Letter to my son

My Dear Sweet Little Boy,

I remember when your daddy and I were talking about giving your sister a younger brother or sister.  It feels like that conversation took place yesterday.  Honestly I was scared to get pregnant again, but I know I had to try one more time for your daddy.  

We struggled for a while to conceive you, my beautiful boy.  But one day your daddy left to go to the store for something and I took a pregnancy test because I just had a feeling that I was.  Sure enough, within three minutes I got a big fat positive.  I stared at the two lines staring at me and looked at my belly and thought, 'here we go again'.

I couldn't wait to tell your daddy that we were pregnant with you.  I wrapped up the pregnancy test and put it in a box and wrapped it up.  I couldn't wait til he came home to give him his present.  When he opened the box and saw the two lines his first reaction was 'is this what I think it is?'.. and when I told him yes.  We were both excited beyond words can describe.

I quickly scheduled a visit to the doctor to start getting the proper prenatal care.  I found out my due date was only three days after your daddy's birthday.  What a great birthday present!

I admit that I wish you had moved around more when you were in my belly.  When your sister was in my belly, she moved a lot.  I enjoyed that so much that I couldn't wait to get pregnant again to experience that all over again.  Not to mention, the doctor I had didn't give me as many ultrasounds as I had when I was pregnant with your sister.  It made me scared when I couldn't see you or feel you move, but everything worked out well.

We scheduled to get a C-section with you because your sister was home and your grandmother, my mom, was watching her.  We didn't know when you were going to make your debut, so we decided to schedule a C-section.

The night before we were going to go to the hospital, your grandma came over to spend the few nights at our house.  Your daddy and I went to bed after we put your sister to sleep.  But we couldn't sleep.  We were so excited and couldn't wait for you to get here.

We left the hospital at 4:30am because we had to check in the hospital at 5:00am.  Our C-section was scheduled at 7:00am.  During the last week of my pregnancy, I had slight Braxton Hicks but no real contractions.  Wouldn't you know it, once we got to the hospital and the nurses were hooking me up that I started having consistent contractions?  Your daddy and I both thought about letting the birth happen naturally but we opted against it.  The doctor who delivered you was on call that weekend and we didn't want to wait around for you to make your debut and when it was time, that another doctor would deliver you.

But you came into the world and the first time I heard you cry, I cried hysterically and thanked God for you over and over again.  I looked at your daddy and smiled.  I couldn't believe it.  Our family was complete.  We have one of each and we feel so blessed.

You are only a year and a half now and we love you to no end.  We can't wait to see what kind of young man you will turn out to be.  

We love you!

Love, 
Mommy

Letter to my daughter

To My Sweet Little Baby Girl,

I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday.  Your daddy went to work that day and while he was at work, I was doing some last minute nesting and last minute packing up the hospital bags.  I remember after he came home from work, he changed into his normal clothes and we left.  

We were supposed to check into the hospital at 5:00pm that evening, but your daddy came home at 3:00pm that day.  We went to McDonalds to eat dinner, it was the last meal we ate together before you were born.  I had a salad, chicken nuggets, and fries and washed it down with a coke.  We talked during dinner and the sole part of our conversation was about you, our hopes and dreams for you.  

We left to go to the hospital after we ate.  We were scheduled to get induced that evening, hoping you would make your debut that evening or in the middle of the night.  I got hooked up to the machines to monitor my heartbeat, and when they put the belly band around me to monitor your heartbeat, my heart skipped a beat.  I couldn't wait to hear your heart beating.  

The first time I heard your heartbeat I was only ten weeks pregnant with you and it was the most beautiful sound I ever heard.  Every time I heard your heart beating away in my belly, I cried a few tears of happiness and thanked God for you.

You were quite stubborn and didn't want to come out.  After 25 hours of labor, the nurses woke me up at 5:00am to let me know we are going to have an emergency C-section because every time I had a contraction, you were in distress.  At 6:00am they wheeled me over to the operating room to bring you into the world.

The first time I heard you cry was the next best thing I have ever heard in my life.  I cried hysterically and thanked God over and over and over again for you.  I looked at your daddy and whispered, "We did it!".  Your daddy smiled at me with tears in his eyes and whispered back, "We're a family now!"

Here we are now, you are three years old.  You are still the best thing in the world and we are still and forever thankful for you.  We love you to no end.

I know the toddler years are tough because you're not able to communicate on how you are feeling and you're letting out your emotions.  I get it.  But I miss the little girl who used to love on me all the time.  I miss the little girl who did such sweet little things.  The girl you are now, you make me so sad when I see you hurt yourself because I don't understand what you want or when you don't get what you want.  It breaks my heart every single time I hear you cry in frustration or when you run away from me when I am trying to help you.

I hope and pray that things will get easier when you get older.  I love you to no end.  I will always love you.  But I miss the sweet little girl that is in you somewhere.

