Five Years Ago...

I found out that I was pregnant with #4 in March of 2003. At 22 weeks, I had my ultrasound and measurements and growth were very good. We did not find out if we were going to have a boy or a girl.

The pregnancy was very uneventful other than me having gestational diabetes diagnosed at 27 weeks. I changed my diet and went on with life as normal. Once Thanksgiving came around, I started getting into the full "nesting mode" so I thought that the baby was going to come early like what my three boys had. However, I carried the baby right to the due date...December 27th!

Labor started around 8am and I got to the hospital around 9:30am after dh stopped at McDonald's for a couple of breakfast biscuits!(yes he went thru the drive thru with me in labor in the passenger's seat!)

I got hooked up to the monitoring device and the nurse could not keep a good reading coming on the baby's heartbeat. So I had to stay positioned a certain way in order for her to get good readings. Labor progressed along and I started noticing that they were contacting extra help(NICU nurses) being on standby before baby was actually delivered. I thought it strange that they were really not saying anything to me other than saying things like we are having trouble monitoring the baby.

The doctor broke my water around 1:30pm. I delivered a girl at 1:40pm!! She weighed 9lbs 12 oz. and was 22 inches long. She had the cord around her neck. Along with the fact that, she was delivered so fast that she wasn’t able to expel any of the fluid in her lungs naturally and didn't start breathing on her own upon delivery. After about 16 minutes of alternating between suctioning her lungs out and pumping her with a breathing tube, she was able to breathe on her own. She was placed on oxygen for 6 hours and earned herself a stay in NICU for observation. I was able to see her about 3 hours after she was born and hold her(tubes and all) for the first time. She was the biggest baby in the unit!

The doctors had to give us the run down as to what might happen to her negatively. The doctor also said that as long as her white blood count stays down she would be able to come home quickly. We had the faith that God didn’t give us this little girl to have her taken away from us so quickly. We got the prayer chain at our church going and other friends praying for our little S! She ended up not having any of the negative effects (like seizures, or stop breathing) happen to her in that first 24 hours! Amen!

Today she is a normal 5 year old little girl! Looking at her one would never guess the “scare” that she gave us coming into this world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, S!!!!!!!

A Nutty Aversion

Excuse me as I think out loud and ramble a bit!....

What is the point of putting nuts in cookies, chocolate, and even salads??!! Why do people think that it is a wonderful thing to put walnuts, pecans or even macadamia nuts in those sweet delectibles that they make?? Do they bring flavor to a bland piece of goodness? or are they in there so that they can savor the nutty taste while picking out the pieces of nuts from between their teeth?!

I do not think about it during the rest of the year...just at holidays when I am sampling goodies that others have given me! I have to pick and choose what I eat because people fill their goodies with those little bits and pieces of nuts that I just can't handle eating! It is not like I am allergic to them it is just that my taste buds think that I have something very foreign in my mouth and then my reflexes kick into full gear! Nothing like eating something that looks sooo delightful only to have it ruined with my reflexes and the taste of nuts.

I know that in recent weeks I have shared a couple of recipes(fudge and salad) that have nuts in them BUT they have peanuts in them!! For some odd or maybe strange reason, I can handle eating peanuts when they are in goodies over those other nuts and eating plain peanuts. I can handle eating snicker bars and homemade peanut clusters and best of all, peanut butter. Don't put peanuts though on my ice cream sundae because that just doesn't go well with the taste buds either!

I wonder why that would be the case!?! Why can I handle it one way or one type of nut and not the other nuts? Oh the questions that come to my mind in trying to figure out my nutty aversion!

So do you have a nutty aversion or am I in this "boat" by myself? If nuts isn't your aversion, what do you shy away from in eating? I can add a few other foods to my list....mushrooms, brussel sprouts, olives along with shrimp, and scallops!

Okay...back to your regular schedule of posts around here!

Merry Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

I want to take the time to wish all of you and your families a Merry Christmas!

I am going to be taking the time to enjoy my family over the next couple of days along with enjoying the season and remembering the true Reason for the Season!!

I will be back on Friday!  

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

Over the last few days, I have been snowed in so I have had plenty of time to get my holiday baking done. I have several things in my freezer now to make up some goodie trays for the neighbors plus still have goodies available for us for the holidays. Today though was one of those days were my get up and go got up and left before I even got started on my day! So I was looking through my recipes, I found this one fudge recipe that makes ALOT but seemed easy to complete!

I got this fudge recipe from my friend, Leni!! I must say that this fudge is soooo easy!! It only has 3 ingredients, all of which I keep in my pantry!

So by now you are probably wondering what are the 3 ingredients and just how easy is this fudge!

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

1 bag(12oz) milk chocolate chips

1 jar(18oz) crunchy peanut butter

1 can condensed milk

Put chocolate chips and peanut butter in a double boiler pan. Heat til the chocolate chips are melted(took about 5-7 minutes). Remove from heat and add the milk. Stir til smooth. Pour into a wax papered lined pan. I used a 15 x10 jelly roll pan. It isn't very thick but they make bite size pieces for kids! If you want thicker fudge use a 9x13 pan. Let cool and then cut into pieces. I stuck mine in the freezer to cool because I had the oven on and I knew that it would take a long time to firm up. Once it is cool you can cut it and put it in the fridge or freezer til you want it.

