I am very big on cooking. I cook to save money. We hardly ever eat out unless it is a special occasion like a holiday or birthday. I like the thought of cooking on a daily basis because it allows me to monitor what goes into my families bodies. I know exactly what I cooked with, how much I used, and can be assured that it will often times be on the healthier side versus fast food.

When I got the opportunity to review the book Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfield, I jumped at the chance. I was so excited to see how these recipes would fair with my picky household of boys. For those that do not know, Jessica Seinfield is Jerry Seinfields wife. So to have a “celebrities cookbook” in my home is even greater. Apparently she had the same issues I was having when it came to getting her family to eat their vegetables.

The recipes in the Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food book are very easy to follow. Almost all of the recipes that I tried came out delicious and you never knew that there was a single vegetable in them. There is a little extra prep work that goes into disguising vegetables to look like other foods but I think the extra effort was all well worth it to see my two year old gobble up a muffin that I knew had squash in it.

I encourage all of my Domestic Diva readers to go out and buy this book. It really is great. You will love the recipes. I even saw this book at my grocery store the other day so I know you will be able to find it in your area, if not there is always a place to buy it online.

For more reviews on Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food please check out PBN also check out the Deceptively Delicious website.

If you have not been reading my twitters lately. Then you need to catch up. I am up extremely early this morning because, well, I just could not go back to sleep. The bean woke up this morning tossing and turning. I got up, changed him, and brought him to our bed in hopes of getting a couple more hours of sleep before dawn broke. As luck would have it, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I was so hot. And when I am hot there is no hope of sleeping. If I were to go to sleep, it would have just been miserable. So, I got up and headed to the bathroom for the normal morning pee. I noticed that the toilet wasn’t flushing so I had to go to “boys bathroom” to see if I could fix it by flushing their toilet. The water went down when I flushed the other toilet but I am a little scared that it is a little backed up. I do know that I was not the last one to use the bathroom, but in fact our house guest. So when hubby gets a chance, or wakes up, I will get him to take a look at it and do the whole plunger thing. I hate bathroom issues. If it isn’t one thing it is another, right? Sheesh.

Well in the middle of trying to fix the toilet, the pnut heard me and you guested it. Woke up! Grief! I could have told him to go back to bed but at this moment we are having sleep issues. He will fight me to the death about naps and bedtime. I don’t know what has gotten into him. So I let him go ahead and get up early because today naptime is strictly at 1:30pm, no excuses. TV is off. Toys put away. Lunch is eaten. And then straight to bed. He fought me for three hours yesterday over his nap. He just didn’t want to go to sleep. It was awful. Every five minutes I would here little footsteps and he would come in the room with some excuse as to why he was up and not asleep. Finally he lost the battle and gave in to the whole sleep thing. So today we are getting back on schedule. One thirty nap, eight or nine will be bedtime. Period. That is it. No more lenient momma. It is time to buckle down on the discipline and to stop letting stuff just slide. If pnut has to be in the naughty chair all day then so be it. He needs to learn discipline and how to listen/obey.

Well since the pnut and I were both up. I definitely don’t want to be up this early. I devised a plan where I could go and get some Starbucks so that this whole early morning thing didn’t feel like it was done in vain. Ahhhh…mornings are so much better when it is fueled with the Starbucks.

Off to finish my work…(I am so hyped up on caffeine right now, it is so great!)

I started using an electric toothbrush a couple of months back. You might remember the review that I wrote on it. Well actually it is an ultrasonic toothbrush that uses ultrasonic waves to get your teeth really, really clean. So clean in fact that it vibrated one of my filling right out of my tooth. Now I have a huge hole in the middle of one of my teeth in the upper, left hand side. This is not good. It bothers me and I definitely need to get it filled soon. Since my husband is unsure if I am covered under his dental plan, I was doing some research on a discount dental plans website to see if I could afford my own dental plan. That way I wouldn’t have to bug the husband or feel as if I am mooching of of his insurance. I found some really great discount dental plans that I think I will be able to afford on my work at home job salary. So soon enough, I will be able to get my lost filling repaired. I will feel so much better knowing that I have given my teeth the proper attention that I know they need. If you also do not have a dental plan, I encourage you to check out discount dental plans before you go looking anywhere else. You never know, you just might find the plan that works for you and at a really great discounted price. If you are looking for a affordabl and easy to use dental plan, discount dental plans is the place for you.

