Chicken Pot Pie

An old friend of mine shared this recipe with me awhile back and I LOVE it! So easy to make and absolutely delicious! Just serve with some warmed crescents. I buy those in the cooler section near the sour cream and such.

Directions:
1 stick of butter (1/2 c.)
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped onion
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
Cook these ingredients until thick and bubbly.

Add:
2 2/3 c. chicken broth
1 c. milk (will thicken)
I allow this to thicken for a few minutes

Next add:
3 c. cooked, cubed chicken *I buy chicken tenders and cut them up and cook them in a skillet with some olive oil for a few minutes)
1 1/2 c. carrots
3 medium potatoes, peeled, cubed and para-boiled
3/4 c. frozen peas
1 can of corn or frozen corn
(or you can buy one package of a frozen vegetable mix)

I do the first two first and then mix everything in a large glass baking dish.

Bake at 425 degrees, for 30-35 minutes.

36 weeks!

I can not believe I am 36 weeks pregnant today! The last several weeks have gone by so slow compared to the rest of my pregnancy. Up until this last week I have had a decent amount of energy and have been feeling really good! I feel this pregnancy has been such a blessing and much easier than I thought it would be once the first trimester was over. I have hit a point of complete exhaustion. It has been so hard to do much of anything. I finished everything I needed to get done and our bags are pretty much packed and ready for the hospital. We are due on the 22nd of October but I think she will be here sooner. MY doctors appointment went great on Wednesday. I got to see Abby wiggling around and being her silly self. I am 1cm dilated and 80% effaced. That does not mean a whole lot since some women can be like that for weeks. Next Wednesday we will find out more. My doctor told me to consider getting induced on the 12th of October. I am not sure there are any super good reasons but I will find out more next week. It is just exciting to know she will be here soon! I am ready to hold and kiss our little girl! I love her so much! I think she is going to be such a cute little snuggler!
I love seeing Collins excitement grow for his baby sister! He talks about her and how she will be with us soon! He is so so so good with babies! I am just excited to see them play together and watch him help out!
We are excited for all God is doing in and through our family! We just love God so much and praise Jesus for everything! We would be nothing without Him and so we pray to give God all the glory and raise our kids in a way that honors God!

Hoping to post about my labor soon! Hopefully it will be a great post about how little pain I was in and how easy labor was..... lol!!!! Probably not realistic! Keep me in prayer. I am a bit anxious but I know God will be with me and my husband is going to be so great by my side!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Our Birthday Boy!

Collin celebrated his 10th birthday today! We can not believe how much he has grown! He is no longer in the single digits. Soon our little guy is going to be a teenager! For his tenth birthday he requested a Mexican Fiesta and Pumpkin Pie. He did not really want toys but was so excited to get his high class scooter from his mom and grandparents. Other than that he got "straight cash:)". This year Collin has really matured into a young boy. I can not remember the last time he cried, he is very loving, he is doing very well in school. We pray God continues to open his heart and open the gospel to him. That would be the biggest and best gift to us. In the meantime we continue to pray for our boy and study with him and raise him in the ways of the Lord.



Collin and baby Noah! He loves holding babies and playing with them:)


Our Mexican Fiesta:) I made too much food! Does anybody want some shredded chicken!!! Goodness!


Happy Boy!


Collin requested Pumpkin Pie. He does not like cake:)


Aunt Becca, cousin Tay, and Collin. He does not look happy in this picture but he was super excited! He loves his baby cousin and aunt! What a fun day we had!

