Chicken Pillows

Found this recipe on Pinterest!

Chicken Pillows (I renamed it because the other name for this was lame!)

2 (8oz) cans of crescent rolls
1 can cream of chicken
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk

Filling:
4oz cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
1tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 large chicken breasts cooked and finely chopped
1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar
2 tbsp milk
1-2 cups cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13in dish.

Mix together milk, 3/4 cup cheese, and undiluted soup.

For the filling, mix cream cheese with butter until smooth. Add garlic & onion powders. Add in chopped chicken and cheese and mix well. Add 2 tbsp milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper (*I don't think it needed anything!).

Unroll crescent rolls. Place 1 heaping tbsp chicken mixture on each triangle and roll up starting at wide end. Drizzle small amount of soup mixture on bottom of dish. Place cresent rolls seam side down in dish. Drizzle remaining sauce on top. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake about 30 min.

Motherhood is NOT a Competition

So I'm going to try my best to get a copy of Time magazine today so I can actually read the article, but after reading several rants and reviews, I know what the gist of it is.

The picture on the cover of Time magazine this week is very provocative, featuring a sexy 26 year old mom nursing her (much older appearing) 3 year old son, who is standing on a chair to reach her breast. I agree with a post I read that Time missed the opportunity here to show a mom cuddling her 3 year old while nursing, since no one really nurses their older child in the position they chose. Ever.
I wonder if people would have been so weirded out if they had chose a more nurturing pose? But controversy sells.

Now on to the title, which suggests that you're a crappy mom if you don't/didn't breastfeed. I've been on both sides of this. My first child was a boy, and I was young and unprepared for breastfeeding. I thought it would come naturally, and let me tell you, it did not. It hurt like heck. He had a terrible latch & I didn't know how to fix it. I gave him a bottle too soon and he developed nipple confusion. My pediatrician finally convinced me I would still be a good mom if I put him on formula, so I did. That was the best decision for all of us at that time. I still felt like a failure as a mom. Had I seen this Time magazine cover right after that happening to me, I would have probably curled up into the fetal position and cried for days. When my next baby was born, a daughter, I was determined to make breastfeeding work. With a lot of determination and perserverance, I nursed her for 18 months. She self-weaned. I am now nursing my 3rd baby, another girl, who is 8 weeks old. I plan to nurse her until she self-weans. I hope she nurses until she's 2.

What I take issue with through all this is how harsh people are reacting towards moms who choose to nurse for an extended period of time, which to most people is beyond the age of 1. I have never nursed an older child, but I know several moms who have. Most of them were still nursing their child at 3 years old. I know those kids, and they turned out just fine. They are smart, independent, and well-adjusted. Just as much as my first child that was not breastfed for more than a month is.

It is commonplace in most other developed countries in the world for 3 year olds (and older kids) to still be nursing. They even do it in public and people don't bat an eyelash. Here is what the World Health Organization recommends:
"Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond."

The Time article apparently also focuses a lot on attachment parenting (AP) which basically encourages you to breastfeed for an extended time, baby-wearing, co-sleeping, and gentle discipline (no spanking allowed). I practice some of these things, but not the idea as a whole. It just doesn't all work for our family. However, one thing I leave up to my kids is the breastfeeding part. I don't force it on them or make them do it longer than what they wish. My son was not happy breastfeeding, so we stopped at a month. My first daughter decided 18 months was enough for her. My 8 week old is loving it, and I'll do it as long as we are both happy with it; if she decides she's done before I am, so be it. As long as she is nursing, I'm happy, so I guess it's mainly up to her.

There are no proven negatives to extended nursing, with in the toddler years. My own personal opinion is that weaning should probably start to be encouraged by the mother if the child is still nursing at 3 years old, but that is just me. But if a mother chooses to nurse her child until he goes to kindergarten, so be it. I am not a member of that family, and I don't know what works best for them and why. Who am I to judge? I guess if it were wrong to nurse a child that long, our bodies wouldn't be capable of being able to do so.

What NOT To Say To a New Mom

Well-meaning attempts at conversation are made by well-intentioned people to new moms who are homonally hyped up, sleep deprived, and uncertain how to navigate the newborn baby territory, and often those comments make these new mommies second guess their own instincts.
Here are a few of my pet-peeves that people have either said to me or to friends of mine with whom I've had this conversation:

1. "If you're anxious, the baby can sense that."

