white chicken chili

This soup is so delicious... the recipe must be shared. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small white onion diced

6 to 8 small garlic cloves, minced

1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles

2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, undrained

4 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne

1 cup sour cream (plus addition for topping, if needed)

3 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Chopped fresh cilantro

Chopped tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook and shred the chicken, set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook and stir until the onion is translucent. Add the chicken, chiles, beans, broth, bouillon, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Simmer 30 to 45 minutes. Chili can be made ahead to this point and refrigerated or frozen for serving later.

3. Add the 1 cup sour cream and cheese, and continue cooking until the cheese is melted. Keep warm until serving.

4. Just before serving, add cilantro, tomatoes and additional sour cream, if desired.

JANET'S VARIATIONS:

1. I use home-cooked navy beans. Soak them the night before and boil the next day. I add the onion and garlic while cooking the beans and omit the oil/saute step.

2. I've made it without any meat and it's still delish!  If I have frozen corn, I will also throw that in.

3. I add avocado just before serving. yummy!

4. More cilantro is always best.

5. My kids love to crush corn chips in the soup.

6. I never make enough for leftovers. Must double the recipe in the future!

these hands

Our little girl has her hands in her mouth ALL DAY long. She tries very hard to suck her thumb, but she's not sure what to do with the other four fingers when her thumb is in her mouth and she often pokes herself in the eyes and scratches her chubby cheeks. And really, one finger just isn't good enough--- neither is five. She wants the entire fist, baby.

We've tried getting her on a pacifier, and she really does like it, but she can only keep it in her mouth for a minute before her fist knocks it out again. And nursing her is some kind of joke. The minute I get her hands out of the way to feed her, they magically appear again, right in her mouth. I literally have to tie her hands behind her back in order to get her to eat. But she doesn't like to be tied down, no she does not. She likes her hands accessible at all times. If she's wrapped like a burrito, she's crying.

I've started to realize that her hands are the reason she isn't getting any sleep. Even when she's extremely tired, she will wake herself up from a 5 minute nap to chew on her fists. It's been terribly frustrating. We've tried making her scream to sleep, but this baby will scream until the cows come home. We will literally have cows sitting in our living room with their hooves up on the recliner and this girl will still be screaming. She's a feisty little fighter. And I like her for it, but I just wished she'd sleep once in a while.

The last few days, we've forced her to sleep on her tummy and it's about the ONLY thing that will keep her hands out of her mouth... and I think it might be a good solution. I really need a solution to our sleeping problems.. I've been wondering if maybe she's uptight about something... if she's created this habit because she's nervous or anxious. But when my aunts came to visit, they brought me a DVD of her birth. It was amazing to watch. There were a lot of things I couldn't remember because it was such a difficult labor for me, but I learned so much about myself and about my little baby while watching it. One thing I was surprised to see is that the MINUTE she was born, her little hands were in her mouth. I thought she was hungry and I kept saying (even after I fed her) that she must be starving. But now I know it was a habit she developed in the womb.

I shouldn't be laughing about this (because it's NOT funny) but I was dilated to a 10 for FOUR HOURS and couldn't get her out because her little arm was up by her head. Thinking back to that struggle and knowing her personality now, I can guarantee you she was more concerned about doing HER THING. I can see her, in the birth canal, just chewing on her hands while I labored away. She is such a little stinker!

She has been a real challenge for me, but I have learned a lot over the past few months. Even though we've labeled her as our "worst baby" we still wouldn't trade her for the world.

my auntie loves me

Nancy and Julie bought tickets to Celine months and months ago. They came down to Vegas this weekend to finally see the show and guess what? Celine cancelled. Our poor aunties didn't get news of the cancelled show until they were already here. Such a bummer (for them) but SUCH a treat for us to have them visit.

