what's for dinner tonight {slowcooker chicken&dumplings}.

so, let me just make a disclaimer that this is not my healthiest recipe ever. but because of it's deliciousness and ease, i couldn't resist posting it. you can only make it once and a while and serve with a generous helping of veggies and maybe feel better about it all.

because sometimes life just needs a lil chicken&dumplings.

growing up in maine, i was never familiar with this dish. when i went to college in ohio, there was a cracker barrel in the next town over and i think this is where i first had chicken&dumplings. and then... i moved to texas. i still think i've only had it two other times but it's just one of those dishes that you need to have every so often.

so here's a crockpot version that is simply delish.

slowcooker chicken&dumplings

* 3-4 chicken breasts, frozen (i've found this makes the meat realllly tender and saves on time)
* 2 cans cream of chicken soup (i use the healthy choice kind)
* 1 can condensed chicken broth
* 1-1 1/2 cans of water (you may need to adjust depending on your crockpot)
* 1 onion, diced
* 2 T. butter
* 1 can of refridgerated biscuits (thus, the unhealthiness... i use reduced fat jumbo buttermilk)
* flour (as needed)
* salt&pepper (to season)

- place chicken, soup, broth, water, onion and butter in slowcooker and cook on low for about 7-8 hours.
- shred chicken with two forks.
- remove biscuits from can. flatten each one and cut into eighths. drop into crockpot, season with salt and pepper, turn heat up to high. don't adjust liquid if it looks like there is too much... the biscuits will soak up some of it as they cook. you can adjust later.
- cook on high for last hour or so, or until biscuits are cooked. they will still be doughy, like noodles (or dumplings, obviously) but make sure they are not raw.
- you may need to make a slurry out of flour and water and whisk into liquid to make thicker, depending on how it cooks, or how you like the consistency.

just as good as homemade and one of the easiest (and most delicious) recipes i have. perfect for a cold winter night or a lazy sunday meal.

enjoy!

change in perspective.

phew. so nick texted me yesterday and told me he had watched this video in
three of his classes yesterday with his students. he said he bawled all
three times (i love my husbands heart). last night before we put bella to
bed, we sat and watched it together and i lost it within the first few
seconds.

heck, i'm crying now as i write this blog.

this week has been a tough one for me emotionally, physically, spiritually. i had been having a lot of joint pain and just constant aches and pains in my back, knees and feet since having bella. it has made it very difficult to be active in the way i used to, and i experience fatigue and loss of energy most of the time. i went to a specialist last friday and they think i have psoriatic arthritis, which also has a skin condition that (in most cases) goes along with the arthritic pain. i spent all weekend fighting discouragement and anxiety over what this diagnosis would look like for the future. i totally allowed satan to use it to get me down and even did what everyone knows not to do... i went on the internet to research. which obviously made everything so. much. worse.

to add insult to injury, bella has had a tough time with sleep these days... teething/daylight savings time/allergy-cold junk does NOT make for a nice combo. which means i have been completely sleep deprived, and this only added to my discouraged state this week.

as i watched this video, all of the discouragement, pain, fear, doubt, exhaustion of the previous few days began to *melt* away. i dissolved into a huge puddle of tears. when the video finished, nick handed me bella and i squeezed that little girl like i have never squeezed her before.

this video resonated so deeply with nick and me. it not only renewed our perspective and gratitude for the blessing of our daughter, but it also challanged us to look at our faith. may our attitude always be one of praise to our god, even when life isn't easy. we may never know the pain that these parents experience, but we will know other pain, go through different challanges and be faced with other trials.

i oftentimes live in fear of what those trials could be rather than the promise that whatever lies ahead, god's grace will be sufficient for me. i can walk in him, taking one day at a time, and knowing that in HIM there is joy and there is peace no matter what is unknown. i love this prayer:

"god, grant me the serenity

to accept the things i cannot change,

the courage to change the things i can

and the wisdom to know the difference.

living one day at a time,

enjoying one moment at a time

accepting hardships as the pathway to peace

taking, as jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as i would
have it

and trusting that you will make all things right

so that i will be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with you

forever in the next.

amen."

thursday three.

so, i'm totally stealing this from a friend's blog. she does a "friday five" for her family, where she posts all five members of her family's highlights for the week. i thought it was really cute, a good way to document our life at a glace annnnnnd gives me something easy to do each week on my blog.

score.

i decided to continue the trend with doing mine on thursday for "thursday three". so, here goes!

nick

i don't even have to ask my husband about this one. nick teaches (7th grade life science, 9th grade biology and 12th grade anatomy) and coaches (football, basketball and track) at a private christian school downtown. there he is known as "coach cornwell", the young, cool teacher... and i'm pretty sure the heartthrob of the female student population. it's true. so last friday they had a pep rally for the last football game of the season... which included... a dance off. right. up. nick's. alley. (if you haven't seen my husband dance, i really think he might've missed his calling. i mean, my man can dance) and even better? it included the song "bye, bye, bye" from the ever popular N'SYNC which luckily nick remembered all the moves to from when he was in middle school. and no christian school pep rally is complete without playing "soulja boy" (??!) which, nick also had the moves to go along with as well. not only did he win the dance off but that night at his football game, i was bombarded by parents, students and other teachers all telling me what awesome moves my husband has. he was definitely the talk of the school... and probably still is :) oh, how i love that man!

