Partnership with Feeding Matters

I had the opportunity to work with Reckitt Mead Johnson and learn more about the Feeding Matters website and the support they provide to families. If you aren’t familiar with them, then make sure you CLICK HERE to check out their website. This group provides support for families who have children with a pediatric feeding disorder. I love their evidence-based approach to getting information to families that is creditable and actually helpful. I was able to work with Reckitt to create a blog post and then do an Instagram live for them. I was paid by Reckitt for my time to write the blog post and do the live discussion. The information provided though is not influenced by one particular formula company. This information is evidence based and is the gold standard recommendations for the CDC, WHO and the AAP. Evidence for the recommendations are all listed at the end of the blog post. You can check out the blog post by CLICKING HERE. Then after publishing the blog post I was able to do an Instagram live with Feeding Matters. We had a great conversation about some myths regarding preparing formula for your child, how to safely handle that preparation and why you would want to be conservative when it comes to following mixing instructions and expiration dates. There is a great handout available from the CDC on how to safely prepare infant formula and it is wonderful resource for caregivers (see that graphic below).

From the CDC

Follow these hand washing techniques when getting ready to prepare your child’s feedings.

Baby Busenburg #3: Birth Story

So I am typing this up over 1 year after this actual experience. I kind of had lost my excitement about this blog and was so overwhelmed with life, working, being a mother to three small humans. Well now, I am feeling reinvigorated about this blog and feel like I have found a rhythm in my motherhood journey.

Baby Busenburg #3 began his arrival into the world on May 6th (Friday). I was able to work from home that day and was thankful to be able to do some work, and then start to have contractions and work through those begin stages of labor at home. My mother-in-law came into Harrison the week before baby’s arrival and we have some special time with her leading up to baby’s arrival. We reached out to her on the Friday afternoon and let her know that we thought we’d need to go to the hospital overnight. She came over and spent the night with the two older boys. We hung out at home until about 11pm and then when contractions continued to progress and were less than 5 minutes apart we headed into the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital around 1130pm and then got settled in a room. All that transition and being admitted totally stalled out labor some. Chas did an amazing job kicking out the nurses and having them only come in as needed and quietly do their charting and reading of the fetal monitor. Then things continued to progress and finally we made it to transition. My ammonitic fluid stayed intact the whole time and finally when I was just almost fully dilated the OB nicked the bag of waters and that was just what was needed to then reach 10cm and in like two pushes Calvin Busenburg arrived in the world. He arrived around 3am that morning of May 7th. He did have a nuchal cord x1, but no meconium staining and that nuchal cord didn’t prevent him from coming right out.

He was a healthy weight, the largest of all three of my boys and arrived on his due date at 40+0 weeks gestation. We were so thankful for a rather boring delivery and an uneventful series of events that lead to welcoming Calvin Michael Busenburg into the world. He is so loved by all of brothers and is an amazing addition to our family!


Happy Dietitian Day!

What better way to pick back up my blog than with celebrating Dietitian Day and International Women’s Day. Did you know ~92% of all Registered Dietitians are women? Now, I do have issue with this statistic, but since it is a reality we live in as a RDN today we are going to lean into it and embrace the amazing women that are Rockstar Dietitians.

I became a Registered Dietitian because I wanted to help people and work with people to be the best version of themselves. I found the niche area of neonatal nutrition, because I loved being able to have a meaningful impact on my patients and see the changes that nutrition plays in their tiny lives. Babies grow, adapt and overcome adversity and seeing those changes in such a short period of time is truly a miracle.

I have ad the opportunity to work with some amazing women over the years in the field of dietetics. Each job I have held, I have had more senior RDs teach me what they know and impart that wisdom to me. I am thankful for each one of them and for them taking the time to help me become the RD that I am today.

As I look back on my 11.5 year career as a RD, I wanted to share some thoughts with you about my journey.

  • I have worked at three different hospital institutions that were three very different sizes. I covered adult CICU, labor/delivery, high risk OB, NICU (inpatient and outpatient), pediatrics (inpatient and outpatient).

  • I have somehow managed to be responsible for high risk OB patients at each hospital I have work at over the last 11.5 years.

  • I covered NICU Follow Up clinic at my very first job and at my current job.

  • I have had the chance to do countless radio, TV, newspaper and written publication work over the years. My favorite thing is writing and then TV appearances. Radio work was much harder than I imagined and I really preferred in person media education.

  • As specifically a NICU RD, this last year with COVID supply chain issues and formula recalls it has been SO challenging to work with families on what formulas are available and what works best for their child.

I am incredibly thankful for this career journey and for all the experiences and people I have met. It has been such an amazing ride and so better than I ever imagined. I wish that I could change some things and have RDs make more money and have more diversity and be a career that more people have access to, but I will continue to work to support our profession and work to move us in that direction. So for today, Happy Registered Dietitian Day and thank you to ALL the amazing RDs who work tirelessly to take care of their patients/clients.

