Freezer Meals Round #2

Wohooo, we just finished trying all of our meals in our 2nd round of freezer meals and I'm excited to share the recipes and our thoughts/modifications on each one! In case I haven't said it enough, this bulk freezer meal cooking has made my life SO much easier, especially with baby <3 Yes, it does take up 1-2 hours of time when I prep everything (which is difficult to find sometimes) but it is absolutely worth it to have so 15-20 meals ready for the month! 

Trevor and I have tried all of these recipes and we liked them! I'm not posting any we didn't like or wouldn't make again :) I put my suggestions/modifications at the bottom of each recipe too <3 Enjoy! 

Mongolian Beef

Ingredients

1 lb. stew meat

2 tsp. olive oil

1 onion, thickly sliced

1 tbsp. minced garlic

1/2 cup soy sauce 

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. fresh minced ginger

1/2 cup hoisin sauce (This was difficult to find, I had to go to a local asian market)

Directions

Mix all ingredients in freezer bag, label, and freeze flat. Defrost the night before and dump all ingredients into crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. If it will be longer just add a bit more water so it doesn't dry out. Serve with fresh green onions and rice.

**I would recommend not cooking this on low for more than 6 hours, ours did get a bit dry! I didn't try to add water though, so that may work too! We don't like our beef "well done" though, so 5 1/2 hours was perfect! 

Recipe from: www.whoneedsacape.com

Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onions 

Ingredients

1lb. Italian Sausage Links (I used turkey sausage links) 

1 large pepper

1 medium onion

2 cups diced tomatoes

2t. onion powder

2t. garlic powder

Directions 

Mix all ingredients in freezer bag, label, and freeze flat. When ready to cook defrost in fridge the night before & dump all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve on warm hot dog buns. 

**I used turkey sausage to make it healthier & we did not serve it on hot dog buns, I sliced the sausage links and served it over whole wheat penne pasta! 

Recipe from: www.baked-inthesouth.blogspot.com

Maple Dijon Chicken

Ingredients

6-8 Chicken thighs (I used chicken breasts)

1/2 C Dijon Mustard

1/4 C Maple Syrup

1 T Rice Wine Vinegar

1 can of Sliced Mushrooms, drained

1 onion sliced

Directions 

Mix all ingredients in freezer bag, label, and freeze flat. Defrost in fridge the night before. Dump all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. 

**Trevor did not like this recipe but I did! You def have to like the flavor of honey dijon AND maple to like it! I also would recommend cooking it on low for 5 1/2 hours so the chicken doesn't dry out! 

Recipe from: www.whoneedsacape.com

Pepper Steak (recipe makes TWO bags)

Ingredients

2 lbs round steak (cut against the grain)

2 cans crushed tomatoes

2 green peppers, sliced

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tsp sugar

Salt/Pepper to taste

1 large onion, sliced

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp ground ginger

Mix ingredients between TWO bags, label, and freeze flat. Defrost the night before in fridge. Dump in crockpot and cook on low 5-6 hours. Serve over rice. 

**I would recommend cooking this on low for no more than hours to prevent it from drying out. Again, we don't like our meat "well done", so you may have a different preference! I served it over brown rice! 

Recipe from: www.ringaroundtherosies.net

Chicken Cacciatore (recipe makes TWO bags)

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

1 package of sliced mushrooms (or canned)

2 6oz cans of tomato paste (I used pasta sauce)

2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

4 cloves minced garlic

2 cups chicken broth

Split ingredients between TWO bags. Defrost the night before in fridge. Dump ingredients in crockpot and cook on low 6-7 hours. Serve over pasta.

**The only modification was that I used a jar of pasta sauce instead of tomato paste. I served this over whole wheat angel hair pasta!

Recipe from: www.ringaroundtherosies.net

Beef & Mushrooms 

Ingredients

3 lbs stew meat, cubed (I used 2lbs, 3lbs seemed like too much!)
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
2 (4 oz each) cans mushrooms, with liquid (or fresh of course)
1/2 cup apple juice
1 (1 oz) packet dry onion soup mix (I used my own onion spices for this)

Directions

Mix all ingredients in bag, label, and freeze flat. Defrost in fridge the night before. Dump all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10. Serve over rice. 

