September Menu

September Menu 2011

Sun:	Mon:	Tues:	Wed:	Thurs:	Fri:	Sat:
			3)	1)	2)	3)
4)	5)	6) Meatball Subs	7) Pork over noodles	8) Parmesan Ranch Chicken Nuggets	9) Hot Dogs	10) Fish Packets
11) Breakfast for Dinner	12) Crispy Chicken w/ Potatoes	13) Green Chili Tamale Pie	14) Ham, Broccoli, Cheddar Mac-n-Cheese	15) Chicken & Veggie Noodles	16) Pizza	17) Chili-topped Baked Potatoes
18) Grilled Cheese	19) BBQ Chicken	20) Zataran’s	21) Pasta	22) Pork Roast & Potatoes	23) Quesadillas	24) Beef Stroganoff
25) Breakfast for Dinner	26) Grilled Chicken Wraps	27) Penne Pasta Bake	28) Fish Packets	29) Honey Lime Chicken	30) Taco Soup

Baby Girl has arrived!

I posted this a few days ago on our baby website @ www.abercrombiebaby.ourbabychannel.com. I figured I need to add it here, too, so I won't forget about it!

Anna Ruth arrived early early morning on Saturday, July 23, 2011 - 4:04 a.m. to be exact. We had been at the hospital for almost 12 hours & it had been a long night! She was the 7th baby of the night to be born, and there were 16 babies in the hospital while she was there! For a small-town hospital, that is a lot! When we went to the hospital Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., I wasn't sure I was in labor. They checked and I was 2 cm. dilated, but most of the pain I was feeling was above my left hip in the back, so I thought it might be a kidney infection. They put us in the only room they had left - a tiny little observation room.

At 7:00 p.m. Dr. Gilliland came in to check me & see if I was really in labor. In those couple of hours, I had progressed to 7 cm! There were no labor & delivery rooms available at the time, so we had to stay in the observation room. They started my antibiotic & thankfully got an epidural started! By 9:00 p.m. they were able to move us over to a L&D room, which was much bigger. We had to wait at least 4 hours for the antibiotic to kick in, so they just let us hang out in there & try to sleep as much as possible. I was really glad we brought the ipod! At 11:00 p.m. they came in to check again, but I was only 8 cm. They gave me another dose of penicillin and we waited some more. Eventually they came back and broke my water & the party got started!

At 3:45-ish a.m. we were getting ready to start pushing. Unfortunately, all through the night they had to keep adjusting the epidural as it wasn't blocking the pain as it should. By the time we were delivering, I could feel everything. If you know me, I don't do pain, so it wasn't a pleasant experience! Poor Zach had to put up with me saying I couldn't do this & keep telling me that I could. Of course, the dr. told me I had to (what other choice do you have at that point?) Thankfully, the reward is greater than any pain you endure, and I don't remember the pain too much! Anna Ruth was born at 4:04 a.m. just perfect as can be. She scored a 9 & a 10 Apgar! We got to hold her & feed her, & we even let her poop on Zach's hand as he was about to carry her to the nursery - she had to show Daddy who was boss!

The grands brought the boys over to the hospital around 9:00 a.m. to meet their little sister for the first time. It was so cute watching them peek into the bassinet! Elias loves his sister so much & wants to kiss her all the time. Jacob loves her too, but would just as soon play toys - short attention span! Because we were both doing so well, the drs. actually let us go home a day early. It was so nice to be home and sleep in my own bed! Anna Ruth has settled in nicely, eating & sleeping every few hours. Even though we've only been home for 2 days, it feels like she's always been here!

Menu for the month of April

I've decided to try to plan a menu for a whole month, in hopes that this will prevent us from eating out every week (I'm sure we'll still eat out, but hopefully if something is planned for dinner, we will eat out less!) I was inspired by http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/: she's been posting her meal plans on a week to week basis, but last month started posting a month at a time. I took her menu for the month of April as my base, then fixed it up to suit our tastes & schedule.

When I looked online, I noticed that there either aren't many meal planners out there, or if there are menus available, they all cost money. I'm not paying someone to come up with what we're having for dinner! And then a few of my friends said they were interested in seeing the menu I came up with because they have a hard time deciding what to have for dinner, so I figured that the easiest (ie - only way I know how!) way for me to do this would be to post it.

I will say that I do love to cook, and I love variety, so the fact that we're having the same things twice in one month is pretty unusual. I usually try to plan meals that don't require a lot of time in the kitchen, too (say, 30-45 minutes average, unless it's something I can put in the oven & go do something else) so these meals aren't very complex either. And the boys can be picky eaters, so as this progresses, we may have to change things, just so they will eat.

So, if you're interested in knowing what the 'Crombies are having for dinner, here goes:

April Menu

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
					1)	2)
3) Spaghetti Dinner @ Church	4) Vegetable Stir Fry and Rice	5) Creamy Italian Chicken w/ Broccoli	6) Tacos	7) Fish w/Rice & Veggies	8) Pork Tenderloin w/ Baked Potatoes	9) Faith’s Bridal Shower
10) Seafood Risotto	11) Breakfast for Dinner	12) BBQ Chicken w/ Potato Salad	13) Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas	14) Burgers & Hot Dogs	15) Pizza	16) Date Night!
17) Worship Team	18) Parmesan Ranch Chicken Wings	19) Navajo Tacos	20) Ham w/ Mac -n-Cheese	21) Shrimp Stir Fry and Rice	22) Pork Tenderloin & Pierogi	23) Easter Egg Hunt for the boys
24) Easter	25) Breakfast for Dinner	26) Baked Ziti w/ Salad	27) Sloppy Joes	28) Fish w/Rice & Veggies	29) Pizza	30) Cheesy-Bacon topped Chicken

(Somehow, my formatting from Word got silly when I pasted it in here, (help!) but you get the general idea.)

I'll let you know how well we stick to the plan by the end of the month!