Sunday, August 19, 2012

Our Weekend and a Few Favorite Fall and Winter Recipes

Friday night Jonathan and I went to the Brad Paisley Concert at Snowden Grove on the Lawn in Southaven.  I was really excited to see The Band Perry, who opened for him.  They were great.  Well, Jonathan wasn't really feeling well when we headed that way and just got worse while we were there, so we left right before The Band Perry went off stage - so we never saw Brad Paisley, but that's ok!  Poor guy has been sick all weekend.
Waiting on the concert to start
Tucker stayed with my parents and she sent me this photo from him eating dinner- little stink pot! :)
 When Jonathan doesn't feel good, his favorite food to eat is Chicken Rice Soup, so Saturday I went to the grocery and got a full hen to stew, carrots, and celery.  This is one of my favorite recipes during the winter months, so it was a little treat to get it early - we don't have ANY soup during the summer time because Jonathan works outside every day all day, so he doesn't want to come home to hot food - I completely understand....

So Here's the recipe for Chicken Rice Soup:

2 Cups of Rice - Cooked
3-4 Stalks of Celery
1/2 bag of Carrots
Full Chicken

Cook the Chicken, then add the cut up celery and carrots to the chicken broth and shred the chicken.  Allow to cook until the celery and carrots are soft.  Spoon the broth mixture over cooked rice and sprinkle celery salt over the soup and enjoy.  So Delicious!!

The Chicken Rice Soup seems to last us a very long time, so I was trying to think of a way to put what was already cooked into another recipe and came up with a Chicken Pot Pie - I know that celery isn't really included in most pot pies, but we don't like peas in our pie, so I thought it might be a good substitute.  I just drained off the chicken broth, added all the chicken, carrots, and celery to a pot with 1/2 a cup of remaining chicken broth.  I also added one can of cream of chicken soup and some fresh corn- you could use anything - it's just what I had in the pantry :).  I made two pie crusts (you could use the pre-made ones at the store), and then layered it up - crust, filling, crust.  I was so excited to use all of this instead of letting it go bad. Cook at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. It was so yummy!

Ready to pop it in the oven!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Catching Up

We went to Macaroni Grill to celebrate Grandmother Whiteside's birthday a little while back.  Here's a few photos post lunch.
Tucker and Aunt Sarah

Tucker and Mommy

Our Crew

Granny, Grammy, and Tucker
 We went last Saturday to Nashville's Hunting and Fishing Extravaganza.  Jonathan got him dressed for the day - I had shorts and a nice shirt picked out, but daddy wanted him to match himself, so he put him in Wranglers, boots, and his ball cap.  They were pretty close to matching.  My sweet boys :)


All the guys rode the John Deere ATV test track.  They had fun - Jonathan is looking at me in the picture and Nick is in front of him and you can't see Mark, but he is in the one behind Jonathan.
 Here we are having our first gun lesson at our house.  Tucker was so excited about getting to hold daddy's gun.
He kept saying "boom" "boom"
This is our serious talk about how dangerous guns are and how you can only hold it when daddy is there and showing you what to do...we don't play with guns.  I think he completely got it...
We had a complete melt down after this picture because Jonathan put the gun up and Tucker was very unhappy with him about this.
 First time to paint - I had finger paints, but gave him a paint brush because I was unsure how he would feel about it, and I was pretty right - he hated getting his fingers in the paint.  This kid is all about some dirt and playing outside for hours, but hates getting his fingers dirty in paint - crazy!


His masterpiece.
Avocado Face Boy

"O" Face Avocado Boy
So that's pretty much all we have been up to lately...

On A Side Note:
I went to the doctor on Wednesday for an ultrasound.  She said everything looks great and I actually measured at 10 weeks instead of 9 weeks.  They didn't change my due date from March 19th, but I'm personally thinking it has moved to March 12th :).

Gatlinburg Photos Part 2

I forgot a few photos so here's a few more from our trip

We climbed a mountain - this overlooked 7 different states!

Good Morning World!  This was after our very short night of sleep - all in the same bed might I add.  Hopefully this little guy will get better at sleeping on his own the older he gets, but vacations always end up with him in the bed with us.

The view from our cabin

Cades Cove

We were sitting over a creek at Cade's Cove.


Tucker enjoyed playing in the creeks at Cade's Cove


Monday, August 13, 2012

Gatlinburg with the Gilland's

We got back from a short little vacation with our family a few weeks ago.  We drove up Friday night and got there about midnight - and Tucker woke up WIRED.  I guess it was because everyone was there, but he was ready to go, and in very rare form.  He was so hyped up that we didn't make it to bed until after 2am.  On Saturday we went to Cade's Cove and saw a few turkey's and a bear, but the deer weren't really moving.  The views were gorgeous.


