Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Tuna Macaroni Casserole

Tuesday: Lazy Perogie Casserole (Make enough to freeze half)

Wednesday: Beef & Lentil Soup (Freeze some)

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas (Freeze half)

Saturday: French Dip Sandwiches

Sunday: Leftovers

Weekend Fun & Busyness

We had a busy, fun weekend celebrating Nathanael turning 2. On Thursday, my parents rented a hotel room and invited us all to go swimming and have ice cream. The water was very warm, and we had the whole pool to ourselves, which was so nice. Everyone had a great time, and swimming is definitely the best exercise for pregnancy, in my opinion. Instead of baking a cake this year, I simplified everything and bought a cake (it was only $5...half price). The decorations consisted of a dollar-store toy and a cake topper I printed off (that said Happy 3rd Birthday...oops. Stress + pregnancy brain = mush for a brain!) On Saturday, my sister offered us her free hockey tickets and her babysitting services so that hubby and I could go out on a little (cheap!) date. The entire date night cost only $11 (supper at A & W with a coupon) who knows how many more opportunities we will have to go somewhere without the kids with this baby`s arrival quickly approaching...and if we end up moving, well.....I don`t even want to think about that :-(.  That was crazy nice of her to do that for us!!! Unfortunately, we all came down with another cold or sinus virus again. We all seem to be starting to get over it except for Nathanael who is having coughing fits. I`m hoping he doesn`t develop bronchitis again. He seems to always cough so much when he gets anything.

We are making progress with baby names, so that is a relief! I was starting to panic a little since we hadn`t even talked about it until this weekend. I think we are *almost* settled on a name now,. Hopefully my sister-in-law won`t steal it on us...she`s due just before I am! I was first to have my baby with number 1 and 2, but it looks like she will beat me with number 3. My other sister-in-law is due just after me, so this baby will have 2 very close-in-age cousins on both sides of the family. I have been having lots of braxton-hicks contractions lately. I never had this many contractions with the other two, so it`s kind of interesting.

Emotionally, I`m doing quite a bit better than I was a month or two ago. I am praising the Lord for that.  For quite awhile, I was really, really struggling with depression. By depression, I don`t just mean having a bad day here or there. I was truly struggling to get out of bed. I was sobbing every.single.day. I didn`t want to talk to anyone. I was exhausted because it seemed every ounce of strength I had was spent just trying to get through each day and fight the lies from Satan. I felt like a completely different person, and it was horrible. I hadn`t been in that kind of place since middle school. While trying to explain this all to my husband and help him understand, I told him I should just tell people to just call me Susan - that`s how unlike myself I felt!  It was strange and awful. The only thing I could do was pray for God to pull me out of the pit I was in. And, in His mercy, He did. One of the worst things through this all was that I became very self-absorbed. Depression does that to a person, I think. I needed to be there for my husband and support him through all this,  but I was so absorbed with just trying to survive each day, that it was very difficult for me to support him in the way that I should.

 I still struggle here and there since life is *hard* right now, not knowing where the Lord will lead us. This feels like a major turning point in our life, so there are plenty of emotions involved with that.  It is not like it was months ago, though. I would not consider myself to be depressed anymore. Occasionally, reality hits me very hard and I can feel panic starting to set in. However, I need to trust the Lord. Not many people understand what`s going on in our life..and even fewer people completely agree with us. That is hard. However, we rest in the fact that the LORD made it abundantly clear. I mean....He basically put it on a billboard for us! In moments of discouragement, we rest in the fact that we obeyed God...even though it seems to have cost us a lot, from most people`s point of view. Doesn`t the Bible tell us that there is a cost involved in following Christ...

I think the words of this song we sung in church this morning sum up our prayer right now. 5 years ago, we never would have thought we`d be at the place we are today. We thought we had our life all figured out and everything was working out exactly as WE thought it should. As Christians, however, we should be willing to continually surrender our ambitions, hopes, and plans into the Lord`s hands.

Don`t get too comfortable in this world. Following Christ is a life-long surrender of our ambitions, hopes, and plans. Hold everything with an open hand.

All for Jesus - Robin Mark

Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.
Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.
All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.

For it's only in Your will that I am free,
For it's only in Your will that I am free,
Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.

Menu Plan Monday

Things are very busy around here, but we are accomplishing a lot. We are making progress in the organizing and purging, but there is still so much to do before the baby arrives in then next 4 weeks or so. We STILL don't have names picked out!

Monday: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (NEW meat sauce recipe) *Freeze Half*, Salad
  *Note: This new meat sauce recipe was a HUGE hit with everyone...even my husband who does not particularly like spaghetti said he could have this once a week. I was shocked. It will be my new go-to recipe for spaghetti sauce and replaces my old recipe*

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Easy Swedish Meatballs (NEW) Egg Noodles, Mixed Veggies

Thursday: Sweet & Sour Chicken, Rice, Stir Fry Veggies

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: Leftovers or Tuna Macaroni Casserole

Menu Plan, Sleep Deprivation, & Freezer Cooking

We have been quite busy this week, so I haven't really had time to blog until now. Well, so much for Nathanael doing really well in his toddler bed. I knew it was too good to be true when he was only getting up 1 to 3 times! Most of my nights (meaning midnight until 8 am) are spent dragging my 35 week pregnant self off the couch over 25 times to put him back to bed. Worst part...putting him back to bed for the 10th time in an hour, thinking he's finally asleep again, a-l-m-o-s-t falling back asleep myself and then BAM! He's up again. I'm thinking I'm getting a combined 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night if you add up all the 20 to 30 minute spurts I get between him getting up. This is definitely more exhausting than tending to a newborn! However...I am incredibly spoiled right now because after my graveyard shift is over around 8 am, my husband, who slept during the night, gets up and keeps the kids occupied downstairs so I can get 2 or so hours of uninterrupted sleep in the morning. Even with that early morning nap, I'm feeling quite sleep deprived, but it is definitely manageable with hubby taking over for a couple hours in the morning.  If he was working AND I had to deal with this sleepless toddler 25 times a night plus tending a newborn 4 to 6 times, and then get up in the morning and take care of the three kids all day...yikes. I am praying, praying, praying that Nathanael's sleep situation gets sorted out in the next 5 weeks before the baby arrives. This week is a little busier in the kitchen as I'm scrambling to get our freezer stocked before the baby arrives.

Here's the menu plan for this week:

Monday: Crockpot Balsamic Beef (NEW - this was quite good and only took 5 minutes to throw together, but I felt it was a little acidic and needed a bit more sugar to balance it), Mashed Potatoes, Salad, Peas/Carrots

Tuesday: Picked up fast food after running errands all afternoon & doing our exhausting monthly grocery trip.

Wednesday: Turkey & Rice Casserole (Freeze half), Peas/Carrots, Salad
*Prep for tomorrow: Thaw 4 chicken breasts and marinate overnight for Penne Chicken Casserole and Chicken Enchiladas freezer meal. Thaw frozen spinach for Penne casserole*

Thursday: Broccoli Soup for lunch (Freeze half)
               :Pesto Penne Chicken Casserole (Freeze half) & Caesar Salad
*Prep for tomorrow's pizza pockets: Make pizza sauce, slice pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, onions, peppers, grate cheese)

Friday: Leftovers
*Make homemade pizza pockets for freezer. These are time and labour-intensive, but our whole family really likes them.*

Saturday:  Homemade Pizza

Sunday: Leftovers