**I used less meat (see above) and used my own onion spices (tastefully simple). I also cooked it on low for about 8-9 hours. Served over brown rice!

Chicken Curry (recipe makes TWO bags)

Ingredients

6-8 chicken breasts 

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1cup of dry cooking sherry

½cup of butter

8 green onions chopped

4tsp of curry powder

Salt and pepper

Directions

Mix all ingredients (except butter) into two bags. Label and freeze flat. Defrost in fridge the night before. Dump all ingredients in crockpot with butter and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over rice. 

**The only modification I made to this recipe is cut the butter in half, so I put about 1/8 of a cup in the crockpot with the bag. I recommend cooking on low for 7 hours so it doesn't dry out! 

Recipe from: www.six-cents.com

Anyone who is a mommy can relate to the fact that it has taken me a long time to find time to sit down and write about Landon's birth! I mean... blogging is important, however, when little man is asleep or occupied things like preparing meals for our family, showers (lol), or even taking a stroll around Target for my sanity all trump blogging right now! I've had several people ask about Landon's birth story though and it is such a sweet story and so important, that I wanted to make sure I share it <3

On May 31st, I woke up at 3am with contractions, real contractions. I had been in the "pre labor" stage for 5 days at this point where I would have contractions on and off and was up every night in pain, but something was different about the contractions this night...they could be timed! Throughout my third trimester I would ask friends (or really anyone that would listen!) how people knew what "real" contractions were and if I would for sure know when they hit. I kept getting the same response from everyone "Oh, you'll know, don't worry!" At the time, I found this answer annoying and unhelpful (just being honest lol). At 3am that night, my contractions felt like really intense menstrual cramps in my back and lower abdomen just as they had for the past 5 days, but tonight I was able to time them at approximately 15 min apart. Then 8 min. Then 15 min again. Then 9 min. You get the point! Active labor was finally starting...but slowly! Trevor got up with me at 6am and called into the squadron to tell them it was finally "game time!" I had an appointment that morning with Dr. Wheat (our favorite doctor) who checked me and confirmed that active labor was starting and told me I was making good progress. She told us she was on call for labor and delivery all weekend and jokingly said "See you tonight, please not at 2am ;)" Well, you can imagine what happens when you say something like that! My contractions got closer together and more intense throughout the day. By 5pm, they were 5 minutes apart and 45-60 seconds long so we called our doula, Angie. Angie was such a blessing throughout my pregnancy as we met together to talk about pregnancy and the delivery. She was so patient with me as I asked all the first time mom questions and had all the worries/concerns that first time moms have and she was always full of very helpful information! Angie came over around 530pm and helped Trevor and I as I went through the most intense contractions I had felt up that point. Her and Trevor took turns rubbing my back, giving me cool wash cloths, suggesting different positions, etc. By this point, Trevor had been by my side alone through contractions for over 12 hours and I'm sure that he was getting tired! After laboring at home for about 2 more hours, we decided it was time to go to the hospital. That was the longest the drive around the flight line on base has ever felt! Contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart and lasting 60 seconds. My back labor was so bad that I could barely sit still without wanting to cry. Most of you know that I have had chronic back pain since high school so it didn't surprise us that I labored mostly in my back, what did surprise us, was the intensity.  We got to the hospital and I was checked by the nurse (5cm dilated...wohooo) and checked in to a delivery room! By 8pm, I truly felt like my back could not handle anymore contractions and feared that if I did not accept pain medication that I would have worse chronic back pain than I already had. Trevor I decided together that it was best to get an epidural and Angie was extremely supportive of our decision even though that was not a part of our birth plan as she knew I wanted to try without pain medication. I thought I would be disappointed if I wasn't able to deliver without pain meds, but I wasn't. I was happy to have made it 17 hours of active labor without any medication and felt that this was the best choice for the rest of the delivery! I remember, all I could think and recite out loud during the epidural was Philippians 4:13... "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Our biggest part of our birth plan was that God would be present through all of my labor and delivery and he absolutely was! We could feel his peaceful presence even in the midst of such pain! After getting the epidural, I was in labor another 11 hours before I started pushing. Once pushing began, the epidural began to wear off and I pushed for 2.5 hours! I never understood how women could actually push for hours, but I now know it is 100% possible and actually quite common for first babies! 

