Just to Avoid a Dance Off

So I was tagged in a Meme. And more importantly, it was by my friend Whitney. And Whitney... well... when she wants you to do something, she may sometimes come across as a touch pushy*. So, when I told her on gchat that I would not be participating in said meme, because I am lazy, I got the "SARAH! It's EASY! JUST DO IT." And I was like, "It's not easy WHITNEY!" But deep down she knew I would cave. Because she could maybe hurt me if she wanted to, and could totally beat me in a dance off if she wished to challenge me.

So, in order to avoid such a scene I just decided to go ahead and participate. But first I should apologize to all of you out there that have given me great blogging awards and tagged me in your own meme's. I have no excuse for not participating besides I am a rebel. Or because even though I am always excited when see I got something, I always promptly forget to ever post anything about it over here. So.... thank you all for the cool stuff you give me! I am sorry I seem to ignore it. I do appreciate it, I promise. It commonly makes my day! But apparently it requires a 15 year friendship, some all cap yelling my name and the threat of a possible dance off to get me to participate. I am lame.

Oh wait! before we start with the meme, I wanted to tell you all that I did a guest post this week! I am very excited to be the newest blogger to be writing over at Kir's Corner for Proud Mommy Moments. Stop by and read my proudest mommy moment. It's kinda sorta a sweet post. So, check it out if you have time.

Okay, on to the Meme:

1) My Most Beautiful Post: Oh lord. WHITNEY. Already...with the hard. Okay, I will go with this one. I have always loved this post and I sorta think it's beautiful.

2) My Most Popular Post: Based on both traffic and comments, this is one of my top posts. And I know it's sad. It's the day after out Last Chance FET failed. But the love and support that came from you all really helped me through a dark time. So, I am happy it was popular. Because sometimes it's more important to feel love and support at the hardest times.

3) My Most Controversial Post: I have no idea. I am not a controversial blogger. Like at all. I am a people pleaser. Still...breastfeeding posts are by nature sometimes a little controversial, so we will go with this one.

4) My Most Helpful Post: Hmmm... I am also not helpful. (This blog doesn't really give back, does it?) Maybe my Road Map for IVF's. I did one for FET's too, but I can't seem to find it now. But still, I guess the IVF one was sorta helpful, right?

5) A Post Whose Success Surprised Me: I was actually really surprised that you all enjoyed this story so much. I remember writing it, and really wasn't sure if it would be funny to anybody but me. But actually, I think that about lots of my posts.

6) A Post I Didn’t Think Got The Attention It Deserved: Ummm.... maybe this one? Just because I wrote it early on in blogging, so most of you haven't read it. Unless you read that post where I did what I figured were my top ten posts. (Because that is where I am getting a lot of these answers)

7) The Post I Am Most Proud Of: Okay, I am going to say this one about Missy and the cancer returning... mainly because it feels very honest. It was a difficult time, and I think my words came through better than I would have thought possible. Sad one to end on, but a very good post.

Okay! That's it. I did it! I would not call it easy (WHITNEY) but it was enjoyable. So, if you want to do it on your blog, I tag you!

*Whitney prefers to be called "Determined". Not pushy.

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Cici

Oh Cici,

We love you more than I could ever say. You have brought us such joy from the first moment we saw you. You are a light. And I cannot begin to imagine life without you here. Happy happy birthday our perfect girl. Your Aunt Sarah loves you so.

xoxo


Songs: I Just Call You Mine by Martina McBride, Just the Way You Are by Tje Austin, and Happy Girl by Martina McBride

*Boo doesn't have a blog, but I thought you all would enjoy seeing our sweet girls 1st birthday video since so many of you have grown to love her too over this past year.

* If any of you ever have questions about domestic adoption, I would love to talk with you about the joy this perfect child has brought to our family. you can email me at biogirl79 at gmail dot com.

Reviewing the Disturbing

I am really enjoying doing book reviews for Blogher Book Club, but this latest one was a little tough to stomach. How do you write a review for a book that, although you think is well written, you would never in a million years suggest a friend or family member pick up and read? That's what I have tried to do with my latest review. Give credit to an amazing author, while at the same time saying that it went too far for me. That it feels too real, too graphic and too damaging to actually be enjoyed.

If you want to read my entire review of Sapphire's 'The Kid', it is now live on Blogher! I would love to know if you agree with me, that some subjects are just too upsetting to read about and enjoy, or if you think a well written book is always worth reading and recomending.

