Bzzzzzt

I've decided that an abscessed tooth is the worst pain I have ever been in. Period.

Yup. You read that correctly.

More pain than giving birth to a 9 pound baby with no pain meds whatsoever.

Agony with no relief in sight.

12 hours after I was put on antibiotics, I wasn't waking up crying from the pain anymore like I had been for the previous 48 hours. Mostly because they gave me a hefty dose of narcotics.

I was in a drug-induced stupor for two days.

Then it was suddenly Christmas.

It's been a week since the ER visit and my house is. a. disaster. All three kids have been sick for over a month and now Josie isn't just not gaining weight, she's losing it.

The antibiotics I'm still on have me nauseated 24/7 and the smell coming from whatever is in my kitchen sink is preventing me from going anywhere near the dirty dishes that desperately need to be done.

Who am I?

Where am I?

When am I?

Let Me Help

That is a phrase I have heard after every single one of my babies. I am able to give a weak smile and say, "We're managing." But here's the ugly truth: we're not. I only say we are because I don't wish to burden these well-meaning individuals with any guilt. They won't be able to help. They can't.

They can't be here at 7:00 in the morning when Rylin and Evan get up and I'm too exhausted to feed them breakfast. Sometimes they stay in their diapers and pajamas until around noon when I can finally lift my weary body off the bed. Yep. They watch TV all morning with nothing to eat or drink until I can get up.

They can't be here from 3:00-7:00 in the morning to continuously feed Josie for four hours straight.

They can't fork over the $300 it will take to fix Josie's lip-tie.

They can't be here every day to hold the baby long enough for me to take a shower.

They can't fix my broken dryer.

They can't provide Todd with business.

They can't heal my sore and bruised breasts.

They can't get rid of our unwanted insect tenants.

They can't provide us with a second vehicle just to get to Doctor appointments.

They can't take Rylin to and from preschool.

They can't make Josie gain weight.

They can't help me deal with sleep deprivation and the resulting postpartum depression.

They can't stop Evan from playing in the toilet and Rylin from arguing with me about Every. Single. Thing.

They can't spend 12 hours a day feeding a baby.

They can't do any of these things, so I don't even bother asking. It hurts too much when they laugh and think I'm joking.

You know how you get when your tired and/or hungry? That's me all of the time. I'm a monster. I'm not nice to anybody.

It's time for dinner right now and I don't have the energy to think about let alone prepare something to eat. They had string cheese and fruit snacks for lunch. I finally ate something when 2 out of the 3 of them were asleep. That was 6 hours ago.

Let me help?

I force myself to not burst into maniacal laughter when I get told this.

Don't offer unless you're really, REALLY willing to do what it takes to truly help and not just what you think will.

Here's what's unhelpful but all too common:

Unsolicited advice - If I didn't ask, I don't care. Really. I don't.

Comparisons - I don't need to hear how easy breastfeeding was for you, or how you have a maid, or how your baby is such a good sleeper, or how your husband waits on you 24/7. These make me want to punch you in the face.

Showing up at my door with no notice - I haven't showered. My hair possibly has small animals nesting in it. My teeth are fuzzy. I smell like sweat and sour milk. You're making me put on a shirt and maybe a bra. I hate you in this moment.

Telling me to "enjoy this time" or any other comment that reminds me I am somehow not doing this whole motherhood thing right.

Let me help.

I'd love to. Really I would.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Baby!

When you aren't working full-time any longer and your baby is overdue, you start to look for things to pass the time. I started reading the Harry Potter series again. I also wanted the house clean and enough laundry done so that I wouldn't worry about wanting to do them for a week.

The days dragged on.

I went to work the Friday and Saturday before I was induced mostly so I could have something to do. I also wanted the pity tips. Both reasons were satisfied. I'm going to miss serving while pregnant.

Todd's parents were in town for the weekend also, so we headed to his sister's house for dinner on Sunday night. I claimed a spot on the couch next to on top of the air conditioning vent while we, as a family, tried to come up with good names for a baby boy. I don't know why, but we really struggle with boy names. We were pretty set on our girl names, but were waiting to meet the baby like always.

Right after we found out we were pregnant, we started talking about middle names. Both Rylin and Evan have names from my side of the family, so I figured we could look at Todd's. Here is what was available from his four grandparents: Alva, Althea, Wilda, & Lee. Now, if YOU were about to give your child an identity, which of those names do you think you'd pick? Also, both Todd's Mom AND Dad have the middle name of Lee. It was a no-brainer for us. Boy or girl, the middle name would be Lee. Spelled just like that.

Side funny story, Todd's Grandpa (Lee) gets a little... concerned whenever he hears about a new pregnancy. He firmly believes that two children is the cap. Especially if you have one of each gender. Pretty much this is what we've heard from everybody from the get-go:

We were therefore a little hesitant to let him know about this pregnancy. I hoped that telling him about our middle name choice might soften the reception. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: We're going to have another baby!
Lee: Uh oh! Here we go.
Me: And boy or girl, the middle name will be Lee.
Lee: (pause) Well congratulations!!

It still makes me chuckle.

At any rate, it was fun sitting around with Todd's family even if no name ideas came from it. Then one of the things I hate most about being pregnant happened. It's always by some older gentleman that thinks he's being funny. Why?! What is it about those grandpas?!?!?! They look at me, look at my belly, and say, "Are you sure there's not two in there?" After I inwardly roll my eyes and try not to throat-punch them, I say, "Yup. Just one." Their inevitable response is, "Well, you're just so big!"

