Feeling Grateful

I know November is a time to remember all that we are thankful for and to count our blessings and eat turkey and what not. I usually try to remind myself each day, how blessed I am to just wake up to my husband and beautiful sons. This week however I have been feeling and overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am grateful for Mason. Every morning he greets me with a huge smile, waving his hands and yelling "MAMA, maaamaaaaahh".. lol Sometimes I am tired and sometimes I don't want him to wake up his brother, but really there is no better way to start my day.

A year ago today I was a month away from my due date with Mason. I was not happy, I was not grateful to be carrying him inside me. I  mean I loved the baby that i was carrying but it wasn't the same as my first pregnancy. I was so full of anger and bitterness. Most of all I was afraid. I was afraid of the unknown. How would I handle a baby with a cleft lip & palate? How will others treat him? HOW WILL I TREAT HIM? Will he look funny? Are people going to feel sorry for him, for me? What did I do to deserve this? I let my anger get to me and then I started to doubt, my faith was almost out the door. What did I do that was so bad that God felt he had to give me a baby who was per the geneticist a "defect". This punishment really sucked.

Fast forward 11 months, and boy am I so grateful to be Mason's mommy. I am grateful that Mason is healthy and despite all he goes through he is still a champ. I am grateful to have a son with a cleft lip and cleft palate because I was able to learn and understand what others go through who face this. I am grateful because this experience has not only taught me but so many others how to be compassionate and kind. I am grateful because people LOVE Mason. I am grateful because I really don't care what others think. I am grateful for the big smile I get each day from this lil guy. Mason is such a mommas boy, he really loves me and I am grateful for that. Mason can only say one word and its "mama", I grateful for that too!!.

Of course I repented and by the time Mason came I had peace and joy and nothing but love for him! I really can't imagine not having him as my son. When I was pregnant  Sandra a friend from church told me she had a dream about Mason. She told me that she seen this little boy who was so handsome and who glowed when he smiled. She said it was Mason , and he was so happy, and where ever he walked people were smiling and so happy to see him. She then told "Christina, don't worry about how he is going to look, he is going to be so handsome and have such a love that people will be drawn to him". Thank you Sandra, you were right. Mason is filled with so much love and joy. He has made me a MUCH better person. I am still not perfect and I have a lots of refining left, but boy has my heart changed. I now know God was punishing me with Mason, he was giving me the best gift I could have ever imagine. Not only was I blessed with this perfect sweet lil boy but I had renewed faith. I truly believe Mason was sent to me so I can truly know and understands just how much God loves me.

I appreciate all of you that stood by me when this was going on, and I thank you all for accepting Mason and for loving him.

xo
Chris

Ps. I just have to throw a shout out to my boy Dustin, I am also very grateful for Dustin. He is really one of a kind. He can always put a smile on my face even when he drives me crazy. lol I am also grateful that Dustin is such a good big brother!!  I am thankful for many things, husband, family, friends and more but this was just something tugging on my heart so I had to share with you :) xx

Not your grandma's Turkey N Biscuits

So recently we had a recipe swap and a friend of ours Jamie made these turkey and biscuits things.She made single servings by placing a biscuit in a cupcake/muffin mold.  They were pretty good, but Art thought  it was too much bread and not enough meat, so I thought I would switch things up a bit and tweak the recipe to fit something my whole family would like. My children love this and don't know they are getting a ton of veggies. So this is the way I make it but you can pretty much change it to something your family would enjoy.

1 can Pillsbury Biscuits (8 count)

20 oz Ground turkey

1 cup BBQ

1/2c zucchini (shredded)

1/2c chopped colored bell peppers

1/2c chopped mushrooms

1/4c chopped onions

any type of shredded cheese I prefer fresh Parmesan.

Preheat oven to 350

Flatten all 8 biscuits in a 9x13 pan.. you can leave push up all the edges to get a pie effect.

Brown Ground Turkey and throw veggies in.

I use frozen veggies so I throw them in right with the turkey

Drain if necessary

Pour bbq sauce and mix thoroughly. Let simmer for 2-3 mins.

Pour turkey and veggies on top of biscuits trying to leave about half inch space around edge.

place in the oven for 15 minutes or until it looks light golden brown

add some shredded cheese and bake for another 3 minutes.

Remove and enjoy!!

I made this a few weeks back but placed one biscuit in a ramekin and flattened it the shape of the ramekin and loaded it with turkey/veggie mix.