The Perk of Temping

So I have been temping this month. I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, in case you forgot. Which is very possible. No matter how I act, I don't TRULY expect you all to remember everything I post on here. That's what links are for.

Anyway, I have been temping. And really, I was kinda excited about it. Mainly because of that science nerdy gene that lives within me. I realized pretty early on that I had been missing out on a very enjoyable graphing experience by skipping this process in the beginning! But as the month wore on, my graph started to look like the Andies and I realized that there is a surprising perk to temping. I tried to explain it to Nick, but he seemed sorta shocked by my conclusion.

Me: "You know what the best thing about this temping business is?"

Nick" "What's that?" (He is assuming I would say that it will OBVIOUSLY lead to pregnancy)

Me: "That it makes it really clear that there is no way I am pregnant"

Nick: "??"

Don't get me wrong. I love me some hope. I would come close to killing to be pregnant again. (I might take out a sickly stranger). But the last thing my little heart needs right now is any kind of false hope. As time ticks away, and my period gets closer or even moves to the 'late' category, to constantly be thinking "Maybe....possibly...it COULD happen!". To be obsessing. To be allowing the false hope to settle in my heart and become too real. That is where I would be right now if it wasn't for my temperature chart. Which, if you are interested, looks like this:


Fertility Friend, which is the app I am using to keep all my temps in order, does not see this chart as promising. When I click on 'Pregnancy Monitor' it informs me that it can't even be calculated because no ovulation was detected. When I click on 'Fertility Analysis' it gives me a red light and says "Probably Not Fertile". I realized later that is for the individual day, not for like my entire life. But still...it basically says it all. Probably not Fertile.

So... you know. It's sad. But at the same time, not surprising. So in a strange way it's a relief. A relief to know that glass of wine is okay, that I don't need to worry about the caffeine. That I am right, my body isn't doing this. So don't keep holding out like it is. It does nothing but make it hurt more when the hope ends up to be nothing but false.

TR-uck

Henry is such a boy. Like, some of the stuff he is in to, I don't even know where it came from or how it started. Last night he picked up the attachment to the vacuum and started pretending it was a gun, and then tried to shoot Cici (poor Cici). Where did he even learn that?

He loves trains and cars, tracks and crashes. He loves it all. His newest love is the truck. He sees them everywhere, pointing them out to us, making sure we all see the glory that is the truck parked beside us. The only little problem is that with his language still a little delayed, he can't exactly say truck. I mean... he comes really close. Just that pesky TR sound isn't really there for him yet. So, being the constant problem solver that he is, he decided to just replace the TR with another, similar sound. The F sound.

Henry: "Fuck!" pointing to the large truck beside us in the Lowes parking lot.

Mama: "TR-uck! TR-uck with a TR sound Henry."

Henry: "Fuck? Fuck? Fuck?"

Papa: "Yes bubby, it's a TRUCK. TR-TR-TRUCK"

Henry: "WOW...FUCK!"

Mama: "T-T-T"

Henry: "T-T-T"

Mama: "Tr-Tr-Tr"

Henry: "Tw-Tw-Tw"

Mama: *We are close! He will get it this time* "TRUCK Henry, TRUCK, TRUCK, TRUCK!"

Henry: "FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

Mama: "Good job baby. That's fine. Good job using your words."

Trouble

I can see it now. The trouble these two are going to get into together. It's funny to already see their dynamic. How Henry is a little more timid, but also always curious, always seeming to have a plan. How Cici is fearless, willing to give anything a try. A dangerous combination.

Earlier this week I was keeping them both on my day off from work. They were playing happily in the living room, so I went to check my email in our bedroom. I hear them happy and laughing, then hear Henry running down the hallway with his grocery cart. No big deal. But then I see him backing into the bedroom rather than going cart first. I have a bad feeding. What is he coming in that way? I go over to see what he is pulling and find this...

Henry says: "Mama, now don't get mad, I can TOTALLY explain!"*
Cici says: "Don't look at me that way. You only WISH you could ride in this thing. It's AWESOME!"

They make a run for it, but end up in a hallway full of closed doors. Cici says to Henry "this was your idea... you can get us out of trouble, right?"

"I don't see what the big deal is. I TOTALLY feel secure sitting on this basketball"

We are in so much trouble with these two.


