Wednesday, March 30, 2011

What's Cookin' Wednesday and Three Weeks Old!!

Now that it's officially Spring (and I'm home during the days now) I've been craving my Nana's Chicken Salad. I made a batch this week.....a very large batch to last the whole week AND feed everyone in my family since we all love it!!

What you will need:
Shell Pasta
Cooked Diced Chicken (I use Schwan's Diced Chicken Breast Meat--just thaw it!)
Red Grapes (you could substitute apples if you want more crunch)
Celery
Mayo

**You decide the amounts of each ingredient depending on how big of a batch you want to make.

What you will do:
1. Cook the shell pasta and chill.


2. Wash grapes and take them off the stems. Cut celery to desired size.


3. Once pasta is chilled, add chicken, grapes, celery, and mayo. Mix well.



Miss Mylie is three weeks old! Where is the time going? She's so sweet and we just basically snuggle all day....that's what we're supposed to do, right? I'm not getting much done each day, and surprisingly, I'm ok with that! :)

On Monday, our 'M' friends came to visit and hold Mylie.
From left to right: Macy (holding Mylie), Myah, Maysen, Myah

These two still love being big sisters and they are pros at it! Being parents of three kids is harder than just two, but they've made the transition easier for us.

Myah showing Mylie her own face in a mirror.

Mylie testing out her wrist/ankle rattles.

How can you not love these cheeks?!?!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

What's Cookin' Wednesday and Two Weeks Old!

Nana (my mom) is here this week helping out. On Wednesday, she and M&M made Mac and Cheese Muffins using a recipe from the January 2010 Highlights High Five magazine.

What you'll need:
1/2 pound Elbow macaroni
Salt and Pepper (optional)
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 cup shredded cheese
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups milk

What you'll do:
1. Boil water and cook macaroni until tender. Drain and set aside.


2. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Sprinkle in flour. Stir for 2 minutes. Slowly add milk. Whisk the sauce for 4-5 minutes or until it is thick enough to coat a spoon.


3. Add cheese and stir until the sauce is smooth. Add some salt and pepper. Add the macaroni, bread crumbs, and a little more salt and pepper. Stir well.


4. Put the mixture into 12 muffin cups. Bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees!


**they were a little on the bland side so I suggest using the salt and pepper (we didn't) or use a cheese with some strong flavor (Velveeta).


Mylie had her 2-week appointment this week. The girl has grown 1/2 inch (up to 21 1/2 inches) and gained 5 ounces (up to 10 lb 1 oz) since birth. She's doing great! As you can see, the big sisters are still very proud and love holding her. We had some fun with headbands this week, too!


Friday, March 18, 2011

What's Cookin'...Thursday??

We've been blessed this week to have had supper brought to us on Tuesday by my sister and her husband and cooked for us on Wednesday by my good friend, Tonja (aka Trevor's mom).

Due to the huge response I got for the Chicken and Broccoli Ring, I'm bringing you a similar recipe this week. This, again, is from Pampered Chef.

Beef Taco Ring

What you will need:
1 tube refrigerated croissants (recipe calls for 2, but I just use one to save on fat and calories)
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (I use 95% lean)
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 3/4 cups shredded cheese
2 tbsp water
1 egg white
Favorite taco toppings (we use lettuce, tomato, sour cream, French Dressing)

What you will do:
1.Arrange croissant dough in circular design on baking sheet (I use Pampered Chef Large Round Stone)


2. Brown hamburger (and drain), then add taco seasoning, 1 1/2 cups of cheese, and water. Mix well in bowl.


3. Scoop filling over croissant dough.....finish desired shape. Brush with egg white and sprinkle on remaining cheese.


4. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serve with toppings.


**Is your household into March Madness like ours is?? Thought you'd enjoy this picture. Brandon is helping Myah and Maysen fill out their bracket. Two rounds were chosen by selected their favorite mascot and the other two were selected by the team's colors. At the end of the first day of the tournament, M&M's bracket let Brandon's pool, which is really hilarious because B spent hours (no exaggerating here!) researching for his bracket. "They don't call it March Madness for nothing!"

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

1 Week Old

The concept of time continues to baffle me. Miss Mylie is already a week old (yesterday, actually). Thinking back to the week before she was born, I remember how it drug on. I was (more than) ready, her room was ready, Myah and Maysen were ready for her arrival. The days went by not any too fast, but finally the day came. Since then, the hours and days have flown by.