Life Update: Baby Busenburg #3

To be honest, there has been lots going on in life, the stress of the pandemic, work and being a Mom. In the end I have always written on this blog because it brought me joy and over the last year, it has been hard to find that joy and wanting to share on this platform. Today I decided that I wanted to write something and post it! So there was some joy there again and some thoughts I wanted to share. 

I started this blog as a way to share nutrition information/life experiences as a Mom and RD with the world. I have appreciated having this platform, but at times it felt like a chore. With that being said, I think that it is time to start typing again and share some encouragement and thoughts with you all. 

Since my last post we have found out that we are expecting our third child. We are having another baby boy! This is a super exciting time for us as we look forward to that little one’s arrival at the beginning of May 2022. Our life is crazy with a 5 year old and almost 3 year old + working full time, but I wouldn’t trade this for the world. With that being said though in the last year I have learned that I can’t do all the things. Hence, the reason why this blog took a back seat. I have had a good pregnancy that is very boring so far. That is fantastic, but that first trimester for me was kind of rough at points. I was so tired and then felt “blah” and not like myself. That was challenging for two months for our family. During that time, I recognized and learned that my worth isn’t tied up in all the things I do. I had many hard moments of just being ok with small victories, like getting clothes washed and not stressing about putting them away. Also I slept quite a bit and had to be ok with leaving dirty dishes in the sink and asking my husband for more help. 

Thanks to Miranda Hertel for the amazing family pictures - Miranda Hertel Photography (mypixieset.com)

As we start 2022, I am very cautiously optimistic about this year. I am thankful for my family, our health and jobs and hope that 2022 brings more joy for us all. I want to continue to remember that taking time for yourself (some self care time) and then not trying to do “all the things” is important. With people making resolutions and trying to make changes, remember that you are perfect the way you are and there are all things we want to change, but set those goals to be realistic. If you don’t hit that goal, that’s ok, reshape that goal and try again. If your laundry sits on your floor for 2 months, gets cleaned and goes right back to the floor, that is ok. You aren’t alone and you are doing a great job! Here’s 2022 and being cautiously optimistic for the year ahead! 



Creation of a CV

I am not sure if you have written a CV (curriculum vitae which is Latin for course of life) or if you have a resume, but I put together my first CV in the last month. It has been quite the experience. Let me tell you there is something so amazing seeing all the things you have done during your career come together in a document that is highlighting YOU!

Over the last year, I have definitely struggled with my confidence in my new job, managing the stress of a global pandemic, trying to get re-certified for a specialty exam and then of course caring for my family. I just felt like I wasn’t doing any of it well. Going into a large medical institute where no one knows you is hard. It is challenging to share your expertise and feel confident with what you know. Being at other institutions is extremely valuable, but sell that to others is tough as the new person.

So now 16 months after starting this new job, I feel like I have found my confidence again, got that certification done and I now have a CV put together. Spending time going back through my career really helped to remind me that I bring so much value to my job. I needed that boost.

I wanted to go over how I put together my CV. It was definitely overwhelming at first to think back through all the years of work I have and then project/publications that I have done. Your CV serves as a document used in academic purposes to highlight your career accomplishments. There is a flow to how your CV should be organized:

  1. CV header containing contact information

  2. Personal profile containing your CV summary/objective

  3. Work experience

  4. Education

  5. Skills

  6. Additional Sections of things pertinent to your field

I started with googling, because isn’t that how most of us start trying to figure something out. Obviously write up this document in a clear and easy to read font. There is going to be a lot of information you are compiling here so make it easy to read. Set margins to 1 inch on all four sides. Commit to one style for how are you going write out dates and follow that format throughout the whole document. Keep your CV clean, script and not extra graphics. Keep photos off your CV as well.

I knew that I needed to work to put this document together so I basically just jumped into a template that I found online. Then I started modifying it, adding in my information and came back to it several times to add to it. As I was thinking through and adding things, I realized that there are so many little things I should include, but I was struggling to remember dates.

Words of Wisdom

  • Write down all your projects, awards, accomplishments, etc with the dates. Take note of those things. You want to include those highlights in your CV, but if you don’t keep a record of them it can be challenging.

  • Just start and save this document. Maybe you feel like you don’t have lots of put in a CV. That doesn’t matter. Start the document, save it and add your accomplishments in there as things happen and you complete projects.

  • This is a living document that you need to save and update as time goes along.

  • Be proud of all the hard work you have put into your career! This is a showcase of you and you should be so dang proud!

Never Give Up

It has been TOO long since I have updated my blog. I would be lying to you if I said that this year hasn’t been challenging. I have been working hard on studying for the Certified Specialist in Pediatrics Exam. I realized that between the pandemic, starting a new job and then having some test anxiety that this equated to the perfect storm when it came to figuring out how to properly study for that exam. If you don’t know, the Commission on Dietetic Registration has specialty exams for RDs in certain areas. You have to apply take these tests and pay money and then if you pass that credential is good for 5 years. I took this exam 5 years ago, but at that time I was married and had no children. I read lots of books and I had some more free time to devote to studying. The test was also graded on a curve, which played to my benefit. Fast forward to this last year and I now have two children + a new job + pandemic stress = recipe for a challenging disaster.