*He also tried "obliviate" since he had his wand handy, but I am immune to memory spells.

**Welcome if you are here from ICLW! If you are curious about our infertility journey, you can read all the dirty details here.

Active

I have been wanting to try it for awhile, but I am left handed. It made it all seem more complicated. But recently Nick just said lets do it. We called to see if they had left handed clubs we could borrow, and this weekend Nick took me to the driving range for my first lesson.

I loved it. Truly. I cannot wait to go back. It felt good to be outside, doing something for me. Something with Nick. I am awful. Like truly dreadful, but I have to get better, right?

I was worried about what it would do to my back. I haven't talked about it on here, but my back is still extremely painful every night. The doctors aren't sure what to do about it, so they just give me things to reduce swelling and help with pain. Nothing really helps. So after the morning at the driving range I was worried. It was fun, but would it be worth the pain?

That night we watched some TV on the couch after Henry went to bed. When I went to get up I braced for the pain. That is when it is always the worst. After a long day, and then I rest it and it locks up. I can hardly stand. Except...after golfing it was different. It didn't actually hurt that much at all. I could stand up. I could walk around. It was LIKE MAGIC.

So, maybe the swinging motion worked out the muscle. Maybe it was just finally on the mend. Who knows. But my back is feeling better and I think I might actually have a new hobby.

The Non-Pregnant Belly

You all, I have an issue going on. One I am not even remotely happy about. You see, I seem to have a belly. One that if the FET had worked, and I was actually 8 weeks pregnant right now (to me), I would be pointing and saying "see how fast you start showing with a second pregnancy?? Isn't it CRAZY?" The key issue with this reasoning now is that I am in fact, NOT pregnant. So why is this happening to me?

I mean, I KNOW why it's happening. I am eating whatever I want. And... you know... not really moving around that much. But still..STILL. Must my weight decide to hang right around the middle, belly region? Maybe it's best. Maybe the fact that I look like I did when I was 3 months pregnant with Henry will be motivation enough for me to do something about it. I did turn down cookies and milk last night. So I guess that's a start. I am going to start working out with the Wii again too. I can easily do it with Henry, and it really is a decent work out. Better than what I am doing now, FOR SURE.

I need to move more. I need to eat less. It's a lot of the same old stuff, but now I really need to do it. There are no more excuses. No upcoming pregnancy that always led to the excuse "no need to bother. I will lose it after the baby". No need to worry about taking in the diet drinks or adding stress with the newest fertility treatment right around the bend. That's all over, so I just need to do it. I am not okay with looking pregnant when I am not. Even if I only look pregnant to myself fbecause I dont think I would look pregnant to a stranger, but I know what I looked like 3 months pregnant. I looked just like this.) It's just one more painful reminder of what I don't have. So since I don't have a second pregnancy, I can at least find a way to a body I am happier about. Starting now.

Rhi and Chris Tie the Knott

Well, we had a wedding this weekend. Everyone goes to this many weddings, right? It's almost getting embarrassing how many weddings I have blogged about. It's like I could list it as a category on my blog the way some people talk about food or beauty products. I talk about weddings!

Anyway, that is not important. What IS important is that my sweet friend Rhiannon married a wonderful guy on Saturday. And it was beautiful. Would you like to see? It was Henry's first ever wedding, so that is sorta exciting!

Here we are about to head into the church. How cute is his tie? Nick's mom made it, and it was so stinking adorable.

The beautiful bride walking down the aisle with her Dad

Husband and Wife. (for the record, the church walls did not actually look that color. They were mostly white with just faint lights on them, but somehow the distance plus my flash made them turn bring purple.)

On to the reception! Here is a shot of the girls hanging out waiting on the bride and groom to arrive.

the beautiful cake. (It was delicious. Our table tried all three types, just to be sure.)

The bride and groom arrive! They were both so happy. It was adorable.

Someone was a bit of a wild child at his first wedding. But soon he found a friend who brought trains. Why didn't his mama think of that?

Ryan and Arielle with the Sweet Cici

A sweet one of Rhi and Chris

And finally, all the girls with the bride! (I have no idea why only Morgan is blurry here. Like, WHY would that happen?? If anybody has a shot of this with our sweet girl in focus, I would really appreciate a copy)

So cheers to the new family! (It's apple cider... I am almost positive)

PS. After the wedding we snapped a couple extra pictures of these two. Thought you all might like to see them as well!

