Chicken Crock Pot Crack

So I've recently become addicted to Pinterest. Though I have to admit I'm a better pinner than a follow-througher on doing some of these fabulous pins.

Recently I pinned a "Chicken Crock Pot Crack" recipe and thought since it looked so darn easy I had to try it. It's now one of my favorite recipes because it's 1) Easy - hardly any prep unless you count rinsing black beans as prep and it cooks itself, 2) Cheap - 99% of the time I have these ingredients in my house - with maybe the exception of cream cheese, and 3) Makes enough for left overs - enough said. And lastly, 4) SO GOOD!! It really is Crock Pot Crack!

I was too lazy to take picutres myself, so I'm borrowing these from the original blogger that I found this recipe from via Pinterest. (see link above). She gives more detailed instructions, but it's basically this:

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• Dump the following contents into your crockpot:

1. Bag of Frozen Chicken Breasts
2. Can of Rotel
3. Can of Corn (drained)
4. Can of Black Beans (Drained and rinsed)
5. 1 Block of cream cheese (any kind but fat free)

• Cook on low for 6-8 hrs.
• Let stand for 30-45 mins
• Serve over Rice

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You can shread the chicken or leave whole. I shreaded it and then served as nachos the next night topped with cheese. Yum!

Ramblings on Motherhood

While my little princess takes her morning nap, I thought I'd share some of the random things that go through my head while I'm home with my girl.

- If I mention sleep on my blog, will she regress again? She had a good week or 2 there where she slept from about 10:30 - 7am and then for no apparent reason started waking up again 1-2 times a night (YAWN!). For a baby with reflux, that means it's about a full hour of awake time for mama, so she won't spit up her meal. Then suddenly this week, she's back to sleeping from 10:30 - 7am (YAY)! This is the 3rd day in a row, so hoping it's not a fluke and that I don't jinx myself by blogging about it.

- Rolling over comes in spurts and she will go several days without attempting... is this normal?

- According to Onnie (my mom) Bean is teething! Can you believe it? I started noticing she was sucking on her ENTIRE hand over the past week or so and just thought it was an alternative to the paci, but realized when she rejected the paci for her fingers or would clamp down and try to chew on the paci that she is indeed teething!

- Love how yoga pants and a nursing tank can double time it as PJ and acceptable daywear (at least in my head)

- Bean has started to take an interest on what's on our plates, though I still think she's a little young to try any herself. We did set up her highchair so she can see what's going on at the table and think she gets a kick out of this view.

- And finally I'll leave you with a picture of my cuteness. After visiting the Pediatric Opthomologist for a quick check up the other day, she got to wear these super cool sunglasses and surprisingly kept them on - haha

She's on a roll

Miss Priss seems to learn something new every day that amazes her mama and daddy. Sometimes it's as small as an enormous smile that makes us beam and sometimes its a bigger milestone that reminds us she won't stay itty bitty for long.

Sunday afternoon, Kyle was playing with Bean while I took a nap and she uses this opportunity to hit one of her first milestones - she rolled over!

After I woke up, Kyle tells me "I think she can half roll over." I'm wondering to myself, what does "half roll over mean" and he puts her on her tummy to show me and after a few seconds, she decides to throw her head to the side and rolls onto her back. While she is 5 months now, I really didn't expect this to happen so quickly, since her adjusted age was 12 weeks to the day. She did it over and over again on Sunday, but come Monday, she didn't want to perform her little trick on command, but has continued to roll when it strikes her fancy and has gotten faster each time. I tried to upload the video, but apparently its not going to happen for me today. I'll have to try again later - or just check out my FB page.

Once she's able to coordinate this with a back to tummy roll then we are really in trouble.

When cousins come to visit...

You have someone to play with you during tummy time...

Someone to encourage you to lift your head...

Someone to cheer you on upon success...

Someone to tell you stories...

Someone to cuddle with...

Someone to show off your baby to...

Cousin Ellie came down for the day on Sunday to play with Bean. She LOVES her new baby cousin and is so sweet with her. She always thinks Bean is talking to her and likes to rub her back and give her a paci. Ellie had such a great time with her during tummy time and really helped Bean stay on the mat longer; which made this mama quite happy.

Think these cousins will be the best of friends once Bean gets a little bigger. :) Come back and visit soon!!

As she grows... month 5

Yesterday Bean turned 5 months old. I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast - even though she's still pint sized. We don't go back to the doctor for another month, but I think she is around 10lbs and still wearing her 0-3 month clothes - though she must be getting longer because some of the PJs are getting a little tight.

Just in the past few days she has really started seeming like an older baby. While she's 5 months old actual, she really is only 10 weeks adjusted, so a lot of ways she acts like a 5 month old, but in others she's still like a 10 week old or somewhere in between. I'm just happy to see her start to hit milestones and know she'll catch up to her actual age by age 2 (or sooner).

New 5 month-ish activities:

- She doesn't want to nap after every feeding

- Likes to vocal her needs a little more loudly

- Loves to engage with you through laughing, smiling, cooing and some vowel type sounds

- Favorite games include looking at her mobile, kicking the toys on her gym and reading books.

She also loves her play mat/gym, but only if she can look at herself in the mirror from her back -- put her on her tummy and she's not so happy after about 5 minutes. I can see how an older sibling can really help a younger one, because when cousin Ellie was over on Sunday, Bean stayed on her tummy for 20+ minutes and didn't complain one bit. Ellie was on the mat with her and guess that extra company helped her hold out longer. Bean can lift her head up when on her tummy, but moves to fast for her mama to get a picture that's not blurry.

In keeping with tradition, we took 5 month shots yesterday with her bear. Once we put her cute bow on, she got all serious. You can check out her previous months shots here.

One of our friends let us borrow their Bumbo and since she has improved her neck control, I couldn't help trying it out yesterday too. She enjoyed that for all of about 3 minutes, but think she liked the view.



The Help

While we were at the beach, my mom let me borrow one of her new books, The Help. I was hooked from page 1. The story details the life of women in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. It contrasts the life of society women and the maids that work for them. The story is told so well and was hard to put down. Don't want to give away too much, because you really should read it for yourself. When I got home I realized they are making it into a movie that comes out next month.

I'm super excited to see this film and if you are looking for a new book to read this summer, I would highly recommend this one.

SLEEP

Bean starting giving me 5-6 hrs of sleep at night for the past month or so; which according to my mother is sleeping thru the night for a baby, but is definitely not sleeping thru the night for mama.

I woke up this morning at 6:45am and realized Bean slept the entire night!! She usually wakes up at 4 or 5am after her 10pm feeding, but guess its a sign she's getting older and knew her mama needed some more sleep. She didn't wake up until 7am and was full of smiles for mama.

Hopefully this will continue to be the new trend... I could get use to 8 hours every night