Our family has changed....but pretty seamlessly. No parents are perfect, no families are perfect, but our transition into a family of 5 has been pretty perfect. She perfectly fills a spot--a hole??--that we really didn't even know existed except for the fact that we longed for a third child. Perhaps it's the fact that we thrive on a schedule and consistency around this household...perhaps it's the fact that I don't have to go back to work until August and I'm totally relaxed and more go-with-the flow than I usually am. I feel like I have a little more time to 'play' with in the mornings....the girls can sleep a little longer before getting up and ready for school. We can read one more story before bedtime because it's ok if they don't get to bed until 8:45 instead of their ritual 8:30.

I don't doubt that if this was our first time around at parenthood, we'd be running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We'd be traumatized by the lack of sleep, and we'd be pulling out our hair with the lack of solutions to get her to stop crying. But really, this time seems like a piece of cake. We were broken-in pretty well with our twins....think double the feeding, double the crying, half the sleep.... When Mylie screamed (and I don't use this term often unless that what really happened) from 10:30-3:00 our first night home, we were mostly relaxed and even chuckled to eachother about it. It really wasn't a big deal. Sure, we felt sad that we couldn't make her happy, and we were worried that M&M would also wake up. But they didn't, and Mylie eventually calmed down and every night since has been great....at least from the viewpoint of having a newborn at home again. I'm not trying to downplay the craziness of being a parent, but since our first time around was with twins, this really seems pretty easy. It did help greatly that my parents came down this weekend to help us get settled. My dad repaired a broken drawer in M&M's room, vaccuumed the whole house, got us stocked up on groceries (including plenty of M&Ms (the candy) and ice cream!). It was just nice to have some extra Nana hands to hold the baby when I needed to be getting to other household chores that had been neglected by a week in the hospital. My brother and his girlfriend were also here to meet Mylie, but spent a lot of time entertaning the other two, which is always helpful as well....a heartfelt thank you to all of you! Your willingness to help is much appreciated!!

Myah and Maysen are the world's greatest big sisters. They have not shown one ounce of jealousy towards Mylie and they love her up every chance they get. They constantly want to know where she is and what she's doing. They love to watch her eat, get her diaper changed, and they absolutely cannot leave her alone when she's sleeping. I think once this girl can move, she's going to be invited right into the action that her sisters create....it's going to be awesome, baby! (it is March Madness this week, you know, so I had to throw that in for good measure).


Here's Mylie doing what she does best (when her sisters aren't around to disturb her). She doesn't like to sleep flat on her back (ie: she hates the pack-n-play, and her crib, and she rolls onto her side). She's a snuggler (likes to be held tight and up high on one's chest).


**A nurse at the hospital told me about a swing bed she bought for her son.....I called her up at the hospital today to get more information about it. It's called the Fisher Price Rock-N-Play Sleeper and we're headed to Target today to get one (thank you, grandma and grandpa for the gift card!). All of the reviews online are 5 stars and are consistent with what we need and are experiencing with her sleeping patterns. Of course, I would LOVE to sit and snuggle her all day, but that's just not practical all of the time.

**We are lucky to have dinner cooked for us tonight by my good friend, Tonja (aka Trevor's mom) so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for What's Cookin'! Enjoy that nice weather....and if you have a chance, get a few extra minutes of sleep for me :)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Happy Birth Day, Miss M!

She’s here! Miss Mylie Marie graced us with her arrival at 8:12 am Tuesday, March 8. She’s a big and healthy girl weighing in at 9 lb 12 oz and measuring 21 inches long. No wonder my back hurt! ☺ Brandon jokes that it won’t even feel like taking a ‘newborn’ home, but more like a 3 month old! With two big sisters who will want to hold her all of the time, it’s good that she’ll be a little less delicate than they were when they came home from the hospital.




Speaking of Myah and Maysen, they are absolutely smitten with Mylie! They walked into the hospital room a little timid and shy… they couldn’t believe she’d actually “beed born.” Within minutes, they took to her and had huge smiles on their faces. They couldn’t get enough of her; wanting to climb into bed with me to get as close as possible, wanting to touch her head gently, kissing her and loving her right up. They spent three evenings up at the hospital once they were picked up from school. We ate hospital food for supper (which is actually quite excellent) and hung out as a family. Both girls asked to take multiple turns in holding Mylie. Each time they hold her, they admire the things she does. “Her stuck out her tongue,” “She wiggles her toes,” and my favorite, “I love her, mama.” They are going to be such great little helpers!