No. crap. You're kidding? REALLY? Any self-respecting new mom that has read ANY parenting book or magazine article has heard this, unless they've been living under a rock. And if they haven't, that's okay too because if they've had their baby home for at least a week I'll guarantee they've picked up on this tidbit. Saying this to a new mom shames them for having normal feelings of anxiety that ANY person would have after caring for a new baby that's on their 3rd hour of an afternoon crying jag. By drawing attention to the fact that her anxiety is making the situation worse negates her right to be frustrated sometimes. It's not all roses all the time with a new baby, and you're not a bad mom if your baby cries and that makes you anxious. It was such a relief when a friend said to me once, "You know my newborn son was having one of those afternoons where all he could do was cry, and I had just about lost it, so I put him down in a safe place, and I just went outside and screamed. As loud as I could."

2. "Is mommy starving you to death?"

Ok, this is something you don't say to the baby. But I'll bet when this is said to baby, mommy is within earshot. With each of my children when I was breastfeeding, especially in the early days, if they opened their mouths for any reason at all, I put my boob in it. It was the one thing I could do that would stop the crying and make everyone in the house happy for at least 20 minutes at a time. And a lot of times, this happened every hour that I would need to do this. So for someone to come visit, hear the baby whimper, and automatically assume that the baby was being "starved" even if it was said in a sing-songy baby voice was devastating to me as a new mom.

3. "Is the baby sleeping through the night?"

Because the answer is almost always no. And it is then implied that you are doing something wrong as a new mom when your baby is not sleeping through the night at 2 months old. Some people are this lucky!! I so far only was this lucky with 1 of my 3 children (my 3rd is only 7 weeks but I don't see her sleeping through the night anytime soon).

4. "Well I raised (insert number) kids and they all turned out fine."

I don't care how many kids you raised. And if you were raising kids before 2000, things have changed just a little. It is no longer safe for a baby to sleep on its belly, and carseats are required by law. I know your kids survived sleeping on their stomachs and rode in the front seat of the car beside you, however, a lot of smart people got together and did some studies and discovered that a lot of kids died because of those parenting practices. Therefore, new recommendations and even laws were passed to protect as many children as possible from dying unnecessarily. When it comes the safety of children, please don't make a new mom feel ridiculous for doing what she feels is necessary.

5. "Just give the baby a bottle."

This comment right here is what cut short the breastfeeding relationship I had with my son. Not all babies go from bottle to breast easily, and the chances of that happening sky rocket if a bottle is given too soon. It's called bottle-preference, or nipple confusion, either is equally detrimental to breastfeeding. It's not as easy as just giving the baby a bottle for everyone.

6. "Maybe your milk is not rich enough."

This one was never said to me but it was to my mom. All I can say is LOL! How crazy!

7. "It's okay to take the baby out in public before she gets her shots, it will build her immune system."

Not everyone has the same feelings as me on this, but I kept all my babies in until they had their first round of shots. My pediatrician told me that if my newborn were to run a fever before the first round of shots, protocol was for the baby to have a spinal tap because it was likely that it was meningitis. There had been confirmed cases of pertussis, which can be deadly to a newborn, in the county we lived in and surrounding counties. These were reason enough for me to keep my babies home, and screen visitors as much as I could. It is ridiculous to think you can build a baby's immune system by "innoculating" her with exposure to sickness. A baby's body is spending all its energy growing in the early weeks; why would you want to subject it to sickness too?

8. "That's not a real smile, it's just gas."

For lots of new moms, those first smiles are the only tangible reward she gets from baby for all the hard work she's putting in caring for her newborn. Don't steal her joy!

9. "Don't hold the baby all the time, you'll spoil it."

You can't spoil a newborn baby. ALL newborns want to be held, all the time. It's not a new concept you're teaching them by holding them. They are born wanting to be held. They have gone from being in the warmest, coziest, safest place on earth, constantly being rocked, swayed, and serenaded by their mommy's voice and heartbeat, to being thrust out into a cold, hard, bright world, and having to wear clothes and diapers. So look at it this way, all babies are born spoiled.

