Ultrasound

Ok so it took me forever for some reason to upload the pictures and write on the pregnancy blog about this so check that one out for more info because I don't feel like retyping and loading everything. But here are a couple shots of our little one for those of you who don't check that blog. We didn't find out what it is so no gender to report but it's a cute little one nonetheless. The first and second picture are of the baby sucking it's thumb, the third one is of it's legs and the last one is a profile shot of the baby's head and abdomen.

And here's a baby bump shot with the ultrasound pics

Food

I love finding food blogs. I will go online and click from blog to blog sometimes just looking for good food blogs. I have found some really tasty recipes that people have posted. I also love really simple recipes that aren't totally bad for you, for weeks like last week when I really didn't want to cook but know my family needs to eat. So I am going to try posting the meals that I made for the week, or just some of them, in hopes that maybe some of you will start doing the same so I can steal some recipe ideas from you too! :) These meals that I made last week are all really fast easy meals because I had NO interest in being in the kitchen last week.

Easy Chicken Bake
From the back of the Stoffer’s Stuffing Box

1 Pkg (6oz) Stove Top Stuffing mix for chicken
1 C hot water
1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken breast cit into 1 inch pieces
1 can (10 ¾ oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1/3 C sour cream
1 bag (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained

Preheat oven to 400. Sprinkle ½ C of the dry stuffing mix evenly on bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish; set aside. Add hot water to remaining stuffing mix; stir just until moistened. Set aside.

Place chicken over dry stuffing mix in baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream and vegetables; spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing.

Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through

*The other day I wasn’t feeling like chicken so I just doubled up on the veggies, sour cream, soup and stuffing and it still tasted just fine if you like veggies. Also I normally get the mixed veggie bags that are carrots, peas, corn and green beans.


Tuna or Chicken Noodle Casserole
From my mama

Bag of egg noodles
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
Salt and pepper to taste (½ t salt ¼ t pepper)
1 C milk
1 C grated cheddar cheese
1 C tuna or chicken (2ish cans tuna or 1 can of chicken works great)

1 ½ C grated cheddar cheese for top

Preheat oven to 350
Boil noodles while making sauce. To make sauce melt butter over med low heat, whisk in flour, salt and pepper. Add milk while continually whisking. Raise heat to med high while still whisking. Let it bubble for a few seconds and then take it off and stir in cheese and tuna or chicken. Mix together with noodles in a casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.


Saltine Cracker Chicken
Revised version from my sister in law

4 Chicken breasts
Half sleeve of saltines crumbled (give or take)
Lemon Pepper
4ish Tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 350
Crumble saltines until mostly fine but with some chunks. Sprinkle some of the saltines on the bottom of a baking dish and then sprinkle some lemon pepper on top of that. Place the chicken over it. Then drizzle a little of the melted butter onto each breast. Sprinkle some saltines on top of chicken and then some lemon pepper to your liking. Drizzle a little more butter on top of it all. Bake at 350 uncovered for 35-40 minutes until chicken is done and the saltines are golden.

*I normally serve it with something like corn on the cob and a salad or some other veggies.


Stir Fry
From a bag ;)

So I have made some pretty good stir fry from scratch but when you’re not feeling like cooking grabbing a couple bags of stir fry is a great option. You still get tons of veggies without the hassle of cutting them all up. I normally just get 2 bags whatever flavored stir fry sounds good that day and then make up some extra rice to go along with it. It’s just that easy!


Baked Quesadillas
A version of Darren’s sister in laws

1 can black beans
1 C prepared instant rice
1 can diced green chilies
1 handful cheddar cheese per quesadilla
Canned chicken (I like to use left over rotisserie chicken if we have just had some)
Flour tortillas (the flour/corn mixed tortillas are way yummy but we can hardly ever find them)

Preheat oven to 350
Lay down one tortilla on a baking sheet and add beans, rice, chilies, chicken and cheese to your liking (don’t go overboard or you won’t be able to actually pick it up and eat it)
Put another tortilla on top and bake until golden brown. It only takes a few minutes. You can flip it halfway through if you want both sides toasty but it will turn out just fine if you don’t.
Take out of the oven and cut with a pizza cutter and serve with sour cream and salsa.