I share this with you, not have to have you feel sorry for me, but instead realize that sometimes that image you see of someone online isn’t the full story. Sometimes behind the scenes that person is working their tail off to make something look easy. That has been the story of my life over the past year. I also wanted to share with you about a resource that changing my viewpoint on studying. My amazing husband had read this book in graduate school and it helped him achieve a 3.9 GPA in graduate school. The book is “Make It Stick” and I would highly recommend it. This book helped me understand a method of how I could actually learn the material I was trying to study and review.

The idea from the book is that you would make flashcards during your studying time and then review those each time you sit down to study. Then you organize them in categories like: 1) I know well, 2) I know somewhat, 3) still need to review. Then you spend more time reviewing those cards in the “still need review category” and then when you have mastered those topics, you shift them into the “I know well or somewhat” categories. This make studying manageable! With my life now I wake up and have to start dealing with children around 7am and then out the door to work no later than 8am. Then home by 5-6pm and bedtime for the children at 8pm + my own bedtime at 10-11pm. That basically leaves a small window in the morning + after 8pm for me to study. Each day, I would spend 30 minutes- 1..5hrs studying and reviewing flashcards. This practice and continual recall of information was very empowering.

Again, I wanted to share this with you, because we all have to learn and study throughout our lifetime. That can be challenging and as we get older, we have so much more competing for our time. How can you accomplish those goals with the limited time you have? You have to be efficient and productive. If you find yourself struggling to review material and not feeling confident in learning new information - check out the book “Make It Stick.” I hope it helps empower you like it did me to accomplish those goals, finally that I set for myself. In the end I passed the test, I didn’t give up and all the hard work paid off!

Toxic Metals in Baby Foods

This topic has been hitting the news headlines this week and so many parents are freaking out. It is a scary topic and the headlines are enough to really make you nervous and start off some serious mom guilt. I wanted to share some information with you to provide some reassurance and help support you as you look at what you are feeding your child.

News Report published by WebMD - This article like many that were all over websites/social media and the evening news definitely is alarming to parents. This specific article talks about how infant rice cereal is the only baby food that has a legal limit on the amount of arsenic that can be in that product. This is because we have known that arsenic levels are high in rice. That is not new information. Arsenic naturally ends up in the soil/water from minerals in the earth. That is how rice grains get higher levels of arsenic from getting into the roots of these plants and then is stored in the grain (article from No Meat Athlete about this). Now that doesn’t mean you have to stop eating rice. Choose the rice with lower amounts of arsenic like Thai jasmine or Indian basmati. Then you need to wash your rice, prior to cooking until the water runs clear. This can decrease arsenic levels by 25-30% (from this article in the Chicago Tribune). As you can see, when you are aware of this information you can make informed choices.

I think that is one of the most shocking things for families is that no one realized that our food supply isn’t as “clean” as we like to think it is. Lots of our foods have other contaminants in them that we don’t normally think about. This doesn’t lessen the concerning findings brought up by the US House of Representatives. I just wanted to point out, that this isn’t brand new information. We do need to work harder to hold food companies accountable and work to find better alternatives and even ways to process these foods.

The US House of Representatives Staff Report - Came out on 3/4/21 talking about specifically arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury in baby foods. These are heavy metals and depending on how much you consume of these metals they can be toxic. Baby food brands were named and it covered all the popular brands you will find on store shelves. The recommendations this committee made were to require baby food manufacturers to have products tested for these heavy metals, report those levels on the food label and then work to find substitutes for these tainted ingredients. This committee also asked that the FDA set maximum levels for toxic heavy metals permitted in baby foods. I think that these are great recommendations and should definitely be prioritized.

Have been covering our NICU Follow Up Clinic and I have received several phone calls from parents really concerned about these findings. That is one reason why I wanted to take a moment and share some of this information with you. Plus, I also wanted to highlight another RD who has a great blog post on this topic - Check out Kids Eat in Color and her post on Heavy Metals in Baby Foods.

In the end, if you have fed your child baby food and infant cereal, I wouldn’t freak out. The biggest key and take and away from this is remembering that variety is key. Providing different foods is important to help limit exposure to these potentially contaminated foods.

Toddlers and Meal Times

In our house now we have two toddlers - a 4 year old and a 2 year old. Let me tell ya meal time is NEVER dull. We have all the singing, emotions, story telling, throwing of food at times and even refusing certain food items. The whole gambit can happen at our dinner table.

I wanted to bring up this topic again regarding family meal times, because we all have spent more time at home and are eating together more often as a family. I did another post back in November about family meal times and why they are important - CLICK HERE. For children, sitting down to eat together a great opportunity to learn and get to connect. We always have dinner together and talk about our day. Both of my children eat fairly well, but they also decide at times that certain foods aren’t their favorite.

