An Introduction

I'd like to introduce you, dear currently non-existent readers (at the time I'm writing this, at least) to the Foodie Family.

Marc is the papa. (He may write some posts of his own here from time to time.) Marc is tall and built like a pickup truck; compact and with pretty good gas mileage but still a TRUCK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. We often go back and forth trying to think of things that either of us does not like to eat; he has not thought of a single thing. His chicken wing record is 75 in two hours. His beer consumption, while significantly decreased in the last couple of years, is still impressive. He is a self-professed beer connoisseur.

Pennie is the mama. She has always been notorious for having a large appetite, especially for someone her size; she's kind of slender and pretty short and for what she does consume she ought to be...NOT slender. She is gestating her second baby in as many years and as far as food goes, DOES NOT like being pregnant. No sushi! No cold deli meats!??! (Most of the time...) No soft cheeses? Pfft. Try as she might she always has trouble gaining weight while pregnant; nearly all of it shows up in the third trimester. Marc argues that one day her eating habits will catch up with her and her ass will fall. Hopefully she's done having babies by then anyway.

Claudia is our newly minted one year old. She eats EVERYTHING. Loved breastmilk when she got it. Loved formula when I had to wean her. Preferred pears over bananas but would eat both. Loves purees and table food. Will make a face with cottage cheese but will still eat some of it. Screams when you don't feed her pad thai fast enough. Enjoys sampling her bathwater, grass, dirt, and sand, but most of all LOVES paper. Especially napkins, man that stuff melts in the mouth doesn't it? Mmm. They say toddlers should eat what you eat, and I totally agree with that. I feel a little guilty when I get her pre-packaged toddler foods, because perhaps it doesn't feel like I'm...involved enough in her nutrition? I dunno. But I can hardly wake with a hankering for two overeasy eggs on corned beef hash and except her to share it. She only has four functional teeth. So at the moment I'm a little confused over how to feed her. Feeding a baby was so much easier.

Fetus is our boy due in October. Fetus kept me sick for longer than his sister, but not quite as severely. Fetus has gone through some swings; for a while he wanted lots of milk. There was a week or so where I ate a hamburger every day. (That was delightful. Truly.) Fetus has recently taken to making me feel as if I'd never eaten a single thing in my entire life at 11 pm, and he demands to be fed but for some reason with nothing in the kitchen. Marc blames me for not vocalizing my dietary needs at a more suitable hour, but it is not ME requesting a hot sandwich (preferably a meatball sub) at this hour. I just want to go to sleep.

What you will not see here is me visiting a farmer's market. I think I've only done that once in my life. You will not see recipes, not written by me at least. I can follow a recipe with the best of them but I'm more of an improviser. (Which is maybe what makes it hard for me to feed a toddler! Puzzle pieces, ya'll.) What you will see is me talking about our various experiences as a family, most notably with food. I think food is a super messed up thing in our country; practically everyone is obese, we're told to eat organic until we look at the prices and go "well that's one bag of damn organic radishes, how are we supposed to make THAT last", the information on what to feed a newborn and when is mind-boggling. This is, I guess, one family's struggle to stay alive and healthy while still managing to enjoy it.

To follow: Claudia's first birthday party, including the Smash Cake Fail.