What's For Dinner

I have to have a plan.  If I don't plan what I'm going to cook for dinner I don't cook.  I love it when people share recipes so I thought I would post some of mine.  Here is what we're eating for dinner this week.

Saturday--http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/04/healthy-baked-chicken-nuggets.html & sweet potato fries

Monday--Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken http://lakelurecottagekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/08/crock-pot-teriyaki-chicken.html

Tuesday--Black bean quesadillas http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2012/02/hearty-black-bean-quesadillas-661.html

Wednesday--Chicken Broccoli Alfredo http://www.celebrations.com/content/skinny-chicken-broccoli-alfredo

Thursday--French Toast

Friday--Pork Chops http://crazyhorsesghost.hubpages.com/hub/The-Best-Pork-Chop-You-Will-Ever-Taste

Enjoy!

Birthday Day

I started out yesterday a little depressed. It was Addie's first birthday and Trevin wasn't going to make it to celebrate. We didn't really have any birthday plans which made me feel bad too. Trevin had texted me in the afternoon and told me he had too many finals left to take and wouldn't be able to make it up until Sunday or Monday. Addie and I played around the house a lot and finally around 4:30 I decided I needed to do a little celebrating so we went to go look at toys and get some dinner. As we were walking out to the car to leave Trevin pulls up!! It was the best present of the whole day and Addie got so excited and couldn't stop waving. Apparently he had tricked me and was really done with his finals and was leaving Provo when he had texted me to say he wasn't coming. Seriously though what a stud! He took 5 finals in 6 1/2 hours so that he could be here in time for Addie's birthday.

Once Trevin got there we went to look at some toys and and get some things for her upcoming party next week. Then we took her to Chick-Fil-A for dinner. We got her her first kids meal and she loved it! She was especially obsessed with the juice box. After that we came home and she got to open presents from her Grandma and Grandpa Cardon and Mason and Kylie.

She is so excited for presents!

Playing with her new vacuum, thanks Grandma and Grandpa

Modeling our new Tinkerbell nightgown

Little Tinkerbell

I forgot to take pictures but we finished off the day with some yogurt at Twizzleberry. Addie loved it and although it was no Yogurtland it was still good! We had such a fun time celebrating Addie's birthday.

Dear Addie

Dear Addie,

Today you are 1 year old! My mom always told me that she loved me but until I had you I never realized how much she really did love me. You may not understand until you have your own kids but boy do I love you so much Addie. I wish I had written you a letter after you were born but life was hectic so this one will have to make up for that too. Life started pretty rocky for you. The first time I held you was 7 hours after you were born, it was only for a few minutes. A few hours later you were whisked off to a better hospital. The first time I really got to hold you, you were two days old and I couldn't stop crying. You were so strong and such a beautiful baby and you were all mine. The next couple weeks were an emotional roller coaster. You stayed in the hospital and we would come to see you a lot. Whenever we weren't there I always made your dad call and check in on you. You finally came home on Easter Sunday. That same day your dad had to speak in church which left the two of us alone. Boy was I nervous, you went through three outfits in those first three hours home. The next few weeks and months you cried a lot, we took you to the doctor over and over because you would cry so much. Your dad and I would take shifts and hold you all night so you could sleep and wouldn't cry. At three months old you outgrew it just in time for your dad to start school again. You were the best baby ever and have been nothing but fun and joy for us.

Some of my favorite things about you from this year are....

The way you sleep. You curl your legs under you and stick your bum in the air, it is so funny.

Your crazy hair. When you were little your hair was so wild!

How you liked to watch sports with your daddy on Saturday mornings, now you prefer cartoons like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Baby Signing Time

The way you toddle around and tell everyone you see hi

You love to cuddle when we ask for loves

Your big slobbery open mouthed kisses that you give without us even asking

Addie this year has been an incredible experience for your dad and me. My heart has grown more than I ever thought possible. I hope you always know how much we love you. Happy first birthday to my little big girl!

Love

Mom

Easter Eve

Today Trevin and I bought some things for Addie for Easter, indulged in some Easter candy, colored eggs with the fam, and as soon as Addie went to bed the Easter bunny came. I realized last year we didn't do Easter baskets, I don't think I ate a single piece of Easter candy, no eggs or bunnies! Last Easter eve Trevin and I slept in a room connected to the NICU at the hospital. My cell phone would ring every two or three hours and I would groggily make me way to Addie's bed in the NICU and feed her (Trev slept through the whole thing but with a year to make up for it he has long since been forgiven). Just shy of one week a year ago Addie was born and on Easter she got to come home from the hospital. Its crazy how time can give you so much perspective on things. Right after Addie was born and admitted to the NICU I obviously thought the world was ending. The doctor assured me that her illness wasn't something that she would take to kindergarten or even her first birthday. I really wanted to believe him but still had my doubts. In a few weeks it will be a year since Addie left the NICU and has never looked back.

I never imagined laying in the sleep room on Easter Eve last year that a year later Addie would be walking, laughing, constantly folding her arms because she wants to pray, using sign language, learning a couple words, and even getting a little attitude. I never imagined we would be living in Logan and I would be working. I look back and see how much our little family has grown and can't wait to look forward to a year from now so see what we've done.

Happy Easter Eve, and like we told Addie, "Be good or else the Easter bunny wont come." I think I've decided that Easter bunny is what Santa does for a living in the spring. Gotta pay the bills somehow I guess.

Cache Valley Bo-Baly

I really don't have any exciting updates on life, maybe that's why it has been awhile since I've blogged. However for those avid followers I figured I needed to give them a little something to keep them still reading so that when I do actually have something to write I will have someone to read it too....all three of you!