I love this terminology “that food isn’t my favorite, right now.” This is a great way to phrase something if your child doesn’t want to eat something. As the parent your role, is to prepare the food and put the meal in front of the child. The child’s role is to decide how much they are going to eat. There is nothing worse, as the parent, than slaving away to cook a delish meal and have your child refuse to try it. This can often lead to an escalated and heated situation where everyone gets upset.

So how can you avoid that from happening? Or if it does happen how to do you deal with this situation?

  1. Start by making sure you (as the parent) don’t over react. Keep your cool and ask why your child doesn’t want to try their food? Is it too hot? Too cold? Have they touched it? What does it feel like? Do they need help with their utensil? Try to assist them in getting ready to eat that food item.

  2. If they are still refusing then ask them to take a bite. You can take a bite of their food and show them that it is good (and describe the taste, smell and texture). Then offer them the utensil and let them try. Explain that we need to try the food that is offered to us to see if we like it. It might not be our favorite food right now and that is ok. Sometimes we all have to eat some foods that aren’t our favorite right now. Even though it isn’t your favorite today, you could still learn to like it more in the future. That is why we always try a bite, to see if we like it today.

  3. Having a conversation with your child, helps to reassure them that you are listening to them and hear the fact that they don’t love this food item. That is ok for them to not love something. That reassurance helps to build trust between you and your child.

I promise that if you let your child express to you why they don’t love certain food items right now that will help empower them to try new things, but also be ok with giving their opinion. We always have a bite of the food and then determine how we feel about that food item. One of the RDs I follow on Instagram, calls these “no thank you bites.” She instructs families, to have your child take a bite and then if they don’t want more they can say “no thank you.” I love that approach as well.

Know as a parent, that if you child has tried a bite of the main dish at dinner, told you that isn’t his favorite and doesn’t want any more of that food, that is ok! There will be another meal time and they will have a chance to eat food again. They are the ones that can decide how much they eat! Work to try avoid using the terminology “you don’t like that” or “you are being picky",” because your child will start to believe those things. Our goal should be to encourage and empower your child to decide how much they want to eat. Keep offering those foods that “aren’t their favorite” to them and pair with some preferred foods. You are doing an amazing job as a parent. It can be hard at times, but hopefully these tips are helpful and encouraging for you to keep offering those challenging foods.

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A New Challenge

This last year has been quite the adventure and obviously challenging in SO many ways. I have had lots of positive changes in my life. I didn’t end up doing a Year In Review post here in 2020, but to be honest I have felt kind of lost. I changed jobs this year, moved and I have been working to try to figure out this new version of myself. Before we moved a friend told me “you get an opportunity to redefine yourself.” That is true and it is extremely overwhelming!

We moved and I took this new job in Cincinnati, because I wanted a new challenge with more opportunities. That is what I got! But if you have ever left a job where you were familiar and comfortable it is hard to now embrace a challenge. Plus it is lots of hard work! It is challenging to push yourself in ways that you aren’t confident or comfortable. Day in and day out you have to work hard to learn new things, meet new people and then try to gain new skills. It can be exhausting and then you find yourself longing for being confident and comfortable again.

This move and a new job really did push me into feeling uncomfortable. That is what I signed up for, but it is hard. I feel that my confidence has been shaken in ways, but I am working hard to learn more and build that confidence up. I want to actually improve skills for my work that needed attention and I am excited to reach that end goal of new found proficiency.

With all that being said, I have been reflecting on RD Anna - this website and blog. I have always loved having this outlet for my creative side and putting my viewpoints out into the world. I think that RDs should be on social media sharing evidence-based nutrition information and serving as a resource for people. During 2020, with all the challenges I felt personally and things that were happening in the world, I didn’t always feel like my voice on this platform was making a difference. I haven’t posted as much as I had in the past and I wasn’t always sure what to say.

After talking with my husband and a dear friend, I realized why I was holding myself back. Being challenged so much at work and left me not having much energy to try to put into this blog. Previously, I have needed a challenge/outlet and this blog/website gave me that. Now that I am working hard to push myself in a new job it leaves me tired and just lacking that drive/motivation.

Well 2020 has come and gone! 2021 is now here to stay and I am eager to brush myself off, pick myself up and provide some more content for you on this website in the year ahead. I am wanting to be real with you all and give you content to support you, provide you with evidence-based recommendations and encourage you to be the best version of yourself! I think after the rough year we have had, we all need to know that we can handle whatever 2021 throws at us and we can do it together.

Stay tuned for some more posts this year focusing on the dietetic profession (ways to change to embrace more diversity), feeding recommendations for children, and involvement with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics!

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Embracing the Holidays

Well 2020 is finally coming to an end …. wow what a ride it has been! I can’t believe that this year is coming to a close and we are about to embark on another trip around the sun. This year has been different on so many levels for all of us. Most of us have a variety of holiday traditions that we love and sadly these traditions will look different this year.