We are so thankful that Dr. Wheat was on call for Landon's birth! She goes to our church and was such a blessing to us throughout my entire pregnancy as our doctor. She did of course joke about it being 2am when she got called in to deliver Landon ;) During the pushing, she sat on the bottom of my bed almost the entire 2.5 hours encouraging me through each contraction and push, I don't think that's normal for a doctor to stay with you the entire time, but it was again, such a blessing to us! Trevor was right by my side the entire time and even though he had said he wasn't going to watch the birth, curiosity def took over and he did ;) He was right there with Dr. Wheat watching Landon's head and then body come out as I pushed, it was incredible! Angie was also right there with us helping in every way she could by offering encouraging words as well as providing awesome comfort techniques. Trevor and I are so thankful that we had Angie as our doula. At first we weren't sure about having someone else with us during such an intimate time, but her being there allowed Trevor to focus 100% on me and Landon. He was my rock and encouraged me through the entire delivery! 

Landon was born at 10:43am on June 1, 2013! 

As soon as he came out, Dr. Wheat noticed that he had pooped while in the womb and immediately cut the cord & handed him over to be checked to make sure he didn't aspirate on any meconium. 

After they checked him and weighed him, they handed him over to me for skin to skin time and to begin nursing. 








As we started nursing, I just sat there in awe over our sweet baby boy. He was absolutely perfect and we were so thankful. I still couldn't believe that this precious life came from my womb and that he was all ours.  All of a sudden the nurse standing next to my bed looked down at Landon and yelled "Oh my gosh, he's blue" and grabbed him out of my arms. My heart sank into my stomach. What was going on? Why was our baby blue? How did I not even notice that he had stopped breathing while nursing? The nurse began checking for a pulse as Trevor ran out of the room yelling for help. Thankfully, Dr. Helo (one of the pediatricians) just happened to be on labor and delivery (really by the grace of God) doing a circumcision at that time and came running into the room. All I could see is our sweet baby boy laying on the table not breathing surrounded by doctors and nurses. In that moment, I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. I was absolutely hysterical. To this day, I'm not sure if I was screaming, crying, or moaning...but I was hysterical. Trevor sat next to me gripping my hand and praying for Landon as they bagged him to "breathe for him". After what felt like hours (really only 2-3 minutes), he began breathing on his own again. Praise JESUS! I was so so thankful but still so scared. Dr. Wheat came over and prayed over Trevor and I as we started to calm down now, it was such a sweet moment. We had no idea why he stopped breathing and I immediately felt like it was my fault because I was nursing when it happened. The doctors and nurses assured me that there was no way it was due to the way we were nursing and decided it would be best to transfer him to the NICU to be monitored until they knew what was wrong and why he stopped breathing. I requested that he be sent to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport since I work there and trust the NICU staff with our boy. As they prepped him for the transport, Trevor helped me get up and into a wheelchair to go see him before he left. It was so hard to see him connected to all the wires and not be able to hold him in my arms, but we knew this was what was best for him and that he would be in good hands. My heart sunk again when the ambulance came to pick him up and I had to say bye to my precious boy that I just brought into this world less than an hour before & only held for moments in my arms. After they left, Trevor and I just sat in the hospital room speechless. Giving birth and then not having your baby with you is not something you prepare for in pregnancy. I had prepared to be nursing him and have him with us "rooming in" for the remaining 2 days at the hospital but God had another plan. 