They are such fun aunts. They love to play with the kids and love to coo at the baby. Our dog would literally go home with them if they would let her. Sunny loves Aunt Nance! They were kind enough to watch our kids so Aaron and I could go out (and we stayed out late!) While we were gone, they had a talent show with our boys and they are still talking about it. Julie whistled, Luke played the keyboard, Zack showed them his break-dancer moves, Ben did tricks on the trampoline, Simon did sommersaults and Nancy spun a basketball on her finger. They had ice cream and watched movies and had Taco Bell for dinner. Aaron and I also enjoyed our late night talks with them... we always have the best conversations. On Saturday morning, I talked them into coming to a yoga class with me and we all loved it. Jane, Nancy, Julie and I stopped at Tropical Smoothie Cafe and talked for a while. Most of our conversation was about Nancy's mom/my Grandma/the original Roma. We laughed so hard about the time Roma introduced Julie as "her lover" to family members. Grandma was always so outgoing and so funny. She loved to SHOCK people. I like to think I take after her.... and I am so proud to have my own little Roma girl.

These awesome aunties wouldn't let me do any dishes or make any food. They had a Sunday roast and potatoes cooking in the oven when they left. We love them so! One of the funniest moments of the weekend was when Zack came into the room where Nancy, Julie, baby Ro and I were talking. He was looking all suave and while holding out two finger guns he said, "Hey Ladies!" It was the catch phrase of the weekend and was repeated a thousand times. So funny!

Simon LOVES these two amazing women and sticks to them like glue. When Nancy asked him where he got his long lashes, he smiled and said "from Christmas." Simon knows he's loved and always acts super silly around them. They, of course, love him right back. The best kind of visitors are the ones who adore your kids.

mazel tov!

Aaron and I attended a Jewish wedding this weekend. It was beautiful and happy and romantic and very special. Only in Vegas can you have an outdoor evening wedding in February. There was glass breaking and chair lifting and circle dancing and delicious food. So glad I got to experience such a beautiful evening with the man I love.

ig'zostid

ex·haust·ed/igˈzôstid/

Adjective:	Drained of one's physical or mental resources; very tired. Completely used up.
Synonyms:	spent - weary - worn-out - tired

two posts in two days with exhausted in the title. but that's how I feel again today. Motherhood is a lot of fun. but it's super-duper exhausting. It's only 7:30 pm and all the kids are asleep. I don't think I can wait up for the hubs to come home from tennis. I am just too tired.

This past Sunday, my fussy little baby was being fussy. I took her into the mothers lounge in the church to feed her. Another mom was nursing her son in the chair next to me. She and I struck up a conversation that was quite pleasant. It was about St. George and how my husband and I want to move there sooner or later. Roma needed to be burped so I was a bit distracted for a minute. When I looked up to continue our conversation, I saw this exhausted young mom snoring away. Her head was back, her mouth was open and she was out for the count. I wasn't the least bit offended she found our conversation boring. In fact, I wished I'd had a blanket I could wrap around her and her nursing baby. I decided to tiptoe out quietly and let her sleep. Every time I've thought about it since, I've smiled. That poor exhausted mother. I know exactly how she feels.

Our little Romy girl doesn't sleep well. She doesn't take naps. She wants to eat all night long. She doesn't like her crib. She doesn't like me to set her down. ever. My arms and legs and eyes and brains are exhausted.

rejuvenated and exhausted

Because I didn't get pictures of it last week, this past Sunday, I put Roma in the pink vintage dress my Grandma June made for my mother as baby. Her aunties just adored her.

We had a fabulous time in St. George with my sisters. We rented a beautiful 4 bedroom home. We bought groceries the first night and didn't leave the place except to go to church on Sunday. Unfortunately, we didn't take many photos. My bad. I think my sisters are glad I wasn't snapping pictures left and right. I totally regret it. If I could, I would go back and take one of us in the backyard hot tub. Only a few remembered to bring a swimsuit. The rest of us bought some pretty amazing hot pink bra/underwear clearance items at Kmart. We were smokin' hot. Roma forgot her bikini too and ended up skinny dippin' in the hot tub. Everyone loved holding the chubby naked baby. Her fat rolls are to die for. Too bad those have to go out of style when you reach a certain age.