This is not an appropriate thing to say to anyone. Ever. Especially a 41-week pregnant lady that YOU BARELY EVEN KNOW!!!! (He was my sister-in-law's Father-in-law. No relation to me and I had only briefly met once before). I don't understand why they think this is OK. I've seen pictures of pregnant ladies in the '50s. They looked huge in those freakin' mumus!!

Don't even try to tell me otherwise.

My Grandmother thinks women should still wear these and doesn't like the current fashion trends, "Where you can see every bump and roll." She even offered to buy me a mumu and didn't understand when I told her they don't sell them anymore.

By the way, I was NOT huge and when I told this "kind" sir that I wasn't even as big as I was with my last baby, his astonished, "Oh, really?!" was enough to make me tell Todd it was time to go home.

Harrumph.

Monday was spent cleaning the house and getting things set for Sandy (Todd's Mom) to take care of the kids for the next two days. Just as we were about to walk out the door at 19:30, the impending thunderstorm finally hit. Within minutes the sidewalk was flooded! I can say that the baby's birth story starts out with, "It was a dark and stormy night..." Ha Ha.

We got to the hospital checked in, met the nurses and midwife, and got settled. They started me on cervidil at 21:45. They told me I could still eat, so Todd rushed to Macaroni Grill before they closed at ten for a late-night mushroom ravioli craving. We finally went to "sleep" a little after 23:00 and I knew I was in for a rough night.

I had no less than three things attached to me at all times: my IV, the baby heart-rate sensor, the contraction sensor, the blood pressure cuff, and the oxygen sensor. This made getting comfortable nigh impossible. I get really warm at night and the plastic mattress had me sweating. Thankfully they brought in a fan that made it bearable. To top it all off, I was also having contractions. They weren't really painful, more uncomfortable. I was having a lot of back labor though, so the muscles up and down my back seized up with every contraction. I was only able to doze off and on all night. By the time morning came, I felt like somebody had been punching me in the back for the last 12 hours. 

I had progressed from a 1+ to a 3 in dilation on my own overnight. That was progress, but not enough. I was in too much pain and knew how much was ahead of me. I also knew that my body was exhausted. I knew that I was going to need Pitocin, and I knew it was going to hurt. A lot. We decided to get an epidural after all. We were disappointed, but knew that healthy was the goal. A Mommy under tremendous stress puts the baby under stress too.

The epidural and Pitocin were started at 10:30. Going off of my previous labors, we figured the baby would arrive by noon. Nope. Lunch came and went. I decided to finish reading Harry Potter book 3.

The Pitocin had been pretty high, but the baby's heart-rate had dropped too much so they cut my dosage in half. At 14:00 I was barely at a 4.The midwife offered to break my water, and we agreed.

It had meconium in it.

Crap.

Literally.

It means the baby's first bowl movement has passed and doesn't normally happen until after they are born. This can mean many things, but it always means that the baby is now ingesting and possibly inhaling their own poop. It can (but doesn't always) lead to some pretty serious complications. For now it meant that the pediatrics team was going to take the baby as soon as it was born and might have to perform some heavy-duty suctioning to get it all out.

That's all I needed, more reasons to stress. It really made me want to get the baby here now.

So we waited some more.

Todd had this delivered (and I couldn't eat it yet!!) and all the nurses were jealous:

My awesome cousin surprised us with Jamba Juice (which I could eat!) later in the afternoon.

Around 17:00 the midwife said I was officially in "active" labor and I was at a 5.

More waiting.

Shift change happened at 19:00 and while I was waiting to meet the new (and now third) midwife, I started feeling a lot of pressure.

At 20:00 the midwife was still dealing with another birth (that mother better freaking hurry!!!) and I was feeling constant pressure (the baby's head was now engaged).

At 20:15 the midwife and nurse still hadn't returned so I told Todd to go find them and tell them I was ready to push.

I clicked the epidural button again and a few minutes later everyone was finally showing up in our room. I was in transition and was shaking.

At 20:29 after 24 hours and no more than four pushes, baby arrived!!! The chord was wrapped around the neck once (like I needed any more scares), but only delayed things for a moment while the midwife unlooped it. We were still waiting to find out the gender, and nobody was talking, so I yelled, "What is it?!?!" Todd said it was a boy initially, which I have to admit made me sad for just a half of a second. Then I was happy. Then the midwife said, "Nope, it's a girl!" I was so happy I started crying. Todd was able to "catch" her and cut the chord before she was taken to the warmer by pediatrics.

Her first Apgar score was 5. She had only let out a feeble whimper initially. Once she was on the warmer they started rubbing her down vigorously and had to suction out her nose and had a tube down her throat to suction out her stomach and esophagus. She finally started crying loudly and her second score was a 9.

8 pounds 2 ounces, 20 inches long

 They brought her back to me within a few minutes saying she was just fine.

 
She was so alert for being on that epidural for so long! I couldn't get over all her dark hair either. I secretly don't like bald babies and am always jealous of people with dark hair because their babies have it too! Rylin and Evan had some hair, but nothing close to this! I still can't get over it. :)

We stayed in the hospital for the next two days to get to know our little baby girl and recover. We kept going back and forth between naming her Josephine and Olivia. What did she look more like? Josephine is Todd's Great-Grandmother and it's safe to say that the genetics are strong.

From top left: Rylin, Evan, new baby, Todd, Josephine.

See what I mean?? It's all in the eyes.

Todd's Mom brought the other kids by and they got to meet their baby sister for the first time.

We were still torn on the name though. We liked the name Josie and we liked how Rylin was right that it was a girl and "her name is Olivia." At some point I suggested the idea of two middle names. I did a little bit of research and found out it wasn't as big a deal as I thought it might be. I was worried filling out government and school forms and such would be a hassle. We wouldn't do two middle names if we went with Olivia though. So that's where we were after one day. She was either Olivia Lee or Josephine Olivia Lee.