Happy Holidays 2020

  • Bring on the packages! We are mailing everything this year and it has been kind of crazy. We are shipping gifts to friends who live in other states and then even to our family who we would normally see in person. I have to think through how to safely package up some tasty treats and drop them off in the mail in the next 2 weeks. I have also ordered 90% of Christmas gifts online this year and haven’t gone into any stores, except for the grocery.

  • Rethinking co-worker Christmas gifts. I have been thinking through how to still give some Christmas treats to my co-workers in person, but also Chas’s co-workers who are all remote. I need to come up with some creative packaging and find some boxes to use to mail treats along with Christmas cards. I have ordered some fun 2020 ornaments as well to include for friends.

  • Cooking up yummy treats. I am trying to keep some traditions alive like baking Christmas goodies and finding creative ways to get those to people. I think we drop off goodies to our neighbors (while wearing masks) this holiday season.

  • Mailing cards to everyone. Since we aren’t able to see very many people this holiday season, we are mailing Christmas cards to everyone! So watch your mailbox from some festive mail.

  • Virtual Santa visit. I scheduled a virtual Santa visit in the comfort of our own home for a Saturday morning. I normally am not a big Santa person, but that was something I couldn’t miss out on. Should be a fun way to celebrate the holidays in true 2020 style.

  • Holiday crafts at home. I purchased some fun holiday crafts to do with the boys as a fun way to celebrate the holidays as we are spending time at home. Also for part of their Christmas/Birthday gifts they are getting a Kiwi Co subscription, which will be a fun way for them to learn and do some STEAM activities at home.

Hopefully you can find some creative ways to celebrate this holiday season and enjoy this time together as a family. It is definitely different, but hopefully some quiet time and not running around like crazy, will help us all appreciate this time of year and all the blessings in our lives.

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Thanksgiving Pandemic Style

I have decided that this year, I will make a post for each holiday and just add “pandemic style,” because I feel like that is an accurate description of 2020. Everything has changed and is different this year. That is just our new reality. I know this is being posted after Thanksgiving Day has occurred, but I wanted to share with you a recap of our Thanksgiving 2020. We have so much to give thanks for this year and despite the craziness of 2020 we still managed to have a wonderful Thanksgiving and spent time with people we love.

We decided to spend Thanksgiving at our house with just our immediate household. We didn’t get together with grandparents, because they are older, in another state and we didn’t feel like that was the safest things at this point. We decided that our main goals for the day were 1) eat good food and 2) relax and spend quality time together as a family. Well I have to say that I think we accomplished both of those things.

Thanksgiving Agenda

  • Breakfast: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, Egg Casserole and Grapes

  • Watch the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade and Walk the Dog + Play at the Playground

  • Lunch: Charcuterie Board that included Fresh Veggies with Hummus, Cheese and Meat with Crackers, Cranberry Brie with Bread and some more Grapes

  • Naptime for the Children = Cooking time for Chas and myself.

  • Watched Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving with the boys, Played in the basement, Took Einstein for a 2nd walk.

  • Zoom call with Family and another 2 Video Calls with Grandparents

  • Dinner: Homemade Tamales, Jicama Slaw, Homemade Guacamole with Chips and Margaritas

  • Clean up the Kitchen, Wash Dishes and Pack Lunches

  • Snack before Bed: Pumpkin Pie and Tea

Now you might be wondering why Mexican food for dinner? Well why not! We wanted to do something unconventional, because 2020 has been so different. Plus it was just our family at home and we didn’t feel the pressure to make “traditional” Thanksgiving food. My husband, wanted to try to make tamales. Neither of us had ever made them before and I have to admit the were delicious. I have included some links up above for recipes of these food items.

As you can see from our agenda, we were busy, but we stayed at home and that schedule is what our normal days look like at home (minus all the homemade food and cooking). It was a wonderful holiday and we have so many things to be grateful for, but first and foremost being healthy and having our jobs during this stressful year. I know for some of you it might not have been a relaxing Thanksgiving, you might have been working or worried about your job or have a loved one who is ill. Please, know that you are not alone and these hardships don’t last forever. As we start to gear up for this holiday season and Christmas, may you have a safe and wonderful rest of your weekend!

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Family Meal Time

I have spoke about family meal time before, but I was sitting at our dining room table last night and I was looking around at my wonderful family and thought I should bring up the importance of family meals. Spending this time together as a family is so valuable to the development of our children and fostering positive relationships. I actually wrote up a blog post on this topic in the summer. I was watching my youngest son and his interaction with the rest of the family and it made me realize how important this time together is for all of us. I have spoken about baby led weaning before and I think that this part of family meal times helps SO much with food acceptance.

Family meal times teaches how we as humans sit down and communicate over a meal. My almost 2 year old was watching us talk about our day and wanting to chime in with his own thoughts and noises. We always ask our almost 4 year old how his day was and what he did at daycare. Now our little guy (whose almost 2 years old) is babbling and wanting to chat with us as well. I wanted to share this to encourage you to make sure your kiddos are having that uninterrupted time with you at the dinner table. Our total amount of time eating together maybe lasts 20 minutes at the most, but that is still valuable. Some days I am able to make a delicious homemade meal and other nights it is frozen foods that have been heated up … the main point of dining together is the togetherness, not what is being served.