See I told you easy! Definitely something easy to do for last minute gift giving or needing something to take to that holiday party!

For other kitchen tips, head over to Tammy's Recipes!!

For other tempting tummy recipes and more; head over to Blessed with Grace!

Menu Plan Monday 12/21-12/27

**The last two weeks of 2008 are upon us!!  Christmas week and then the week leading up to the New Year!!   This means that my hubby will be working on Monday and Tuesday of this week and then will be home with us until January 5^th!!  I am excited about him being home with us for that many days BUT that also means that meals (especially lunches) are going to need to be planned a little differently!  I don’t know what it is about him being home but there seems to be an expectation there that I am to fix something for all of us which means more cooking and less telling the kids to fix themselves a sandwich grab some chips and some carrots or apples.  This isn’t a bad thing, but there seems to be more leftovers that don’t get the attention they would otherwise and hence they get wasted!

Speaking of wasted, I ended up having to throw out EIGHT eggs this morning due to them being over TWO weeks past their best by date!  I hate doing that but I really don’t want to take the chance of food poisoning my family.   I didn’t get to all the baking I had planned last week so hence the eggs went bad! 

Last week's menu plan ended up going quite well despite me not having two days’ dinners planned initially, however I went to the store and did grocery shopping in the middle of the week so I had enough things to finish out my week of meals.    

This week's shopping trip was my major shopping trip of the month!!  I made it to Sam's Club for my monthly run along with hitting up the usual grocery stores.  The best I can figure I will be able to stay out of the stores until after Christmas for any groceries!  And if I do anything grocery wise it will be for the fresh things like milk, veggies and fruit.  Thankfully I did all the shopping last week before the nasty weather and the last minute gift frenzy!

This week’s menus not only have our Christmas meal but also a birthday meal!  My daughter turns five on Saturday!!  It is hard to believe that five years has passed since our “little scare”!

If you are looking for some inspiration on meals you can find links to my menu suggestion lists over in my right side bar down by Organizing Junkie's button.

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie's site! **

Sunday (12-21)

Breakfast: eggs, sausage, hash browns, and jiffy muffins

Lunch: leftover  pizza bagels

Dinner: smorgasbord—lemon pepper chicken, mac & cheese or rosemary potatoes with green beans, and biscuits. (and if you have mac & cheese you have your choice of corn or peas)

Snack: Christmas candy (cause we ate a late dinner with being snowed in!)

 

Monday (12-22)

Breakfast: cereal and toast

Lunch: sandwich and chips

Dinner: chili, rice, and corn muffins (carry over from last week)

Snack: snack basket

 

Tuesday (12-23)

Breakfast: waffles & sausage

Lunch: chicken nuggets

Dinner: roasted chicken, mashed taters, and corn

Snack: cookies & milk

Wednesday (12-24)
Breakfast: french toast

Lunch: grilled cheese & Chicken Rice Soup

Dinner: ??? Not sure what will get fixed here!

Snack: snack basket

Thursday (12-25) Merry Christmas!

Breakfast: cinnamon rolls, eggs, hash browns, and sausage (Christmas morning tradition)

Lunch: sandwiches & chips

Dinner: honey baked ham, mashed taters, corn, apple snicker salad and more desserts than one can imagine!

Snack: snack basket

 

Friday (12-26)

Breakfast: eggs, cereal and toast

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: Oven Fried Chicken, Crashed Potatoes, and green beans

Snack: ice cream night                                      

 

Saturday (12-27)  Happy 5^th Birthday, S!!

Breakfast: “Cook’s Choice”

Lunch: ???  probably leftovers!

Dinner: burgers & hotdogs, fries, and corn (birthday meal tradition)

Snack:  snack basket  or popcorn

 

 

 

Winter Weather

In the last THREE days, we have been snowed in twice!!  On Friday, we had record snowfall for that particular day.  Most areas, including my area got over 11 inches of snow!!!

My hubby had to go out our patio slider door(that is covered) so that he could take this picture of our side door. 

This picture is after they(hubby and the three older boys) used the snowblower and shovels down our driveway!  The sun decided to come out on Saturday while they were digging us out!

NOW today we are under blizzard conditions because the wind is whipping all the snow from Friday and today all over the place!  We decided to not go to church this morning because of the conditions and then the evening activities at church were cancelled!   The picture below is of my hubby and three older boys as they were walking around the backyard!  They found a drift that "swallowed" hubby's 34 inch inseam legs!!

And to think they are saying that Tuesday will be the same as Friday and Sunday!!  Oh winter weather in the Midwest!  There is very little chance that we will be having a "green Christmas"!!

Singing Sunday

For Christmas week, here is one of my favorite Christmas carols!  

Away in A Manager

Away in a manger, no crib for his bed
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And take us to heaven, to live with Thee there.