The second day in the hospital, Todd had to go to a training all day. I had to fill out the birth certificate form and we had been leaning towards Josie. I looked at the baby and it just felt right. Now she officially had a name.

Josephine Olivia Lee Allison

We love baby Josie with all of our hearts and are so glad she is part of our family!

Waiting...

My due date was yesterday. It came and went without anything more exciting happening than the thunderstorm we got.

I've had two appointments every week for the last month. One is with my midwife where they check to see if I have progressed any. I haven't. The other is up at the hospital where they do a non-stress test to measure the baby's heart-rate and activity over a 20 minuted time period. They do this because I am considered "advanced maternal age" and have a higher risk of stillbirth. We pass every time (which is good!!), but boring.

So we're just waiting around for this baby to get here. My induction is scheduled for next Monday night. I am still planning on an un-medicated birth, but obviously the possibility of needing pitocin could change that. The only reason they are inducing me at 41 weeks instead of waiting until 42 is again because of the higher risk of stillbirth. As it looks right now, I'm going to need the induction after all. That gives me an August baby.

Blah.

I hate August. It's one of the long months. It's the HOTTEST month. There are no holidays. It's a bunch of long, hot, boring days. As a kid it meant I had to go back to school.

I don't know. Maybe this baby is determined to give me a reason to like August.

I hate waiting.

I know, I know. I am very grateful for a healthy baby that is coming in 6 days at the most. I don't want to complain, but I am SOOOOOOOOO ready. I've never gone this long with any of the previous three and the heat makes everything worse. I only leave the house for appointments now. I'm so uncomfortable all of the time. Heartburn. Pressure. Constant, irregular contractions. Mentally and physically I am worn out. Having an end date set is helping, I just need to focus on that now.

At any rate, thanks for reading and next time I write it will be about the baby!

He Cooks: BBQ from the Russavages

The Russavages are my Mom and Step Dad. I've had quite a while to grow up in my teenage years with 'Russavage' bbq, though my Mom claims she had a lot to do with starting it. Whatever case, it's hard to beat Russavage Tri-tip and Pork Ribs. So I'll write them here for safe keeping.

- Butter on a bit over cooked

Pork Spare Rips:

Pork Rib needs to be cooked VERY different than Beef Rib. Beef is all about the slow, and locking in the flavor. Pork meat is already salty, and the ribs are very thin So Pork ribs are about speed.

Preheat to 350. Sear underside like Beef Ribs but for maybe 5 minutes. Then 10 minutes each side.

      Dry Rub:

Garlic Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder in abundance!

      Wet Rub:

Use a more flavorful sauce. My first attempt I used Dickey's Vinegar based sauce and it wasn't as flavorful. Still salt, pepper and onion powder, but doesn't have to be as much.

TriTip

Tritip, sliced raw garlic

Black Pepper, Garlic Salt, Onion Power

Pork Loin (dark red, not pink) or chicken thighs

- Apple cider vingear, 20 min marniade.
Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, Chopped Fresh Rosemary, Chopper Fresh Basil, Salt and Pepper, Garlic (?) - Basting Sauce

He cooks: BASICS: Breading

I plan on adding a couple of breading ideas here as I experiment with them. There are quite a few ways.


From Rachel, in reference to her Southern deep fried chicken

2 Mixes

Mix

3 Eggs
1/2 cup milk
table spoon of melted butter


3 cups flour (Try Bread crumbs?)
seasons
    (Garlic Salt, Onion Powder, Pepper, Parmesan Cheese)
    ( Frank's Hot Sauce)

Directions:

Dip chicken into the first mix, then into the second, then place directly into hot pan.

He Cooks: BASICS: A collection of Marinades

We've had quite a bit of success with various marinades over the years, since they are pretty easy to do. We buy our chicken in bulk and it sometimes has to sit in the freezer for a while. So a handy thing to do is to separate the chicken into ziplock bags and premarinate in the freezer and then pull them out and throw them on the skillet or BBQ for a quick and tasty dinner. This is a place to quickly store Marinade recipes we like for reference later.

Chicken:

Balsalmic Chicken Marinade:

Ingredients:

Balsalmic Vingarette
Line Juice
Salt
Minced Garlic

Italian Chicken Marinade:

Ingredients: 

Olive Oil

Italian Parsley

Basil

Salt

Red Pepper

Teriayki Chicken Marinade:

Ingredients: 

Teriayki Marinade (NOT GLAZE)

Adventures in Customer Service

My tenure in Plaid (Disneyland Guest Relations) proffered many valuable life lessons. One of the biggest is that I know what exemplary customer service is, and what is not. In addition, I have learned that if you do not get what you pay for, SAY SOMETHING. Every single business that I have ever worked for or interacted with wants, at the very least, to ensure that the customer gets what they pay for. Most consumers never say anything (like my husband). I remember in school learning something about how only the top and bottom 5% ever give any feedback voluntarily. How is a company ever supposed to know how the other 90% feel? This is why I always say something, but especially when service (and/or goods) either exceed or fall short of my expectations.

Much to Todd's chagrin, this includes when fast-food items are left out of my order or are incorrect or are in any way unsatisfactory (cold, taste off, etc.). No establishment has been exempt yet. We are human, and people mess up. I get it. But when I don't get what I have paid for, I call back. They are always willing to make up for it. Sure I have to go back, but they always let me go at my convenience.

Let me say something else here. Just because your good or service is inadequate, this NEVER gives allowance to abuse the poor individual who is fielding your concern. Even when I have been treated so poorly I was reduced down to tears (that may be mostly because I am pregnant right now), I did not then take it out on the supervisor who was legitimately trying to help me. I even apologized for being upset and said I know it wasn't them and that it's not their fault. You can successfully voice your concern (even when you are upset) without making the receiver feel attacked.

