Total Nesting!

I have been going crazy lately with all the things I want to get done before baby girl (still nameless) arrives. I seriously have a list:

1. Scrub the kitchen floor
2. Shampoo the carpets
3. Get rid of ALL unnecessary things
4. Detail clean the bathroom and kitchen
5. Have the car detail cleaned
6. Get our flu shots!
7. Have Kyle (and anyone else that wants to hold our precious girl for the first couple months of her life) get the whooping cough vaccine
8. Make some freezer meals for dinners after she is born
9. Freeze some pancakes/muffins so we arent eating cereal every day
10. Spend more time with my son...his world is about to be ROCKED!

And that is just the small list! I still have clothes that need to be washed, I want to get my bangs trimmed, my toes done, etc. (Gotta have pretty toes for labor/delivery) And we STILL need to pick out a name. I just cant settle on Harper. I dont love it, its too popular, and there are names I like much more than I like Harper. Plus, Kyle and I need to find a name we both love. On top of all this cleaning/organizing I want to get done, there are tons of stuff I want to do with our baby boy before baby girl is born too. We have plans to go to a pumpkin patch and hayride, the Dallas Arbortoreum's pumpkin village, the Halloween thing at the zoo, I want to carve/paint pumpkins, play in leaves, bake pumpkin bread...I want these last few weeks of being a family of three to be filled with fun memories and lots of family time! :)

We have probably less than a month left until the BIG day if baby girl comes early like her big brother. I cant believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by! Its kinda funny too, the time of year that she will be born. She has the possibility of being born on my Mimi's birthday (Oct 28), Kyle's birthday (Nov 4th), Sherrie's birthday (Nov 5th), or my Dad's birthday (Nov 8th). Bennett too had the chance of being born on my birthday (although he would have been WAY early), my Mom's birthday and Kyle's dad's birthday! I hope she is born on Kyle's birthday though! I dont really want to wait that long to hold her, but I think that's the best birthday present God could ever give Kyle. He would LOVE it! Sharing a birthday with his baby girl would probably just make his life! ;)

Lets take bets...who do YOU think she is going to share a birthday with?

Toddler Meal Post: Ham and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

Ham and Broccoli Mac and Cheese has been my go-to lately when Im in a rush to make Bennett something for dinner and dont have much time. Its yummy, semi-healthy and he really likes it! He even eats the broccoli :)

Here is the recipe:

4 cups water

3/4 lb elbow macaroni (3 cups)

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1 box (10 oz) frozen broccoli, thawed

4 oz baked ham, diced

2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend

Instructions

1. Bring water, macaroni and 1
2. Stir remaining milk
3. Add broccoli and ham to pot

 

 

You can make this MUCH, MUCH easier if you take this version and completely simplify it. Remember the post about Broccoli and Cheese Orzo? Take that recipe and fit it to this one! (Instead of using evaporated milk, mustard, cornstarch...just add a bit of butter, milk and cheese to your noodles once you have boiled and drained them! Then add the ham and broccoli to the pot, put it over low heat and melt that cheese! :) Another plus about this recipe: it keeps for up to three days in the fridge so its great for lunch the next day too!

Toddler Meal Post: Turkey Tortilla Roll-Ups/Family Update

Today, I thought I would do something easy and lunch-rush friendly for all my mommy friends out there. Turkey tortilla roll-ups are a MDO staple in our house. For all of you that are making and sending a lunch for your little one, whether it be to preschool, MDO, kindergarten, etc. you all know how hard it can be to pack something that is wholesome, yummy, and not the same ol' thing every day. I came across the idea for turkey tortilla roll-ups while researching things to feed Bennett. They are easy, yummy, and he loves them!

Here is the recipe:

What You Need:

3 flour tortillas (6 inch)

3 Tbsp. PHILADELPHIA Chive & Onion 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese

12 slices OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Smoked Turkey Breast

3/4 cup shredded lettuce

 

Make It:

SPREAD tortillas with cream cheese; top with turkey.

PLACE lettuce on bottom halves of tortillas; roll up.

CUT each into 4 slices.

 

 

 

Now, this is just a recipe I found online. Mine are a bit different. I use whole-wheat tortillas, omit the cream cheese in place of colby jack slices, and use spinach leaves in place of the lettuce. I also only make one at a time. Bennett will most definitely not eat three of those!!

 

There hasn't been much new happening in our little family lately. Kyle is still working for QT and I am still staying home with Bennett. This next Wednesday will be my last day to tutor and we are taking the boys to the Holocaust Museum in Dallas. (Im really excited) Its bittersweet to know that another stage in our lives is ending and another about to begin. Kyle is really loving his classes and even says that he gets excited about his homework! Bennett is still trying to adjust to going to MOPS and MDO. Its really hard on him when mommy or daddy leaves him. He is definitely in the middle of seperation anxiety right now, and it just makes my heart sad. I do not like to hear my baby cry! He is growing like a weed, he waves bye, blows kisses, gives love (hugs), he is just turning into his own little lovey person! We have anywhere from about 5-7 weeks until the arrival of our baby girl. A small nugget of news: we are not naming her Harper anymore. (I know, you all are probably fed up with my inability to make a decision on a name!) But, I still believe its just too "mainstream" for a name that I want our child to have. I dont want her to be one of 6 Harpers in her class. I think I just put too much thought into this! We are pretty well prepared for her, I think. We have just about everything we need now, minus a car seat cover and double stroller that my mother and mimi are getting. I cant believe that in less than two months we will be a family of four! Please pray for us. Whenever the Lord puts us on your mind, just pray that he is preparing us for the road ahead. We know it wont be easy, but we are excited nonetheless!

