glimpse.of.the.future

Josh and I got a glimpse of our future with Claire yesterday.  Over the weekend, my mom had taken the girls to a fundraising event where they had to dress up.  While there, the local newspaper took the girls' picture and published it in the paper.

I was telling Claire that her picture was in Grandma and Grandpa's newspaper.  Her response?  "If I would have known I was going to be in the newspaper, I would have worn my other dress!" 

I'm a little scared if we're already debating outfits at 7 1/2! :)

fiesta chicken burritos

This is our favorite Mexican meal.  The best part?  It is so easy.  You know me, all about the easy factor.  My friend Cari sent it to me when I collected crock pot recipes a few years ago.  Yum!  It can be a bit on the spicy side, so adjust the spices if you don't like a little heat.  By the way, Josh thinks this recipe totally rivals Chipotle! :)  Enjoy...

Fiesta Chicken Burritos
• 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts {I use 3 large ones}
• 1 can {15-1/4 ounces} whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can {15 ounces} black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can {10 ounces} diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped {optional}
• 1-2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Dash cayenne pepper
• Dash crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 package {8 ounces} cream cheese
• 8 flour tortillas, warmed
• Optional toppings: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes

Place chicken in a greased 4-qt. slow cooker. In a large bowl, combine the corn, beans, tomatoes, jalapeno and seasonings; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken; cool slightly. Shred and return to the slow cooker. Stir in cream cheese. Cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until heated through. Spoon chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla; add toppings of your choice. Fold sides and ends over filling and roll up.

what.a.week

Can you hear me exhaling? 

Life has been c.r.a.z.y over the last week and a half.  A week ago Friday, Claire was sick, sick, sick.  Vomiting, fever, headache, completely lethargic.  Amelia was also running a fever, and I was sure Meredith wasn't far behind. 

Meredith took over the sickness on Saturday, and I was hopping all weekend keeping everyone comfy, hydrated, and medicated.  By Saturday night, everyone seemed to be doing fairly well, but we kept all of the girls home from church to be sure.

I woke up Sunday morning with a scratchy throat.  You know...it's that I'm-not-sick-yet-but-I-probably-will-be-tomorrow sore throat.  By Monday (Valentine's Day), the girls seemed great, and my throat was definitely sore.  It was already so bad by Monday that I was taking meds...not like me (especially not when I'm preggers!). 

I didn't even feel like enjoying Valentine's dinner with Josh because my throat was so miserable...not good.  By Tuesday morning, I was in so much pain that I headed to the doctor.  No strep, and Wednesday was no better.  It was horrible.  The single most terrible sore throat I've ever had in my entire life. 

Wednesday night also brought contractions which were about 3-7 minutes apart.  I called my doctor, and she had me head to the hospital to be monitored.  By the time we arrived at the hospital, my contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart.  They slowed my contractions down, but then came a cough, fever, and runny nose.

It was determined that I had the flu and pneumonia.  Ick.  So, I was in the hospital until Friday night.  I definitely felt better by the time we headed home.

This is what I brought home:  several prescriptions, complete exhaustion, and the most swollen legs and feet ever.  No joke. 

Thankfully, I'm feeling so much better overall.  I'm constantly taking medication to keep from going into labor, and I have to take it easy (which can be difficult in this house!). 

I have to send a special thank you out to my Mom who woke up to my phone call in the middle of the night on Wednesday and drove right over to stay with the kids while we headed to the hospital.  She stayed with them Thursday all day as well as Friday.  Then, she kept Claire and Meredith through Sunday.  She disinfected my entire house while we were gone, washed my dishes, did my laundry, cleaned my bathrooms, and I'm sure she did things I haven't even noticed! :)

Thank you, Mom!  I hope to be able to drop everything and help my kids just like you do!  I love you so much!!  Yay for moms!!

We had so many people praying for us last week, and we're so grateful.  We cannot thank all of you enough!!

Only 24 days until this baby arrives.  I'm totally counting down at this point...me and my swollen legs. :)

dinner.conversation

Tonight at dinner, we were all discussing the baby.  Here's how the conversation went...