Hanging out in the yard

Beautiful Girl

Handsome Henry

Sweet Cousins

It All Ends (a Harry Potter Post)

Tonight at midnight thousands of people will flock to movie theaters to watch the end of something that has meant so much to so many people. He will not be one of them...

But soon. Just a few years bubby, then I will show you this magical world. This world that has meant so much to your Mama.

We are going tomorrow night with a group we have seen all the movies with. It will be awesome. And yet, it's sorta sad. The actual last thing.

The things I am most excited to see (Without any actual spoilers for people who haven't read the books)

1. The pensieve scene. I just... can't wait. For that part with "Always", for some reason it sorta makes me want to cry just thinking about it.

2. The walk in the woods.

3. Molly Weasely. Every little bit of that scene.

4. Neville, who, by the way, now looks like this. Right. But when he comes in at the end...Cannot wait.

5. The entire end. The entire thing. I just cannot wait to see this series that I love come to a close.

Oh how I hope Henry loves this like I have. I cannot wait to share it with him. To sit down and read a chapter a night. To watch the movies together. To go to Pottermore and experience it together, new for him and new for me through his eyes.

Soon. But for this weekend, it's all about Mama getting to see the end. And I cannot wait.

If you love the series, tell me what you are excited to see in this last movie. Are you going at midnight? Are you dressing up? I am wearing my Muggle shirt. After you see it, stop by and tell me what you thought!

Birthday Girls

So speaking of my amazing girlfriends, two of them had birthdays this weekend. And we went. And took pictures! Wanna see? I promise to tack on a kinda funny picture of Henry at the end. Does that make it more enticing? Or did I have you at "pictures".

The birthday girls. This is the only picture of Whitney, who may or may not have gotten a little intoxicated a little early in the evening. But it was a great birthday!

Me and Boo hanging out with Candice on the first of her many 29th birthdays

Me and Nick, now at a new location. I know you can't tell we are now on a different patio, but we are. And it felt important to mention. For no real reason at all. Also, I feel like I look really young here. Interesting. I need to memorize this look...

Oh right, this happened. People thought flaming Dr. Peppers were a great idea. I was the driver, so also got to be the photographer.

The Kelsey's joined is for the celebrating. Always a huge plus!

Andy giving the thumbs up to birthday celebrations

On Sunday we headed to my inlaws to celebrate Candice's birthday with the family. Here are her and Monty hanging out, getting ready to play a serious game of pictionary. We let the boys win.

Later in the day the new Zelda drew in the boys like honey draws flies. Yes my child is just wearing a diaper and a tshirt. What? We are all about the classy here in Kentucky.

And just for fun, here is a picture from yesterday. I told Henry to give Cici a hug so I could take their picture. This is what I got. Maybe we need to work on showing him to not squeeze Cici's actual face when giving her a hug...

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Girlfriends

People tell you when you are young, "Don't choose a boy over your girlfriends. Your friends will always be with you, and a boy could always leave." When I was really young I remember thinking "what silly advice. I would NEVER choose anybody over my best friends!". But adult women kept repeating the advice. As if it was a lesson they had learned the hard way. Happily married women would say "Don't give up your girlfriends. They are important!" and you could see, it was a painful thing for them. A true piece of advice they hoped that these girls in their teenage years would hear.

As I got older I remember questioning the advice. "But...shouldn't my future husband be who I am closest to? Shouldn't our family be first? Girl friends are good...but this love...it's better." But I always remembered the advice. Remembered that it was told to me from women in great marriages and broken homes. It didn't matter who they were, they would say "Keep you girlfriends. They are important". So I tried to listen. Oh sure, we have grown apart over the years. Life and babies, men and jobs, moving to other cities, making other friends, LIFE. It's a lot to keep up with. And so we did grow apart. But never all the way apart. Never to the point where I felt like they were gone. But sometimes far enough apart where I worried that someday soon they would be. That I was losing them. That all this life was getting in the way, and these friendships that used to be THE most important thing, were becoming nothing more than surface. Just something to put up and say "Look! I knew they were important! We are still friends!". But really...really...did they know me? Did they know where my heart was? That it was sometimes broken? Did I know them? Did I know what was REALLY happening behind all "life is good" and "we are just so busy" statements?