Toddler Meal Post: Snack Ideas

I dont know about you all, but as a mommy of a toddler I have a really hard time finding snacks that are nutritious, yummy, low in sugar, and gets a "thumbs up" from our baby boy. I recently read that a toddler should have no more than 17grams of sugar a day. I thought I had been doing great until I found that Bennett's applesauce pouches have 9 grams of sugar per serving on their own! His fruit bars have 7 grams of sugar, and his juice (if not diluted) has 15 grams of sugar! That is quite a lot of sugar to be feeding a toddler, folks! I had to get out of the rut of fruit bars and applesauce pouches and find something else to feed our baby. Besides, I do not want to grow up a child with an over reliance on sweets and start him out on the track to obesity!  I decided I wanted to post about some great ideas for snacks that I have been trying out with Bennett that are all of the above. I checked out several websites, did tons of research, and came up with a few ideas that are our go-to snack items for baby boy. Now, not all of these snacks are incredibly low in sugar. As the mommy, its your job to monitor how much sugar you are giving, so if you give your little one something that has 10 grams of sugar for one snack, you definitely want to pick something from the list that is either sugar-free or very low in sugar as to not go above the recommended amount of sugar a day. Also, I highly recommend very heavily diluting your little one's juice AND only giving juice once a day. I dont know about you, but I dont want a little one that wont drink water!

So mommies, here are some snack ideas for your little one! Enjoy! :)

1. Cheese and Saltine Crackers
2. Cheese and Purple Grapes
3. Cheerio, Dried Pineapple and Rasin Trail Mix
4. Peanut Butter and Banana Roll-Ups
5. Apple, Pumpkin and Zucchini Whole-Wheat Muffins
6. Grammy Sandwiches (Graham Crackers filled with yogurt and frozen)
7. Sweet Potato Chips
8. The Green Smoothie
9. Chips and Salsa (If your little one can handle chips/dipping)
10. "Ants on a Log" (Celery filled with PB and "dotted" with rasins)

I also really like the idea of making a "nibble tray" for your little one, though we have not tried it with Bennett yet. The main idea is to get an ice tray and fill each little hole with something different for your little one to snack on. That way, he/she may pick and choose what to eat and not be confined to whatever mommy gives for snack time.

Here is what it would look like:

Toddler Meal Post: Cheesy Broccoli Orzo/ Family Update

This week, I have a completely random but totally yummy meal post that actually works for the whole family! A couple of weeks ago, I saw a pin on Pinterest for "Cheesy Broccoli Orzo" that looked fabulous and decided to try it out. As I made my weekly menu, I decided to have it with BBQ Chicken and Grilled Zucchini. Kyle was kind of hesitant to try the orzo (he isnt much for trying new things) but once he tried it, he LOVED it. Bennett too, LOVED it and scarfed every bite I gave him. He even ate the broccoli! :) I guess when you cover veggies in cheese, it makes them 10X better!

 

Cheesy Broccoli Orzo
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
1 cup orzo
1-1/2 cups chopped broccoli florets
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon butter
1/4-1/2 cup 2% milk
salt
Directions:
Add orzo to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes then add chopped broccoli and cook for 2 more minutes, or until orzo is tender. Drain well (broccoli florets are notorious for holding onto water) then return to the pot. Add cheeses, butter, and 1/4 cup milk then stir well and add more milk if needed. Season with salt to taste.


In other news, please pray for us as we near the arrival of our baby girl. We only have 7-8 ish weeks left (hopefully) but as of our 3D ultrasound appointment, she was breech. I dont know if I could handle having a late baby after Bennett was 12 days early!!! Im pretty sure I would go crazy! Help us to be confident in God's timing and help us (me) to be patient and to enjoy these last few weeks of being a family of three. Pray the Lord will help me to cherish the time I get to spend with Bennett and Kyle and SLEEP! Pray that God is already preparing us and preparing me to parent a little girl, to have a newborn and a toddler, to loose lots of sleep, etc. Please pray for us too that we will be confident in the Lord's ability to provide and help us to know that He wouldnt give us this child and not provide for her. We still need a few things and we are getting so close, so Im getting nervous. Also, pray that the Lord sends us help for the first few weeks after baby girl's arrival. Im planning on nursing, and I know it will be HARD and stressful (especially with a toddler to look after as well.) I would be forever grateful to have as much help as possible to make learning how to nurse as easy and stress free as possible. I could ask for prayer for so much more, but Im confident that the Lord knows what we need and that those prayers will be answered whether spoken or not.