I'm also NOT saying that you should accept abuse either. Ever. There is no excuse for an employee to do so and when it happens (because it does), ask to speak to a supervisor or a manager. You may need to go to corporate to get it resolved.

My story today involves our local McDonald's. This is not an abuse story (sorry if I built that up), but one of miscommunication and frustration. Here is the email I sent to corporate more than two weeks after the initial incident:

"We ordered two Happy Meals and did not receive the apple juices with either one of them. We noticed this once we got home, so we called the number on the receipt and spoke with a Nicole. She was very polite and offered to give us two complete new Happy Meals since we would have to drive all the way back to the restaurant. She asked for our names and told us we did not need to keep the receipt or show it when we went back. She said she would notify them of the situation and give them our names. Two days later when we did so, the supervisor on duty (Mayra? Mariah?) told us, "We don't do that anymore. I don't know why she told you that. Do you have the receipt?" We explained the situation to her which she didn't appear to believe, so she only offered to get our information and "send us something in the mail." It's now been over two weeks and we have yet to see anything. We are very frustrated and disappointed with this lack of communication between your staff and the runaround we've gotten. I've tried calling Nicole again (twice) and she has not answered the phone nor has she responded to the message I left. Unacceptable!"

They responded within 24 hours (props for that) with this:

"Hello Jena:

I want to thank you for taking the time to share your recent experience at the McDonald's in Murray, UT with me. Your feedback is very important to us as it allows us to better understand how we can improve our service to you.

I am sorry for the unsatisfactory experience during your recent visit. Please be assured that we want to provide you with an exceptional experience every time you visit us. From your email, it is clear we did not meet your expectations. Again, I am truly sorry we disappointed you.

I want you to know that I have already taken action on your feedback. After reading your email, I immediately shared the information you brought to our attention with the local franchise owner of the restaurant you visited. Additionally, customer feedback is reviewed with our regional McDonald's consultants as part of our ongoing commitment to improving our restaurants' operations.

Again, Jena, thank you for sharing your feedback. We appreciate your business and we hope to have the pleasure of serving you soon.

Karen 
McDonald's Customer Response Center"

I had to read through it twice just to make sure I hadn't missed something. They listened to my concern, apologized for what happened, and thanked me for the feedback. What the email does NOT say, is what they are going to do to rectify the situation (aside from notifying the appropriate parties that needed to know). I still had paid for something that I never got. What was being done about that? 

I called the corporate number so I wouldn't get another form letter, and the gal that answered repeated what the email stated. I asked here what was going to be done about the missing items, and she said, "Oh, well that's for the local owner handle." This still wasn't enough of an answer for me so I asked, "Are they going to contact me then or something?" She said, "Yes. That's what the email states." I grimaced and said, "No, the email says nothing about being contacted, but if that's what they're going to do then that's just fine."

A few hours later I got a call from somebody local asking about what happened. I explained the situation, including why I called corporate after already receiving a response email, and she said, "It sounds like this is just a miscommunication between the supervisors and their staff. I'm sure it must be frustrating though." I thought we were getting somewhere finally because I said all I really wanted was the apple juice, but things took another twist when she said, "Well, I already sent out some coupons because of the email complaint that I got just yesterday, and then I got another complaint about the same thing from the 1-800 number today. It takes an extra day or two to get things processed, they don't happen immediately, it takes some time." She then proceeded to inform me on the inner-workings of how the local franchises interact with the corporate office when it comes to handling complaints. She even ended with, "Does that make sense as to how things get processed?" I found myself again explaining why I called back today. She could only respond with, "Well, if somebody else contacts you, make sure you tell them that it's already been taken care of. That way they don't do something twice." She then asked to me to give them another chance as a patron and ended the call politely.

I sat there baffled for a minute. Another valuable tidbit I learned is that IF the customer wants to know about policy and procedure, they will ask. It usually comes in the form of, "Why did this happen?" or "Why is this taking so long?" It NEVER comes in the form of, "Hey, I just want the apple juice that I paid for."

Oh, Baby!

This new little one seems bound and determined to give us some scares.

I wrote previously that we had two scares with spotting. Fortunately those have been our only episodes of that. We're not done yet though!

We went in for our anatomy ultrasound on March 4th and got to see how much baby had grown. We stuck to our guns and did not find out the gender. We did get some cute (albeit fuzzy) pics of baby.

Profile shot, right hand in a fist above the eyes.

 

 left leg

 This is as if you were looking down at the baby lying on it's back with the head (not seen) on the right. The left arm and hand are most visible, the right arm is just above, and both legs are to the left of each respective arm.

The ultrasound tech was not very nice (she yelled at Evan and was rude to us) and we had to ask someone else to print out the pictures for us. She also told us that since the baby was sitting so low, they couldn't get a good enough visual on the heart and the spine. She was so matter of fact about it, I wanted to punch her. We didn't even get a, "It's probably nothing to worry about." from her. All we got was, "We can't get a clear enough image to see if all four chambers are there or if the spine is intact." Like I said. I wanted to punch her.

Fortunately, I later got a call from my awesome Midwife saying that they weren't too concerned, and that if I wanted to go back in just for reassurance then I could. So we did.

We had to wait three weeks (I'm guessing so the baby would be bigger and more developed), so I went back on March 28th. They got a great view of the heart and spine this time and everything checked out just fine. My Mom went with me this time and she reeeeally wanted to know the gender. I told her the only way was if she could keep it a secret and not give it away at all. She couldn't buy clothes or toys or blankets. She agreed and asked as I was walking out of the room. I swear what I heard the tech (a different one and MUCH nicer this time) say was, "It's a guh...ey." So I still don't know.