meg

it's hard for me to pick just one highlight of this week... but i'm going to go with our family photo shoot we had on sunday evening with the *amazing* amanda guevara of {aka} photography (http://http//www.facebook.com/#!/pages/aKa-Photography/109238242457095?v=wall). amanda is a good friend of mine and she is seriously just so talented. if you live in the metroplex, you should book her ASAP! and if you don't live in the dallas area, well, she's only a plane ticket away :) she's THAT good. those of you that know me well know how much i love pictures. and we have an incredibly hard time trying to get family photos that actually come out! so this photo sesh just made my little picture-loving-heart soooo happy. i am just in love with the style and look of these photos and they capture our lil family so perfectly... here are just a few of the ones she took!

bella

this week nick and i introduced bella to "baby einstein" videos for the first time. she's been teething and just has had some cranky days so for her sanity (and ours) we broke out the ole baby entertainment. saturday afternoon she snuggled in bed with us and we watched together. she was soooo excited, just kicking and squealing away and loving the images and music. it was so cute. getting to be with daddy and mama AND getting to watch tv?? life doesn't get much better for our almost-six-month-old. she was in heaven.

so there you have it. our first thursday three. tune in next week... same time, same place :)

what's for breakfast this morning {peanut butter chocolate chip muffins}.

so, it's no secret that i love cooking&baking. mostly because i love food. i have been blogging "whats for dinner tonight" posts a couple times a month for a while now and wanted to add to my collection of recipes. look for some more posts including "what's for breakfast this morning" and "sweet treats" for some more ideas for your cooking, baking and eating needs.

you're welcome.

i always *try* to keep things healthy, but sometimes i feel the need to spice things up a bit when i get bored of the same ole healthy recipes (let's face it). so here is a recipe that i made this morning for a nice lil breakfast (or middle of the day) treat.

peanut butter chocolate chip muffins

* 2 c. flour

* 1 1/2 t. salt

* 1 T. baking powder

* 1 c. milk

* 2 eggs

* 1 c. peanut butter

* 2/3 c. sugar

* 1/3 c. oil (i used canola)

* 1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

- combine flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.

- mix the rest of the ingredients separately, and then add to the dry and combine until moistened.

- spray a muffin tin and fill each cup about 3/4 full. i had enough batter to fill one 12-cup muffin tin and a 6-cup muffin tin as well.

- bake on 375 for about 15-18 minutes.

DEEELISH. it made enough to keep for breakfasts throughout the week and i froze a few to enjoy in the future. these would make a great after school snack for the munchkins, too.

happy baking!

babies make the best accessories.

wow. i'm on a roll with the ole blog this week. guess i'm trying to write as much as i can so i won't feel behind the rest of the month.

or something like that.

this post is not a recipe or reflection on anything i'm learning spiritually. nor is it a sentimental entry on my sweet little babe or an overview of our family's month. it is merely a "how to" on making one of essential items of early motherhood. i've had many people ask me for directions on how to do this, so here goes.

so one of my mama-must-haves is my wrap. i absolutely *love* it. i had originally registered for a moby wrap which is ridiculously priced at a whopping $50 (for a piece of cloth i'd say that's a little outrageous). i still really wanted it. but i was visiting a friend one day after she had her little bundle and she showed me how she made her own.

boring solid-color moby wrap: $50

fun d.i.y wrap (with hobby lobby coupon): $20

yes, please.

here's what i did:

-joanne's, hobby lobby, any fabric place of your choice has awesome coupons. the one i found for hobby lobby was 40% off a regular priced item. you can sign up for coupons online and print them out, or find them on the stores website. this is your first step in making your oh-so-cheap-and-stylish baby wrap.

-pick out your material. you want to make sure it's a stretchy, jersey type material so that it will work for the wrap.

-you'll need 5.5 yards of fabric.

-cut it in half (the long way...you'll need the strip of fabric to be loooong). you'll have two wraps. this works out perfect to give to a mama friend as well! i was able to send mine to my college bff in chicago, so now we can have matching wraps with our baby girls. so. fun.

-go to http://www.wearyourbaby.com/ to the "video" tab for instructions on how to tie your wrap. there are many different ways and there are other helpful directions on how to make your own wraps and slings!

this really is such a great way to carry your lil one, and bella looooves it (almost as much as i do). when she was a newborn, i would put her in it whenever she got fussy and she would usually fall asleep. i've used it for grocery shopping, around the house to get chores done (when she was newborn), and have traveled on airplanes with her in this twice. soooo handy. and the best part is it keeps them close to you which is really just so precious. love, love, love it. can you tell?? ;)

happy baby wearing. it's true what they say... babies make the best accessories.

