Moist Chicken Recipe

I made a delicious dinner tonight. This is one of my favorite dinners that I make. I am not the best cook, but I am learning. This one was actually hubby approved.

What you need:
4 chicken breasts halved
1 cup of Greek Yogurt (or low fat sour cream)
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of seasoning salt
Sliced mushrooms
Panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Slice mushrooms to the thickness you prefer.
Cut chicken breasts in half and place them in a 9x13 baking dish.
Mix yogurt (or sour cream), Parmesan cheese, and seasonings together.
Put mushrooms over the chicken and pour the yogurt (or sour cream) mixture over the chicken breasts and mushrooms.
Put it in the oven for 25 minutes.
Take it out, put bread crumbs evenly over the chicken, and put it back in the oven for 20 more minutes.
Take it out and Voila... a delicious dinner is ready to be eaten!

Home at last!

We are so happy to be home with our little girl. Jenni Anne is doing so much better. She is eating well, sleeping, playing, and almost back on a normal schedule. It is so good to have my baby girl back. She may not be 100%, but she is slowly getting better. We went to the doctor today and he said it will take a week or so for the symptoms to be over, but about 6 weeks for her immune system to be back up. I just feel so helpless. I cannot wait for Georgia weather to get stable. Wait... who am I kidding? Georgia weather is never stable. It is 32 degrees one day, 60 something the next, and then back down. No wonder my baby girl and half of the ICU and hospital have RSV!

I am just happy that she is getting better and that we are home! We honestly could not have gotten through it without the prayers and support from our family and friends! Thank you!

My help comes from the Lord

Another night spent in the hospital, but I am happy to say that we saw our little girl smile tonight! I cannot explain how happy that little smile made me. And to follow the smile, we were able to get a few giggles. I am loving having her normal-self slowly come back to us. I miss my happy little girl. But the good thing is, she is much better than she was when we came in. The hardest things is going to be to wait. They had to stop giving her the breathing treatment because they said that it isn't doing anything. The good thing is thtat she is completely off oxygen and almost off the IV. The bad news is that we don't really know that much. Some of the doctors and therapists say that she will be going home in a few days and some say tomorrow. I am not really sure what it is, but I am grateful it is soon. I am a little hesitant with her going home and still wheezing, but I know two things:

1. She is in the best place that she can be. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite is one of the best Children's Hospitals and they have been amazing at getting her better.

2, but most important. God. It is simple as that. He will not give us anything that we cannot handle. I went to look up the Bible verse that states that, but instead found out it is in fact not in the Bible. We get it confused with this verse, 1 Cor. 10:13 (NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. The Bible never says that He will not give us anything that we cannot handle, but the secret is to lean on Him and trust that He will get us through it.

I am leaning... and I am trusting

Psalm 121

I lift my eyes unto the hills,

Where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the Lord, 

The maker of Heaven and Earth

Tongue tied

Lately, I have been a little tongued tied and haven't found the right words to write. I have caught myself thinking, "You have this blog where you have the opportunity to share... where are the words?" Honestly, I am not sure where the words went off to. I would like to think that the Lord tucked them away for a little bit, to allow me to spend a little extra time with my baby girl. The past few weeks have been busy at school and by the time I get home it is bath time, a little play time, dinner time, and then bed time. We try to fit a story in there when we can, but bed time usually comes in the middle of the night-time bottle. So, I am guessing this is where my words went to. They went to a little extra mommy/ daughter time.

Speaking of my sweet baby girl, she is now not feeling so well. On my husband's birthday, in December, we were at the ER with her. On my birthday in January, she was sick with the flu. Yesterday was our wedding anniversary and we spent the night in the hospital with RSV. To us RSV is just a little cold, but to a baby it can effect her oxygen levels. The last time she had it her oxygen levels were great and we didn't have to be seen at the hospital, but it is a little different story this time. Her oxygen levels aren't super low, but they also aren't where they would like them to be. She has been hooked up to oxygen all night and day, nurses have been coming in and out checking vital signs, giving breathing treatments, and fixing the beeping on the machines. Needless to say, no sleep for Mommy and Daddy. Baby, however is getting some much needed rest. I am just hoping and praying that she gets to feeling better soon. There is nothing worse than seeing your baby sick and knowing that you can't do anything more to help.

I was looking for a Bible verse that might help me, and the minute I came across this verse, I received immediate calming. I am going to end with it today. It is amazing how the scripture speaks to you just when you need it the most.

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Friday!!!

It is finally Friday! I absolutely love my job, but I also love weekends with my family. This is the first weekend in a while that we haven't had any big plans.... and to tell the truth, I am looking forward to it. It will be nice and relaxing.

Tomorrow, Jenni Anne and I will be going over to my parapro's house, with another teacher friend, to watch the last 3 episodes of Downton Abbey. Tomorrow night, we will have leftovers, and curl up on the couch to watch a movie. Then Sunday we will join our new small group and go to church service as a family. This weekend may not sound like much, but it is just what I want.

I am so blessed to have everything that I do! The Lord is so good!

Go Spread the Word...

Over the past two weeks, my mind keeps drifting back to a part of a sermon that my pastor preached. You're probably thinking, "Wow! You're still thinking about something that was said weeks ago?" Why yes I am.. Which must mean that it reached out to me.

He made the relation that spreading the Gospel is like a cure to cancer. If someone that you know is dying of cancer and is only given a short amount of time to live, and you found a cure to cancer, what would you do? Would you keep it to yourself? No!!! You would get it to them, make sure that they were cured and then you would share it. You may share it with a few more friends and then eventually the whole world. You wouldn't stop until everyone knew that you found a cure to cancer. WOW!!!

That is exactly like spreading the word, except we are often too scared of what people might think, or making them uncomfortable. As my preacher put it, "Make them uncomfortable." Spreading the gospel is not a cure to cancer, it is a cure to death. It is the gift of everlasting life.

So this is my challenge to myself and anyone who is up to it. Take that first step, share it with a close family member or friend. Then take it a little farther, and a little farther. You are holding the "cure" in your hand... what you do with it is up to you.

Go spread the word...

Mark 16:15-16
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."

The sweet blessing of friendship

I absolutely love when we get to spend time with good friends. Today my best friend Lea, Jenni Anne's godmother, came by with her boyfriend. She was in town and stopped by to visit her goddaughter, and best friend of course.

Lea and I have been best friend's since we were two years old. I am always so excited when she is in town, because we don't get to see each other as much as we would like to. She brought over mine and Jenni Anne's Christmas present and we were finally able to exchange our gifts. I am in love with the stress relief lotion and hand soap. She nailed it... stress relief is just what I need. I am even more in love with what she gave Jenni Anne... Two Arthur books. These books were very special to Lea and I when we were growing up. We used to read Arthur together when we were in school, watch the T.V. shows, play the board games, and collect the dolls. Marc Brown didn't realize what a special character he created when he made Arthur. To this day, I still love Arthur. I am not sure if it is that I still love the books themselves so much, or if it is the memories that surround them.

The Lord doesn't put people in your life on accident. He places them to come in at exactly the right part and in mine and Lea's case, well I guess He knew that we needed each other the entire time. I am so blessed to have her as a best friend.

Jenni Anne has no clue how special these books are. I hope that one day she will be able to share them with a true best friend.

Jenni Anne is the luckiest little girl to have her as her Godmother.