A Couple Of Things...

I've had a few things on my mind lately, but not sure what to blog about...hmmm.  Here are a couple of things that you might like to know...

-First of all, would you like a great recipe for dinner??  My Mom made this for us awhile ago and I had forgotten about it until I ran across the recipe last week.  We had it last night and we both LOVED it!  It has wonderful flavor and its very tender because you marinate it overnight.  Plus, it's a perfect dish for fall due to the cranberries and the gorgeous color it turns out to be :) I know, that's probably not the first thing you think about, but I'm just saying....it does look pretty on a plate!

Cranberry Orange Chicken

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (# depends on you.  It makes enough sauce for 4-6 I think)

1, 16oz. can whole cranberry sauce

1 C bottled French salad dressing

1/2 C orange juice

1 envelope lipton onion soup mix

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt (Lawry's)

-Spray 9x13 with nonstick cooking spray.  Arrange chicken breasts in dish.

-In bowl, combine all ingredients and pour over chicken.  Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

-Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

-Serve with brown or wild rice and Enjoy!

-I know you are all following our naptime drama extremely closely (haha!) but I'm happy to report that we have made significant progress in this area!  Little Ava proved to be a tough match for my patience, as she made it clear that she would not be caving in to my demands for a nap in her crib without a fight, BUT I countered her move and also made it clear that I would not be caving in either!  So, several days later, we are napping exclusively in our crib now, 2 times a day.  Most of the time we still have some tears, but only for a couple of minutes, however we've also had a few delightful exchanges without tears!  So, I know it's been worth it to hang in there and I know this will just continue to get better.  I've nanny-ed (I realize that's not a word) too many kids to know that nap time is worth the effort and usually resolves itself with routine and repetitiveness.  For those mommies who told me they were also struggling with this, here is what I did...

-Added some toys to her crib, to make it a little more cozy for her.  Just a bunny, a blankie, and some pacifiers for her to play with.  

-Kept the room as dark as possible, with the hum of her humidifier, just like we do at bedtime.

-Came up with a little naptime routine (books, rocking, singing, etc.) that helps her know it's time to sleep.

-Stuck with it, even when she screamed!  I never let her scream for more than 5 minutes without going in there, rolling her over, patting her, "shhh-ing" her and trying to reassure her.  BUT, I never picked her up or talked too much to her.  I wanted her to know that I was there, but not giving in :) Sad, but it worked!

So, after wanting to pull my hair out and start screaming right along with her, I'm happy to report that we have made it over the hump.  I think :)  We're still not as far along as I hope to be in this area, but we're going in the right direction.  I think this weekend we will officially bid the swing adieu and pack it away.    It's been oh so good to us, but it's also run its course.  Not going to lie, that kind of makes me want to cry...she's growing up too fast.

-Changing gears to something happy, we had some family photos taken last weekend and I am so happy with them!!  I'll show you some more when I have them all, but here is just a little sneak preview...

Oh how we love them!!  The shots of Ava just take my breath away.  She's so cute and I can't believe she's ours!  Our friend Jeff, did such a great job and we're so glad we got them taken before the snow starts flying for the season.  You just never know in Minnesota....

-I suppose that's all I can come up with for tonight.  I need to wake someone up for dinner and make myself some dinner :) We're skipping church tonight and just relaxing a little bit.  Ava has had too many days on the go and so have I!  We always like to go and support Travis as much as we can, but it's also nice to take a break and stay home too.  Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!