Our family feels complete. She’s only been in our lives for 72 hours, but it feels like she’s always been here—as she fills that perfectly sized void we didn’t really know was there. My three little girls are more than I could have ever dreamed of, and I look forward to sharing part of our journey with you here on our blog.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Countdown is Almost Over

That Kelle Hampton.....she's good. Another excellent quote from her today:

"Love for these little beings that belong to me hits me unexpectedly sometimes...in swells that knock me off my feet. And I get up, starry-eyed, and thank the heavens that they are mine."

As most of you know....I'm becoming a mother of three this week. On Tuesday. At about 7:30 am. Since I'm a control freak, it's actually perfect that I get to know the day and time of her birth--and perfect that as of right this moment she appears to be sticking to our plan. Of course, you can assume, that I have a schedule all typed up with who is dropping off/picking up M&M when and where. Those schedules have been distributed.....and the cosmic forces know better than to mess with my plan. Most people enjoy the waiting...the surprise. That doesn't excite me so much. I'm so thrilled that I get to countdown to the moment where I get to hold her in my arms for the first time; have her little fingers wrap around mine for the first time.

Here's the last belly picture, folks. 39 weeks.

I got the old 'Whoa. Oh my goodness' from B today when he took the picture. I totally agree, though.....can my belly stick out any further??

The sticker chart is almost full, which really has helped time go faster for all of us.


I'm so full of love (for all of my littles) that I can't wait to let the first tears roll that I have another one to love. I wonder what she will look like....will she be light colored like her sisters, or dark colored like her parents?? I can't wait for the first time M&M peer into the little bassinet at the baby sister they've been waiting for. We've been reading about what it means to be a big sister and what the baby will/will not be able to do when she's first born. I can't wait to incorporate Miss M into our routines and schedules that we thrive on. She will lie on my chest during story time at night. She will sit in the bouncy seat next to me while M&M and I do puzzles on the kitchen floor. She's just going to fit in so well....it's like she's already here and there's a perfect-sized spot for her in our family.

A few weeks ago, the theme at M&M's school was Valentine's Day. They made these signs.

When we brought them home this week, they told me that they had made these valentines for Baby M and that they wanted to hang them on the door to her bedroom. I almost cried. After I put the tape on the backside, I handed them each their sign and they went and put them on the door. A few minutes later, I walked down the hall way to see the final result. I didn't see anything.....at first. Here's why:

I was expecting the valentines to be up at eye level (at least M&M's eye level), but they weren't. They were at the bottom of the door. I asked them why they were so low and mentioned that maybe we should move them up on the door. The response?? 'Mom, then she won't be able to see them. She's just going to be little so they need to be down here for her to see them.' Yep...tears again. They are just so thoughtful and full of love for their little sister.

I can't wait to share her first pictures here on the blog come Tuesday.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

What's Cookin' Wednesday

The weather is gorgeous outside and we're busy getting supper ready inside! Next time the weather gets this nice, we're grillin' again!

For tonight, though, we're having Tater-Tot Casserole. This isn't a dish that I had a lot growing up, but it was a favorite of mine anytime we went to a potluck or church function.

Here's what you'll need:
1 1/2 lbs of hamburger (95% lean was used this time)
10 oz. green peas (I used Schwan's frozen peas)
1 can evaporated milk
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
Tater Tots

Sound a bit too familiar? I had a hard time finding a recipe for this that I liked, and the ones I looked at seemed very different from each other. So....I just adapted the Chicken Hotdish recipe and used hamburger instead of chicken and tater tots instead of croutons. It was perfect!

Here's what you'll do:
1. Brown the hamburger and mix peas, evaporated milk, and soups together and put in a casserole dish.


2. Line the top with frozen tater tots (or let your kids do it!)


3. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. I usually make it the night before and allow 45 minutes since it was chilled.


A crowd pleaser for sure! We are having applesauce and buttered bread for sides. That's a down- home-cooked meal!!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

And Now Dance With It!

Last night after dinner, this mama was correcting quizzes (the last batch of those I'll have for a while!!) at the dining room table. I looked over into the living room and here's what I see:



It might not look like much to you before I give an explanation....so here it is. Maysen is at the piano in the first two pictures, and Myah at the piano in the next two. Maysen was playing (pounding--but it didn't sound too bad) on the piano and I hear her say "And now dance with it!" She was indicating to daddy and Myah, who were twirling their towels in a helicopter fashion, to get more into it and 'dance with it!' It was hilarious! Of course, the girls had to switch places so each could play the piano and dance. Never a dull moment (or lack of imagination) around here!!