Yesterday, at supper, we attempted to give the bean his first taste of real baby food. We opted to try out bananas. They were a huge hit. We took a video of the whole experience which you can go check out on my kid’s blog. It is really cute to see him enjoying the bananas. If you are wondering what he is looking at in the video, it is his big brother. He really loves his big brother. He watches him all day long, just a smiling at him.

A couple of years back, my husband put our playstation 2 on top of our television. At the time our computer desk was right beside the television. In a cramped apartment, there really was no other place for it. Well one day, while I was finishing up my work on the compter, I accidentally hit the television with my office chair. You can probably guess what happened next. Yep, that is right, the playstation fell off the television and onto the floor. Damaging it forever. We have been playstation-less for approximately three years now. Horrible thought I know.

As the holidays approach, my mind begins to wonder about all the things my husband would love to receive for Christmas this year. Clothing is always at the top of the list but I know a fun gadget would be another great gift to give him. Something he would never expect to receive from me like a playstation perhaps. I’ve been thinking about purchasing a playstation on credit, just because I do not have all of the money saved up right now. On credit I would be able to pay it off over the next couple of months. Sounds like a plan for me.

Best of all is that the playstation on credit website has special programs for members of the military. I love that they give those in the military a special break. We all know how much they deserve it for all of the hard work they do for our country.

I wish I had Lily Bugs back when I was trying to teach my first born son, pnut how to hold his own cup. Lily Bugs, if you do not know, are the latest and greatest products for your kids. It is a sippy and bottle holder with special designed “wings” off the sides that gives little hands something to grab onto while taking a drink. Eventually kids will learn to use these “wing” as a means of feeding themselves. They learn the special skills it takes to lift and hold a bottle or sippy cup all on their own. This is such a great product. The bean loves to use his Lily Bugs while he is drinking his bottle. Since he is on the verge of learning to eat real baby food, I thought it would also be a great time to introduce the Lily Bug to him. Now he can also learn how to hold the bottle all by himself. He almost has the hang of it. Just a little while longer and we will have feeding time, hands free…well for me at least.

Here is a photo of the pnut using a Lily Bug on one of his old sippy cups. Even though the pnut has since grown out of using a sippy cup, he couldn’t resist using a Lily Bug for himself. He wanted to be just like his little brother. He loved it by the way. So whenever we are out and about, I let him take his lily bug with him.

I have come to the conclusion that all I do is wipe butts for a living. When hubby came home the other day, dropped his pants to his ankles, and bent over. I just knew nothing good could come of this. He said, “I need you to look at my hole!” Are you serious? Me. Alone with “the hole”. This can’t be good. As I stared into “the other end” of my husband, I had a moment where I knew I had seen it all. You may be wondering what the impromptu movie was for. Well hubs has a hemorrhoid and well he wanted me to look at it to see what was going on “back there”. Looks like a hemorrhoid to me. Since, well I am no doctor as much as my family tries to get me to be. I say give it time. If it gets worse then, well, go to the “real doctor”.

I can’t believe this is my profession. I think I should change my slogan to “The Domestic Diva- actively wiping butts since 2004.”

Now I know that all you Moms out there have thought about getting a Tummy Tuck before. Right? I know that I can’t be the only one sporting a deflated baby sack. Pregnancy takes a tremendous toll on women’s bodies and that is why there is such a huge market for Tummy Tuck surgery. If you are considering going “under the knife” make sure you choose a credible plastic surgeon with lots of references. See their before and after work. Talk with previous clients about the experience that they had. Go to several plastic surgeons before you choose the one that is right for you. The Times recently favored this Plastic Surgery Office as one of the best in the UK. Please do not go by literature alone. You need to do your own research before making a final decision on who will be your plastic surgeon.

Be safe and enjoy your flatter tummy!

So this is a video that I tried to take of the bean during his tummy time. As you can see, the pnut didn’t like that I was just taking a video of his brother. He wanted to be in the “picture” too! Pnut often times does this. He wants to be in every video that I make. If I am making my infamous MeToday’s then I have to be either in the car or in my room with the room locked. If I ignore him, he screams at me so to avoid confrontation and about 20 different takes I just go where he can’t go. Does that sound horrible? He is such a spotlight hog.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com