I am very lucky. People online talk a lot about wishing they are girlfriends close by. I have eight local girls and one long distance dear friend that I know would always be there for me. Always. Two of them are my sisters, one is my sister in law and one is my cousin. So the deck is stacked in my favor, having such a female heavy family. The rest might as well be family too. They are to me. But going into this summer I knew that time and distance was effecting us. It was changing us. It had been for awhile. And I think we all felt it. We all knew, we need to change, or this amazing thing is going to be gone. So we started doing brunch. Once a week, on Wednesdays ,whomever could come would come. And it was good. It was better than good, it was awesome. And then we added in a once a month Sunday brunch, for those girls who couldn't do Wednesday due to work. And it felt amazing. It felt like we were getting back there. Back to where these friendships were important. One of the most important things. We were spending time together, cookouts and pool parties. We were healing.

But at the same time... things still felt a little surface. Like our time together was not for the hard stuff. It was so rare, lets enjoy it. Lets get back to having fun together! But at the same time, there was heartbreak in the room. We all sorta knew it, we knew it was in ourselves, but maybe not as much that we each had it. That in the last few years life had happened, and shit had gotten hard. And that in times like these, 'you need your girlfriends. They are important'.

This weekend my sister in law planned a fire pit at her house. It was a girls only event. Not husbands, no babies. Just us. She called it a cleansing. A way to let the past few years go. And I think we all felt it was important. Everyone tried to make it, even on a Friday night after a holiday week. One girl was on vacation, and a couple couldn't work it out, but for the most part we were there. Seven girls...women I guess... sitting around a fire laughing and talking. My SIL had brought paper and simple instructions. Write down what you need to let go. You can share it or not. No big deal. But I want to burn the stuff I am carrying around.

You could tell she was worried we would think it was dumb. But I think that was quickly forgotten as the tears began to flow. Over three hours we talked. A lot was just laughing and sharing. Jokes and memories. And then sometimes, mixed in, was the hard stuff. The stuff we wanted to let go. The broken hearts. And it was amazing. And so very personal. And will never be mentioned beyond the fact that it happened. And oh thank god it did. Because now, in my heart, I feel like my girlfriends are back. Not back for brunch or the pool. Those things are good. But they are back in my heart. That now at 31, they know where I am. They know that I am much more broken that I was at 21, and they love me more for it. And more importantly, that I know where they are. They are much more broken than they were ten years ago too, and I love them even more for it.

I think everyone knows what I needed to throw in the fire, or at least the one biggest thing. But my girls sat there and listened. They listened as I talked and cried myself out. Something I so desperately needed. They listened and told me they loved me. That their hearts were breaking for us too. That life sucks, but they are there with me. That these amazing women are my girlfriends. And that they always will be.

Hold on to your girlfriends. Make them a priority. They are more important than you can ever realize.

Thank you girls. For listening. For sharing. For taking it all seriously. Those of us who were there will never forget it. And it will be an annual event for our group from now on. A cleansing. I can't recommend anything more.

My Boy

He loves being outside these days. Riding his tricycle and splashing in puddles. Pulling weeds with his Papa or trying to walk Ellie on her leash. He looks out the window and whispers "out?"

He loves to help me cook. Wanting to stir and watch and help. He is constantly in between me and the counter, asking to be held, wanting to be apart of things. Literally holding on to my apron strings as I work.

He goes to bed easily now. Carefully choosing his three matchbox cars, then running to his room and climbing into his own bed. Yelling "Night Night Papa!" over his shoulder as he goes. We read three books in bed, then he smiles and me and says "Bye!" As I turn off the light.

His meltdowns are mighty. The amount of emotion that pours out of him when things don't go his way are both heartbreaking and comical. Oh the smallest things bring on the "LIFE ISN'T FAIR" side of our boy. And that's okay. It's hard, but it's also okay. Because sometimes, life really isn't fair. And that's a hard lesson to learn, no matter if you are two or thirty-one.

His excitement fills a room. We opened his case of Matchbox cars last night and it was full, filled with cars his Papa found in the attic from his own childhood collection. His eyes lit up and he yelled "WOWWWWW!!!!" then screamed and burst into a fit of giggles. If we could bottle his love of life we would be millionaires.

He is talking all the time. Not sentences, but always talking. "Up?", "Eat?", "Help, Mama!", "MOON!!!" He is finding his voice, and it makes my heart happy.

