Week in Review

 Where there's smoke, there's fire!

  My baby's getting squishy!

Millie loves her brother

Our favorite way to water the lawn!

Feeling hot, hot, hot! It's been in the 90s all week and no moisture since....I don't know when. No wonder we're surrounded by wild fires! Jason was so happy to have drawn a deer tag this year and now his whole area is ablaze. That fire is about 40 miles away from us, south of Duchesne. The other nearby fire is about 30 miles away, just north of Neola. The sky each night is so red and filled with smoke. With it being so hot, a breeze is usually nice but since wind almost always comes out of the west (where the fires are), I'd rather have no breeze. Fireworks have been banned in the whole basin and yet there are still firework stands popping up all over. Who are they selling them to and where do they plan on lighting them? Seems a little counterproductive to ban them and still allow them to be sold. What a difference from last year when we had a too-wet spring and gardens and crops were soggy, to this year where there has been no rain and we'll be lucky to have irrigation water through July!

Weston has been smiling and trying to copy my sounds for a while now. It's so fun! He loves to wake up in the morning and gurgle and coo at me and I lay there lazily just enjoying it. His rolls are getting more defined now and I just moved him up to size 2 diapers. He's such a change from Millie! She was probably in size 1 diapers until she was 6 months old. She only weighs 38lbs right now and is going on 5 years old! I only know this because I had to take her to the doctor Tuesday. She has had a high fever since Thursday afternoon of last week. Since it was so high, I was thinking virus and went into the weekend hoping it would go away. Well, it didn't go away but Monday she seemed better so I didn't go to the doctor. Monday night she got absolutely cooking and I spent half the night going in to check on her. I hate when kids are sick! It's so physically, emotionally, mentally stressful! The doctor didn't come up with an exact diagnosis and she tested negative for everything but he put her on antibiotics. She's been fine ever since. YAY! Sad though that she had to miss most of her swimming lessons. I'll try to sign her up again next week.

The boys have been taking golf lessons. Wyatt didn't want to do football this year but we told him he had to choose something to help keep him active. He chose golf. Not the most active of sports but hey, it gives him something to do besides video games.  Owen wanted to do it too and they are both getting pretty good for beginners.

 

Shortcut Chicken Cordon Bleu and Mustard Parmesan Sauce

I was so in the mood for Chicken Cordon Bleu last night but didn't feel like I had the time or the patients to pound out the chicken, roll it all up, bread it, and get it baked in time for dinner. BUT I did not give up! I was determined to think up some short cut way to get the flavors and textures of CCB without the time and effort.
I am happy to say that I now have a new way of making it that I plan on using every time in the future!!

So while the kids kept saying how hungry they were and needed a snack even though it was dinner time (story of my life) and Weston fussed in his bouncy chair needing my attention, I threw together a great dinner in hardly any time at all. First of all I cut a couple of large chicken breasts in half length wise so they were like cutlets. I laid those in a singe layer filling up the bottom of a 9x13 dish. I took my black forest ham lunch meat I got from the deli counter and made a layer over the chicken. By the way, I always buy my lunch meat from the deli anymore! Sure it may be a little more expensive than the prepackaged stuff sometimes but it tastes and looks SO much better! A layer of swiss cheese went over the ham and then I made some fresh bread crumbs (makes all the difference) by throwing a couple slices of my favorite wheat bread along with some garlic powder, onion powder and pepper in my food processor. Those got mixed with a couple tablespoons of melted butter and went over the cheese. Then it was just into the 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I went and fed the baby while it cooked and then came out and made a mustardy cheese sauce to put on top which turned out delicious. Rounded the meal out with a fresh spinach salad from my over abundance of it in my garden (spinach anyone? come and get it please!!).

Shortcut Chicken Cordon Bleu
2-3 chicken breasts (cut in half lengthwise to fill bottom of dish)
Deli ham slices (enough to cover chicken; I used 6 slices)
Swiss cheese slices (enough to cover ham; I used 6 big slices)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (with whatever spices you want to add)
2 T. melted butter
 Lay chicken pieces in single layer on bottom of a 9x13 pan. Layer ham on top to cover and then cheese over that to cover. Mix melted butter with bread crumbs and sprinkle over the cheese layer. Bake in oven at 350 for 30 or so minutes until chicken is done and crumbs are browned.
While chicken is cooking, make sauce.
Mustard Parm Sauce
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 T. spicy brown mustard (or dijon even; whatever)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Melt butter over medium heat in a sauce pan. Add flour and let it cook for a minute or two stirring constantly. Slowly add in milk with a whisk. Add bouillon. Bring it to a slow boil, stirring constantly, and let it thicken. Takes about a minute. Remove from heat and stir in worcestershire sauce, mustard and parm.
Keep warm until chicken is done. Spoon sauce over individual servings of chicken cordon bleu.

Being a mom....again

I've forgotten how much work a baby can be but I love how good it feels to hold a baby in my arms again! Weston is such a cutie! I can tell he's starting to round out and judging by how good of an eater he is, I think he'll be squishy like Owen was. He eats every three hours or less; rarely longer, except at night when he will go for about a five hour stretch (those are nice :). I will say he is the poopingest (I know that's not a real word but it best describes) kid I've ever known! I feel like I am constantly changing his diaper and they are ALWAYS poopy! He makes no secret out of it either. You can tell from a room away when he's filling his drawers. There is one thing nice about it though. He's so frequent that he has yet to have a real blowout.
Enough baby poop talk though. Weston loves his bouncy chair! I take it with me all over the house and that's where he usually naps during the day. As we speak (or write), I am bouncing him with my foot so I can use both hands to type. He seems to really like to be in my Moby wrap, too, and snuggles up to my chest where he looks so peaceful and usually falls asleep. I love my wrap because it leaves my hands free if I want but I get to snuggle with him at the same time. He is my first baby to ever really take a binky. He doesn't seem totally attached to it so we'll see how long it lasts but it soothes him when needed. He's a tough kid like Owen was, holding his head up on day one and pushing himself up when he's on his belly. We all love the way his face lights up and looks like he's on the verge of a big ole smile when I wrap his little hands around my thumbs and clap them together. I swear he's going to full out laugh soon!
It seems to be taking me longer to get back into the swing of things. Maybe it's because it's summer now and the kids are out of school so I never feel like I have a moment to myself or maybe it's because I don't have the deadline of work to go back to (even though it was only a couple of days a month) or maybe it's because I haven't been able to really start exercising yet and am still sore from nursing (seriously hope that goes away soon!) which makes heavier physical activity uncomfortable or maybe it's just because I haven't had a baby in 4 1/2 years and need to just learn to relax and get used to it again. I'm sure it's just a combination of everything and at least I do feel like I'm slowly climbing my way out of these feelings. Advice to other moms out there, don't space your kids out so far if you can help it. You get so used to having kids that can mostly take care of themselves and having a rythm and certain way of life that you've known for so long that it becomes a major adjustment to go back to baby stage. I'm not saying I don't enjoy it, what I am saying is that I feel kind of like a first time mom again. Can't wait to go camping for the first time with Weston or take a trip to Idaho. I know it will have it's new challenges but it will feel so good to know you still have that freedom.
I love being a mom! I love my sweet kids, Wyatt, Owen, Amelia, and little Weston! I so love and appreciate Jason! I'm a lucky woman to have all these things to love!