A Little Update and Reflection...

The month of May has literally just disappeared on me! We left for vacation May 1st, got back home May 9th, had 5 days at home with a very sick little Jane, and then 5 more days in the hospital with her. So my month of May, at home, began around May 18th! It literally took me the whole week just to get back into the groove of being home. The day we brought Jane home from the hospital I had a major adrenalin crash. I really hadn't felt weary in the hospital, but it all hit when I came home. To tell you the truth, the hospital was a bit of an extended vacation. I only had 2 bags of things to keep in order and to simply checked a box for what Jane would be eating each meal...with her NOT eating for the first couple of days, her plate fed me as well! :) Upon coming home, I had absolutely no idea what groceries were in the house and really felt overwhelmed with my household responsibilities. But...God is gracious and my husband is kind, helpful, and understanding! The Saturday at the end of that first week home, I stole away for a couple hours to collect my thoughts (and to drink a Chai Latte) at Panera Bread. I came to the conclusion that I really needed to provide more structure to the girls' day. I created a pictoral chore chart for the girls that shows them 3 to 4 chores to do at 3 different times of the day. They have LOVED it, and it has been such a help to me because if they are doing chores they aren't making more messes! :) The house has stayed relatively tidy AND I have been able to rearrange the girls' room and the spare bedroom/nursery AND I have been able to put 5 meals up in the freezer for the dreaded 9th month of pregnancy and the first few months of having a newborn! My goal is to have about 20 to 25 meals in my deep freezer by the time my body begins to shut down during the final days of my pregnancy.

Here is a list of what I have made so far this past week...
2 dinners worth of Chicken Enchiladas
2 Hamburger Pies (made with ground turkey and brown rice)...the name sounds so unappetizing but it really is a good dish! :)
1 Poppyseed Chicken Casserole

This next week I would like to put up the following...
2 Lasagnas
2 Mexican Lasagnas
2 bags of Chili
2 bags of Taco Soup
2 Tuna Casseroles

The following week I am going to focus on chicken dishes...
2 bags of Black Bean & Chicken Soup
2 bags of Broccoli Soup
2 Broccoli, Chicken, & Rice Casseroles
2 Chicken Spectacular Casseroles
2 Chicken Pot Pies
2 White Lasagnas

That should give me about 27 meals total, but I realize that a couple of the batches may not give me two whole extra meals to put in the freezer (since I will also be making those meals for dinner over the next two weeks as well). I am trying to make the meal portions pretty big in case we have family staying with us...or we just want to be able to eat on one meal for two days! :) I am so thankful to have our deep freezer. I think that it is really going to come in handy in the next few months! In addition to those meals that require cooking on my part, I will also be keeping my eye out for conveniece meals on sale (i.e. Voila Meal in a Bags...of which I already have 6 bags in the freezer) and will also try to portion and group some things together for quick meals (i.e. uncooked and diced chicken or beef, stirfry vegies, and brown rice). I am not sure how much baking I will do in advance. I think that you are supposed to consume muffins, waffles, bread, etc. within a month or two of freezing it, so I may just plan on buying sandwich bread during that time.

In conclusion, I have to say that God has truly turned my temptation to be overwhelmed with my responsibilites into a joy and a delightful challenge. I am thankful for a new perspective and the energy (temporary, though it may be!) to accomplish some of these goals!