Another profile shot.

Head on the left, fist in the middle.

A few weeks later I got another call from the Midwife saying my amniotic fluid level was slightly low and that the baby was measuring small. Great. Don't EVER look up on the internet what "might" be wrong with certain indicators during pregnancy. She wasn't too concerned again, but wanted me to go back in another three weeks to measure the fluid level again and baby's growth.

At first I thought we just had another small baby like Rylin. I told the Midwife (who also doesn't know the gender) that we might just make small girls. We decided that if the baby was still measuring small at the next appointment, that we would find out the gender. If it's a girl, that means we just make small girls. If it's a boy, then we would have more to be worried about. It turns out though that only the head was measuring behind, everything else was on point. This was a completely new scenario.

So I upped my water and protein intake, and I also got better about taking my nasty omega-3 supplements. Yech.

I headed back in for ultrasound number 5 today, April 22nd. Fluid levels are now within normal range and the baby's head moved from the 5th to the 20th percentile. Yay!! It is still measuring a week behind me, and two weeks behind the rest of the body, but they said it's still considered normal and they're happy that the baby (and head) is growing. 

Left arm and hand are stretched out right on top of left leg and foot.

Left foot, the toes are the long lines.

This one is a little harder, but the baby is looking straight ahead at the camera and the nose in is the middle of the pic.

 Baby's belly is on the left, right leg and foot are stretched out near the bottom and left leg is stretched out just above it. I can't tell if that's the umbilical cord or something else just to the right of the belly.

I still don't know the gender, but I'm pretty sure it's a boy with a small head. Todd thinks it's a boy too. Rylin insists that it's a girl and that her name is Olivia. Evan has no clue how much his world is about to change.

And no, we still don't have any names picked out or even narrowed down. I'm only slightly anxious about it because our process with naming Evan was so painful. I've looked at every name in every book in every language. Nothing matters without Todd's input though. I keep telling him to pick out some names and he keeps putting it off. He's really liking old English (think OLD OLD English) names right now. Any suggestions?

Chicken and Biscuits

This has been a favorite here at Monkeys & Peaches for quite some time now. I'm just barely getting around to posting about it... At any rate, enjoy! :)

What you need:

1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
2 large chicken breasts, sliced in thinner halves
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (plain Greek yogurt is a GREAT alternative!)
1/2 cup milk
1-2 cups frozen corn
1 can (8 count) refrigerated flaky biscuits
Cheddar and/or pepper jack cheese

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of 11x7 baking dish.

2. Saute the onion in the butter until tender. Add chicken breasts and cook thoroughly, seasoning to your liking (we used garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes). Remove chicken and shred.

3. Combine onion, chicken, soup, sour cream, milk, and corn in a large bowl. Stir until well-blended.

4. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.

5. Pull out dish and arrange biscuits on top of the baked mixture in three rows lengthwise. We put three in the first row, two in the second, and three in the third so that they are "windowed" if that makes sense?

6. Add cheese until the top is nice and coated. It can be grated or sliced, it doesn't really matter. The pepper jack adds a nice little kick that makes the dish even better.

7. Return to oven and bake until golden brown and the sauce is bubbling (about 20 minutes).


Enjoy!! This can be served with rice, but we felt the biscuits already added enough starch. We served it with steamed broccoli which went really, really well together!!

Everything You Need to Plan Your Visit to Disneyland!

I apologize in advance for any snarkiness that may come out while I am writing this. It's not that I don't love you, or the job I held for almost seven years (that ended in 2008, btw), I am just tired of answering the same questions over and over and over again. If you feel singled out, please don't! I have lost count as to how many times this pops up in my message box or as a text or even email (who are you people?). :) This is why I figured the best thing to do is write it all down in one place so that I can simply refer people here instead of typing everything out. Again. Again again. These are just some of the many messages I have received:

Hey. We're thinking about going to Disneyland for (fill in the blank: birthday, holiday, vacation, summer, etc.). Do you know any good deals or inside tricks?
 
What is the very best time of year to go as far as good weather and no crowds?

Got a good friend heading to Disney LA in Dec...any advice on cheaper tix?

We found the iPhone app for finding the princesses. Any other gems you know of for a toddler?

We wanted to buy tickets today but I was wondering if you knew of the cheapest place to buy them at? We heard Costco down there? Is there a place online? What do you think?

Is it crazy busy during Christmas? Would we be crazy to go that time of year?

We have never been with a toddler. Any advice as to how to make the adventure successful? What is there to do with her? Should we get Disneyland only tickets? If you know of any advice, that would be great!

Any input you can share would be great!

I thought I would ask you if you had any good tips for me!

Hey, we are planning a family trip to Disneyland the end of September. Do you know any cheap ways to get a couple of park hopper passes? I would need three of them, probably just two day passes. Or do you know anyone who could get them for free?!!!

Can you still get me in for free?

I know you're not doing this to me on purpose, and I get that I would know the answers to your questions, but this is how I feel every. single. time.

 

SO. I am writing this post to be helpful. I don't have to repeat myself so much, and you get your answers.

Everyone wins. :)

****

I will say this a few times:

THE BEST PLACE TO GO FOR CURRENT AND RELEVANT INFORMATION IS

Disneyland.com

Here you will find park hours, ticket prices, what to do, places to stay, vacation packages (through the Walt Disney Travel Company which has some pretty sweet deals), entertainment schedules, etc. 