Another example of that family time helping to teach children how to behave, how to communicate, but always how to try new things. My almost 2 year old was very eager to mimic and try things like his older brother. He would look over and watch his brother and then pick up the same food and try it. This time and ability for him to watch and learn from his brother is important for his development and food acceptance.

In some of my work with outpatient follow up at the hospital, I have chatted with families about how to start solids with their babies. The first thing I emphasize is getting a high chair and having their child at the table for meal time. Give them foods at meal time, when everyone else is at the table. They are part of the family and sitting down together to eat is what your family should do at least once a day.

Hopefully this posts encourages you, whether you have small children or teenagers, to sit down at the table a share a meal together. It could even be enjoying take out from your favorite restaurant, but take a moment and sit together as a family and talk.

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Changing Holiday Plans

This holiday season is 100% guaranteed to look different than any other time in our lifetime. That makes me sad, because I love Thanksgiving, Christmas, my children’s birthdays and time with family and friends. Now things look so different and we shouldn’t be doing all those things. I know that is hard to wrap our minds around, but it is necessary.

Living in a pandemic is new for all of us and it has been a long 9 months, but we are here and need to continue to vigilant. I have seen so many news articles addressing the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the Midwest (in and around Indiana, Michigan and Ohio). It has been a hard 2020, but we can’t let down our guard. One of my old co-workers in the NICU in Indianapolis received bilateral lung transplant this fall in Chicago after getting COVID-19 earlier in the summer. Read about her story - CLICK HERE. Unfortunately, another co-worker of mine in Indianapolis, Julie Henricks, lost her fight with COVID-19 the other week. This disease is so horrible, because you don’t know how much viral load you will end up with and how that affect your body. This is NOT like the cold or a flu, but instead much more serious, depending on how much of the virus you are exposed to.

So please, be careful this holiday season. This year is going to be so different from years past and it is going to affect Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. At my work, this graphic is being posted and shared and I wanted to make sure you had access to it, because it really sums up the importance of staying socially distant and changing our plans this year. CLICK HERE for the link to webpage. Read through some of these recommendations, think through your holidays plans and please, make changes if you had planned to do activities that fall in the “less safe” and “unsafe” categories. For my family personally, we are staying at home on Thanksgiving and we have asked our parents, who we originally invited over, to stay at their respective houses. We wanted our family to just stay home this year. We will chat with one another via video chat, but that will just have to do for this year. I work the day before and after Thanksgiving, so we will appreciate our time at home with our boys on Thursday. Our food plans are going to be completely untraditional, but it will be fun. We are going to make tamales, a jicama slaw, homemade guacamole, margaritas and then pumpkin pie for dessert! We are embracing the fact this year is crazy and going to make something new and different.

Be careful this holiday season, stay home, keep your contacts small and practice social distancing. It is hard and I know it makes all of us sad, but the alternative could be devastating and that is not want any of us want.

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Your Voice Matters

I wanted to take a moment today and remind you all that it is time to VOTE! This year there is so much to think about and consider as you go to cast your ballot. You, as an American, have the ability to let your voice be heard. There are some misinformation out there about how your vote may not make a difference. I wanted to address those concerns and help clear up any concerns you might have before you head to the polls.

When you are voting in a Presidential election there is more on the ballot than just who will win the presidency. I have heard comments about how if your state tends to go red or blue then your vote for the opposing candidate doesn’t matter. Well that is not true. Each vote gets counted and that does matter, plus when you vote for other positions (judge positions, senate seats, county and state positions) you are helping to put people into offices that uphold your same values. When it comes to voting your vote has a huge impact on your local government and that impacts your community, state and country.

I have also heard crazy statistics about young people who have not voted. It is crazy to me to hear about people who don’t routinely vote. The reason we have older people running for office is because older people are electing people like themselves to those positions. We as humans, want people like us to advocate for our values. Our parents and grandparents get out and vote and then the people campaigning are targeting their agenda items to align with their base. As someone who is 30 something, if more of us voted and ran for office there would be more people like us in politics/on the ballot. So do your part, get out and vote and then who knows, maybe in the future you want to get involved with serving in your local and state government.

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Halloween Pandemic Style

I am not sure if you have thought about your Halloween and Trick-Or-Treating plans this year, but you might want to take a minute and decide what you are going to do as a family. I have been thinking about all the upcoming holiday festivities and trying to figure out who we can do some of the traditions we love in a safe and socially distant way.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/22/915689646/cdcs-halloween-guidelines-warn-against-typical-trick-or-treating-boo

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/22/915689646/cdcs-halloween-guidelines-warn-against-typical-trick-or-treating-boo

The CDC published some guidelines for parents in regards to Trick-Or-Treating - CLICK HERE for that resource. I love that they divided up ideas of things you can do for Halloween in terms of low, moderate and high risk activities. I felt like this clearly explained things you can do that will keep your family and those you interact with the safest.