Chicken
Thanks to the tip from my mama

1 Rotisserie Chicken

This is such and easy dinner because all you have to do is cut up a rotisserie chicken and then make some yummy sides to go with it. (scalloped potatoes, corn on the cob, salad)
You get the idea, super easy and not that expensive either. The chicken will run you about $5-$6 and produces a lot of chicken. We always end up with enough to send Darren to work with leftovers and use in another meal the next night.

Allison's first hair cut

I didn't take a before and after picture of my baby's first haircut but oh well, here's the after.

Gone is the crazy mullet she was sporting before and what's left is a little bob. Her hair was actually pretty long and the lady took a lot off but I wanted it to be closer to one length instead of looking like a Billy Ray Cyrus wannabe. She didn't like the actual cut at all and kept looking at the lady with a stink eye but she was happy about the balloon afterwards.

Mini me

Those who know any stories about my early childhood know I was a terror to my parents when it came to the fridge. They tried duct tape and numerous other things to keep me out but I just loved cracking eggs and eating cubes of butter way too much to stay out. Luckily we now live in a day that they have created fridge locks to save me from my own karma. But yesterday I was taking way too long, in Allison's opinion, to get her breakfast so she decided to try to take matters into her own hands.

Dentist visit for Emmie

So I have slacked off a bit with making Emmie's first dentist appointment but the day finally came and we went in today for it. She did awesome! They did the cleaning and she was just happy as a clam watching the T.V. in the ceiling. During the cleaning the lady told me she thought Emmie might have a cavity but because Emmie's teeth are really close together she couldn't really tell. I was so sad to think she would already have one at 3 years old. So we took her back for x-rays to see for sure and low and behold no cavities!!! The dentist said her teeth look awesome but let me know that he is 90% sure that Emmie will need braces on her adult teeth. He said her teeth are nice and close now but when her bigger adult teeth come in it will be too crowded. Ah lovely, I was just hoping for no cavities but this will be a lot more expensive. Oh well at least they have given me so many years notice that I can start raiding Emmie's piggy bank now and maybe have enough to pay for them :) haha kidding. So moral of the story, I'm a slacker but her teeth are still fine despite not having a dentist take a look sooner.

Stickers make the world go round

Or at least that's what they do for a 3 year old. For a mom they just make life a LOT more pleasant. So I love my daughter but sometimes she can be a beast. I don't know when it's coming or why it happens but she will just decide she doesn't want to listen anymore and wants to make life so much more difficult for herself by having to practically live in time out and for me by constantly having to give her some long talks about what's ok behavior and what's not.


I have tried sticker charts in the past and they have worked great. Like when she does something good give her a sticker to put on it and then count them all up at the end of the day and see how many good things she did instead of focusing on the bad. Well since she is a little older, call me mean, but I expect a little more out of her because I know she understands more. So now I have implemented stickers again but she has 3 times of the day she can earn them. If she is good until lunch she gets a sticker, then if she is good from lunch until daddy gets home she gets another one. And then (her break down time of the day) from daddy being home until bedtime she can earn another one. It has worked wonders! She has yet to earn all her stickers but there is something about these little sticky wonders that can just make a child pull a 360 and become good all of the sudden and I love it. Even tonight after she had earned her last sticker she went above and beyond and still helped tidy up the place before she took off for bed without being asked to help.



I just don't get what makes kids act so badly sometimes. I know they do it mostly for the attention but Emmie does get a lot of attention around here so I don't really get what possesses her sometimes. But whatever the reason I am glad that we have at least found a temporary fix, if not hopefully a turn around in the bad behavior. So I'm all for more ideas though of what has worked for other people with their kids in case this sticker thing becomes short lived so what do you do with your kids when times get tough?

Emmie's 1st Day

Here's my baby sitting at her table today. She wouldn't look at me because she just wanted to color and talk to the kids around her. I can't believe she is old enough to be in preschool! She was so cute today talking ALL morning about it and counting down the minutes until we got to go. She was such a big girl and didn't care if I walked her in or not. I think she would have rather I just stayed in the car, sad but true. She is so dang independent and just thinks she is old and can do anything. I am so excited for her to be able to go to this school, I think she will have a ton of fun and I can't wait for her to start bringing home all her little projects.