Love you always,
Mommy

I got it under control

Every night after we get both of the kids to sleep, we have a brief moment of serenity where we are laying in bed and relaxing and catching up on Facebook, emails, texts, and catch up on our talk that we didn't mention in front of the kids.  About twenty to twenty five minutes after our son is asleep, he will wake up from his sleep.  When my husband tries to comfort him to get him to go back to sleep, it doesn't  work so he brings him in our room on our bed and he falls asleep in less than two minutes.  But last night I decided I would go in his room and comfort him to see if he would fall asleep.  And wouldn't you know it.. in less than five minutes he was quiet and back asleep again.  He woke up again around 2am, and I went to his room again to comfort him and he was asleep in his room.

I guess I got the golden ticket last night.

Thank goodness it is Friday today!  I love the weekends because my husband is home and we get to spend time together and watch football.  I think this weekend I am going to make BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches with some coleslaw.  I don't have any laundry to do so it will be nice to relax somewhat.

Depressing

I am so sad.  It is in the middle of October already and the weather is still warm.  It's not entirely too hot, but it is warm.  I don't like the hot weather at all.  But today is actually pretty decent.  It's a bit cloudy and there are chances of rain here.  The chances of rain in my area are pretty slim to none but I'm going to hold onto hope that it will rain here.

Last night we had leftovers for dinner.  Tonight we are going to have leftovers again.  I am just feeling very lazy as far as cooking goes.  Besides eating leftovers will free up a lot of space in the refrigerator.  

I was going to make my mother's birthday card yesterday while the kids napped.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to finish.  So I hope to finish this weekend.

Sorry for the short entry today.. but I need to work on some stuff around the house.

Birthday cards

My mother's birthday is coming up rather quickly.  So yesterday I got some craft stuff together to make her her birthday card.  I am hoping to start and finish it today.  I had to fold two loads of laundry yesterday so I couldn't make the card then.  My mother's birthday is next week so I really need to quickly make the card for her.  While I was getting the stuff together to make her card, I decided I would make the same card two more times.  That way I have an extra card to send to my father, whose birthday is in two months, and I will have an extra one for one of those just in case moments.  I haven't made extra cards when making cards in a long time, so I figure now would be a great time to start building a supply of cards to have on hand, just in case.

Last night I didn't cook dinner because my husband came home late from work.  He had to go to a training after work.  We have an understanding that when he comes home late from work that he would pick up dinner.  He usually picks up Taco Bell.  I don't know what it is, but I could eat tacos for days and never get tired of it.

This weekend I think we are going to go to the mall and buy a pair of jeans for me.  I need a new pair and I believe we're going to get them this weekend.  I don't know what else we have planned.  Hopefully I can get some rest because this week has been so hellish on my body.  Between both kids waking up separately in the middle of the night and waking up every morning at 5:30 is tiring my poor little body out!

I will post a picture of the card when finished.

Creamy Italian Chicken

Last night for dinner I made another crockpot dish.  I love using my crockpot to make delicious meals because I don't have to be in the kitchen.  Cooking in the kitchen with two little kids around is not my idea of fun.  So, yesterday I made a Creamy Italian Chicken.  It is one of my husband's favorite meals.  Last time I made this, I served it with rice.  This time I served it with some rotini pasta.  It is by far the easiest meal to make.  Here is the recipe.

Creamy Italian Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1 packet Zesty Italian dressing seasoning
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cans of cream of chicken soup (I used one)

Cook on low for four hours.  When done, you can cut the chicken and cube it or shred it.  If the sauce is too thick, add a little milk.  Serve over pasta or rice.

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli with Rice

Here it is!  I actually forgot to take a picture of my plate with the meal with everything.  But this picture was taken as I was getting ready to plate it up.  My apologies.  But this is what I made for dinner last Friday.  It is seriously so stinking good!  It is called Creamy Chicken and Broccoli with Rice.  We do have leftovers because I purposely made a lot.  I believe I found this recipe on Pinterest.  Without further adieu, here is the recipe.

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli with Rice

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
14 oz. can Cream of Chicken soup
14 oz. can Cheddar soup
14 oz. chicken broth
1/2 Cajun seasoning (I omitted this out)
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 cup sour cream
6 cups steamed broccoli florets (boiled in hot water for three minutes, then drained)
1 cup cheddar cheese

Place the soups, chicken broth, Cajun seasoning, and garlic salt into a crockpot over low heat.  Whisk until smooth.  Add chicken, pressing it to the bottom.  Cover the lid and cook on low for six hours or on high for three hours.  When the chicken is cooked, use two forks to shred the chicken into bite-size pieces.  Stir in the sour cream and broccoli.  Serve over steamed rice and sprinkle with cheese, if desired.

It is seriously soo good!  I just might make it again next week.  We'll see.  Tonight for dinner is this crockpot Italian Chicken recipe.  I made it before and it was a huge hit with my husband so I am making it again.  The only difference this time is I am going to serve it with pasta instead of rice.  I will do my best to take a picture and post the recipe.

Have a great day!