Recipe Wednesday - Slow Cooker Enchilada's

I'm pretty sure that I've never been more thankful for my slow cooker than I have these last few weeks of pregnancy.  It's next to impossible to handle preparing dinner with my pregnant self with Charlotte's "help" these days which leaves us options of eating out, having Jason make dinner, or me making it while Charlotte's asleep.  I am so thankful that I've found some really easy slow cooker meals that I've been able to put together during nap time and have been really good for dinner!  Jason is great at helping me out, but I hate to ask him to make complicated dinners as soon as he gets home from work so this has been our life saver.

This is, yet another, recipe that I found on Pinterest.  You should definitely check out my Recipe board on there if you need some new ideas.  Please note on this recipe that I didn't use any meat.

Slow Cooker Enchilada's

1/2 yellow onion, diced small
1/2 bell pepper, diced small (any color)
1 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded and divided - we like monterey jack
2 16-ounce jars of your favorite salsa
12 6”-8” tortillas, flour or corn
Optional: 1 cup leftover meat - chicken, pork, hamburger, or shredded beef

In a medium bowl, mix together the onion, pepper, black beans, corn, spices, meat (if using), and just 1/2 cup of the cheese. Pour about a cup of salsa (half a jar) into the bottom of the slow cooker and spread it around evenly.

Scoop about 1/3 cup into one of the tortillas, roll it up, and nestle it into the bottom of the crock pot. Repeat with the half of the remaining filling, rolling tortillas until the entire bottom of of the crock pot is filled. Spread another cup of salsa over this layer and sprinkle it with another 1/2 cup of cheese.

Continue with the remaining filling and tortillas to create a second layer. Top with another cup of salsa, but reserve the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese for later. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 2-4 hours. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, sprinkle the leftover cheese over the top and let it melt.

Serve the enchiladas with the remaining salsa. Leftovers will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

First trip to the Beauty Parlor

Charlotte has needed a haircut for a while but I was putting it off.  I decided that we would have a "girls afternoon" after James was born and go and get her a haircut.  But around the beginning of August I realized that if I wanted her hair to still look cute and not too raggedy then I needed to go ahead and schedule it.  So we set up a "first haircut" appointment the afternoon of the first day of school (why not make the day as crazy as possible?!?!).

Charlotte was so excited about her haircut and kept talking about "going to get her hair cut" and her "first haircut."  That is, until I asked her if she was going to sit still while they cut her hair and then she started crying and shaking her head saying, "They can't cut my hair!"  Apparently the phrasing was important!

But by the time we got to the kids salon she was excited again and couldn't wait for her stylist to get her!

Charlotte chose the airplane chair (her Daddy is obviously rubbing off!) and got a pink, Hawaiian drape to wear.  She was excited at first, but quickly grew tired of sitting and asked me to "get her up".  But despite a little bit of drama she sat (relatively) still and let her hair get cut a tiny, tiny bit.  It really doesn't look very different just a tad shorter and a little more straight across.

She got a purple balloon as we left and was so proud of her "first haircut"!

Giddy Up!

This year, Charlotte is in the Pony class for Mother's Morning Out, and she couldn't have been more excited to go back to school.  She has the same sweet teachers this year as last and had so much fun meeting her new classmates the week before school started.  She woke up on the first day of school and asked if she was going to gymnastics.  When I told her that she was going to school she got so excited and asked if she could go right then!  

I try to dress her in an outfit that matches her class name for the first day of school and had the hardest time finding something cute with a horse on it.  So I ended up asking Hillary at Mint Julep Monograms if she had anything and she found an adorable horse applique for me and put together such a great shirt for Charlotte.  I was anticipating a little bit of resistance to wear it this morning since Charlotte has been in a big dress mode for the past few months but as soon as I showed it to her she couldn't wait to get it on! 

Once we got her dressed we headed downstairs for some first day of school grits but Charlotte could only get through half the bowl before she was telling me she was done and ready to get to school.  I told her that we had to take pictures first and so she grabbed Priss and headed out front to let me snap away.  She wasn't the most cooperative with the pictures, but I did get some that I loved!

As soon as she could corral me, we were out the door and on our way to school.  I was a little nervous about drop off since it had been a while since she'd been and she wasn't handling being left that great right before school got out in the spring but I hoped that it would go good when she got out of the car and posed for a picture!

She walked right into the building (holding my hand, of course) and walked straight into her classroom without looking back.  Her teachers had some balls out on one of the tables and she immediately found a small pink fuzzy fuzzy ball like hers at home, picked it up, went and got a book from the bookshelf, and sat herself down in a little rocker and started "reading" to herself.  She didn't even bat an eye when I told her bye!  