Lil' Ro was so happy to be included in Girly Weekend. So happy, she wouldn't sleep a wink. She boycotted all naps, accept for the time Aunt Cindy curled up with her on the couch. During every conversation, her neck was getting some serious action, trying to give eye contact to anyone who was speaking. She was just as inspired and interested in the girl conversation as the rest of us. We stayed up late-- 2 am both nights-- laughing and crying and giving one another advice. This motherhood job isn't easy. I know, personally. I feel rejuvenated (and exhausted) after a weekend with my amazing sisters/ in law. I am SO looking forward to the next time we can get together.

the kid bus

my older boys had an extra day off school today. I was so grateful because I spent President's Day weekend with my sisters and wanted another vacation day.. and the stars were aligned. I asked them what they would choose to do for the day. Their answer: ride in the BUS with their friends. I sent out a mass text inviting their friends to the park for a couple of hours. Before we knew it, the neighborhood kids were at the park-- and they ALL rode in my car.If you counted right, there are 15 kids. I never thought that I would be short a seatbelt in a 15 passenger, but our van was filled to the brim. Ben was super disappointed because he had to ride in the front seat, so next time I will make sure that we have enough room for him in the back row. Those back seats are coveted because when the van hits any kind of bump, kids go flying. We hit two parking lots on the way home with speed bumps and that was 100 times better than the park.It was a bit crazy, but I will never forget the giggles coming from the back seat and the dance moves we pulled while blasting Maroon 5's "I'm your Radio". While driving, we called Aaron on the speaker phone and everyone screamed HELLO when he answered. Baby Ro was sleeping at the time and she wasn't a fan of that plan. She screamed all the way home, which in turn, made us blast the music even louder.

All in all, it was a pretty memorable ride. happy extended President's day.

glow in the dark sheets

Aaron probably won't "approve" of this post, but it's really late.... and he's not here to stop me from writing it. Some parenting moments, though funny and significant, get quickly erased if not written down. Holiday and birthday pictures can be documented some other time..

The older boys got new bedroom furniture last weekend. They each have their own twin bed and nice big dressers. They also got a desk and bookshelf which makes their room super squishy. Their wooden bed frames can eventually stack on top of each other to make a bunkbed, which I am sure we will do in the future, but for now, they are enjoying their room with 3 inches of walking space.

We moved the beds last Saturday. I went to wash sheets a couple of days ago, and was surprised to find Ben's rather dirty, especially after only a couple of days of sleeping on them. He's by FAR the cleanest child I've ever met... so this was a bit odd. His sheets had a clear (but now crusted) thin substance on them, right in the middle of the bed. It was on both the top and bottom sheet. I asked Ben what it was and he said, "I have no idea! I woke up with something sticky all over me." I asked him if it was on his pjs and or underwear and he said, "I think, but I can't remember." I showed Aaron and we just stared at each other in amazement for like 3 whole minutes. Aaron just kept shaking his head and saying, "there is no way it is what you think it is."

I wasn't assuming it was anything, but what could it be? It was a big mystery. I was literally freaking out, watching Ben's every move... waiting for his voice to crack or hair to grow from his chin or something... but of course, that did not happen because the child is TEN.

The next day, I decided to call my sister, mother of two teenage boys, and ask her if she'd ever had a similar experience. She was kind of flipping out with me & told me that in her years of changing teenage boy sheets, she has never found herself in such a predicament. I was stumped. That night, as I was getting the sheets out of the dryer, I checked to see if all of the "substance" had come out. I opened the dryer and low and behold... there was a green, alien-like light coming from the spots on the sheets. Whuuuut could this be??

And then I remembered that Aaron's mom had sent a lovely Valentine's day package earlier in the week with glow-in-the-dark SILLY PUTTY for the boys. How silly of me to assume it was anything other than silly putty! Did you know that silly putty ruins sheets? It can also freak out parents of little, innocent boys.

All is back to normal around here....

and by normal, I mean, C-R-A-Z-Y spelled out in neon lights.

pink and puke

For Valentine's day, this little love painted his hand pink.

He also threw up all morning, which kept us from Ben and Luke's class party.

He can be such a party pooper sometimes.

baby's first Valentine's Day... sort of.

I spent about an hour tonight reading from last year's journal entries. I wanted to see exactly when we KNEW it was time for another baby. Tears came to my eyes as I read over the handwritten pages. These entries are personal, but I feel like sharing. (wish I would have time to scan them in... but it's already past my bedtime).

January 4, 2011

While eating breakfast this morning, Aaron told me he had a dream that I was pregnant... and that he saw our baby GIRL! He told me he thinks it's time for another baby. I feel overwhelmed just thinking about adding to the chaos. Sy-Guy is quite the handful these days. Can I go through another pregnancy and newborn? If I knew it would guarantee a daughter, I would do it in a heartbeat. I want a little girl so badly.