Sunday we took it easy that morning and then went into Pigeon Forge around lunch time and shopped a little and went back to the cabin and swam.  





Monday we went tubing.  I wasn't sure how Tucker would do, but he really enjoyed it.  The water was low, so we got stuck on rocks a lot, and we had tied all three of our tubes together so that was interesting.  Tucker didn't even ride in his tube more than 5 minutes, so I really wish we had thought about it and not even gotten one for him, but we had a great time.  Tucker enjoyed going through the water and seeing all the different scenery down the river.  I think it would have been more fun had the water been up, but it was a great time had by all.  Monday night we went into Gatlinburg and walked around the cute little shops they have for a few hours.


They styled his hair post sunscreen and it was a little crazy. 
Showing off our wrist bands. He was very interested in it at first but then just wanted it off as quick as it would come.
Getting into the tubes
Kassie's View from her Tube
Floating down the river - Slowly...
Shopping in Gatlinburg

A little photo op
Tuesday morning we got up early and went to the apple barn.  The apple butter is so yummy!  It's a lot like a cracker barrel to me, but it was pretty good. They also have several shops - A Christmas shop, an Apple Barn shop, a candy shop, and an ice cream shop.  It was a neat place, but we kind of rushed out of there because we were on our way home.  Jonathan had to work Wednesday morning, so we wanted to make it back in time to get everything done at home and get a good night's rest.



We found a new life saver for traveling in our vehicle...a DVD Player!  I don't pull it out first thing or anything, but when Tucker gets to the point that he is done and can't wait to get out of his seat, I popped in a baby Einstein video and he was hooked.  It made for a much more peaceful drive than we had when we went to Panama City earlier in the summer.  

Oh Baby!

The Lord has heard our desire and prayer for a new baby and has blessed us so much!  I can't believe that we are really going to go from 3 people to 4 in our little family.  It's so surreal to think that Tucker is really ours, and I know that it will be the exact same with the next one.

On June 13, 2012 I took a pregnancy test and we are officially expecting baby #2!  With Tucker I KNEW - There was no doubt - I told Jonathan that I was either dying or I was pregnant.  I was so nauseous, my chest hurt so bad, and I was getting sick at least 3-4 times a day.  With this pregnancy I had been several days late and decided maybe I should take a test - and sure enough!  I found out with Tucker closer to 6 weeks, and with this baby I found out at 4 1/2 weeks.

We had thrown around the idea of waiting until I was 20 weeks to tell anyone - so then we could tell them we were pregnant, what we were having, and the name, but the more we were trying to figure it all out, the more complicated it became.  I am going to have to go to the doctor's office, along with Jonathan wanting to come with me, and when you work for your parents it's a little hard to ask off and not tell them why - along with asking them to watch your 18 month old :).  Also, I've become extremely tired and at 5 1/2 weeks the morning sickness has come on full force, so I knew I'd need more help than normal and there was just no way we could hide it that long, so now we are telling our parents soon.

Once we had Tucker, I've taken a more holistic approach to our health.  I use essential oils when he is sick, the homeopathic remedies for teething and ear aches, and we now visit the chiropractor weekly.  Since I have been trying hard to have a healthy family, I looked into the Zofran that is considered "safe" for pregnant women.  This medicine is not for pregnancy, but for patients with cancer - to minimize their nausea.  It's not guaranteed to be 100% safe for the baby, so I've been looking for new ways to fight my morning sickness.  Here's what I found so far.  I'm going to test these out and see if any of these work for me.

1.  Take B6 and/or B12 vitamins daily (or more).  This helps drastically reduce nausea, so I'm on board and willing to try anything!

2.  Ginger, Ginger, Ginger.  Anything with Ginger is supposed to help- Ginger Tea, Ginger Ale, Ginger Snaps, you get the picture.

3.  Suck on Life Savers - especially the peppermint candies - these help with curbing the nausea.

4. Cracker's in the nightstand. - since we have not eaten all night, the nausea seems to be extremely strong during the morning, so if I could just remember to keep them by my bed maybe it would be helpful :)

5.  Unisom - yes, the night time sleeping pill.  Apparently there is a prescription that is 100% safe for pregnant women in Canada, but it's not sold in the US.  The concoction for this med is 1/2 a Unisom pill along with a B6 pill.  If this is a cure and it's pretty much natural, I'm willing to try it, but I'm going to look more into the Unisom pill before going forward with this.

6.  Beans - This is supposed to help curb nausea as well - eating a few servings of this a day increases your fiber intake and is expected to see results.  I can eat beans!

7.  Chew Gum - Especially Cinnamon Gum.  I don't really know why, but several places I have looked have Cinnamon gum as a great way to help with bouts of nausea.