The ease of the drop off honestly made me a little nervous that it had been too easy and that the rest of the day wouldn't go as great!  But when I got there to pick her up her teachers said that she had a great day and had NO potty accidents (which was my biggest fear).  I couldn't believe that her first day went so great!  I had promised her a pink milkshake if she didn't have an accident at school and thankfully I believed in her enough to have already gotten one and have it waiting in the car.  We headed out to get her milkshake and her first day of school present!

A new lunchbox and a book might not sound like great presents to some kids, but for mine any bag and any book are HUGE treats!

Charlotte also loved her "pearls"

And Mickey and Princess stickers are always a hit!

I am so thankful for such sweet teachers in such a great school that Charlotte loves.  It makes it so much easier to leave her twice a week knowing that she is being so well taken care of!  And it doesn't hurt that she loves it too!

I enjoyed her first day of school also.  I had kind of forgotten how nice school days were and enjoyed running some errands, seeing some friends, and getting a shower without the monitor being on!  Too bad I only have five more school days (as of the first day of school!) before I'll have another little one with me even when Charlotte is in school!  I'm going to have to use my limited days as much as I can!

And a funny note about Charlotte's class.  It's made up of nine kids, five girls and four boys.  When we chose Charlotte's name we wanted something that meant something to our family, was pretty classic and traditional, but was also a little different in our area so that she wouldn't always have to add her last initial to the end of her name (being Jason and Jennifer growing up that was always the case with us!).  So we chose Charlotte and knew of NO OTHER Charlotte's.  However, out of the five girls in her class, THREE of them have the first name Charlotte!  I couldn't believe it when her teachers told me that!  One of the girls goes by her middle name but there are two Charlotte's who go by Charlotte!  As of right now they're trying to call the other Charlotte by her name including her middle name because she goes by that some, but they might just move them to last initials if that doesn't work.  How funny is it that we thought we had come up with such an original name but it ended up being really popular the year she was born!

Raising Little People

As the Mom of a little girl and a soon to be (or here, depending on when I actually post this) little boy, I'm thinking a lot these days about raising kids.  About the things that I want to instill in them and teach them so that they can grow to be fine adults who know their worth and are positive, productive members of society.  I've got a little bit of wiggle time with James to figure out this whole "raising boys" thing, but I feel like I need to be very careful of what I'm teaching Charlotte right now since she is remembering (and repeating) everything she hears right now and while she won't remember this stuff long term, she is already shaping her perception of herself and the world.

Since I am a girl also I feel like I have a leg up on things that I don't want to teach her.  While I have two wonderful parents who always encouraged me and told me I was beautiful and could be anything  I wanted to be, the world still got in and over the years I have let the world and Satan change my perception of myself.  I wish I could just gift Charlotte with all of the knowledge that I have right now looking back on my growing up years, but life doesn't work that way.  I'm sure my parents wished the same thing with me and my brother when we were growing up.  I guess the only thing I can do is work purposefully to instill the correct things in her life and pray a whole lot that she listens to God's voice much more than the voice of the world or my voice since everyone other than God is going to slip and send the wrong message at some point.  Oh, and blog about it so that in ten years if she so chooses to see what I was thinking on this particular day maybe she can be reminded of some of this.

It seems like I've seen a lot of things recently about raising girls.  I currently have 5 Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter and Six Ways to Keep the "Little" in Your Girl in my "to read" list as well as Secure Daughters, Confident Sons and 5 Conversations You Must Have with your Son on my Christmas List.  But in addition to those I've had things popping up on my Google Reader about raising kids and have seen items on Pinterest about it.  I hope that means that our world is changing to help make it easier for parents to teach their kids the right things, but I think it's probably more than I've just been stumbling across some good advice.

Like this from Pinterest:

Which reminds me that even at this age, Charlotte is watching me.  There's a reason she loves shoes and jewelry right now even though she's only two.  There's a reason that she loves having her own phone and loves typing on the computer.  I don't want her to learn right now that the scale matters.  (Thankfully I've been setting a GREAT example of that during this pregnancy :) but I've got to remember to keep modeling it when I'm trying to loose this weight that I "didn't care" if I put on.)  The scale should never matter.  It's a number that tells not one thing about a person.  And the number is personal anyway -- 130 lbs on one person looks totally different than 130 lbs on another!

Now, I want her to eat right.  To learn to love veggies and fruit and milk and water.  To choose something other than a soft drink at a party and to only eat if she's hungry and not because she's bored.  And those are things that I have to keep in the forefront of my mind that I want to be teaching her.  Because how can I teach her that if I'm not modeling it?  (Hello pot, yes I'm aware that I, the kettle, just called you black!)