January 30, 2011

I had such a rough day today. Sundays aren't my favorite anymore. Zack, Simon and I came home from church early. I think Sy-Guy might have an ear infection. I feel terrible. Aaron was gone most of the day and when we finally had a chance to talk tonight, he told me he had another dream about a baby girl. I wish HE could get pregnant and carry her around for 9 months. I don't really feel like signing up for that. I am feeling very overwhelmed. Luke's birthday and baptism is this week. I hope I can make it through and make it special for our sweet Lukey boy!

February 5, 2011

Luke was baptized today. I was feeling a little stressed when we arrived at the church, but as soon as the program started, I felt so much peace and gratitude. Ben gave such a wonderful talk. And Luke was just SO sweet. During his confirmation, I felt very strongly that there is another baby waiting to join our family. It was clear and undeniable. I guess Aaron knows what he's talking about after all. Let's just hope all of his baby GIRL dreams come true! I feel ready to start trying for #5.

February 9, 2011

So, I am three days late. I am not usually late, so I decided to take a pregnancy test this morning. It was negative. But it was a dollar store test, so maybe I should go and buy and more expensive one. ??? Maybe I will give it a couple of more days. I will be really surprised if I am pregnant.

February 11, 2011

I wanted to wait until Valentine's Day, but I just couldn't wait any longer. The test was negative again. Instead of throwing it away, I set it on the counter next to the toilet and went about my day. When Aaron got home from work, I went to throw it away and over the course of the day TWO lines appeared! I can't believe it. I want to take another test to make it official, but I don't have one. I will have to wait until tomorrow morning!!

February 14, 2011

It's starting to sink in that we're really expecting again. We had such a special (quiet) Valentine's Day today after a crazy weekend. I am so grateful for a husband who wants to have a big family and supports me, emotionally and financially. He is such a good man. And my boys are wonderful too. So wonderful, that I would even be happy to get another one just like them. I am feeling tired, but so, SO blessed.

*****

February 14, 2012

Our roly-poly baby girl has been such a blessing in our lives. Last Valentine's Day (weekend) we found out we were expecting her. I didn't know she was a she, but I hoped and prayed for her. She is so beautiful and sweet. She's also a drama queen. I can't put her down for more than 5 minutes and I am still not getting ANY sleep at night, but I feel so blessed to have her in our home. She giggles hard every night before bedtime and it's so adorable. We can hardly get the other kids to say goodnight and go to their own rooms because we all just want to be around her. Oh how we LOVE this chunky girl.

My Valentine's present from Aaron (besides the smart phone he bought for me that I will not be keeping) is a new van. I can't believe I will be driving a 15 passenger van around town. The kids are ecstatic.. I am not exactly "EXCITED" about it, but I know it's the right vehicle for our family. I want to have enough room to grow. And no, I am not expecting again, but I don't want to be stressed about not having enough room for our kids, and their friends. Life is getting more complicated by the year (month/day) but this is such a good life. I am so grateful. We have been tremendously blessed.

today

the good

• waking up to an empty house (we donated two car loads of junk to goodwill yesterday)
• listening to the MoTab/spoken word while getting my 5 kids ready for church
• putting Ro in a vintage pink dress made by my grandma
• painting her fingernails for the first time. so cute!
• visiting with wonderful friends in the mother's lounge
• team teaching the teenage sunday school class with my husband
• whole wheat waffles for lunch
• connect four, pictionary, banangrams
• cutting heart (and dinosaur) sugar cookies with the kids
• uplifting message from our home teacher
• delivering treats to neighbors
• driving with the windows rolled down and radio blasting
• laughing at (and with) our sleepy, chubby baby
• kneeling together for family prayer

the bad

• not taking a picture of Ro in her cute outfit
• realizing my seats weren't in my van when we were rushing to church (we took them out to fill it with junk last night and forgot to put them back in... oops!) my husband was gone, so the two older boys had to help me. We weren't strong enough and ended up dropping it on my toe, in high heels. I said the S-word. that's the first time I've ever sworn in front of the kids.. oops. on a Sunday and everything.
• leaving the kitchen a mess tonight... sprinkles everywhere!

the funny

Me: "Boys, will you set the table?"