Dr. Wheat visiting with Landon <3 

Such sweet moments before he was transported to the NICU

Spending time with daddy <3 

That night Trevor left to go see Landon at the NICU. I could not be released from Keesler yet. Dr. Wheat said she would release me early after 24 hours instead of 48, but it was still too early for my own safety to leave that night. I was so thankful that Trevor could go be with Landon that night, I wanted him to have one of us with him while in the NICU by himself. It absolutely broke my heart to think of him being separated from us so early after being born :( I laid in the hospital bed and felt so alone. One of the nurses came in and said there was someone here to see me and I asked her to kindly tell them that I was not ready for visitors. I had not showered and didn't know who was outside the door. When she came back she said "Umm they said they are here from Texas to see you". Huh??? I told her to go ahead and let them in then. The Brown's (a sweet family we were close to at Fort Hood) stopped in Biloxi for the night to come see us. When they heard Landon was headed to the NICU, they wanted to stop by and see how we were doing. This blessed me in so many ways. I remember thinking if we were in Texas when I delivered that there would be so many people we loved sitting outside in the waiting room and I was feeling so lonely thinking about it. God knew I needed them that night and that piece of home in that moment! They came in to visit and stayed with me until Trevor came back with pictures and videos of our little guy! My heart felt so much better once I got to see him! <3 

He didn't like his Oxygen! 

He knew it was his daddy there with him that night visiting <3 

That night Trevor went to get his parents from the airport and they came to visit the next morning. I was so thankful they were there so quickly to be with us during this time. That morning Dr. Wheat came in and discharged me so I could go see Landon and we headed straight for the NICU! The next 5 days were a whirlwind of driving back and forth to the NICU 2-3 times per day to spend hours with Landon! 

I was trying to breastfeed as much as possible which was a challenge after our immediate separation after birth. The lactation consultants there helped us so much! I was also pumping when I wasn't at the hospital and taking milk to feed him. It was very stressful but we were just so thankful he was at such a good hospital and being well taken care of. After several days of monitoring, tests, etc the NICU specialist determined that he just had a bad transition (aka delivery) and stopped breathing due to the transition. The physician assured us that he did not anticipate another apnea episode and felt that he was ready to go home with us after 5 days. Those were 5 of the longest days of our lives and we were so excited to bring our boy home!

Time to go home!! :) 

We finally got to put him in our "take home" outfit :)

One very happy mama! :) 

What's this seat mama?! I think I like it :)

Our little munchkin is already 6 weeks old and I have no idea where the time has gone! He's laying on my chest in our Baby K'Tan carrier as I type :)  I am loving being a mommy, it has been such a sweet & fun adventure! Trevor and I never thought we could love someone other than each other so much <3 Next post will be about Landon's first 6 weeks, get ready for photo overload ;)

As I sit here writing and my body goes through contractions on and off, I am incredibly humbled by this process of waiting for our son to arrive. It has been a long 9 months of waiting, but honestly, I have loved being pregnant! It has been such a joy to carry this boy in my belly. Of course there were days in my first trimester when I hugged our toilet for hours that I didn't love, days during our move when I was 10 weeks pregnant that I wasn't sure I'd be able to unpack another box, and even days over the last few weeks that my body felt like it couldn't handle anymore and I just laid in our bed and cried. With all that said, God has continued to remind me what a blessing it is to be able to carry our son and we have chosen to pray for him as he grows and develops in my womb. Trevor and I have loved reading "Praying through your pregnancy" by Jennifer Polimino. The book took us through each week of pregnancy and guided us in how to pray for Landon...his brain, his skin, his vision, every inch of his being, and just as importantly his spirit; that he would know the Lord from a young age! I would highly recommend this book to any expecting couple, whether it's your first baby or your 10th! <3 

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  

-Psalm 139:13-14

Before I got pregnant and even at the beginning of my pregnancy, people would ask me about what kind of birth I desired to have. Umm, I don't know?? My response was usually something to the effect that I'd like to avoid a c-section if at all possible, but that I know I'm not superwoman, so I'm sure I'll have an epidural or whatever I need for the pain. To be honest, I hadn't really thought much about it and I figured I would do the "norm". As Trevor and I started talking more seriously about the birth we desired for our son, I was very quickly convicted that my heart desired for the most natural birth experience possible. We both felt strongly that the Lord designed my body to birth babies and there are women who have been and are still today birthing their babies with little or no medical intervention. I promise they exist! Even though this is the direction we were drawn to, I was still incredibly nervous to say that was our "birth plan". Why is that? If I knew that was what God was putting on our hearts, why would I be fearful of "owning" that plan? I know exactly why...approval of man. Ouch! I was fearful that if I said I wanted a natural unmedicated birth and ended up taking medication during my delivery, that people would see that as a failed experience, that I couldn't "handle it" or I "gave up". But that's just it, I was more concerned with approval of man than I was with claiming the plan that we felt was best for our family. Thankfully we have a couple of good friends who have recently had a natural birth who were able to point us towards some great resources and we decided to go with the "Bradley Method". The best way I can explain this method is that it seems to be the most basic form of an unmedicated birth. It doesn't go into "set breathing", try to distract you, or hypnotize you, it simply teaches you techniques to help with relaxation during labor and focuses on husband coached childbirth. I happen to have a fabulous husband, so I knew he would be a great labor coach <3 We also have a fabulous doula who God perfectly placed in our path through mutual friends & she has been such a blessing, we are so thankful she will be there when our son is born since our family is so far away! 