Most (if not ALL) of your questions can be found here. :) I have been gone for over five years and things have changed!!! I haven't seen let alone even know the name of the current parades and shows.

****

Though I hated the sites when I worked there because most of the posters are Disney know-it-alls, check out these unofficial Disney fan boards. They have a TON of information because they go to the parks all. the. time. Like daily. Seriously. They have inside sources into the company too somehow. They knew things way before I ever did. Remember, these are UNOFFICIAL, so you can't hold the poor Disney people accountable for anything you find on these boards.

http://micechat.com/miceage-wp/

http://www.mouseplanet.com/

****

I do realize that there are some unusual questions that you can't readily find on the official page, so here are the most FAQs I answer. Remember, my answers are FIVE YEARS OLD. They might be relevant still, maybe not.

When is the best time to go for crowds/weather?

This all depends on what you want to see and do. The longer the operating hours, the more crowds they expect so the more entertainment options they offer. Fireworks are not held Mon-Thu during the off season (10-8 operating hours). Don't care about fireworks, parades, shows, etc.? Go during the week.

After Labor Day through about mid-October it's not as busy but it can be hot and dry thanks to the Santa Ana winds. Jan and Feb are great for low crowds but you might get rain. Some attractions close for the rain. Check Disneyland.com for this. 

Also check the website for any attraction refurbishment schedules. They have a rotating schedule EVERY YEAR for attractions to be closed down. They post this well in advance on the website so you don't get all the way there just to find out Space Mountain is closed for three months. Keep in mind, attractions can also go down throughout the day spontaneously for any number of reasons. They will probably open again later. THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN/IF THAT WILL HAPPEN SO DON'T ASK. 

The best time to visit might be after all the Spring Breaks are over but before all the schools get out, so May through mid-June but not Memorial Day weekend.

Check out Disneyland.com and look at the operating hours for when you plan to be there. 10-8 is a projected low attendance day. Anything outside of that (including weekends), they're expecting crowds.

How about discounted tickets?

The best deals were always through travel company packages or City Pass. One day deals don't exist. They just don't. Well, I guess if you count saving $2 per person a deal, then sure. That was the discount for one-day tickets at ALL Costcos nationwide, the local hotels, etc. Again, this information is from when I worked there. It might have changed since then.

I'd do something with a travel company. You get some extra perks like going in early. I think Fun Sun Vacations was a really popular one. Even the Walt Disney Travel Company has some sweet deals.  

Any advice on going with young children?
Best general advice is go when it first opens, take a break during the middle/hottest/busiest time of the day. That way they get their naps still, and you don't get worn out either. Trust me on this.

Come back later in the afternoon.

Stay until after the fireworks if possible. The biggest mass exodus happens immediately after the parades and shows. Hang out on a bench eating a churro until the crowds thin out. You'd just be waiting to exit, waiting to get on the tram, waiting to exit the property, etc.  

Have a plan of the things you want to do, but allow for alternatives and options. You won't be able to do it all! Prioritize!! 

Minimize walking 1,000 miles by going in a circle around the park as you go about your day. Don't go back and forth. Plan your route.

You can bring food/snacks in, just no meals and no glass bottles/jars. There aren't any microwaves to heat up the baby food, so bring the kinds that don't need to be heated. I highly recommend the pouches that can easily be found in the baby food aisles. No spoons, no fuss.
 
I have heard that there are awesome new apps to make your visit even easier with regards to wait times, character findings, etc. I have NO idea what they are or how they work. Check out any of the fan boards for info on those.
 
Can you still get me in for free?

I have a hard enough time trying to get my own little family in. Someone has to take time out of their day (usually their day off) to come down, park, meet us, and then sign us in. I don't know too many people that still work there. I hate asking for myself, let alone any extension of mine. Please don't ask me.

****

All that being said, HAVE FUN. If you have any other questions that you'd like me to address in here, let me know!!

It's Sad

First of all, everything is OK with us! The title of this post is in regards to a situation that keeps happening. Sadly, it will keep happening too.

Death from drugs.

There is no way to justify that this happens. Period. Notice I didn't say death from "abuse" because it can happen the first time of use. Becoming addicted to or abusing drugs wouldn't happen if there never was a first time. I am talking about recreational drug use. I'm not here to condemn or judge people for doing so. They are not "bad" people and I certainly don't believe they are going to "Hell." We all make mistakes in our own way and I do believe that we all will have to answer for them to a higher power (God) one day. What I am saying is that it shouldn't be happening. There is simply no good reason for doing drugs. Never, not ever ever. Not even once. NEVER.  

My heart hurts when I think of the tremendous talent we have lost from drugs.

John Belushi
Chris Farley
Judy Garland
Jimi Hendrix
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Whitney Houston
Janis Joplin
Heath Ledger
Marilyn Monroe
Cory Monteith
River Phoenix
Elvis Presley
Amy Winehouse
Kurt Cobain
Bradley Nowell

This list could go on and on. Sadly, it does.

While suicide (even more sadness) does happen, I honestly don't think that most people that do drugs sit down and say to themselves, "Hey, I might die from doing this, but I don't care if this kills me!" They probably don't want to die, they probably think they are "safe" and that it couldn't happen to them.

"It's my first time using it, I'll be OK."
"I've used it before and been fine, I'll be OK."

THIS is why it's sad. THIS is why it will keep happening.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Since I'm being all domesticated today, I'll share something else that I made today for poor Todd since he's sick still.

