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Food rut no more!!

April 17, 2012Uncategorizedbeans, food, organic, Recipe, toddlerSara Snow View all 2 comments

I can admit when I’ve made a mistake and lately I had let Silvia fall into a food rut. Cries for macaroni were met with, well, macaroni. And “cheese please” brought on cheese. Lots of yellow, brown and white foods with vegetables and fruit for color but not a whole lot beyond green beans, peas and blueberries.
But I’ve broken the rut!!! We’re out!
I simply ignored the requests I’ve been hearing for months and last week plated up vodka sauce (don’t worry….the alcohol cooks out) with grass fed ground beef. This was the first time she actually liked red sauce….I mean, come on, what child doesn’t like marinara sauce?!
Last night it was salmon with dill, potatoes and green beans. And tonight she devoured slow cooked organic pork and about 5 helpings of black beans that had been simmering in anticipation of just such an appetite all day. Along with cucumber slices and blueberries for dessert.
Toddler food ruts are common and we have battled a few illnesses lately but I am supposed to be the “Queen of Green” afterall.
I’m just glad Silvia is cooperating in maintaining my image. 🙂

My media maven

March 5, 2012Uncategorizeddaughter, globe, green, green queen, Indianapolis, magazine, SilviaSara Snow One comment

My little cover girl gettin’ some ink!

The coolest thing about this picture is the globe Silvia is holding. It was made for me by the art director at the magazine when I did my cover shoot with them a few years ago. She held on to it all of this time and sent it along for Silvia to hold in her photo shoot.

Indianapolis Monthly_Feb. 2012

Under the photo it reads

Silvia Arlene, 20 months

Mom: National-TV green queen Sara Snow

Nickname: Her dad calls her Sly – his iPhone’s auto-correction of Silvia

Personality: Happy

Likes: Books

Dislikes: Tomato sauce

Big Milestones: At 14-months she cut seven teeth in two weeks – “a rough couple of weeks,” Snow says.

Future Embarrassing Story: During Snow’s 27-hour labor, the hospital lost power four times because of a severe thunderstorm and a tornado.

Like Mom? “She will definitely be a conscientious girl,” Snow says. “I can already see that awareness of things in her. She’ll do her part to change the world, I have no doubt.”

All of this sitting is rubbing off on my mini-mom

March 3, 2012UncategorizedSara Snow One comment

Mini Mom. That’s got to be Silvia’s new nickname. I’m sure I had a favorite doll when I was little that I fed and rocked and took everywhere. I know I had imaginary friends…but that’s a story for another time. Just remember to ask me about Casla, Semwah and Jomedy. Uh huh….

For Silvia, it’s all about baby. Baby goes on stroller rides and bike rides. She gets kissed and rocked and fed and sang to. She goes to bed with Silvia and gets up with her in the morning. And in case we didn’t believe just how attached at the hip the two of them were, these were a few images captured within just a couple of days of each other.

Getting baby some fresh air and sunshine

The "twins" on a bike ride

Napping with Baby...and her other bunk-mates Bear-Bear and Moo-Cow

How we found her this morning - with all of her "ducks" in a row

What can I say?! Sitting with your best friends make you happy!

Crock pot chicken….SO that I can sit!

March 1, 2012UncategorizedSara Snow One comment

Sometimes in order to sit, you must plan ahead.

I have never been great at the crock pot thing because I’m just not that into casseroles and meaty dishes which tend to make up the majority of crock pot recipes that I see.

But, two weeks ago I had to have a minor surgical procedure (everything’s fine so no need to worry there). I knew that I wouldn’t be cooking that night when I got home but I wanted to have something healthy, nourishing, warming, and home-cooked feeling for us (Silvia included) to eat for dinner.

So, out came one rarely used crock pot. In went one whole ‘roaster’ chicken that had been “resting” overnight with a nice rub on it’s skin. In went a handful of chopped potatoes, carrots, celery and onions. In went one lemon…half in the form of juice squeezed over the chicken and the other half directly inserted into the inside of the chicken.

On went the crock pot (low for about 8 hours) and later that evening, onto the table went dinner.

That easy.

And what did I do in the meantime? I sat. Nice!

Wine or Whine?

February 27, 2012Uncategorizedhand foot mouth, sick, sick kids, whiningSara Snow One comment

Nothing is harder than sitting through the whine. Sitting through the wine, I can do…

Oh, but the whine. It pierces and screetches and is oh so irritating.

HFM sores all over her poor little mouth

But here’s what I’ve learned. It’s generally not for naught. At least, this is the lesson I learned TWICE in the past few months when poor Silvia came down with Hand-Foot-Mouth. The first time, in my defense, it lived entirely in her throat so I couldn’t see any of the sores to know what was going on. The second time, it was a little more visible, as evidenced in this photo.

Oh the poor thing! She had sores in her mouth and on her mouth. On her hands and on her feet. On her bottom and on her belly. And she was oh so miserable. Once diagnosed I knew what I needed to do.

SIT. I sat while she ate soup (chicken and rice every single time) on my lap, and drank kefir on my lap, and chewed on an apple on my lap. For days, meals were rarely eaten anywhere but on my lap.

And once I too came down with the dreaded virus, I understood just how miserable she had been! But imagine not having all of the vocabulary to explain it to the person who you rely on to help you. No wonder she whined.