He is eating better everyday. Yelling "Eat!" when it's time for dinner and running to his chair to climb in. He uses a big fork now, taking bites then clapping for himself and saying "Yay!!".

He is a joy. A constant joy. His shrieks of laughter fill our home. Oh how he loves us. Running into our arms. Holding our faces and giving us a kiss. Yelling "MAMA!!" as he squeezes me tight.

This boy, does he know the power he has over us? He holds out entire world. And our world is very very precious.

Old School Infertile

It's really strange to go from being actively involved in fertility treatments to all of a sudden not. I know that seems obvious, but seriously, it feels so strange. I am doing much better with the accepting part of this negative, but still...the walking away, it's hard. I have just put so much thought and energy into this second baby. If feels so strange to now be letting go. Or to be trying to let go I guess. Because honestly these hands have no released their tight grip on this dream.

I am in the middle of a war with myself. As much as I want to be done, I can't break old habits. Ones like knowing the day of my cycle, ones like looking for signs of ovulation. Ones like counting down the days to my next period, or to the possibility of a magical pregnancy. When does this stop? How does it stop? How do you build up so much knowledge about infertility, and then just let it go. Can you slide back into the good old days when you never knew a single thing about it? To the days when you started your period and it was like, "Oh right...that." rather than "Where is it...where is it...Could I be...might I be?? Oh...there you are." I just don't know.

I bought a basal body thermometer. It's actually my first one. I know, all the other infertiles out there gasp. (If you are not infertile, all a basal body thermometer is is a very accurate thermometer that you use first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed. Easy and supposedly accurate to predict ovulation) I just never felt like it was worth the trouble to track temps. I had an ovulation monitor, and it seemed much better anyway. But those strips are hella expensive and seeing as how we are "letting this go" and "giving up trying" and "NOT SPENDING ANY MORE DAMN MONEY ON THIS CRAP" I felt that an $8 thermometer was better than a month supply of ovulation strips that are $50.

So I am temping this month. I am telling myself that the only reason I am doing it is because I need to know if I am ovulating. I think that's mostly true. I want to know. Not that I really know what I will do with the knowledge. Why do I NEED to know, when knowing doesn't really do anything for me? So far my temping chart is absolutely as worthless as I expected it to be. They are suppose to sorta look like this...
and right now mine looks like this....A lovely mountain range of temperatures*. Because my body is awesome like that.

I am hoping that with a couple of months of this I will really be able to ease out of the game. Let all this knowledge pass into something I USED to know a lot about. Something that USED to be important. Maybe one month soon my period can take me by surprise. I will forget it's coming, and not sit there with baited breath hoping that it doesn't. But until then, I am going old school infertility. Graphing body temperatures and hoping for a miracle. Soon I hope to let the graphing go, but deep down I know I will always be hoping for that miracle.

*this is half a chart, because I am only half way through this cycle...and my scientific brain WOULD NOT ALLOW ME to just keep making jagged lines.

Chicken Pot Pie

What?

Okay, so this has never been a recipe sorta blog before. I do realize that. But have I told you all that I am a fan of cooking? Well, it's true. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am sometimes sorta good at it. But why start blogging about food now? Well, Blogher was looking for people to make up recipes using Knorrs new chicken stock. They would send me a sample and I was to create something delicious. If they like it, I could be chosen as one of the eight finalists who will be given a free trip to Blogher '11 to be apart of a cook off! And I have always wanted to go to Blogher...and a cook off seems like something I could tack on to my bucket list (if I ever wrote one).... Seemed about perfect, right? RIGHT!

Actually, just so you know, I wasn't required to post the recipe on my blog. That was totally optional. But...if I am going to the trouble to write it up and take pictures of this meal, I might as well post it here. Plus then you all can be like, "Oooooo....Ahhhhh....Chicken Pot Pie! That sounds AMAZING! Blogher and Knorr should TOTALLY pick this recipe as a finalist!" And then they will listen to you and I will WIN! (It could happen...maybe).

Okay. To the recipe! Prep Time is about 40 minutes, cook time is 25 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

First things first. Ingredients!

(this picture includes almost everything I used. Except the things I forgot. Everything IS truly listed below)

1 pound of chicken breasts
Pie Crust-Make your own or buy the roll out. Your choice
1 packet Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock
1 medium potato, diced
1 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh chopped mushrooms
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon Tyme
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon Sage
1/2 pint Heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup Apple Cider
2 1/2 cups water
3 heaping Tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 egg white

I know, right? That's a lot of stuff. But when it's all said and done, it's delishious. So lets get started.