The note on that pin is a quote from JK Rowling:

"I've got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before 'thin'. And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermione's, rather than Pansy Parkinson's. Let them never be Stupid Girls." 

- J.K. Rowling

And that's the truth, I don't want Charlotte to care about a number on a scale or what size jeans she is wearing.  Better to be a smart girl who is interesting rather than someone people avoid being around because all they talk about are calories and the current diet they're on!

And not to keep harping on appearance (when I really want Charlotte to think about everything other than her appearance), I also love this picture of Emma Watson and the quote with it.  

Everyone has different opinions on what's "ok" to dress your toddler in and what's "ok" to dress your child in and what you give in to in letting your teenage dress in, but I think this is something important to remember and also model.  There are so many beautiful clothes out there that aren't revealing and don't send the wrong message and I want Charlotte to understand that being beautiful is not about showing the most skin.  Protecting yourself emotionally and physically from negativity is so important and I want her to grow up knowing that she doesn't have to compromise any of her standards to be beautiful.  That being beautiful comes from showcasing your personality and talents and gifts that God gave you and making your body reflect your love for Him and not your love for yourself or the world.  

I don't really know how to teach this yet, but want to be able to point out this picture to her and tell her about this famous actress who told People that showing skin isn't a prerequisite to being beautiful.

On a very different note, this morning I had a blog post pop up in my Reader that was a posting of an article by another actress that I admire, Bethany Joy Galeotti from One Tree Hill. I don't normally read the Huffington Post (as most people I'm sure would assume about me) but I went to check out the article that Bethany reposted and loved it even more the second time I read it.  If you have time, go and read Lisa Bloom's article entitled "How to Talk to Little Girls."  I promise it will make you think twice about making a little girls' outfit the first thing you comment on when you see them.  Because, again, I want Charlotte to know that her clothes don't make her who she is.

But the most important thing that I want to teach Charlotte right now (again, I don't know how to do this so ideas are welcome!) is reflected in this quote:

We're definitely dealing with discipline issues now, she is two after all, and I'm sure those will only escalate when little brother enters the picture.  But we're also dealing with a two year old who hates to get in trouble and starts repeating "I'm sorry Mommy!" when I apologize to her for doing something like hurting her tender head while brushing the tangles out.  Charlotte definitely is the child of a Mom who hates to mess up and who sets way too high of a standard for herself and others.  It's something that I'm constantly working on -- not letting the "should's" take over my life and giving myself and especially everyone else a break when we don't accurately predict the future and handle any misstep before it occurs.  This propensity to want to be perfect it's definitely something that I DON'T want to pass down to her and is something that I need to constantly think about not modeling to her through my behavior.

The fact of the matter is that God doesn't require me to be perfect and if HE doesn't require that, why in the world should I require that of myself?!? While I want Charlotte to grow up and set her goals high and work hard to achieve them, I also want her to be comfortable with messing up because life is messy.  Grace is the always there for the taking while perfection is always elusive.  As her parents we want her to miss the "big mistakes" that kids make -- smoking, drinking, most anything to do with boys until she's 30, etc -- but even a biggie like that won't make us, or God, love her any less.  

As I'm writing this Charlotte is asleep taking a nap.  I had a long list of things I needed to do to finish preparing for James' arrival but I also knew that I wanted to get these thoughts down so instead spent most of nap time on this post.  This morning Charlotte picked out her outfit for school and it included a pair of pants that have a sequined peace sign on them.  One of her favorite questions right now is "What does ____ mean?" which leaves us with a lot of scrambling trying to figure out how to explain the meaning of Tuesday or the name of our city or a peace sign.  

So this morning when she asked me, "What does a peace sign mean?" I thought about it and told her what I think a peace sign should mean.  I told her that a peace sign means, "God loves everyone."  And as she was walking down the stairs she asked me again what it meant and I asked her if she remembered and she said, "God loves everyone! God loves Mommy! God loves Daddy! God loves ME!" And as she yelled "ME" at the end of that I wanted to wrap my arms around her and block out the world.  Because I never want her to forget that most importantly, God loves her.  We all love her and will do everything we can to be there for her no matter what, but there will be times in her life when she's alone and no one can come and pick up the broken pieces other than God.  And He will do it, every single time, because God loves CHARLOTTE. And that, in truth, is the most important thing and even if she doesn't hear anything else that I teach her, if I can teach her to hold tight to that fact every day of her life, I will have succeeded as a Mom.

