Chef Ben

Most of the time I will do the cooking at our house. Ben isn't without talents in this by any means but I'm the one that thinks more about food. :) Well occasionally when I'm in between shifts, I ask Ben to cook something so that I can focus on getting ready for work. Today Ben took me very seriously. He looked through the cook books and decided to try something new! I woke up to find 3 books marked in a couple places. None...and I mean NONE of them looked appealing to me. I told him that he is always trusting of my meals when I branch out so he should cook what he wants to branch out on and we'll give it a shot. He decided to make Mediterranean Chicken from the Kraft Foods - Food and Family magazine. It was an interesting combination of flavors and nothing I would normally branch towards but man was it good! Ben hit it out of the park on this one. Here is the recipe if anyone wants to try it out. Also it was super easy to make. My favorite quote from Ben... "I love cooking with spices because it actually makes me feel like I'm cooking something." haha nice.

Prep Time:
5 min
Total Time:
20 min
Makes:
4 servings
What You Need
2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup KRAFT Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup sliced stuffed green olives (we substituted with black olives - dont like green)
Make It
COOK rice as directed on package.
MEANWHILE, heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Add chicken and onions; sprinkle with oregano. Cook chicken 3 min. on each side or until chicken is lightly browned on both sides and onions are crisp-tender. Add tomatoes, dressing and garlic; stir gently. Continue to cook 4 to 6 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF), turning chicken after 3 min. Stir in olives.
SPOON rice onto serving platter; top with the chicken and sauce.

3rd Ultrasound

Today we had yet another ultrasound. They wanted to get a better profile look. Alli....stubborn daughter of ours...decided she didn't want to give them a profile shot. She was lying belly down and was squirmy. Everything still looks ok. They were able to get the mouth and nose pictures they wanted that they were unable to get last time. She officially weighs 1lb 6oz. I have only gained 9lbs since my pre-pregnancy weight. Not bad eh...for 6 months pregnant! We didn't get very good pictures because she was so buried. She did do some cute stuff though. She nuzzled her head into my uterus like she was trying to tell us she was tired and leave her alone. She also kept playing with her ear. The only time we got a profile look was when they pushed on my belly to shake her a bit and see if she would move. She moved briefly and then went back to her same position. Stubborn girl...She kicked quite a bit too in protest of all the movement we were trying to get her to make.

Next month I will have a test to make sure I do not have gestational diabetes which is a normally run test. So I will have to drink some nasty orange drink and have blood work done. yay fun! We will not be doing another ultrasound through my doctor's office. We are still considering doing a 3d ultrasound and would do that somewhere around 28-30 weeks. We'll see.

New week

Well I'm back at work for another week. For some reason this week numbers are really down. I may get called off Tuesday night and only work Sunday and Monday. I don't mind a night off except for the cut in pay if I don't have the PTO hours. Oh well. Last night I sent off my resume to two companies that do contract scoring. I hope to get on with one of them! Geez I pray I get on with one of them. I really want to get some part time work or heck...full time work doing contract scoring. That would work out perfectly. I pray that something comes of this. If I do get called of Tuesday then I will probably go get some resume paper and send off resumes to the local labs and offer contract services for scoring. We'll see if anything pans out.

Ben is working tomorrow at Smyrna Central for the ambulance service. Work is slow there but at least he is getting something. Ben is confident that it will pick up. I'm glad he's confident! hah.

I have another ultrasound on Thursday. Hopefully it will further confirm that Alli is still Alli and not a boy. haha We really don't want to have to change gender items. Hopefully they will get the profile pictures they need to make sure she doesn't have a cleft palate and what not. It's all good. We'll keep everyone posted.

Lucy...you got some splaining to do...

Ok so after this past Saturday and what everyone will all soon know...I feel like I should post some sort of explanation in here. After three years of marriage and all sorts of experiences, we've really learned to listen to our guts (inspiration...prayer...all of the above) We've really tried to take care of things to prepare us for the time when I would quit working as much and we'd be reliant on mainly Ben's income. One thing that is very important to Ben is having a warranty on the vehicles and an extended warranty if the factory warranty is up. We have just recently taken care of his truck to make sure that no more unexpected big expenses will come our way. That is definitely a relief. The next issue was my escape. After almost 2 years with that vehicle, we put 40k miles on it. The manufacturers warranty was up at 36k. Being a hybrid, we knew any repair could be costly. We had no intentions of getting rid of my escape (I loved it!!) but Ben always had his eyes out for a good deal that would get us a car of comparable condition or newer for the same or less money.

