velvet chicken. January 28, 2009

Ok, so I really struggled with a title for this recipe… I was originally thinking earth chicken, but that kind of makes me think of chicken with dirt all over it.  Anyway,  I wanted to make this recipe for dinner tonight. When I started getting the ingredients out to make it, I realized that I did not have most of the ingredients. What we ended up with was a really amazing meal that everyone enjoyed. I’m just not sure what it should be called because there is not one flavor that stands out above the others. I guess velvet chicken will have to do.

Velvet Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Salt and Pepper

2 T. olive oil

2 T. butter

3/4 c. chopped onion

8 oz. bella mushrooms, sliced

2-4 garlic cloves, minced (I use 4)

1 c. chicken stock

1 pkg. reduced fat cream cheese

3 T. spicy peanut sauce (store bought)

3 T. fresh basil, chopped

1lb.  box penne pasta (or your favorite pasta)

Salt and pepper chicken and brown in oil over high heat. Remove from pan. Set aside. In same skillet, melt 2 T. butter and add onion. Saute until tender. Add mushrooms and garlic. Saute until mushrooms are tender.  Add stock and simmer about 5 minutes.  Add cream cheese and peanut sauce. Add chicken and basil to sauce.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste and serve over pasta.

2 regular arms. January 27, 2009

Greta now has “2 regular arms”, as she put it. This morning, Joe took Greta to get her cast off while Miles and Mommy snuggled in the warm bed. She was so excited when they returned. She couldn’t stop dancing! It was Greta’s idea for us to go to a restaurant for lunch to celebrate…

…And of course, a video. I wanted her to talk about getting her cast taken off, but she was more interested in talking about squirrels, bears and tigers.

Resolution. January 27, 2009

Ok. It’s official. I’ve made a resolution for 2009.

*****To be less self centered******

Sure, we are all a little self centered. It is our nature.  I was at the grocery store tonight and let the person behind me in line go in front of me (he only had 2 items). This is something I used to do all the time, and it dawned on me that I don’t think I’ve done that once in the last year!  I’m not perfect. I’ve never been perfect, but I’m pretty sure I used to be  a lot less self centered. I used to be the kind of person who would never forget to send a thank you card. The kind of person who would just send a note in the mail letting someone know I’ve been praying for them, or that I’m thankful for them. Something has happened.

I can pinpoint it to the exact date- September 13, 2007. This of course, was the day we found out that something would be “wrong” with our baby. When you get news like that, the only way to survive is to go into protection mode.  I  spent so much time praying, worrying, thinking, researching about this disease.  Then when Miles was born, I spent all of my time caring for him, setting up Dr.’s appointments, therapy appointments and again thinking, praying, worrying  if he’d meet a milestone or if something else would go wrong. I would be a horrible mother if I didn’t do those things. But…enough is enough! No matter how bad things are, there is always someone worse off.

I think it’s time to pop the bubble I’ve been living in. I resolve to notice, help, appreciate those around me. Because, I haven’t been doing my job!

Poopy Croup. January 23, 2009

Greta has had a bit of a cough the past couple of days. At about midnight last night, Joe and I were just snuggling into bed when little miss sunshine woke up coughing horribly and she was so worked up she couldn’t catch her breath! She obviously had the croup, which she has had before- but never quite this bad…so, I bundled her up and took her to the emergency room. They gave her a breathing treatment and steroids and had us stay for 2 hours after they administered the medication, just to make sure she was breathing alright.  So, we returned home around 3 am and went back to bed! She slept well and is doing just great today, but Mommy is exhausted

Dr. “Right” January 23, 2009

If you keep up with our carepage, I apologize for another double post. It was a long day! Here I go being lazy again…

Today we had our first appointment with the Neurologist. We LOVED her! She looked over Miles and went over his medical history as well as the progress he has made so far. She told us that she had reviewed his charts and knew he had hydrocephalus and was born with an encephalocele, but that when she walked in the room, Miles was NOT the child she was expecting. She was VERY impressed with how well he is doing in all areas. She even went on to say that we made her day. Apparently on paper, Miles should not be doing as well as he is. He is truly a miracle!
She wants to see him in 3 months just to make sure he is still doing well with his anti-seizure medication.
As the parent of a special needs child- it just never gets old to hear how well your child is doing! We are so thankful that God has blessed us so greatly.

*Oh, this post is titled Dr. Right because we really, really like this Neurologist. The first Neurologist that met with Miles, I nicknamed Dr. Blank, but now I’m thinking that Dr. Wrong is more appropriate since Dr. “Right”’s name is in fact. Dr. Wright.

as promised. January 22, 2009

Below is the video of Miles scooting along the floor. You can really see that it is hard work for him. I’m feeling lazy today so I’ve just copied and pasted the update on the IFSP from Miles’ carepage:

Today Miles had his 1 year review with his Early Intervention team (physical therapy, occupational therapy, coordinator, etc…) It went really well. While he did not meet all of the goals we set for him 6 months ago, he did meet one very important goal–army crawling! He just started doing it this week. Even though he did not meet some of his goals (drinking from a sippy cup while sitting, using cause and effect toys) The team decided that he is doing so well that we will only be setting goals for his gross motor skills (crawling, walking). He is doing fine cognitively, socially and as well as with his fine motor skills, speech and vision. They will of course continue to monitor all of the areas, but they will be focusing in on his gross motor skills since that is really the only area he is delayed.

It was a good appointment! We will have our first appointment with the Neurologist tomorrow and I am anxious to hear what she has to say. I’ll update again tomorrow.

Oh, Googie. January 21, 2009

Greta is quite the conversationalist! She is so entertaining.  Here is an example of some of the silly things she says.  She said all of these things within about 15 minutes.

“I would like something to drink. Pop would be fine.” (wishful thinking)

(with chocolate all over her fingers) “Mommy, do you want a lick?”

“Mommy, if you keep your pants dry- you can have a veggie tales snack with me.”

I have a love/hate relationship with the stage she is in right now. She is really quite hilarious, but also VERY exhausting. She is constantly asking questions which requires a lot of attention on my part. I realize she is just figuring out how her world works, but sheesh!

We have kind of a big day today. Miles has his IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) today. This is basically a 6 month review with his Early Intervention team (Physical therapist, Occupational therapist, vision specialist, etc…). They will evaluate him on the goals we set 6 months ago and we will set goals for the next 6 months. I really hope this one goes as well as the last–which was basically a bunch of ladies marveling at how well Miles is doing. There is no logical explanation for how Miles is doing so well other than the faithful prayers of many, many wonderful people.

I will post again (most likely today) with the video of Miles crawling and news about our IFSP meeting!

creepy crawler. January 19, 2009

Ok, he’s definitely not creepy.  But, I have some great news about Miles!

He has figured out how to army crawl!!! His motivation- a cell phone. Put a cell phone out in front of him and he’ll do anything to get to it . It is very hard work for him and he’s still pretty slow, so once he gets a little better, I’ll get some video of him scooting along. Yay, Miles!

All tuckered out.

lentil stew. January 18, 2009

We love lentils at our house… I know, dorky. But,this is a super easy(and cheap) dish and best of all is made in the crock pot so you can spend about 10 minutes in the morning and forget about it all day!

Lentil Stew

6 c. water

3 vegetable bullion cubes

1 lb. lentils

1 1/2 lb. stew meat (optional)

10 sundried tomatoes, chopped

4 large carrots, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 T. dried basil

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low all day (5-6 hours) or until meat is done. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

very helpful. January 13, 2009

We are in the process of packing up our things to move from our current home. Today at dinner, Greta told me that we needed to pack our “tents”….