As I've been preparing for labor this week, I've really tried to focus on preparing spiritually. We have spent months and months reading about the Bradley Method of birth, positions, comfort measures, etc. but I know that what I am really going to need is strength from the Lord during this labor and delivery. These are a few verses that have encouraged me and I am trying to commit to memory before our little bundle of joy decides to come out! 

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."

 -2 Corinthians 12:9

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

-Philippians 4:6

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast 

because they trust in you."

-Isaiah 26:3

"Cast all your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you!" 

-1 Peter 5:7

I was hesitant to share about our birth plan today not only because a part of my human self still struggles with "what if I can't do this naturally", but also because I never want to make our "plan" look any more superior or preferred than another persons desire or birth experience. For us, the key was to have God the center of our decisions about birth as well as our overall birth experience, that's it! I truly believe you can have ANY type of delivery experience and it be completely glorifying to the Lord, as long as you seek Him in making the decisions. I am thankful that I can rest assured in knowing that we did seek God in making this decision and whether we have a 100% unmedicated natural birth, I end up having an epidural and delivering vaginally, or I need a c-section, I know that we will have a redeemed childbirth experience and we will get to hold that baby boy very soon! Healthy baby & healthy mama are the goal! I am absolutely NOT superwoman and all of my closest friends know that I do not have a high pain tolerance (I'm kind of a wimp!), but I also know that God can sustain me through ANY amount of pain, suffering, worry, or fear because He created my body to do this. So in ending this post, that is our birth "plan"...to make sure we have a redeemed childbirth experience with our Redeemer as the focus! <3 We would love your prayers as we await the arrival of our Landon Scott! 

"Jesus is our deliverer in birth. He brings forth life. He chooses WHEN that baby will be born; we know no the hour, only He does. He is the one we can choose to transfer our pain to, to let Him take it and carry us. He alone rescues and delivers one from captivity. He wants His daughters to experience Him deeply in this way, consciously aware that He is in control and is the Deliverer. But we have a responsibility as well. We have to deliver or surrender our pain, our fears, our expectations, our childbirths, and ultimately our lives into the Lord. We have the ask Him to deliver us." 

- Redeeming Childbirth 

First attempt: 14 meals in 1 hour and 22 minutes :)

I have been talking about doing bulk freezer meals for months and I finally made myself start when I realized two things...how tired I am & how much our schedule is going to change when Landon gets here! Both motivated me to go for it. I have been following several freezer meal blogs for a while and I have made 3-4 at a time here and there but I had never tried to do it in bulk! So here it goes...

I decided to go with a few crockpot recipes that are favorites in our house already and just convert them to freezer meals & I also added several recipes I have not personally tried, so I can't comment on how good those are quite yet. I'll update this after we get through trying them all though :) 

So I picked my recipes and made my list. I tried to go with just a couple different meats for the sake of cost, I stuck mostly with chicken and pork. I also chose recipes for things we already have in bulk (ex: creamed soups, etc) 

This is all the ingredients I used for the 14 meals: 

Here's my meal list and I made 2 freezer bags of each meal totaling 14 meals: 

Taco chicken bowls

Ranch chicken 

Meatball subs

Creamy ranch pork chops

BBQ chicken sandwiches

Mushroom pork chops 

Chicken spaghetti 

Taco Chicken Bowls

1.5lb Chicken breasts 

1 (16 oz) jar salsa

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained (I used pinto bc hubby doesn't like black beans!)