Friday at work, Ben was tinkering on the internet looking at vehicles. He found a VW suv at a good price and was looking at what we could get for the escape as a trade in. He figured that there would be roughly $3k in difference between what the escape was worth and what the asking price was on the VW. So Ben knew with what we owed on the escape still that it was a stupid move, but then he thought further. An extended warranty on my car would roughly cost the same as the difference in price of the VW with a warranty still on it and with much less miles. So this is how Ben approached me about getting rid of my escape. He figured that it made more sense to have a newer vehicle that cost a little more but still had a good warranty over making an additional yet higher payment for the extended warranty separate from the car payment. It made sense to me and I went along with it.

My only stipulation was that I wanted it to be a matter of prayer. I didn't want to make a big financial decision without the Lord being involved. So I asked Ben to pray about it and if we got a clear answer...then I was cool with it. So Ben prayed and his mind kept leading him to thoughts about a car instead of a suv. He really didn't understand why the Lord would lead him to think about a car instead of the suv so he called his dad to get his opinion. Dad, without knowing what Ben had prayed about, told Ben...have you ever considered getting a car instead of another suv? He suggested that we could get more for the money and efficiency. So this is what led us to looking at cars.

We looked into Hondas because of their certified warranties. We found a great deal at Crest Honda in Nashville. We found a certified 2007 silver - 4 door Honda Accord with only 28k miles on it (they are also installing leather for us). They gave us a good trade in rate on the escape and wonderful warranty options. We still had the factory warranty till 36k miles but they also offer a 7 yr 100k mile powertrain. We got the payment very near what our escape payment was, and this was the only way we were willing to change to a different vehicle. While in financing, they really took care of us. They were able to also get us gap insurance, 7 yr protectant on paint and interior, 5 yr tire and wheel warranty, and a 7 year 100k mile additional bumper to bumper warranty for only an additional $11 a month.

Trust me...neither of us woke up saturday morning with the intention of trading my escape but we really felt directed down this path. I know I don't owe anyone an explanation but some will look at the fact that we traded to yet again another vehicle and they will really wonder if we've lost our minds...This trade really gave us peace of mind that we wont have a huge unexpected expense regarding our vehicles for many years to come. We are trying to consolidate many of the things in our life with Alli on her way and we're trying to do everything in our power to stay close to the Lord so we know when and what we're supposed to do. So anyway...way too long of an explanation but now you know. :)

We're still praying that Ruth. Co. work starts to come in. If it doesn't then Ben may go back to Rural Metro to pick up some work. We're trying to be patient and understanding in all things. We are extremely blessed and happy and life is good. We love you all!

Needing a vacation from life

The past two days off with Ben were a whirlwind. We went to the Temple Thursday night which was wonderful. It had been a while since we had been. I just haven't had much energy and things kept coming up when we had planned to go. Anyway, Friday was supposed to be our leisure day...didn't happen. We took Ben's truck in to get the oil changed, tires rotated and we wanted them to listen to a noise that it had been making. We have been setting aside some money for the purpose of fixing whatever the noise may be...well now that I know what the noise was...I wish I didn't. The noise is coming from the rear differential of the truck. They told us that the clutch pads(? clutch something...don't remember...) were going out soon. If they go out while we are driving the truck then it will do major damage to the entire rear differential. So this means we have to fix the truck ASAP. We had been debating getting an extended warranty for his truck but were trying to pay a couple other things off first. Now it looks like we really need to make this a priority. We wish this could be covered under the warranty but we would run the risk of the truck not making it that long so we are probably going to go ahead and get it fixed and get the warranty was well so that nothing else big surprises us down the road. This little repair alone is going to run us near $1000. YIKES! But we also know that his power steering is going to need repair soon...probably 3-5 months or so...give or take. So we figure the warranty will be a good thing. Ben and I may soon learn what it means to live off ramen noodles and peanut butter. haha.