Last week it started up again. The whining. Now I’m jumpy. I immediately sat down and pulled her into my lap. “Here baby girl. Can I make you some soup? Mommy loves you so much.”

My iPhone Photo Library Looks Like This!

February 25, 2012UncategorizediPhone, iPhoto, kids, photo library, pictures, toddlerSara Snow One comment

I can’t possibly be the only one experiencing this. But it’s blowing my mind…hilarious!

Taking pictures of herself

Every once in a while, usually to fend off a meltdown, I’ll hand Silvia my iPhone. I always lock the keyboard so she can’t wreak total havoc (deleting apps, calling people…you know the drill). Even still, she knows how to double-click the home button until the camera icon comes up. Then she hits the button in the top right that swings the camera around so that it’s facing back at her. Then, after she clicks the shutter a few times and snaps some photos, she hits the button in the bottom left that allows her access to the library of photos she just took and she sits there scrolling through, using her finger to “flick” her way through pic after pic as if she had been doing this all her life. Which, in truth, she pretty much has.

More pics all by myself

But here’s the real kicker. When I get the phone back, I find that my photo library is chock full of pictures that look like this.

More foreheads!

And this.

HILARIOUS!

Winter….Aaaarrrrgh

February 23, 2012Uncategorizedjacket, mittens, present, winter, winter wardrobeSara Snow One comment

Ok, it has been a mild one. No one (around here, anyway) can argue with that. In fact, we have a friend who slipped on the ice and shattered her ankle, which is especially sad since it’s like she slipped on the one patch of ice on the one day of ice. Not really, but close.

The thing about winter, though, is the extra time it takes to get out the door. I know I’m not telling you moms anything new. But, seriously, it’s like an extra 5 minutes to get ready, which really counts when you’re running late for music class…which I ALWAYS am!

Winter's sweet gift

But once I FINALLY got Silvia suited up the other day I looked down on her sweet face and had to stop, tear up, ooh and aaw, snap a pic….and then get back into gear because we were yet another minute late!

How can you be annoyed by winter when you get to wrap up a sweet little package like this?!

Nothing Rejuvenates Like a Day in Different Shoes

February 22, 2012Uncategorizedfox affiliate, new shoes, news anchor, stomping grounds, tennis shoes, tony dungySara Snow View all 2 comments

When I was in college my favorite professor would say that whenever a day is getting long or hard, you simply need to change your shoes. New shoes equals a new outlook.

With Tony Dungy just prior to an interview

Two weeks ago I put my news anchor shoes back on and served as special Super Bowl correspondent for the Fox affiliate in Indi (my old stomping grounds).

At the Lipton launch

And before that, just a week after Thanksgiving, I was in NYC doing media for the Lipton Rainforest Teas launch.

Face-Timing with Ryan and Silvia from in front of the White House

And a month before that I got to go to DC to take part in a Non-GMO rally.

I love my mom shoes…the boots, the flats, the tennis shoes. But I feel so much better about putting them on when I’ve had a chance to trot around in some other shoes for a day or two.

Wait…did someone say shoes?! Now I want to go shopping!

Look who is sitting now

December 22, 2011Uncategorizedclothes, laundry, packing, VacationSara SnowStandard View all 3 comments

As I stood and packed suitcases for an upcoming trip, here’s what this one was doing. She sat and UNpacked …. drawer after drawer of folded clean clothes.
Tell me though, how can you help but swoop them up into a giant bear hug and a hundred wet kisses?
Some days it’s all about the two steps forward and the inevitable one step back. Isn’t that what being a mom is all about?!

Relevance

December 16, 2011Uncategorizedkids, mom, relevancy, stay-at-home mom, stillness, tv camera, yoga pantsSara Snow View all 7 comments

I’d like to be totally honest. My issue with all of this post-child sitting is not in the fact that I feel sloppy or fat or ugly. It’s not in the fact that I spend most days, until about 3:00, in exercise pants with dirty hair. It’s not in the fact that I can’t keep my nails looking nice or find the time to actually do my hair. My issue is that sometimes I just don’t feel relevant.

Let me stop you, please, before you have a chance to comment. I know that I am relevant to my little Silvia. I know that my life lived any other way would change her. I know, too, that I am relevant to Ryan…and to my parents and siblings and friends….

But since I said I’d be honest, I’ll be honest. It’s that I’m afraid that I’m losing relevancy to other people. That because I’m choosing to be home instead of in front of a TV camera right now, people will stop caring about me. Or stop wondering about me.

I’m afraid that I’m becoming irrelevant out there in the big-girl world.

So here’s how I get through ot. First, because I’m just a yoga-pants wearing mortal, I pray for guidance and a greater wisdom than I can come up with on my own. Then I look over at the sweet face of Silvia and I remember that she won’t be like this forever. We will, however, always have TVs and TV shows. There will always be jobs to be had and meetings to attend.

But this…this sweet face, as she looked up at me this morning from her snack cup and dolly, won’t be here forever.

So, I make peace with it again and again and find a thousand things to be thankful for in the stillness of the day…Silvia’s cute little bottom stuffed into her pants as she walks around the house, Ryan having a morning at home with us, and me being able to be home and finding the relevancy in just that.