A Little 'O This and a Dash of That

We're down to less than 5 days until the baby is born. It is a surreal feeling. I can hardly believe that our sweet family of four will become an amazing family of five in a few days. And a boy! What will I do with a boy? I really only know pink, purple, princesses, and fairy wands. I'm fairly sure a little boy is going to rock our world – just not completely sure in how many ways (I'm sure there will be many).

From a pregnancy perspective, I am grateful to only have a few days left. I have had some issues lately with horrible skin itching and the feeling like I'm going to jump out of my skin, both of which cannot be attributed to anything specific except hormones. It's virtually impossible to sleep and although my doctor gave me an antihistamine to help, it only worked well for a couple of nights before I had problems with sleeping again. I am also beyond cranky...probably because I'm so tired. From that vantage point, I'll be so grateful not to be pregnant anymore.

But from another side, I know I only have 5 more days to feel this little life inside of me, pushing on my ribs, hiccuping, and rolling around from side to side. He is so much more active than the girls were – and it's fun that he's awake so much. He is starting to slow down a little, probably because he's running out of room. So I'm torn between wanting so much to hold him and wanting to freeze time where I can feel him inside my belly.

I've been nesting like crazy. I cannot get enough of house projects, cleaning, and organizing. I've even nested at Gary's school, helping him get his classroom set up and decorated so he'll be ready for the new school year. I am a frustrated elementary teacher inside, I think. :)

Gary turned 50 yesterday and we had a good time just spending time together as a family. Last night didn't work out to make his birthday dinner, so we're making it tonight for him. He requested chicken pockets and green bean casserole. Chicken pockets have long been a favorite in our family since we got married. I got the recipe from a family friend a long time ago and I've tweaked it over the years to make it better. I got the urge to put vegetables in it once and Gary told me not to – that it would ruin it. So I think I'm done tweaking it and will leave it well enough alone for now. They're super quick to put together and SOOO delicious – great comfort food! Gary also thinks that if made in miniature sizes, they'd be a great appetizer.

Here's the recipe:

Crescent Chicken Pockets

1 block of soft cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat and can't tell the difference)
3 tablespoons of butter or margarine, melted
2 cups of cubed or shredded cooked chicken
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
Dash of dry minced onion (or you can finely chop and sauté a small sweet onion to add in)
Dash of garlic powder
3 tablespoons milk
8 oz can Pillsbury crescent rolls (I use the low-fat ones and can't tell the difference)
3/4 cup seasoned croûtons or potato chips, crushed into fine pieces
1-2 additional teaspoons of butter/margarine, melted (in a small bowl)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, 3 tablespoons melted margarine, salt, pepper, onion, garlic powder and milk. Keep stirring until very well blended and soft. Add in chicken and stir well.

On a greased cookie sheet, separate dough into 8 rectangles (using 2 triangles for each rectangle) and press perforations to seal. Spoon ¼ of the meat/cheese mixture into the center. Draw up the corners of the dough and press together, then press corners together so a solid seam is on each side (no chicken mixture showing). Repeat until you have 4 pockets. Brush tops of pockets with reserved butter, then dip in croûtons or potato chips.

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serves 4 (one pocket for each). Can easily be doubled or tripled for larger groups.

Serving suggestion: serve with steamed green vegetables and a green salad.