We have worked so hard and paid off so much debt but every time we make headway...something else happens. I'm definitely having to rely on a lot of faith right now that everything will work out once I have to come off working. Marilyn has so graciously offered to Ben to come watch Alli roughly once a week if I need so that I can continue to work once a week if the sleep lab needs me PRN. This will help me continue to bring in some income and keep my skills up...not to mention give Marilyn some grandmother time with Alli. I'm sure things will turn around soon at the Ambulance service but I wish it would turn around now so that we could use the next 4.5 months to knock out debt and be more at peace when Alli joins us. Oh well...I am not going to fret. The Lord has always helped us and we are trying to live faithfully so that we are deserving of those blessings.

I do look forward to not working as much. Caitlin will be starting school this fall and I have already spoke with Shannon about helping her out if she needs me. Caitlin will get out of school well before Shannon or Rusty get home from work. Kara and I both have offered to be of assistance if needed. I love getting to see Caitlin and I know she is looking forward to meeting Alli. She will be such a big helper to her little cousin. So I look forward to those afternoons with her.

Well Ben and I have decided that it is time to try to get rid of our cats. I love them very much and hate to see them go but we feel it is for the best. I am in the process of trying to find a good home from them. I want them to stay together since they are sisters. Nala is much more skiddish than Sarabi and I think she would cope better with Sarabi there. Nala has not been happy since Mitzi joined us. She only comes out of hiding when the dogs are outside. She longs for attention and immediately jumps in my lap for love. We want them to be in a home where they can get that attention. We just give so much of our time to the dogs and not them...not to mention we are a little worried of how they will do with Alli. Ben also thinks that getting rid of them may help my sinus and allergy problems. We will see. So if any of you know of anyone wanting (2) - 3yr old cats who are very very sweet...let me know. We just had there vaccinations repeated so they are up to date.

Final note...I think I'm finally feeling Alli kick some. It's a weird feeling but I think I've felt it nonetheless. I was sitting here earlier at the computer and felt 5-10 little bubble like kick feelings. Its hard to describe really... OK well another thing to tell you is that we have another decoration ready for Alli's room. Ben had a great idea right after we found out it was a girl. He wanted to take one of his old helmets and take pictures of Alli in it. Well it has exploded into something else. Now Alli has her very own pink helmet.

Ben, as a surprise to me, took it to a graphics shop and had them paint it baby pink. On the side it says "Daddy's girl" with his EMS star of life.

On the front is her full name "Alli Love Smith"

And then on the back is her nickname. A co-worker of mine came up with this name right after we told her it was a girl. Ben and I both liked it and it has kinda stuck. Alli "GATOR" Smith.

I also recently bought these letters to hang above her changer/dresser. I can't decide whether to just paint another coat of white on them...or to paint each letter a different color to match the 4 colors I used to polka dot her lamp. What do you guys think?

Artsy Fartsy

We couldn't find a lamp to match the bedding set so today I painted polka dots on a white canvas lamp shade to match the bedding. I think it looks pretty darn cute.
Beside the lamp is one of the receiving blankets to show just how close they are in color. I'm so proud of the lamp shade. So now I know that if I can't find any curtains that match then I can make them!!! ;)

Bedding

Mom and I went shopping today for baby bedding for Alli's room (or maybe Alleigh...don't know haven't decided). We went to Target first knowing that they might not have much selection. Well we didn't need to go further. We found the cutest soft bedding for a fraction of the price of what it would've cost elsewhere.
Excuse the pictures...my camera is broken so I had to take them with my phone.The bedding is a cute khaki, brown, light and bright pink, mint and garden green mixture. It gives us a lot of options for decorating but we will do a mint green wall color. I will take the comforter or one of the receiving blankets for home depot to match paint color exactly! The only downside to the bedding is that it doesn't have any coordinating items like mobile, valance, hamper or lamp. So here is our solution. I bought a white square lamp shade that I will paint myself. I'm going to get fabric paint and some circle sponges and polka dot it to match the blankets. Then for the mobile...mom thinks she found a mobile for me on jcpenney's website. She thinks it's pretty close to our bedding. The valance and curtains will either be made with a solid color or we'll find something in stores that is close enough to match.