Ben: "I don't want to, but I will."

Me: "That's not the right way to respond when I ask you to do something."

Ben: "Why? That's basically what Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane... and He's perfect."

Me: "True. But He was asked to sacrifice his life, not set the table."

Ben: "Both are things I don't WANT to do."

Me: "Then I would prefer you say: "Not my will, but Thine, be done."

junk food makes you fat

Not a good day today. or a good week, really. If I am going to be honest 2012 has sucked big time. I should embellish, but I'm not going to. Instead, I will share something that made me laugh. Luke spent a loooong time writing this paper on my laptop. When I first read it, I laughed. I thought about having him change it, but it's his work and it's, well..... honest. As I went to shut down my computer tonight, I read it and laughed again, so I thought I'd share.

Can you read it? It's not exactly politically correct, or kind, for that matter. but he's not exactly running for President. yet.

when stripping down solves your problems

This morning I heard the water running in our backyard. That is never a good sound--- especially after the recent flood we had when Sunny broke the faucet to the hose.

I ran out to find two little boys, dressed in warm zip-up pajamies, playing in the mud. I wanted to scold them, but Zack spoke first saying, "It's okay, Mom! We wanted to take off our clothes and jump on the trampoline ANYWAY!" And that's when I realized, that sometimes stripping down solves all your problems.

After watching them jump in their skivvies for some time, I knew I would be sad if I didn't get a couple of Zack's wild moves on film.

If that's not enough for your liking, this video will give you an accurate showing of what I got to witness this morning. They will only be little boys for a short time. That's what I'm praying for, anyway.

* my favorite 4 seconds of the video starts at 1:11. Those are signature Wacky Zacky moves.

Happy Birthday, Luke!

Nine

It's 2 AM on Feb 3, 2012. I am awake because I had a nightmare (who still has those at 32 anyway? I get them all the time.) Anyway, as I was trying to go back to sleep, I looked at the clock and started thinking about my Luke. I decided to tiptoe downstairs and snuggle up to his nine year old body for a minute.

Nine years ago today, on the hour, Luke entered the world. It was SUCH an easy labor (3 weeks early. He was born 3 hours after my water broke, only an hour after I arrived at the hospital). His little 6 pound body didn't make a peep and it worried the doctors a bit, until they realized he was sleeping.

He was the easiest baby to adjust to. It should have been stressful for me, having #2 only 19 months after my first. I was in my last semester of college took off a couple of days to have a baby :) Luke was a sleeper from the beginning and never needed or wanted anything from anybody. Being around him for the past 9 years, I totally understand why he was such an EASY baby. The kid adjusts to whatever situation he's in. He is confident and secure with himself and never wants or needs anything to make him happy. He gets along with everybody. When people ask me how I got such a cool, chillaxed kid, I sing Lady Gaga's song, "He was born that way."

four months old

it feels like a decade has passed since October first. it's only been four months???? It's seems as though our little Roma Rue has been with us forever. It also seems like forever since I've gotten a good night's sleep. She's been in our bed since day one and I can't seem to get her out. I have so many darling pictures of her, but not the time to upload them tonight... you see, she is crying next to me as I type. They will all eventually be put in her photo album and that's what matters, I guess. But I do want to share a quick shot taken tonight on Daddy's phone just after scriptures and prayer with the family...

This little girl is so very lucky to have four older brothers to protect her. Tonight as we were kneeling together, I noticed how the boys were talking about snipers and fart potion and "gluteus maximuses". I told them they need to start talking about nicer things like flowers and feelings and such. I explained that when their sister gets older, she is going to want them to tell her how pretty she is. Without missing a beat, Luke replied, "But, Mom, what if she ISN'T pretty? Do you want us to lie to her?" That's the age old dilemma that men have to face when trying to compliment women.... I guess they should learn it sooner than later. YES, in these matters, if worse comes to worst, you must lie. But I have a hunch that this little 4 month old is going to grow up to be quite the looker. If she takes after her mother, that is.

kidding. Lame that I am ending it here, but I must.

Happy 4 months, baby girl. We love you so.