Meredith:  I hope the baby's a boy!
Claire:  Me too!  And I hope the baby is Chinese.
Me:  If the baby is Chinese, I think we might have a problem.
Josh:  Well, Mommy will have more of a problem than Daddy.
(Josh and I are chuckling at each other.)
Meredith:  Yes!  Because then we won't be able to understand what it's saying.

I was laughing at this point, and Josh hadn't yet processed the comment!  Then he did.  And we both laughed hysterically!!

Then, we went on to have a discussion about dialects and how and why we speak the way we do! :)

I love my children.

baby.#4

Guess who's baby is arriving March 18 if not before...ours. :)

We couldn't be more excited (especially me since my feet have been swelling profusely).  I have a sneaky suspicion that I will go into labor ahead of the 18th, but we'll see what happens.  Either way, it's fun to have a date on the calendar!

Yay for babies!  And in honor of beautiful little babies, I thought I would love on my other 3 little newbies of the past. (Click on the image for a larger view.)
 

february.menu.plan

Feb. 3-5
2/3: tacos
2/4: chili w/ corn muffins
2/5: breakfast casserole w/ blueberry muffins

Feb. 6-12
2/6: chicken patty sandwiches
2/7: pancakes
2/8: beef stew w/ dinner rolls (crock pot)
2/9: frozen pizza
2/10: chicken burritos (freezer meal from last month)
2/11: leftovers
2/12: creamy chicken and wild rice soup

Feb. 13-19
2/13: leftover soup
2/14: steaks, potatoes, asparagus (late night dinner after the kiddos are in bed!)
2/15: deer steaks, creamy corn, tropical fruit salad (Meredith's birthday meal...her choice)
2/16: apple pancake skillet
2/17: chicken manicotti (freeze an extra for next month)
2/18: rosemary apple grilled pork loin
2/19: baked chicken breasts w/ parmesan-garlic crust

Feb. 20-26
2/20: spaghetti
2/21: fiesta chicken burritos (crock pot)
2/22: stir-fry
2/23: stroganoff (crock pot)
2/24: ??? (to be determined)
2/25: homemade pizza
2/26: cranberry roast (new...didn't get to it last month)

Feb. 27-28
2/27: grilled sausage
2/28: creamy italian chicken (crock pot)

no.fun

It's been a rough couple of days in our household.  I woke up yesterday morning with a stomach ache, and I just didn't feel well at all.  I felt like I was going to throw up.  And I did...several times throughout the day. 

I couldn't keep anything down yesterday.  Basically, I learned that pregnancy and dehydration do not mix well.  Thankfully, Josh came home around noon to give me some relief.  On a side note, the girls were so helpful in the morning.  Claire got Amelia breakfast and dressed her for the day.  Meredith made me some toast and brought me some water to drink.  They were so sweet! :)

So yesterday afternoon around 2:00, I started having regular contractions which I was pretty sure wasn't a good sign.  So, I called my doctor's office.  I was so exhausted from vomiting all day that I didn't even want to go into their office.  They convinced me to come in...and they assured me that I would get a shot that would make me stop throwing up.  I was definitely willing to go for that!

My good friend, Kristi, came over, picked me up, and took me to the hospital.  I was having some pretty hard contractions that were fairly close together at this point.  My doctor sent me right up to OB and had me hooked up to an IV and monitors.

By this time, my contractions were full-blown and about 2 minutes apart.  My nurse shot me up with something right away to slow down my contractions.  I was severely dehydrated which was causing the labor.

We thought I might be able to go home after 4-6 hours, but I was so severely dehydrated and my contractions had been so close together that my doc wanted them to continue to hydrate me and keep an eye on me overnight to make sure that the contractions didn't return. 

I got to come back home early this afternoon, and I'm supposed to drink water like I'm a fish....ummm, will do. 

Lots of thank yous are owed to my mom (grocery shopping for us, running me around, doing our laundry), Brian and Kristi (running me around, super-yummy dinner brought over tonight), and Josh (holding the fort down at home, staying home from work, cleaning the crazy kitchen, taking good care of me!).  I love you all.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I'm feeling much better tonight, and hopefully I'll be back running at full speed by the end of the week!