This recipe was the search result one night for a pregnancy craving. Boy oh boy it did NOT disappoint. Todd ate "lots" from that first batch and immediately requested them on a weekly basis. They take a little extra prep time because you have to slice, peel, and then dice the apples, but they are SO SO worth it!! Here's the original recipe. I've only tweaked it a tiny bit. Oh and the listed prep time is 5 minutes. HA. More like 20. :)

What you need:

2 cups flour (+2 tsp for coating apples)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon (+1/2 for coating apples)
2 cups peeled and diced apples (I found this takes about 1 & 1/2 apples, but I used 2 for more bits!)
1/2 cup butter, softened (+ enough to brush the tops after baking)
1 cup sugar*
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

What you do:

1.  Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour bottoms and sides of a standard muffin tin (12 muffins), making sure to discard any excess flour.

2.  Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3.  Toss together diced apples, 2 tsp of flour, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a separate bowl. Set aside.

4. Cream together butter and sugar until lightened in color, about 3 minutes. Add an egg, one at a time, taking care to fully incorporate before adding the other. Mix in vanilla.

5.  Gently fold in flour mixture, alternating with milk. Stir until just combined. Fold in apple mixture.

6. Scoop (I use a small metal ice cream scoop that is SO handy, especially for portioning cookies! Like this one.) into prepared muffin tins. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

7. Once muffins have baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the muffin tin on a wire rack. This is where I start to deviate from the original recipe. Her topping calls for using 1/2 a CUP of cinnamon!!! That seemed a little much for me, and all the reviews said the same. So I just brushed butter onto the tops and then sprinkled a cinnamon/sugar (equal parts of each to your liking) mix on top. Place onto a plate to finish cooling.

8. Enjoy warm if you can!




*My second batch began my foray into using agave nectar instead of sugar. All you have to do is use 3/4 cup agave instead of the 1 cup of sugar, reduce the milk by a little (it says to use 1/3 less, but who has time for fraction division?!), reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees (so 350 here), and reduce the baking time by 10 minutes. I already reduce what the original called for (30 minutes) to 20, and that seemed perfect for the agave batch as well (so no change in time). They were just as good and we could not tell the difference! My next variation will be to use honey.

Potato Cheese Soup

This recipe came to us right after Rylin was born. Todd's Mom came and stayed with us to help out around the house and make delicious meals!

One day, sometime around noon, I woke up out of my first-child-newborn-nursing haze to the smell of bacooooon. By the time I pulled some sort of clothing on and stumbled out of my room, I was too late! It was not meant for breakfast, but soup?! Grumble, grumble... it better be worth it.

It. Was.


What you need:

1 pound of bacon, cooked extra crispy and chopped
2 Tbsp (or so) of the bacon drippings
1 bunch green onions, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
6-8 potatoes, scrubbed and diced
1-2 cups corn
2 cans chicken broth
4 Tbsp flour
Salt
Pepper
Milk
Heavy cream
Grated cheddar cheese (I know you're using Tillamook. Right? RIGHT?!)


What you do:

1. In a small saucepan, sauté the onions in the bacon drippings. I guess you can use butter if you're not awesome. ;)

2. Add the celery, carrots, potatoes, corn, bacon, and chicken broth to your large stockpot on medium heat.

3. Once the onions are done, add the flour to them to make a roux. You'll have to add some broth from your stockpot to avoid using a ton of fat here. Sorry. Once the flour is completely dissolved, add the mixture to your stockpot. Add salt and pepper.

4. Add milk or water if needed to make sure your veggies are nice and covered.

5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for about 25 minutes. When your carrots and potatoes are soft enough to be cut easily, it's ready.

6. Add enough (about a cup) heavy cream to give the soup a nice creamy consistency.

7. Add enough grated cheese to your liking. I use about 2 cups.

8. Serve and enjoy. If you're Todd or Evan, go back for seconds. :)

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Maybe it's because I am tired of trying to find the tiny piece of paper I have this written down on even though I have it memorized, or maybe it's because it's too good not to share with you all, but here is my favorite recipe for mac and cheese EVAR. I don't even have a picture to share with you because I eat it too quickly.

Trust me when I say I searched far and wide for something that would hit the exact spot I was looking for. It had to be creamy (without using Velveeta [gross!] or cream cheese [who regularly has this on hand??]), and salty (but not too much), not bland (using the right brand [Tillamook] of cheese really helps), and easy to make (only 5 ingredients that you are sure to have!). I have one or two others that are really good, but take longer or need more ingredients. This is by far the easiest!

I'm a little biased about Tillamook cheese because it's all we ever had while growing up in Washington. I have completely converted Todd over and let's just say the love of good cheese runs in my family. If you take anything from my Blog, take this: SWITCH TO TILLAMOOK CHEESE NOW AND FOREVER. You're life will never be the same and you'll thank me later.

They're seriously not kidding with the World's Best claim.

At any rate, now that you know what kind of cheese to buy next time at the store, you are ready to make the featured dish of this post!

What you need:

2 Tbsp salted butter (yes, you can use unsalted but it will be bland)

2 Tbsp flour (yes, can use whole wheat or a combination, it just makes it more grainy and... chewy?)

1 tsp salt (NOT optional unless you want it bland)

1 cup milk (the lowest you should go is 1% or it won't be creamy)

1 cup (or more!) medium cheddar cheese, shredded (yes you can use mild and it will be bland, yes you can use sharp and it will be... tangy??)

What you do:

1. Cook your pasta. I'm pretty sure you know how to do this already. Use any kind you like, but I highly recommend rotini (spirals), conchiglie (shells), or anything that has a lot of texture and grooves that can hold more cheese sauce! Drain it (do not rinse) and set aside. Oh, and make any amount you want because having cooked pasta on hand is really never a bad idea.