Low Risk Halloween Activities

  • Carving or decorating pumpkins with members of your household and displaying them

  • Carving or decorating pumpkins outside, at a safe distance, with neighbors or friends

  • Decorating your house, apartment, or living space

  • Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance

  • Having a virtual Halloween costume contest

  • Having a Halloween movie night with people you live with

  • Having a scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members in or around your home rather than going house to house

We are planning to have our own Halloween party, since Halloween falls on a Saturday we are going to spend the day doing up Halloween things. I am going to make some yummy breakfast that is Halloween themed (sprinkles on the pancakes and maybe even pumpkin oranges). Then we are going to a scavengar hunt with clues and candy. The boys each have a little gift that they will get to find at the very end. I have some Halloween crafts that we are going to make. I thought it would be fun to maybe grill out for dinner and wear our costumes around during the day. We might meet up with some friends at their house for a bonfire in the evening, but our goal is to avoid large groups of people. Our neighborhood has LOTS of trick-or-treaters so we are going to leave candy out on the porch, but we are not personally handing anyone candy. If you want some other ideas of things to use for treats on Halloween that are not candy - CLICK HERE for another blog post I wrote up a few years ago.

I encourage you to find some fun ways to celebrate Halloween this year that is with your own family and close friends and be safe.

Redeveloping Yourself

I wanted to continue to talk about this topic of loving yourself and finding ways to reinvent yourself. I feel like this is a great theme for 2020, because this year is just not going how any of us anticipated. This has been so hard for so many people and has left so many of us just throwing our hands up in the air and wondering what to do next.

As you all know this last year my family has moved, I have started a new job, worked to navigate a global pandemic and then left kind of questioning myself. I am so thankful to be employed full time … so this totally ends up being more of a first world problem. So please, recognize that I understand my privilege in this regard.

With all of this change, being up rooted from our close friends and professional networks has really left me feeling like I have been drifting in regards to my career. I knew what I have wanted to do and worked so hard the past 9 years towards reaching my current position. Then now that I am here, I am starting from square one in terms of building relationships and seeing where I fit in here. That has been tough to figure out what I want to continue to move toward and where I want to see myself in the next year, next two years, next five years. I have vague ideas, but with the state of the world and things changes, I am kind of left wondering if my expectations will be reality.

I wanted to share these feelings and emotions with you, because maybe you can relate. This year has been so hard on families and on people’s careers. If you are feeling like you are just floating and not sure what is on the horizon, don’t give up paddling. Stick with small, attainable goals. I am trying to consider larger goals, but working to understand that maybe things will change. So what are your little goals for yourself? I am working towards taking a nutrition exam here in October. Then I want to look at putting together a presentation with some other amazing RDs for a conference in the spring. I am slowly working on building back up my self-confidence and pushing forward on my career path. It feels good to focus on things I can control and work towards meeting those little goals. None of these goals are huge or life changing (I have had enough of those changes for a this year), but it is forward progress and that should be celebrated!

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Toddler vs. Vegetables

I have done Baby Led Weaning now with both of my children. My oldest was a great eater and loves all food for the most part. He was always willing to try something new and has a great appetite. Of course, as you may guess my second child, had to be different. He was a good eater when he was < 1 year old, but now that he is nearing 2 years old things are changing. My oldest went through this stage, gaining independence, but it has been as bumpy as with baby #2. My 1.5 year old is really not loving vegetables. If you put his fruit, main course and veggies on a plate … he will eat the fruit first, then the main course and if he is still hungry we will try a piece of vegetables. As the weeks have ticked by, he was eating less and less of those vegetables. Then one night we had a massive melt down at the table when I wouldn’t give him his milk and he was not wanting to sit at the table.

So let’s break this down and exactly what happened, because there were lots of things at play here.

  1. He wanted his milk. I took his milk away, because he wasn’t eating any of his food. My child is obsessed with milk and would drink it all day everyday if I let him. His reaction to me taking away his milk was to completely melt down (scream, cry, push away from the table and start to throw food on the floor). We had a power struggle on our hands, I said no and he didn’t like that choice I made for him.

  2. He ate the carbohydrates for the meal first. Every time he was keeping the vegetables until the end. I am ok with that sometimes, but all the time wasn’t working for us. It was getting to the point that he just wasn’t eating the vegetables.

  3. Too many snacks. This one was completely my fault. I was giving him a snack of a piece or two of apple a cheese stick when we got home, but this was filling him up enough that he wasn’t eating much for dinner. That snack was not helping him when it came to eat a wider variety of food items. Instead he was filling up on a cheese stick and a fruit or cracker and that was leading even less vegetable consumption.

  4. Not staying at the table. He kept pushing his chair away from the table and not wanting to be present at family meal time. He was throwing food on the floor and not calming down. This was another power struggle issue, because he decided that since he wasn’t getting his way, he wanted to leave the table.