8 oz frozen corn

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 Tbsp Cumin

1/2 Tbsp Minced garlic

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Pepper (to taste) 

2 cups rice 

8 oz shredded cheese 

1/2 bunch cilantro 

Add everything to the bag except the rice, cheese, and cilantro. Label and freeze flat. Put in fridge the night before to thaw. Dump ingredients in the crockpot with 1/4 cup of water and cook on low for 8 hours. Near the end of cook time, stir the chicken to shred and cook the 2 cups of rice. Assemble with rice on bottom, chicken mixture, shredded cheese, and cilantro.

Recipe from: 

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com

Ranch Chicken

4 Chicken breasts

1 Packet Ranch Dressing Mix (the dry kind)

Mix the chicken with the ranch mix. Label and freeze flat. Put it in the fridge the night before to thaw. Dump ingredients in the crockpot with 1 cup water or broth. Cook on low 3-4 hours or high 4-5 hours. Serve with veggies!

Recipe from: 

http://lookslikehomemade.com

Meatball Subs

1 package of frozen turkey meatballs (or if you're ambitious you could make your own!)

1 jar of pasta sauce 

Mix the meatballs and frozen meatballs. Label and freeze flat. Put it in the fridge the night before to thaw. Dump ingredients in the crockpot and cook in low for 2 hours, stir frequently. Serve on wheat sub buns! 

*My personal recipe

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops

4 pork chops
6 medium potatoes, chopped into large pieces
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 packages dry ranch dressing mix
1 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together in gallon ziplock bag. Label and freeze. Put in the fridge to thaw the night before. Dump ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 4 hours. 

Recipe from: 

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches 

3-4 chicken breasts 

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp worcestershire

Mix all ingredients together in gallon ziplock bag. Label and freeze. Put in the fridge to thaw the night before. Dump all ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low 8 hours. Stir the chicken to shred as the cook time nears the end. Serve on wheat buns! 

*My personal recipe 

Mushroom Pork Chops

4 pork chops

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp worcestershire 

1/2 package of mushrooms (fresh or canned) 

Mix all ingredients together in gallon ziplock bag. Label and freeze. Put in the fridge to thaw the night before. Dump all ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with salad! 

*My personal recipe 

Chicken Spaghetti 

2lbs chicken breast, cubed

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2lbs 2% Velveeta, cubed (this was WAY too much cheese for me so I did 1/2)

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 can cream of chicken

1 can cream of celery

1 (7oz) can diced green chiles

1/2 cup milk

2 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper to taste 

Noodles to serve over 

Mix all ingredients in gallon ziplock bag. Label and freeze. Put in fridge to the thaw the night before. Dump all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours. Cook noodles and combine with chicken mixture. If it comes out too runny, add a creamed soup to thicken. 

Recipe from: 

www.crockingirls.com

So here they are! 14 meals prepped, bagged, and ready to go! I am so excited about how much time/stress this is going to save us over the next couple of months of pregnancy as I get more and more exhausted and have less desire to cook :) My goal is to do about 14 meals one day at the beginning of each month. That way between meals that we grill (steak, fish, etc) and eat out about once per week and we should be set for the month! I also think it will save us a lot on our grocery budget because we aren't letting food go bad. As soon as I go grocery shopping everything gets prepped and frozen! I hope some of these recipes make life a bit easier on your family too <3 

I have to start by saying that I have been the world's worst blogger lately. Seriously. My last post was in November announcing our pregnancy.... I feel like our life has changed so much since then! First of all, today (well when I actually started this post LAST week :/) is Trevor's 8 year anniversary in the Air Force and I could not be a more proud wife :) I happen to think my husband is really really awesome and I get excited to celebrate things like this with him (hence the brownies I made last night with horrible chicken scratch icing as I tried to write on them to celebrate lol!) I will spare you from a pic of them, our lovely community group got to witness my lovely brownie writing handwriting ;) Anyway, so today Trevor has been serving in the USAF for 8 years and it feels like time flies by faster each day! I actually created this blog a couple years ago to share about what God is doing in our lives and what He is teaching us in this crazy life we've been called to (aka "Called To The Crazy!)