About 34 weeks pregnant

It is so unbelievable to me that on Saturday (two days away) I will be 34 weeks pregnant. I have been really looking forward to this point because if Abby comes early she will be ready for life here. Our little girl is due in 6 short weeks! She is growing, kicking, poking, prodding, and seems healthy. I am measuring at 33 weeks which is great. Our doctor is still my favorite and so amazing! He has helped me to be calm throughout this pregnancy by Gods grace. My belly is growing rounder and bigger by the day. It amazes me that soon we will be in a hospital where I might be in loads of pain and then it will be over and our miracle child will be here! I wonder what Abigail will look like? Will she have a full head of dark brown hair, with brown eyes and super cute lips like I have pictured:) Will she have a big forehead like she seemed to have in the 4D ultrasound? Will she be a good sleeper or super fussy? I am not worried about any of that I just wonder what life will be like with our beautiful daughter in the world! We are so excited to watch God bless and grow our family. Collin is going to be such a great big brother. We are so proud of him. He is doing so well in school and is maturing daily. I just love what a sweet child he is and pray God continues to soften his heart! We want more than anything for our kids to love Jesus and be awesome witnesses to Gods kingdom. And what a gift God gives us to raise children in His ways! I am sure it will be a daily challenge but we look forward to it. I am thankful to have a husband that will lead and guide our family in such a beautiful and Godly way. A husband who loves the Lord is the sweetest blessing outside of my own salvation. Praise Jesus!

Babymoon

Brian and I laugh every time we hear, read, or say the word Babymoon. However, after experiencing one we are so blessed and thankful for our night away before our sweet little girl comes into the world! (still a funny word though).
Yesterday Brian and I got a hotel at the Manchester Hyatt next door to Seaport Village. A very beautiful hotel that we got for a great price. We have come to love hotwire. You plug in the dates and the area you want to stay and at a very discounted rate you get a hotel but you do not know which one until you pay and confirm everything. When we got to the hotel they did not have a room with a view until 4pm. I was going to just wait until then but the man checking us in started talking to me about being pregnant and how this was our last getaway before Abby gets here. He gave us a free upgrade King size room which was larger and had more windows and a beautiful view with a check in right away! God really blessed our trip and time together! We did a lot of walking, spent a little time in the pool and soaked my feet in the hot tub, ate lots of yummy food, read, and just relaxed together! It was such a nice treat! As we walked back to our room from breakfast it started raining on us! It was really romantic! As much as we wanted to lay by the pool all day it was nice to see some rain and clouds:)
Praising God for all He does in and through us!



The view from our room!

As to the Lord

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."
Ephesians 5:22-33

What a powerful text! This is what we studied in our bible studies this week. For our Tuesday night bible study I kept thinking to myself, "how often do I fail to submit and love Brian?" I could not wrap my head around what this looked like and how bad I fail. I know that my nature is to lead and be in control.

Brian brought this great text up from Genesis 3:16,

"To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you."

I never realized that the desire in this text is referring to desiring to lead our husbands. It is not a good desire God is speaking of. This desire to rule over our husbands started at the fall.

The next day we were headed to our second bible study on the same text. On our way there we were talking about our little trip we are taking on Sunday. We booked a hotel downtown on the bay for a great price to celebrate our 1st anniversary in October and a last little night away for awhile before our baby comes. We are only going to have Sunday and Monday and I really want to make the most of our time. I said to Brian on the way to study, "are we staying for Sunday school as well after church." He said, "Of course we are." And I immediately got upset and told him that we barely get anytime to be away and I really want to make the most of it. Why cant we just go to church and leave. Brian says, "you know how hard it is for us that people spend so much time studying to present a message for Sunday School and most of the church just leaves after the sermon. We want to be there to grow and learn and support the speaker and then we can start out trip." I still was not hearing him out even though I knew what he was saying was the right thing. We went to bible study and I was completely convicted for not submitting to my Godly husband who loves the church so much he wants to lead our family in a Godly way. He will never book anything that would cause us to miss church. We just love the church body which is the Bride of Christ! How can you not? We have always wanted to make sure that even when our baby comes we will continue to be involved and be at church for both services and if I need to go home Brian will stay. How can I get irritated with my husband leading us in such a Godly example? I was so humbled the next day and really felt so loved and cherished by the leader of our home. I pray to grow in these areas that people think are so foreign and old school. And church is not just on Sunday we really want to be involved throughout the week as well in fellowship with the body.

If we follow the bible and love God than this is a text we too must follow as husbands and wives. What a blessing to be under Godly leadership!