Boil diced potatoes in water. Clean chicken breast and cut into strips. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Heat vegetable oil and butter in a large skillet. Add chicken and sear for around 3 minutes on each side (until golden brown). Add chopped carrots, celery, onions, salt, pepper, Sage, Tyme and Turmeric in with the chicken and sautee for around 8 minutes. Add diced mushrooms and 3 Tablespoons of flour and sautee for another 2-3 minutes.

While your chicken and vegetables are cooking, boil 1 and 1/2 half cups of water with 1/2 cup of apple cider. Add in Knorr Homestyle stock to create chicken broth. Pour into skillet with chicken and vegetables. Add 1/2 pint of Heavy Whipping cream and 2/3 cup of whole milk. Remove chicken and shred, then add back to the skillet mixture.

Line bottom of pie dish (or dishes if you wish to spit up into multiple smaller bowls) with a bottom layer of pie crust. You can make your own crust, but I like the refigerated roll out crusts just fine! Bake the bottom crusts for about 8 minutes at 425 degrees. While bottoms crusts are baking, add in the frozen peas and corn and the cooked potatoes to the skillet mixture. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

Remove pie crust bottoms and fill with skillet mix. Add top layer of pie crust and cut slits for venting. Cook for 20 minutes at 425 degrees then add egg white wash to top of crust. Bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

You will notice I made two pies. One will easily feed me Nick and Henry. Then we can freeze the second, or have it sometime in the next few days. We have also made individual pies in smaller dishes. The only change you would need to do would be to buy extra pie crust.

PS. Everything will taste better if you wear an adorable aporn like this one...

4th of July Weekend

So how was everyone's 4th? Good? Awesome! What's that? How was mine? Oh, well since you asked, I will tell you all about it! I know there are a LOT of pictures, but just remember, you ASKED me to show them to you. Don't blame me. It's what YOU ALL WANTED.

So, this past weekend was the 4th of July, which for my non-American readers, is sorta a big deal in the good old USA. So we decided to go ahead and have a party out at my father in laws house. It was so great! That was Sunday night, then Monday we went downtown to the parade. Good times were had by all. And I documented every good time with my camera.

So I decided before the party started that nobody would really want to get in the pool, so I got ready as if this WASN'T a pool party. Spoiler alert, I was wrong. But here is the lone picture of me before I joined the masses in the water.

How can you say no when these want to swim this bad?
See...people went swimming

but some people chose to hang out by the giant fan instead. Not a bad deal

Aunt Missy loving on Sweet Cici

The family

My cousin and his girlfriend joined the party

My parents came too! But alas, my mom is not in any pictures. Which is sad. Sorry mom!

Missy and George

Someone really enjoyed her first 4th of July!

This picture makes me laugh so hard. But the LOVE!

Arielle hanging out with the Doodle bug

Sisters

The girls just hanging out

Me with Candice and Nicole. We made sure to get the pool in the background so that nobody thought Nicole was actually wearing this around town...

Our friends came in from out of town, which was so awesome!

Grandaddy with the sweet boy

Our soon to be newlyweds...just two more weeks!

So as evening rolled around the boys set up a projector so we could play the Wii outside. It was awesome!

Nick and Andy hanging out

Watching people play some Wii Sports

Joy on the 4th of July

This one looks sorta Lord of the Flies like, but I love it!

Watching the show

Hanging out by the Smores pit

And passed out.

BUT WAIT! We aren't done! The next day, we went to the PARADE! (I know...but some of these are worth showing too!)

Good family picture

Boo and Cici came along

And so did Ryan, Arielle and Alyssa!

Enjoying the view

Cici is very serious about the 4th of July

Watching the parade in action

There were floats that looked like this!

And somehow this couch drove down the road by itself...

We had such a great time! (except is was a million degrees during the parade and there were WAY too many political things and just random cars in the middle. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR CORVETTE, PLEASE GIVE ME CANDY)

But all in all, it was an absolutely perfect holiday weekend!

(are you still reading? You get a gold star!!)

Somehow, even though there are a million pictures, I somehow have missed some people. Sorry if you aren't pictured! You are still important! I swear.