The best of friends

My 'little man' constantly melts my heart but yesterday he brought a tear to my eye, too. Anna wasn't feeling well and didn't nap much at all so she was cranky and restless. By late afternoon she was so exhausted she finally just fell asleep in my lap as we watched tv. Ian helped me put Anna's blanket over her to keep her snug and then it happened. As Anna slept, Ian leaned over her, kissed her forehead and said a prayer for his baby sister. In his own three-year old way he prayed, "God keep Anna...not getting sick. Amen." I melted! With a tear in my eye, I gave him a big kiss and told him what a sweet brother he is, what a nice prayer that was and that Anna loved him very much...as does Mama. Ian always includes Anna in his nightly prayers but never has he instinctively prayed for her when he knew she wasn't feeling well. It makes me so happy to see the pure love he and Anna have for each other as siblings and as best friends. It's the precious and priceless times like this that make the seemingly rough moments of parenthood so very worth it!

Basic ingredients create delicious dishes

Most nights, if I have the energy (ha!), I like to serve a fairly nice dinner but everyone knows I really do not enjoy cooking. So, over the years I've gathered some great recipes from the web, family and friends that are so simple and very yummy! The best part is you probably already have all the ingredients in your house. A few of my family's favorites are below....enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (Source: My Sister-In-Law)
- 2-3 cooked chicken breasts, diced
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2-4 cups shredded cheese (we love cheese so I use alot)
- 8 flour tortillas

Mix chicken, Rotel, 2 cups cheese,  sour cream, and soup in bowl. Spoon approximately 2 tablespoons of mixture into tortillas, roll and place seam down into greased 9x13 baking dish. Spread remaining chicken mixture and cheese over enchiladas and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees and serve.

Wild Rice & Chicken Bake (Source: All Recipes.com)
- 2 cooked chicken breasts, diced
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 3 cups shredded cheese
- 1 package instant Uncle Ben's wild & long grain rice (cooks in 90 seconds)
- 1/2 cup milk (optional)

Cook rice as directed on package. Mix all ingredients together in baking dish and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees and serve.

Spicy Sausage Dip (Source: A Friend)
- 1 roll Jimmy Dean regular sausage
- 1 small package cream cheese
- 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes

Cook sausage in skillet. Add cream cheese and Rotel, stirring until well blended. Serve hot with corn tortilla "scoop" style chips. Makes a great appetizer!

"Velvet" Crock Pot Chicken (Source: My Mom)
- 1 stalk celery, split into thirds
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 package dry onion soup mix
- 1 pound boneless, skinless boneless chicken breast
- egg noodles

Place split celery into bottom of crock pot/slow cooker and top with chicken. Blend cream of mushroom soup, onion soup mix, and one "can" of water using mushroom soup can. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. During last 45 minutes of cook time, turn crock pot to high and add egg noodles as desired. Mix until all noodles are covered by gravy. Noodles will cook in gravy to create a simple, one-dish dinner that is delicious on a cold winter day.


More recipes to come soon!

Growing like a...wildflower!

Anna {aka Anna Banana as I like to call her when she's being fiesty} had her 9 month well-baby checkup this morning and she's growing, growing, growing! She's 21.6 lbs. (90%), 29-1/4" (95%) and head is 46 cm (95%) around.

She's crawling extremely fast and loves doing 'laps' around the house and exploring unfamiliar areas like the laundry room or the pantry. She claps when she's happy and waves to anyone who will look her way. She has two front, bottom teeth and has a few up top that are about to break through.

Anna is such a strong-willed little girl (sigh) but she has a very soft, sweet side, too. She loves to snuggle on our laps when she becomes tired. She speed-crawls to the front windows so the three of us can wave goodbye to Daddy as he pulls away from the house each morning. And when Daddy arrives home, he is typically greeted with her big 'two-toothed' smile and a wild, double wave hello. She and her brother both adore their Daddy!

We can't believe that in 12 short weeks we'll celebrate our little Wildflower's first birthday!

Hi Everyone and welcome to my new digital journal. I truly dislike the term blog (not sure why - just do) so I'm going to call this my digital journal. I get such a giggle out of my kids most days and wanted an easy way to sort of document stories from their early years and share some of our general life happenings with you all at the same time. So, here I am...on Cloud 9...with two little blessings in tow.