So we've been here in Biloxi, MS for over 5 months now! Sometimes it feels like we just got here and sometimes it feels like we've been here forever because of how much this really does feel like "home" now. They say "Home is where the Air Force sends you", but unfortunately most military families know that that doesn't exactly come automatically...we have to make each place our new home. So that's what we've been doing the last few months here! When we first got here we found Mosaic, our new church and we were absolutely thrilled about it, we fell in love with it immediately. We knew once we got settled, we wanted to plug in and get involved in the church and join a community group as quickly as possible because our small group in TX was truly our family while at Fort Hood and we were missing them deeply. We tried connecting with a couple groups and logistically it just didn't work for our schedule and family and we were so bummed. After a few weeks of searching for a group to join, we started to feel discouraged and weren't sure what to do, so we started praying. Praying that God would reveal to community that we were supposed to be a part of. Well, he did, but that community didn't exist yet. We very quickly realized that there was a huge need of community in our base house neighborhood, West Falcon. At first we were resistant, I won't lie. We had just moved and are expecting our first baby, and honestly, we could have given you a laundry list of why we didn't feel like it was good timing for us to start a community group in our neighborhood. But that's just it, what we felt like doing wasn't relevant because we knew that God was calling us to do this and we needed to trust Him and jump on board! So we met with another couple, Mike & Jessi Farmer who had also been wanting to start a group in West Falcon, met with our community pastor, and in a few weeks, we were ready to tackle this task. Fast forward about 2 months, Trevor is now co-leading our group with Mike and we have about 8-10 couples who attend on a regular basis who all live in base housing. It is really a beautiful thing! We are big believers that God calls us to live among others, but we had never had the chance to experience living that out with our neighbors. It's amazing when you can literally walk from house to house to go see each other because we all live so close. Not only do we all live near one another, but we all have the common bond of being military families, which is huge. The last 2 months have been such a blessing and when I look back and think about the fact that we didn't FEEL like doing this, I think about all of the relationships and blessings we would have missed out on. I am a firm believer that God equips us for anything he puts on our heart and calls us to do, that's what leading is, to trust that God will direct you in every situation. I love how our church describes community groups and leading them, they always say that they are not looking for "qualified" people to lead groups, because that' doesn't exist. We are certainly not "qualified" to be doing this. Instead, it's people who are willing to step out and trust that God is going to build that community in their area, and that's what have done. We got to the point where even though starting a new group wasn't the "comfortable" or "easiest" thing to do at the time, it was what God was calling us to do, and He has blessed it greatly!

Last week for Easter our group put on a free Easter Egg hunt in our neighborhood for families. It was a great turnout and over 150 people came out, got to know their neighbors, and were invited to Mosaic's Easter Services. I never would have imagined that we would have that kind of turnout, the power of prayer is amazing!

Baby update time! I know a few of you were wondering when I'd give an update on our little man :) Landon Scott will be here soooo soon! I'm 32 weeks this week, which means we get to meet him in the next 8 weeks or so (hopefully he won't be too late, but if he is, it's okay!). We are so so excited to meet him! We were able to do a 3D/4D ultrasound last weekend and it melted my heart to see Landon, he is absolutely PRECIOUS and it made us even more excited to meet him! I'm so thankful God has given me such a healthy pregnancy with very little complications to this point, babies really are such miracles!

We have also been blessed with two baby showers for our little guy, one here in MS with my bible study girls and one in Texas with friends/family. What a blessing they were to us! It's such an incredible feeling to know that we have people who love and support us growing our family.

Beautiful bible study girls in our neighborhood <3

My trip to Texas with Kim was absolutely amazing! It was wayyy too short but it was so good for my heart to see everyone again, we miss our Texas family dearly. The shower was also incredible! Those girls know me sooo well and they made every little detail to fit Landon's antique world traveler nursery theme, it was breathtaking! I can't wait to post pics of everything in it's new home in his nursery, that will be my next blog post ;)

Antique map with pins of where we've lived & traveled as a USAF family :) 

These two girls were the minds behind the shower & it was everything I imagined and MORE! <3 you both so much!

Some of our Fort Hood girls, it was so so good to spend time
with them again. This was our FAMILY when we were at Fort Hood! <3