So there are a few of the things you shouldn't say to a new mom.

How about things you should say? Here are some suggestions:
1. What can I bring you for dinner?
2. Where is your laundry room?
3. Would you like me to take your older kids outside to play while you and baby nap?
4. You're doing a great job ;-)

And baby makes...FIVE!!!!

Oh. my. goodness. I haven't posted to this blog since 2009!!! EEK! Well, to catch you up to speed, we bought a house, got new jobs, and had another baby. That's the short version.

Colby Jane Waggoner was born Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 9:49 pm weighing 8lbs 1oz & 19.5in. Healthy, and even with hair!! Who woulda thought?? I still can't believe I have a baby with some hair. She is just perfect!

Holt is now 6, and Lacey is 3. Holt is in kindergarten, loves superheroes, playing the wii, and can't wait for summer so we can swim all. day. long!!!! Lacey is going 2 days a week to preschool, and loves it. She loves princesses, high heels, and being my shadow. I don't know how I functioned before she dictated every aspect of my life at home! She also can't wait to swim. all. day. long!!!

Ryan is now working at PCA (the paper mill) in Counce, TN. It's shift work, but wonderful benefits, and no headache of owning our own business anymore! I'm now teaching at Hardin Co High School. I'm still a nurse, but I am teaching the health science classes students take in high school that want to go on and work in the medical field. I LOVE my job! It's something I've always wanted to do.

Of course, we bought the PERFECT house for a family of 4. We are now a family of 5. We plan to make it the perfect house for a family of 5 now! We have a swimming pool, and plan on that being our "staycation" spot until we can afford to take the kids to Disney, hopefully in about 3 years. I'll try to take some good pics of the house when we get the pool open and post about it.

Update!

Haven't posted in a while. Here is an update on the Waggoners.
Ryan is still in business for himself with RW Top Coat. Things are going pretty well, he is staying busy for the most part. If you need any painting or home improvement done, let him know!

I'm still working 4 days a week at Savannah Healthcare. My schedule has been crazy for the last month or so because we've had a few nurses leave and some out sick so everyone has been playing fruitbasket turnover with the schedule. I also have fallen off the Weight Watcher wagon. Don't know when I'll get back up on it. Just not motivated anymore, don't have time to think about it, and have NOT been in the mood to cook whatsoever.

Holt is still loving Love and Learn Preschool. There was an incident however last week while they were eating lunch. There was an uninvited guest under Holt's chair in the cafeteria: a (baby) garden snake! Needless to say, chaos ensued when it was discovered and we're still talking about snakes!

Lacey is sitting up and creeping around everywhere. She is getting up on all 4's and rocking, trying so hard to just full-out crawl. So sweet! We're still nursing. She's in that sweet phase where every so often, she'll pull off and look up at me and smile or giggle. I love it!

55 lbs to go!

Well, I bit the bullet this week and started Weight Watchers. I did it after Holt was born and lost about 35 pounds on it. It was easy, and I can actually say I enjoyed doing it. I like that it really makes you aware and accountable of everything you put in your mouth. You learn to fill up on satisfying foods, so unlike a lot of other diets, you're not always hungry.

Here are my goals: I want to lose a total of 55 pounds. I want to be on track so that I lose 10 lbs by Labor Day, 30 by Christmas, and 55 by next Easter. I don't know when Easter is, but I was afraid if I made it by our 5th wedding anniversary, which is March 5, that would be pushing it too much. I may adjust dates depending on how I do.

I am still exclusively breastfeeding Lacey, and plan to until she is at least a year old. They say that doing WW while breastfeeding really boosts your weightloss. I hope it does, and can't wait to weigh in next Monday night for the first time this go-around!

My Little Party Animal

Another funny Holt story:

Mom, the kids, and I were on a little afternoon shopping trip to Jackson, which was by definition, a fiasco, but anyway, we were talking about her taking care of my grandmother's healthcare affairs. She was talking about how difficult it was being the responsible party and then jokingly said that I had it to look forward to with her, my mother-in-law, and my aunt (whose only child died as a teen). I proceeded to protest that declaration by stating "I'll not be the responsible party for all of them!" To which Holt shrieked, "Yes mommy! We ARE going to the responsible party!" He doesn't miss a thing!