Soup Recipe

I love soup! It's so yummy and filling and (most importantly) easy to make! I found an easy beef vegetable soup the other day in my pile of recipes and decided to make a variation of it. I tend to print recipes off the computer when I find something I like online--hence, the pile of papers mixed in with my cookbooks. This one was so easy to make, and Abby even had a second helping! Here's my version:

Turkey Vegetable Soup

3 lbs. ground turkey

Minced dried onions

Garlic powder

2 large cans Veg All

1 large can tomato juice

1 can Rotel

Brown turkey meat with generous amounts of onions and garlic powder and drain well. Drain vegetables, and empty into soup pot. Add can of tomato juice and Rotel; stir to combine. If you need to dilute the tomato juice, you may add a small portion of warm water (I did). Let simmer for one hour and serve. Great with shredded cheese and crackers!

NOTE: You can add any other vegetables to this soup, just be sure to drain them first!

The original recipe called for ground beef, but we eat a lot of ground turkey so that's what I had in the freezer. Also, I added the onion and garlic powder because I almost always add those to ground meat when I brown it--I love the flavor! This could also probably be made in the crockpot, but we were short on time so I did it on the stove. I just felt so good watching Abby eat an entire bowl full of meat and vegetables at dinner. This is just about the only way that will happen! :) It does make a huge pot of soup. so get ready to freeze some, have guests over, or take someone dinner one night!

What's your favorite soup recipe??

19 weeks

I finally had someone take a picture today of my pregnant self. :) I hope it is not the one and only picture during this pregnancy, but we'll see how it goes. Here's Mommy & Logan at 19 weeks:

School Days

Today was Abby's first day of school! This morning was a little crazy, but we did manage to get a picture of Abby with her backpack and lunchbox. She was very excited to go, and she had a really good day! She keeps telling me that she needs to go back to school now. :) They just have school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, so she'll have to wait a couple more days. But here's the important part: This morning I went to the doctor. All by myself. And then when I was done with that, I went on a huge grocery shopping trip to Wal-Mart. All by myself. Then I ate a very quiet lunch at home. All by myself. Isn't that amazing? It won't last long, so I'm soaking it up now... :) Here's our girl on her big day:

We also had a fun Labor Day weekend in Memphis with Mom and Dad. Mom and I did way too much shopping, and Abby let everyone revel in her fairy princess glory:

She did manage to get her first banged up knee this weekend. She scraped up her right knee pretty bad.... three times... on the same knee. And apparently she fell again at school and opened it up again today. This wound might never heal at this rate! I am pretty impressed that it's taken this long for her to get hurt, though. Here's hoping we go another two years without any bumps or scrapes! (Riiiiiiight.....)

I'm at 18 weeks in the pregnancy now, and I've recently realized.... we have no belly pictures yet! I'm pretty sure I took a picture every 4 weeks when I was pregnant with Abby. And so the life of a second child begins..... poor Logan! I'll try to get Casey to take a picture soon. For those who need a mental image, I am just as big as you imagine me to be... maybe bigger. :) Speaking of, I think it's time to get some dinner cooking!

Abby Funnies

When Abby was saying her prayer before bed last night, it went something like this: "Dear God, thank you for Mommy, for Daddy, for Mrs. Joy, for Claira, for baby Grady, for food.... and for brownies! Yum, yum, yum! In Jesus name, Amen." That's my girl!

This morning, Abby woke up and came straight to my room (where I was still in bed) with a really upset look on her face. She was holding her stomach, and this is the conversation that followed:

Abby: "Mommy, my tummy hurts."

Me: "Your tummy hurts? Oh, no! What's wrong with it?"

Abby: "Yeah, my tummy hurts.... I've got a baby brudder in there!"

Me: (laughing hysterically) "Baby Logan is in your tummy??"

Abby: (still looking pitiful, but smiling slightly) "Yes, I have baby Wogan in my tummy, and my tummy hurts! It's too big!"

I was laughing too hard to respond immediately, but I did eventually reassure her that baby "Wogan" was actually in my tummy, and she would probably feel better after she ate some breakfast. :)

Baby #2 is....

It's a BOY!!! :) We (especially Casey) are SO excited! Logan Edward Cochran is scheduled to arrive (via c-section) on January 27, 2011, at 8:00 a.m.--Woo hoo! I must admit, the slightly OCD part of me loves the convenience of scheduling my child's birthday. :)

In other news, Abby had a nasty stomach bug last week (read: puking in bed in the middle of the night, getting baths at 3:30 a.m., late night laundry sessions), but she recovered in time for us to make a trip to Memphis for the weekend. I was able to do some shopping with Mom and Tara, and I finally have some maternity clothes that fit! My seasons are completely off with this pregnancy since my first kid was born in the summer and the second will be in the winter. But, hey--who doesn't love a little shopping, right??

