay tuned!