Anyways Addie is hilarious. Here she is with her pink blanket that she is obsessed with. She loves to walk around with it but always trips over it so here is the new way she carries it.

She is getting so smart and after all that baby signing FINALLY does some signs. She does please, more, wash hands, and all done. She also has started to get a little attitude and scratches you if she gets mad at you...looks like we need to work on that along with the whole eating grass thing. Yeah probably not the best. I can't believe she turns one NEXT WEEK! I think back to life a year ago and cannot believe how much it has changed....

• wearing jeans three sizes smaller
• sleeping for 8 hours STRAIGHT (no potty breaks)
• wolfing down meals in under 3 minutes
• getting ready for the day in less than 20 minutes
• savoring nap time
• being able to walk a mile faster than 30 minutes (sad but true one year ago)
• seeing a giggly happy face every morning that can't wait for me to pick her up so she can give me hugs and kiss (it all makes it worth it!)

And on some other more random notes we found a place to live in Logan....

Yeah we aren't living at the temple but just right behind the overflowing parking so pretty much the temple is our backyard. We don't move in until the end of April or else I would show you pictures, although my mother might faint. It was very cheap, lets put it that way. It will be good though for our family, its clean, lots of space for Addie, and it seems like a good area. Its nice to know where we will be calling home for the next year or so.

And finally my job. Did I tell you I love it? Its hard to leave Addie every morning but I feel so blessed that I'm going to a job that I like, it would be so much harder if it was something I dreaded every day. I seriously couldn't have a better boss. I asked him for a day off and he told me "you work to live not live to work." Seriously who says that? Anyways its going great and the girls I work with are super fun too.

Alive

I know it has been awhile and I have been bad about updating all the changes in our life lately but we are still alive! Here is a quick update on life...

Addie and I have been living in Logan with the in-laws for a week and a half now and Addie couldn't be happier EXCEPT missing her daddy of course! She follows her grandma around all day and practices all the new things that grandma teaches her. My mother-in-law will play with Addie for half an hour and teach her a million things that later I think to myself why in the world didn't I think of that. I guess it comes with experience. Anyways in this past week and a half Addie has mastered walking and prefers toddling around to that crawling stuff she used to do. If Addie could talk she would probably say that's for babies. She has also learned the actions for the itsy bitsy spider song, peek-a-boo, how to hug and kiss her baby doll, and today she was trying to wrap her baby in a blanket. I love it, she is just growing and learning so fast. She also LOVES books and will sit and read books forever and ever. Even if you don't read to her she will look at them by herself. She also has a favorite pink monkey blanket that is used for cuddling and sleeping (thanks Amanda!).

Anyways besides Addie growing up like crazy I started my job last week which will definitely be a challenge but I think fun too. I am going to be doing all the scheduling for all the staff on the inpatient units of the hospital in Logan. Its a brand new thing they're rolling out at the Logan Hospital so right now I'm just doing set up but we go live in May. My co-workers are great and its just a really nice set up. It has been SO hard to leave Addie every day but I've just been doing four or five hours a day so we get lots of playing time before and after work. It seems like our time together is more quality because I'm not trying to do so many other projects and things but when I'm with Addie we just focus on playing. It has also been really hard not having Trevin here. Yeah it would be nice to have help with Addie in the evenings but more than that I just miss him. In case anyone is wondering, only 3 1/2 more weeks of this BUT the great part is he comes up every Friday and leaves early Monday morning so at least we have that.

We are also currently apartment hunting. We're hopefully looking for something close to the hospital since we just have the one car we share. But we're going to look at a place on Friday so we'll see how that goes. And there is a quick update on our crazy lives these days

Over the River and Through the Wood

To Grandma's house we go....

Addie and I are moving to Logan this weekend....with Trevin to come as soon as he graduates. Trevin and I came to the realization a couple months ago that medical school wasn't in the cards for this year and we started looking for other opportunities to keep us busy (and alive) for this year while Trevin reapplies. We both started applying for jobs and I ended up getting a job at the Logan hospital scheduling the nurses and staff for the hospital and doing payroll. The kicker is I will be starting on Tuesday. So Addie and I will be moving in with the in-laws (bless their souls!) for the next month or so until Trevin finishes school and we can move into an apartment in Logan. This all has happened within the last couple weeks and has felt like a whirlwind but also a huge blessing. We have been really praying for opportunities for this year and I won't call it luck that I happened to see this job on a random job site on the internet, I happened to get invited for a group interview with 11 other people, I happened to get a second interview along with 3 other people, and I happened to get the job. Its going to be hard to be away from Trevin for the next month but this has really been an answer to our prayers.

Lately we've been thinking a lot about how things are panning out this year. Why did we not get into medical school? Why out of the tons of jobs that we both applied for did I end up with the job? I'm still trying to figure out what lessons we are suppose to be learning from all this, I guess retrospect is a lot better of a viewpoint. If anything I know trials like these bring our family closer. We have definitely been counting our blessings a lot more and realizing the important things in our lives. I keep finding quotes on pinterest that I love and have definitely been uplifting.

"My life may not be going the way that I planned it, but its going EXACTLY the way God planned it."

"Faith in God includes faith in His timing."

I'm sure a lot of people out there have these same feelings, whether its about getting into medical school, or getting a job, or having a baby, or getting married, or whatever it might be I'm learning a lot about patience and faith through all this. Most importantly I think Trevin and I are better understanding the phrase, "we're in this together," and I couldn't have picked a better guy for the journey!