I also got a call at the end of last week from my new boss--I am officially certified as an Early Intervention Developmental Therapist! It took forever for the state department to clear my background check, but it's finally done. I am going by the clinic tomorrow to pick up the assessment they have that I will be using soon. I thought it might be good to become familiar with the testing tools before actually trying to administer them to children. ;) They have also ordered a new assessment, and I am excited to get that in and start studying it. I should be able to start testing kids in the next few weeks, and I'll provide therapy for those who qualify. I'm a bit anxious since I haven't done this with kids under the age of 3 years old before, but I'm really excited to jump in and get started! I'm meeting with my boss this Friday to hash out details and see what we still need to do before I start testing and providing therapy.

Abby starts her new preschool on September 7th, and she's getting really excited. It's just two mornings each week, which is when I plan to get my testing and therapy sessions done. For mom's who have done this already, I'm looking for quick & healthy lunch options to send with her--ideas? She usually just takes the insides out of a sandwich unless it's tuna (stinky!) or peanut butter. So far my main thoughts include homemade "lunchables," so I'm wide open to suggestions!

Casey's job at the pediatric clinic is going well. He has quickly become the "tech guy" of the office, so that keeps him a little busier than if he just sat and answered phones all day. We are still adjusting to him being gone all day every day. Our nights seem to fill up so quickly with other stuff, so we're trying to find more "family" time. I think we might actually all be home and free this weekend--yay! I'm hopeful it won't be too miserably hot so we can all go to the park together, or something. I am also trying to get better about staying on top of laundry, dishes, groceries, meal planning, etc. I did some organizing and meal planning today, so I think the next week or so should run a little smoother in that department.

Now you're all up-t0-date on the Cochran family! Here are a couple of sweet pictures to leave you with a smile. :)

Pretty princess

Lunch break w/Daddy--she likes to wear his ties :)

Moments of the day

I was woken up at 5:00 a.m. this morning by Abby. She wandered into our room and declared, "It's dark in here!" I, of course, explained to her that was because we were still sleeping and she needed to be sleeping, too. After putting her back in bed, she reappeared again at 6 and 6:30. I finally gave in when I heard her rustling around at 7, so I jumped in the shower. She was apparently just shifting in her bed at 7 because she actually slept until 8:15! NOT a happy mommy... I think we were both equally glad when nap time rolled around!

We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for a few essentials today, and Abby wanted to hold the 2-pack of paper towels when we grabbed them. She squeezed them really tight when I handed them to her and said, "I wuuuuv paper towels. I just wuv dem."

Abby has been wearing big girl panties for about a week and a half now! It's been rough since she's been sick with an upper respiratory infection, but she had NO accidents yesterday and only one today! She did really well telling me several times today when she needed to go. This is exciting people.... very exciting. :)

Although I am getting really tired of hearing "No" all the time, I did notice today that Abby is getting more vocal and expansive when she doesn't want something. Instead of just "no," she has started saying things like, "I don't want to go potty wight now," or "No, I don't wike dat. I don't want dat." I don't know why, but these responses are much less obnoxious and tiring than just hearing "No!" five hundred times a day. Anybody with me??

Those are just a few things I made mental notes of today that I wanted to get down in writing. I hope they made you smile. :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Abby!

Another year has come and gone, and I still just can't believe how much I love this sweet girl. She is a total crazy mess sometimes, and I even love that about her. :) She is two years old today, and I cannot believe how much she has learned in that short amount of time. Recent conversations have included her identifying trapezoids and describing the color chartreuse. (Links are included for those of you who aren't sure what those are... :))

Her little independent attitude is also beginning to show itself. Example: As Abby was jamming out (read: head banging) to Veggie Tales music the other day, I noticed her hair had become quite a mess. Here is the conversation that followed...

Me: "Abby, you're hair looks crazy!"

Abby: (as serious as she could be) "Stop it, Mom. Weave me awone. It's MY hair."

**pause of total disbelief and hilarity**

When did she become a teenager?! I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried....

She is Mommy's little helper around the house, and she loves to do laundry and help sweep the floors. I can't wait to see her in action as a big sister in a few months!

Happy birthday, sweet girl. Mommy loves you!!!