Tonsils and Adenoids NO MORE

Clare had her tonsils and adenoids removed last week.

After months of snoring, apnea, and other sinus issues,

it was time to help this girl get healthy again.

She had all of her "comfort items" (pink blanket, teddy bear, mommy, etc.).

This was just minutes before the "sleepy doctor" helped her fall asleep.  She kept telling me that she wasn't going to fall asleep; but lo and behold, she only made it to "F" when singing the alphabet under the influence.

This was how we first saw her after surgery.  I had the overwhelming motherly instinct to just crawl in bed and cuddle with my sweet and vulnerable little girl, but we just watched her sleep until she naturally started waking up.

She didn't respond to anything until hearing Daddy's voice.  I wish that I had video of the way that she popped up when Phil said, "Hey Clare Bear."  He wasn't there when she went into surgery, so she was really surprised/excited to see him after surgery. 

The excitement immediately faded back into sleep.

We just wanted to keep kissing/cuddling her.

This is a pretty accurate depiction for how she felt.

After about 1.5 hours of waiting for her to wake up, we were sent home for a long recovery.  They told us that it could take up to two weeks to full heal,
but she's back to normal already!

Clare's highlight of the whole experience was getting to buy some new clothes for her Build-A-Bear bear (THANK YOU, Uncle Adam, Aunt Elissa, Grandma, and Buddy!!!), AND she got to eat Popsicles and ice cream to her heart's content.

After 11 days, we can already see/hear a tremendous difference.  While her voice sounds higher-pitched, it doesn't sound nasal anymore.  She's able to breath through her nose (which makes such a difference for eating and brushing teeth), AND she hasn't woken up during the night since the surgery!  YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!  Success!

What's For Dinner Tonight???

If you're anything like me, then you know the daily process that is involved with:

1. Deciding what to make for dinner...

2. Looking up a recipe to fit the menu...

3. Buying the ingredients...

4. Preparing the meal...

5. Hoping that it tastes okay and pleases those that eat it.

THANK YOU, Progresso!

Progresso came up with a brilliant idea, and I am so excited about it.  

They've done all of the hard work by creating over 80 family-friendly, tasty, and easy new recipes.  If you check out a can of the Progresso Recipe Starters Cooking Sauce, you will see a list of all the ingredients that are needed for the recipe.  Therefore, you can do all of the planning while in the grocery store.  BRILLIANT!

Our first Progresso Meal is going to be the Beef Stroganoff.  We received the Creamy Portabella Mushroom Cooking Sauce, and the other ingredients are: sirloin steak, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream.  Easy enough, right?!

 A few of the other recipes include:

Creamy Lemon Chicken

 Crispy Garlic-Parmesan Chicken

 Bacon Mac ' Cheese

 Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Want to try it?

Here are a couple of ways you can test it out for yourself:

Use this COUPON to get $.65 OFF one can of Progresso Recipe Starter Cooking Sauce.

Leave a comment about which Progresso Recipe you're most excited to try, and you could win the awesome gift pack (pictured at the top of this post) that also comes with a $10 gift card to buy the ingredients.  

Thank you, MyBlogSpark and Progresso!

“Disclosure:  The information, products and Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ gift packs were provided by Progresso through MyBlogSpark.”

NYC and New Jersey

We just returned from a FANTASTIC weekend in New Jersey

and New York City!

This trip was made possible by three special groups of people:

1. My WONDERFUL sister, Ann, had extra airline miles that were going to expire, so she shared them with us.  We were able to fly to New Jersey for FREE. 

THANK YOU, Ann!

2. Our DEAR FRIENDS, Kim and Chad, live in New Jersey, and we were blessed by their hospitality.  We stayed in their beautiful home and created many special memories over the weekend.

THANK YOU, Kim and Chad!

3. My GENEROUS parents who stayed back in Florida with our little munchkins.  Our getaway weekend was free from worry knowing that our littlest loves were in good hands...GREAT hands!

THANK YOU, Mom and Dad!

We spent all of Thursday in New York City.

 One of our first stops was to see The Today Show being filmed in Rockefeller Center.  You can faintly see Kathy Lee and Hoda behind the screen.

 We went on a mad search for a salt bagel.
Who knew they were such a rare commodity?!

 LOVE in NYC!

 Central Park Zoo

 I don't think we'll ever visit a new city without also visiting its zoo.

 Chillin' in Central Park

 It was amazing to find such a beautiful park (6.2 miles long)
in the heart of such a booming city!

 This is one of the new towers being built to replace the Trade Center towers.

 This video shows the 9/11 Memorial

 "Remembering Absence" is the name of the 9/11 Memorial area, and there are two enormous fountains that are on the exact footprint of where the Twin Towers used to stand.  It was incredibly powerful seeing the 2,997 names that surrounded the fountains.  If you're ever in NYC, you need to visit this site!

 A glimpse of the Statue of Liberty

 We didn't make it to the ferry in time to ride over to Ellis Island,
but we were able to see the Statue of Liberty from afar.

 Battery Park

 The BUZZ of Grand Central Station

 Dessert...ahhh...sweet dessert!  :)

 My cousin, Danny, lives in NYC.  He joined us for dinner, and it was wonderful connecting with family in the midst of such a busy place. 

 Phil and Danny enjoyed some gourmet oysters.

 In the middle of Times Square = CRAZY!

The majority of our trip was spent in New Jersey...with the DeJagers!

 We went hiking with Kim and Kassidy.

 Phil's highlight of the hike, and perhaps the entire trip,
was seeing some snakes during our hike.

 As you can imagine, Phil doesn't have a normal person's response to snakes.  He gets right in their space and pokes, prods, and photographs while the rest of us stand back.

 The "Hi-Point" of our hike provided a beautiful view of New Jersey 

and New York City from a distance.

We had New York style pizza at a tasty place called Grimaldi's.

 We spent Saturday evening in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Carlo's Bakery, from The Cake Boss, is in Hoboken...

but we didn't want to wait in the extremely long line, so we got ice cream instead.

 This is a view of NYC from Hoboken.

We had a wonderful weekend...one of our all-time favorite getaways.

Thank you to all of the people who made it possible.