These pictures really speak for themselves but just in case: Jocelyn LOVES bubbles!! I rarely put bubble bath in her bath water to prevent bladder infections (has never had one thankfully and trying to keep it that way) but her cold had gotten her feeling pretty crummy so I thought this would help do the trick. And it did! As you can see, the bubbles made her all smiles! Too bad the bubbles couldn't last a bit longer.
"Happy Birthday sweetheart! Mommy, Daddy, and sister love you SO much!!!"
We held a little family party in her honor including her favorite: Pizza! We invited some friends to join us in the celebration but due to Aubrey coming down with a cold, we all felt it was best to make it just a family affair. I had so much fun (along with John's help) putting together her birthday party. Jocelyn just LOVES Elmo so coming up with a theme wasn't too hard. I made her a huge banner for the wall that wished her a happy birthday along with some Sesame Street characters on the side that John and I stayed up the night before happily coloring (it made us feel like kids again)! We put up streamers and balloons in the dining room and last of all, the homemade cake that I made for her all decked out with Elmo and his marching friends. I was pretty impressed with the outcome to say the least as it was the first cake I've made and the humidity here didn't help the frosting process. This year I have been trying to make healthy changes and choices for our family and making their cakes was one of them. After we all had a piece to eat, more than half the cake found it's way over to our neighbor's house. (Thank you neighbors for partaking in this yummy stuff. For if you hadn't, it would have starred at me in the face until I gave in and ate more!) I took a video of us singing Jocelyn "Happy Birthday" so click here to watch (first, you'll need to pause our blog music to the right):
I put a movie on for the kids this afternoon after Aubrey was done with her homework. Jocelyn loves to be near Aubrey so she climbed up and planted herself right beside her on the couch - even using her legs for support. (Funny girl.) Then, Jocelyn reached over, grabbed Aubrey's hand and put it into hers. Sisterly love is so sweet to watch. I love my girls!
*Sisters Forever*
Just a little update on how my pregnancy is going thus far. My doctor's appointment last week went well. Have gained a total of 18 pounds. No symptoms other than the occasional heartburn but that's to be expected due to my ever expanding bump and all other vital organs being pushed to who knows where. I have 3 months left until my sweet baby boy arrives. At this rate I don't believe I'll gain my usual 50 but I'm not ruling it out just yet. We'll see how things go but all in all, baby's healthy, mama's health and we're all happy!
On to some exciting news. We have decided on a name for our bundle of joy:
If you haven't known by now, Jocelyn has been very picky with food since the time she was able to eat solids. Not any more! We've noticed that she's interested in a whole lot more and wants to eat (or try) what we eat. This morning Aubrey requested Kix for breakfast before school and guess what Jocelyn wanted too? Kix!! She gobbled it all up too. I had to take this picture for proof of course. And to also show another big step she's taken: wears her bibs without throwing a fit. Now what worked? Cloth bibs vs. plastic. And I'm sure Elmo has something to do with it! :)
After church today, we came home and had some fun making serious (and not so serious) faces captured on camera. (We had some down time...what can I say??)
It all started with my picture. John made a weird comment and this was my reaction:
And then I turned the camera on him while he was reading a book (he hates when I take his picture, but oh well. DEAL with it is what I told him. LOL j/k):
Of course, we can't leave the kids out of this crazy family fun so Jocelyn was ready next with this expression on her face:
But to be quite honest I think Aubrey pulled the best funny face overall. Look at them eyes!:
Whew! Now that THAT'S over and done with, all goofy times were put to the side and Aubrey was able to take a picture of 'Mom and Dad' since we are usually the ones behind the scenes in most of our family photos. Here's to us...
In order to keep up with our Sunday tradition, after our spontanious photo shoot and family dinner, we went on a walk around the neighborhood and community college. Today was a really good day!
For the last 4-5 years I've had this recipe in my hot little hands and have never made it. When I was working at The Oregon Clinic, I had a co-worker/friend that brought these delicious enchiladas into work for a potluck of some sorts and they were heavenly to say the least. She graciously gave out the recipe to those that yearned to have more. As I was planning out my weekly menus as I usually do to write up the grocery list, my eyes set on this recipe and thought it was about time to make it for our family dinner. Well tonight I made it and there is just one word to sum it up: YUM! I was settling Jocelyn into her high chair and getting her adjusted when I looked around the table to see John and Aubrey practically inhaling their food. In between bites, Aubrey said, "Mom....I don't like this...I LOVE this!" Wow. That was awesome to hear. And Jocelyn even asked for seconds. This is when I know that a recipe is truly a keeper! Hope you try it and enjoy it like our family does. (And if I were you, I wouldn't wait as long as I did to make it either.) :)
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
serves 6-8
2 whole chicken breasts
2 (10 1/2 oz) cans cream of chicken soup
1 pint (or 2 cups) sour cream
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles
3/4 cup chopped onion
3 cups grated cheddar, monterey jack cheese or a combination of both
ripe olives
6 flour tortillas (burrito size)
Boil chicken breasts 20-25 minutes. Remove meat from bone and chop. Mix chicken meat, soup, sour cream, and chiles together. Spread a thin layer of creamed mixture over the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan. Spread equal amounts of creamed mixture down the middle of each tortilla (reserve some creamed mixture for the top) and sprinkle with chopped onion and cheese (reserve some cheese for top). Roll up tortilla and place seam-side down in prepared pan. Pour remaining mixture over the top of rolled tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Garnish with black olives and additional chiles if desired.
Note: can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated before baking.
EXTRA side note/short cut: Instead of going through the whole boiling chicken process, you can easily use precooked chicken breast strips (I used about 1/2 to 3/4 a bag of Foster Farms grilled chicken breast strips bought prepackaged in the Kirkland/Costco brand. Just had to chop them up to smaller pieces and it worked great!)