(not sure what i mean by "they"... pretty sure i coined this phrase myself. but its true!)

precious moments.

this is my view this morning. a sleepy baby who is teething and just wants to be cuddled and rocked to sleep. can't say that i mind. one. single. bit.

since the moment bella was born, i have been trying to savor so many different things. she has already grown and changed far too quickly, and i find myself desperately trying to grasp everything about life right now and hold onto it before it slips through my fingers. i know as she grows there will be other special things to look forward to. but for right now, i just want life to stop for a moment. i want bella to always be this sweet little baby who cuddles into me, snuggling in the warm crook of my arm. i want to forever remember her sleeping against nick's chest, watching her mouth open slightly as she breaths in and out, and how his face looks as though he is experiencing one of the most precious moments in the entire world. in a blink she will be running around and not wanting to stop for much... and i want to savor the moments she lies on a quilt on the floor, giggling and squealing as we play with her. she continually looks from nick's face to mine, with a light in her eyes that tells us she loves us even if she can't say it yet. i want to remember her smell that tickles my nose as i softly kiss the top of her head. the way she stretches and pushes her little belly up so that it sticks out of her clothes. the feel of her chubby cheeks pressed up against mine. the sound of her laugh. how she sees and experiences everything with such wonder. the way her legs kick when she is excited. the saturday and sunday mornings the three of us get to snuggle in bed together and how i capture the scene in my mind of my sweet family and how much--through his grace--god has blessed me.

"the LORD has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes. this is the day that the lord has made. let us rejoice and be glad in it." (ps. 118:23,24)

fall, sweet fall.

as i sit here this chilly morning drinking my cup of pumpkin spice coffee, my heart is very thankful. the month of october has been a very welcomed one for us. we love the fall. the cooler weather has been such a relief for us after a sweltering summer. we spend every sunday after church in our pjs watching football and spending time as a family. i light candles that smell like pumpkin spice and vanilla cookies. nick's football season is *almost* over... it has been so much fun, and at the same time we are excited for much more family time! bella's first halloween, which meant an oh-so-cute costume and plennnnntyyy of pictures. and i've been busy making plenty of chili, soup & comfort food along with apple crisp and pumpkin bread.

some highlights from our month:

the littlest cornwell
bella is growing faster than ever. it seems as if she is changing by the day! she is five and a half months and is just so fun. we began giving her rice cereal about a month ago and it started out pretty rough. our sometimes-high-maintentence-little-girl haaaated it the first few tries. but we stuck with it, and like a champ she has turned a big corner. she gets VERY excited now to eat her cereal, which includes lots of kicking and squealing. one of my favorite parts of the day. she has been sleeping on her belly now for about the past month, which was scary at first, but now it's routine. i'm very happy to say that the four month sleep regression is (knock on wood) behind us, and lil girl is sleeping consistently through the night once again. she's enjoying her doorway jumper and (still) thinks her daddy is the coolest guy to ever walk on this planet (and she is right). here are two videos... one of the first time she ate rice cereal... and then one nick took last night. ahhhh... progress.

family time

football season is coming to an end, which is bittersweet for us. nick has really enjoyed coaching and bella and i have had tons of fun going to his games along with a small posse that usually accompanies us (nick has a lot of fans). we attempted to get some family pics on the field after the game one night. as you can see, not so successful. we were really thankful to have a day off together this past friday, which included a trip to a local pumpkin patch. we managed to get plenty of pictures... and some family ones actually turned out this time. bonus. currently, sunday is our family day and we really enjoy our time together. which usually includes laying around and watching football. and yes... bella loves the nfl.

costumes&candy

ok, so for our munchkin this year, halloween was really just about the costume. not so much the candy. but i found this a-dorable flower costume this year at old navy on sale and had to snag it. mom confession: i actually found it at the galleria old navy in dallas but they didn't have the size i needed... so i asked them to help me find one in bella's size. apparently the flower costume was a popular choice this year for 3-6 month olds because the only one available in the whole metroplex was at an old navy in plano, about 20 minutes away. as i made the trek to track down the super-cute costume for my daughter who doesn't even know the difference, i called my mother on the way to tell her that i've officially crossed over to the crazy side. oh well. it made for cute pictures, right? *sigh* we got to hang out with family halloween night, which made for some more cute pictures with bella's cousin, wyatt (aka mario) so cute!

me&the mr.

we've decided that we need to take more pictures of just the two of us. now that we have a munchkin, she tends to take up most of what's on our camera. but as we continually tell bella even though she has no clue what we are saying, we love god first, each other second, and her third. just to set the record straight from the very beginning. i once heard a professor say in college that the best gift parents can give their children is a love for one another. oh, how we agree. so here's to the start of an effort to take more husband&wife pics. love. this. man.

can't believe november is upon us. as they say, it's the *most* wonderful time of the year.