2. In the same pot (less dishes!), melt the butter completely over medium heat.

3. Add the flour and stir until well-blended. It will look like a paste at this point.

4. Add the salt and stir until well-blended. Still paste here.

5. Add the milk and keep over medium heat, stirring until paste dissolves/mixes with the milk well.

6. Add the cheese and stir until completely melted.

7. Keep over medium heat and stir until the sauce thickens. Don't walk away! You might burn the bottom of your sauce and then you'd be very sad. So would I. You will know when the sauce is thickened because it will not be runny/milky/thin anymore.

8. Remove from heat and pour whatever amount you desire over dished pasta.

9. Enjoy and go back for seconds. And thirds if there's any left...

OPTIONAL (I have never been patient enough to wait for this but it's still way good):

8. Remove from heat and pour over pasta that you have placed in a casserole baking dish. Either your square brownie pan or a small rectangle pan will work great.

9. Sprinkle the top with even more grated cheese (as much as you want!). Do not cover!

10. Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour.

Scary

*This entry contains information regarding blood and other pregnancy related details. Read at your own discretion.*



I've written before that it's hard to be overly excited when you're pregnant after a loss. Every twinge or odd sensation sends me off into a spin of, "What was that?! Am I losing the baby?!"

It's especially bad because I know the stress is not good for myself or the baby. Telling yourself to calm down just doesn't seem to work. Distraction sometimes does.

I've been having a few episodes of what is called "spotting" or otherwise seeing blood when you're not supposed to. I called the Midwife and been directed twice now within the last month to come in and get checked out. Both times they have determined everything is "OK" and I might just have to deal with this throughout my entire pregnancy.


Awesome.


At least part of the making-sure-everything-is-fine process meant I got another ultrasound and saw the tiny little heart beating away. I also got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. It's "high" at about 160 which in old wives' tales means it's a girl. I'm OK with that. :) I hope we can wait to find out. Maybe. Part of me is worried the tech might blurt it out or not have us look away at the right time.

The nausea hasn't let up as much as I hoped. I am officially at the start of my 2nd trimester when everything is "supposed" to ease up. Meh. It's for sure not as frequent (meaning all day every day), but it's still often enough and severe enough to take me out of commission.

All that being said, I am so so so so so SO grateful that I am pregnant again, even with all the grossness. I continue to have friends and family members that are struggling with infertility and my heart aches for them. Infertility sucks, and there's really nothing that can be said to ease that pain.

So I will put my big-girl pants on and deal with the heartburn and the nausea and the bloating and the cravings and the exhaustion, because I know it is all. So. Worth. It.

Beanie

This is my first (I swear) knitted project. What you can't really see are the multiple dropped and added stitches. I just found a clever way to hide them. :) I even made the pom pom at the top!

 

I really enjoyed the process though and am looking forward to trying new stitches and maybe even making some fun things for the kids! 

Bow holder

I am not what I would call a creative person. I can do things, but I don't really ever come up with the original idea.

I saw a version of this with no back so you just saw through to the wall. I thought that was kinda blah, so I decided to add a cute print as the backdrop to match Rylin's other decor in her room.

This was SO easy and it gave me an excuse to get a mini glue gun. All I did was cut and glue the fabric to the back of the picture frame. I bought a cheap white one for no more than a few dollars. Then I cut and glued the ribbon at intervals that I just eyeballed. Then I put the frame together, threw away the glass, and added the bows. Voilà!

I am...

... a Time Lady. I have two hearts.

... spaghetti sauce. Not Ragu. The other one.

... embarazada. No, not embarrassed.

... a baker. Specializing in buns right now.

... sick. I have the Egyptian Flu.

OK, if you haven't guessed it by now, I am pregnant!! Due July 29th.

We found out while we were in California (I was 5 weeks along) over Thanksgiving break, but I had a feeling I was. Not just because of the nausea, or the cravings, or the sore boobs. I just had a feeling.

We told Todd's Mom we needed to go to the dollar store. She got confused as to why, so we told her we needed to buy some pregnancy tests. Her eyes got really big, she clapped her hands together and said, "Oh! Really?! I can drive you there and buy them for you!"

She was so excited to wait with us for the result. I wasn't given the option of waiting until the morning (hormones are higher then). The second line came up immediately, before I could even walk out of the bathroom. It was faint, but it was there. And that's all that matters.

We waited to announce it to the world because of the miscarriage. My midwife said it best, "Once you have a miscarriage, your innocence is gone." It's true. We both (even still) have that little dark corner in our minds that is terrified of losing the baby at any time. We aren't focusing on that though. Making it past week 7 is the first milestone. Hearing the heartbeat is the next. Because of insurance, I had to wait longer than I'd like for that to happen. It did today so here we are!

The head is on the left and the funny squiggly lines are arms and legs. We got to see the baby wiggling all around and even what looked like a bounce. AMAZING.

We aren't finding out the gender this time (if we can be that patient!). We already have one of each, and this will be our only chance of having that "It's a ....!" moment.

We wanted a girl first. Check. We wanted a boy second. Check.

We want a girl next, but both think it's another boy. We shall see.

We want four total with two of each. Lately though, it feels more like "We just want a healthy baby. Period." It took us 9 months this time. It finally happened the month I stopped planning everything. As I've said before, trying to make a baby takes all the fun out of trying to make a baby.

My age of 35 automatically puts me into the "advanced maternal age" group.

Blah.

Basically it means a bunch of extra genetics testing because of the higher possibility of birth defects. Oh and there's an increased risk of stillbirths for some unknown reason.

I'm also choosing not to focus on any of that.

I am focusing on a healthy, positive pregnancy. I have a midwife that I like. I'll get to labor in the jacuzzi again. I might (fingers crossed) get to have the water birth I've been wanting.

For now though? Hand me the saltines and the ginger ale.