You are probably now wondering what I did in this situation?! Well I kind of lost my cool and felt like a terrible mother for the rest of the evening. This turned into our “come to Jesus moment,” because it was just too much for the whole family at the dinner table. My husband and I decided that we were going to flip things around for the next few weeks and we started offering our toddler vegetables first at lunch and dinner and also for snacks. We basically jumped into the vegetables 100%. We offered that “non-preferred” food first and then offered the “preferred” foods like the main course and maybe a fruit. Then snack was normally a variety of raw veggies and a hummus dip. Over the course of a couple weeks, he started eating the vegetables. We eliminated the evening snack and he got hungry enough that he was eating what was placed in front of him. Now, I am kind of back to offering the veggies and main course at dinner and that is going well. I am still cutting out the evening snack and our daycare provider offers the veggies first at lunch. So in the end, we have a stubborn toddler who prefers other foods over vegetables. I don’t blame him, but I have to help give him those healthy options and limit those other choices (within reason).

I wanted to share this experience with you, because raising adventurous, well rounded eaters is touch. There are a few key points to remember … as the adult you get to decide WHAT is offered and WHEN it is offered. The child gets to choose HOW MUCH they eat of that food item. Especially with toddlers, who are looking to gain independence, it can be hard to navigate family meal times. You are not alone if you have faced some of these struggles. Just remember that you are the parent and you love your child and this too shall pass.

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Garden Update

Our garden this year wasn’t anything huge and didn’t produce a bumper crop of food, but it was fun none the less to try to keep some plants alive. Both of my boys got to learn about how plants go, how it is important to water them and that they can produce food for us to eat. If you remember from my first garden post this year we planted some tomato plants and a basil plant. Then I also planted some flowers and succulents. In the past we have done peppers and attempted carrots all in flower pots. I would love to try to build some raise beds next year and see about planting a slightly larger garden. Our cherry tomatoes did well and we have gotten several that we have enjoyed at snacks and on salads. The larger tomatoes were planted later and I feel like they didn’t end up growing well. We have gotten 2 tomatoes on that plant and still waiting on the others to ripen. My boys have loved having plants and being able to pick the fruit. It has been a great learning experience for them.

Next year I am wanting to work towards getting some raise beds in the back of our yard, along our future fence line to plant more vegetables and flowers. I would love to be able to grow peppers, tomatoes, green beans, some lettuce and marigolds. That is on my wish list and we will see if next spring we can make that dream a reality.

In addition to our tomatoes and basil I have been working to try to acquire some house plants and succulents and trying to keep them alive. I have been learning a lot about the type of soil and the amount of water all these plants need. Not going to lie, I have had some die and I have had to do some replacements, but it has been fun to learn something new. I am also loving having more plants inside the house. It makes me smile and just feel happier. So my goal is to see if I am able to continue to keep these plants alive through the winter.

I just wanted to share an update on our garden progress. We aren’t huge farmers and aren’t bringing in a bumper crop of food, but it has been a great learning experience and something that we have enjoyed. So even if you have never gardened before, you can always give it a try,

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Kitchen Organization

I had this idea come to me to write about kitchen organization, because I end up spending a fair amount of time in my kitchen. In fact, we ended up purchasing this house, because it had an amazing kitchen. Now, I am not an amazing cook, but just like any other wife and mother, you find yourself in the kitchen more than you ever anticipated. With that being said, I think it is important to think through how that space is organized and how to make that work for you.

Organizing the Space

  • If you have cabinets - how are they organized. Are things easy to reach? Do you have items in drawers or on shelves that you reach for frequently? Is it easy for you to end items put away?

  • Where is the space for drying dishes after they are washed? Is it out of the way or are you constantly moving around them?

  • Do you have a pantry? How is that space laid out?

  • Do you have a dishwasher or a garbage disposal? If that is a no, how big is your trashcan and is it close to where you need to access it?

I am sure that you have thought through some of these questions, but if you haven’t maybe you can think about the flow in your kitchen space. For example, our house in Noblesville, IN didn’t have a garbage disposal so I positioned the trash can right next to the sink so I could easily scrap dishes into the trash and then place them in the sink to wash. In our house in Broad Ripple, we didn’t have a walk in pantry so we used cabinets that were at the end of the kitchen space and put dishes closer to the dishwasher to help with ease of putting things away. You are going to feel more comfortable and enjoy being in your kitchen if things are laid out in a way that works for you and your lifestyle.

As you are thinking through where things go in the kitchen area, think about how you are storing your food items. This is important because sometimes it makes sense to take the time to cut up produce or open it and store it in different containers. Often this might take some time on the front end to open things up and then “repackage” them, but it might save time or be more helpful on the back end. For example, you might find that you like having your dry goods in airtight containers. That is helpful because it allows you to see what is the left, you can get rid of the plastic/cardboard packaging and you are able to use what you know you have available to you.

As we are all navigating this COVID-19 world and we find ourselves spending more time at home, I think it is important for our sanity and just overall well-being to enjoy the spaces we are living within. Hopefully you can find some ways to make your kitchen flow better for you and make you happy to spend time there.

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