Becoming a Big Sister

We wanted to get Charlotte something special as a "Big Sister" present.  On the Fourth of July she saw all these kids riding bikes and said that she wanted a purple bike.  We felt like this would be a great Big Sister gift and so set out to find out.

Charlotte, I want you to know that your Daddy and I searched online and in stores for one whole weekend looking for a purple bike for you.  We found only two possible options and they both were not made as well as we would like and we were afraid that you would outgrow them very quickly or they would fall apart on our, sometimes in disrepair, road.  So after searching all weekend we talked with you and asked you if a pink bike would work if we couldn't find a purple bike.  Once we showed you a picture of the bike that we were thinking of you were very amiable to that choice and told us that you would like a pink bike.  Over the next month or so you did occasionally mention a purple bike but also remembered sometimes that we couldn't find a purple bike.

A few weeks before James' scheduled arrival we decided to bring out the bike.  When we woke you up from your nap we told you that you had a present outside and you got so excited!  We were very excited to see your reaction and you didn't disappoint!

 Schwinn Roadster 12-Inch Trike (Pink)

Learning how to ring the bell!

After the big reveal we moved it down to the parking pad to take a try at riding it.  For a while she wasn't interested in getting back on it and just wanted to touch it and show it off.

In order to get her out of the sun (and at her request) we moved the bike to the shaded grass next to the street.  It still took her a long time before she would get on it again, but eventually she did!  She still didn't want to try and ride it though, just wanted to sit on it.

We had brought her helmet out but decided that since she wasn't going to be riding it herself most likely since she didn't know how that she didn't need it at first.  But she eventually spotted it and asked to wear it for a few brief minutes.

Finally, she decided that she was ready to ride over to Tucker's house (across the green space) so she set off with Daddy's help!  She did great keeping her feet on the pedals but did have some problems steering.  I'm not sure if it was just that she didn't get the steering concept or if the handles were too heavy for her to turn.

Giving Papa a first bump

Overall, it was a great afternoon with a fun, new present.  Hopefully she'll get the hang of pedaling and steering fairly quickly and will love her new bike.  One thing is for sure, she doesn't approve of it being called a "trike".  She quickly corrected Papa when he called it a trike and told him in no uncertain terms that it's her bike!

*Note about finding the bike: It's hard to tell from reviews which bike is going to work and which one is not.  The box and specs for this bike technically says that its for kids 28-36 inches or height (or something similar with 36 being the tallest).  Charlotte is right at 36 inches tall right now and with the seat on the closest position, her feet are just barely reaching the pedals.  I'm not sure how their calculating those heights but if she were any shorter the bike would be too big and it will definitely work for her long after she grows a lot more!  The bike is made very well and is all metal with rubber wheels so should be pretty durable.

Helping tiny babies

Our Regional NICU serves the entire upper portion of North Alabama and some of Southern Tennessee.  The babies that it sees are tiny and fragile and clinging to life with a very tenuous thread.  The Melissa George Neonatal Fund was established six years ago to raise money for these babies and since has raised over a million dollars and bought many life saving pieces of equipment.

Since the NICU is regional, this fund benefits the entire area and has become a cause that I am very passionate about.  While I have, so far, been blessed to not have a baby in the NICU I feel for mother's and father's who have and want to do all that I can to improve their babies chances of survival.  This year I helped with the live auction for the Miracle Bash and was so blessed to be able to help in a small way.  Jason and I had a great time at the event and a record setting amount of money was raised.  I'm already looking forward to next year's Bash and a few years when Charlotte and James can swim in Swim For Melissa!

Recipe Wednesday - Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

This recipe from Pinterest is very similar to the Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken that I posted a while ago.  The main differences are the addition of corn and that you put the cream cheese in the crock pot from the beginning.  This gives the dish a little more creaminess since the cheese has been in the entire time and also a little healthier feel since there is corn in the dish.  Both are great and I'll probably go back and forth on which variation I cook depending on whether I have corn in the pantry or not!

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

One package of chicken brea sts (or more)
8 oz of Cream Cheese
1 can of Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of Corn, drained and rinsed
1 can of Rotel

1. Put chicken in crock pot.
2. Put cream cheese over chicken -- cutting into blocks to spread over the entire area.
3. Put in the black beans, corn, and rotel.
4. Cover and cook -- 6 hours on low, or 3 hours on high.  Stir periodically if possible.
5. Serve over rice or on tortilla's.

Shoes like this would make any girl happy!

Charlotte recently got some new pink tennis shoes and after a few days of resistance she decided she wanted to wear them and you couldn't get them or the smile off of her face!  I'm pretty sure if I had tennis shoes like that I would want to wear them with everything too!