8.  Get Plenty of Sleep - self explanatory here.

9. Nausea Bands - wear the bands on your wrists at the pressure points to minimize the nausea.

So here's the few ideas I have come up with to try before taking any more Zofran.  We will see how it goes - but I can promise that I'll be doing something to make life easier around here - This Nausea thing is for the birds!

**Since I wrote this post as soon as we found out we were pregnant, I've had time to try everything else out - Zofran seems to be my saving grace about now.  I do use the other ideas - the nausea bands are by far the best.  I purchased some at Babies R Us called "PSI Bands" which are plastic, so it's like wearing a watch.  This has been SO helpful.  I think the bands are probably the best thing that have helped with my morning sickness.  If I have to go somewhere and do something during the day, Zofran is really the only way I feel up to doing it.  Hopefully once we are past 12 weeks it will get better, but I know it didn't with Tucker, so we shall see :).

Here's how we told my parents:
We had also tried to tell my parents on Sunday - we had gone by before lunch with the Golding's, but my dad was gone, and then after we left lunch I called back other there and my mom had been called in, so finally on Tuesday we were able to tell my parents.  Jonathan walked in from work and asked Tucker where the baby ways.  He normally looks down and points to his tummy, but he kept trying to pull away from Jonathan and came running my way and pointed to my stomach.  So that's how we told my parents, and they loved it.  My family went on vacation to Gatlinburg - and since my brother was coming in from New York, we knew it was the perfect time to tell both him and Kassie.  When we got to the cabin at midnight on Friday night Tucker woke up and was as hyper as could be, so my parents kept asking him where the baby was and he would get his cow and take it to him, but finally we told Jonathan and Kassie.  They were super surprised but excited as well.

Here's how we told his parents:
On Sunday after church we ate lunch with Jonathan's parents and he mentioned to his dad that he would need off on August 7th because I had an ultrasound and blood work I had to get done.  It took a minute but Sarah caught on and said something.  Mrs. Pam kept saying I knew it!  - This is because they came to our house (by complete surprise) on Saturday afternoon and I had still not had a shower, and was napping when they showed up - along with my house being dirtier than I believe it's ever been.  But when you are throwing up the last thing you are thinking about is a clean kitchen. - So anyways, that's how we told the Golding's.  They were all thrilled and excited about another grandbaby.  It's funny though because with Tucker, we were the last of 4 of the cousins to have a baby - due in November, December, January, and then Tucker in February. Well now we are once again the last to have a baby - second round - September, January, February, and we will be March.  It's fun to have babies all close to the same age so they can all play together!

Here's how we told the rest of the world.  We are so excited!


Thursday, August 2, 2012

Carousel

We ate at Chick-fil-a on Wednesday August 1st, but since the one across from the mall was closed, we had to go to the mall in order to get our fix.  As we were heading into the food court Tucker went crazy when he saw the carousel.  This was so funny to me because he hasn't ever acted interested before, but we hadn't even gotten in the door and he was loosing it.  After we ate we went back and let him ride.  He had a blast.  

Daddy is standing behind him here.

He wasn't real thrilled that he had to get off but acted great about it.

This face cracks me up.  Jonathan said he couldn't get 1/4 of the funny faces he was making the whole time he rode.  He had the best time!

Ohhh daddy!  I like this!

They switched three times between animals before he was settling with the horse.  I was sure he was going to try all the rest of them before deciding, but the horse made him happy.

I can't believe that we haven't ridden the carousel and he will be 18 months next weekend.  Tucker is getting so big SO fast!  I can't believe it.  Our little boy is growing up. :)

"I'm Stretching You"

This is what Mrs. Diane said when she asked me to speak for girl talk on Tuesday night (July 26th).  She was "stretching" me.  Girl Talk is a series that our church does every month for June, July, and August for the women's ministry.  She has asked me to speak about the Secret's class that I took this past year by sharing a few easy recipes.  If this was just a few women, sure, but this normally has 300-500 women at this intimate gathering.  I honestly almost threw up when she asked me, much less thinking about doing it.  Needless to say, I knew I couldn't say no, so I said yes and just kind of knew it would be a disaster.

girl talk

Well, I did it.  That's about all I can say.  I had my 3 minutes of recipes, and I did do what was asked of me.  I know this is not my calling, and it makes me as nervous and crazy as can be.  I had a full script, which I was too nervous to follow, so I floundered through the recipes and finished my 8-10 minute speech in 3 flat.  I'm proud of myself for actually going through with it.  I wanted to back out so many times, but I stuck with it and it ended up being fine.

It's amazing what the Lord can direct us through and give us the power to do when we allow Him.  There is No way I could have done this in my own power, but by His grace I was able to go through with it.  I know this isn't anything exciting to read about, but I want to remember this in years to come and remember where the Lord has brought me through this journey of life.