February

Is tomorrow the first day of March already? As you can probably guess from my lack of blogging, February was a complete blur! My last semester or nursing school is keeping me very busy! On a positive note, today marked my halfway point for clinicals and we're only 1 1/2 weeks away from spring break! I want and NEED a break....school is stressing me out; June 19th can't get here fast enough. These just may be the longest 3.5 months of my life.

Anyways, I finally uploaded a few pics and videos. I will hopefully have a handful of blogs posted in the next week.

Here is the first video, taken January 13th, 2012. Don't mind Harper's hair - it's much cuter now that she got it cut {future blog :)}

My little pianist ~ learning how to play the only thing her mommy knows - Twinkle Twinkle

Documentation

One of the main reasons for my blog is to document important happenings in our lives. Well, Adam made a comment tonight that I just HAVE to document so I can refer back to it someday.....

While we were watching the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament tonight on TV, Adam said "I hope our next kid is a boy and that he wants to be a wrestler."

I think my jaw hit the floor since Adam didn't grow up a wrestling fan. I am happy to say that I converted Adam from a basketball fan to a wrestling fan! Woo Hoo - now if only we were guaranteed to have a boy next....Well I take that back - girls can wrestle too {and place at state :) }

Matilda

Matilda...one of the best family movies EVER! Matilda is a sweet and smart girl who loves to read...AKA - Harper!

As I've mentioned before, Harper loves reading books. We have always read 2 books to her as part of her bedtime routine. There has been a recent change to her bedtime routine. In addition to Adam or I reading 2 books to Harper, she now has to take the books to bed with her so she can read them herself.

It is so cute to spy on her as she flips through each and every page, smiling and laughing at the illustrations. She sometimes "reads" the book herself, but she mostly just flips through the pages. When she is finished reading, she carefully places the books back on her rocking chair, crawls back into bed, and covers herself back up. She is sweeter than pie!

We take a trip to the library at least every 2 weeks so Harper can check out 2 new books. I generally try to help her select books that she will enjoy, but sometimes she has her little heart set on a certain book. By the end of the 2 weeks, Harper can recite majority of the book. It's crazy! Her current book of choice is "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," which she has mostly memorized. I think we will try to stick to this series and work our way through each book.

Have a great weekend!

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

After a week of zero blogs, I'm back! This last semester or nursing school is flying by, which is a good thing! My week is ending just when I think it has started - I feel like I have no time for extracurricular things (like blogging). My new love for Pinterest has even been moved to the back-burner. I snoop around on Pinterest mainly for recipes. Here is a recipe that I'd like to share with you all, Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili. An easy and delicious winter recipe. My brother-in-law even asked for this recipe after he tried it - so this is definitely worth sharing!

Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, undrained

1 can Rotel, undrained

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

1 tsp cumin

1 TBS chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 8 oz pkg light cream cheese

2 chicken breasts (mine were frozen)

Directions: Place chicken at bottom of pot, then pour corn, Rotel, and black beans on top. Top with seasonings and ranch mix. Stir together. Place cream cheese on top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hrs. Stir cream cheese into chili. Use 2 forks to shred chicken. Stir together and serve. Optional: top with shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips

* I didn't have the cumin or onion powder on hand and it still tasted scrumptious!