We have a girl! Emma Katherine Wigley

    I rarely post on my blog except to update important life events or post recipes that friends have asked about. So I completely forgot to update the birth of my first granddaughter!!  Emma Katherine Wigley was born on Nov. 17th, 2014. She weighed 8lbs, 10 oz. and was 20 inches long.  Mary and Jordan, as usual, did not want to know before hand if our newest addition would be a boy or a girl. I will never forget walking into the room soon after her birth and seeing pink!!  The boys love her to pieces and are so good to her!

  She has now already celebrated her first birthday and has brought so much joy into our lives. Sweet Emma Kate most always has a smile on her face and can say a few words. Of course the word that I'm so excited to hear is Gaga!  She loves to call on FaceTime and will say....Gaga...Gaga.  All of our precious grandchildren are growing up so fast and I am so blessed to be their Gaga!  I love them all to the moon and back!

And Baby Makes Three

We have been waiting for the past 9 months to see if we were gaining a new grandson or a granddaughter.  As with tradition, my son and his wife, Mary Avery, like surprises and don't find out the gender until the baby is born.  On the afternoon of June 24th, my third grandson made his way into the world!!  Noah Maxwell Wigley weighed 9 lbs 10 oz and was 22 inches long.  Thankfully he wasn't as big as Matthew, who weighed almost 11 pounds!  He is just as handsome as his two big brothers.

That night the boys made some artwork to give to their new brother.  John Michael was especially excited to show Noah what he had made for him.  If Noah only knew that John Michael doesn't really enjoy art, he would have appreciated the fact that his brother wanted to make this picture for him.  John Michael couldn't wait to take it up to the hospital and give it to him.

This was the first time that my daughter, Janna, was able to be there when one of her nephews was born.  She is a school teacher and both of the other boys were born during the school year so she wasn't able to travel to Arkansas.  John Michael and Matthew love their Aunt Janna and she adores them. 

The boys love to give Noah hugs and kisses.  Matthew has already given him a body slam while Noah was lying on the bed.  Noah took it like a champ!  haha  I know that all three boys will be best friends as well as brothers.  Noah is the perfect addition to our family and this GaGa is so blessed to have 3 beautiful, sweet grandsons. 

Tomato Tortellini Soup on a Snowy Day in Bama

There are still several inches of snow on the ground here in Dixie today.  We received about 5 inches on Sunday night and the weather still hovers right around freezing.  Nat is stranded ...well not stranded...but has been at his Dad's house since Saturday.  They have had a football filled time and I am having fun at home being in charge of the tv controller! HA!  Hopefully he gets home tomorrow.

Today, since I'm bored and love to cook,  I made some Tomato Tortellini Soup.  The original recipe was given to me by my daughter-in-law.  I changed it around a little because for one thing I didn't have all of the ingredients in her recipe and also because I was trying to reduce the calories and fat some.  I thought it was really good and will also try her version to see how much better it is with the half and half.  I posted a picture of it on my FB page and several wanted the recipe, so I will just post it here.  I will also tell you the ingredients in the original recipe.

Jane's Tomato Tortellini Soup

1 can Campbell's condensed soup
1 1/2 - 2 soup cans milk ( I used 2 %)
1 can Progresso Tomato Parmesean  Low Sodium Soup(they also have a great tomato basil soup)
1/2  teas. dried basil or Italian seasoning (I also used some parmesan garlic seasoning that I have)
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes packed in oil (I used these, but really think they aren't necessary)
1 package of Buitoni 3 cheese tortellini, prepared as directed (found in refrig. section of store)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini as directed, drain and set aside.
In dutch oven, combine condensed soup, milk, and Progresso soup.  Add seasoning and sundried tomatoes.  Heat through, stirring occassionly.  Add cooked tortellini and shredded cheese.  Heat several more minutes stirring until cheese melted.  Serve with toasty bread, yeast rolls, or grilled cheese.

(I topped mine with 6 cheese Italian Cheese for a little extra creaminess!  Enjoy!

In Mary Avery's recipe she used:

2 cans condensed low sodium tomato soup, no Progresso soup

2 cups 2% milk

2 cups half and half

2 cups vegetable broth

1 tea. each of onion powder, garlic powder, and dried basil

The rest of her recipe is the same as mine.  Hers would make more soup, but mine has a higher ratio of pasta to soup.  So if you would like it to be more "soup-like" and a little richer, hers would be a better choice.  Either way, oh so yummy!

Chicken and Dressing

I've had several emails or messages wanting my chicken and dressing recipe.  To be honest, I really don't measure anything and until Mary Avery asked for it, I really didn't have a recipe.  But here is the "recipe" for those of you who have asked for it.

Jane's Chicken and Dressing

2 – 3 large chicken breasts, cooked and torn into bite size pieces
         (Save a little for the gravy)
        (or buy rotisserie chicken and pull chicken off bone)

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cups of chicken broth (canned or use the broth if you cook your own chicken)

½ large onion chopped

3 – 4 stalks of celery chopped

½ stick of butter

1 pan of cornbread cooked and cooled (do day before if you want)

½ bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix
    (I use the bag that says wheat and white bread seasoned)

¼ teaspoon sage or ½ teas. Poultry seasoning

2 eggs, beaten


--Saute onion and celery in butter. Set aside.

--Crumble cooled cornbread and mix together with stuffing mix.

--Stir in onion, celery, butter mixture
   then add 2 cans cream of chicken soup,
  chicken broth, sage or seasoning and mix together well.
  (At this point I take a bite to see if it needs more seasoning, and…really…
   I just want a bite…Ha!)

--Then add in the 2 eggs and stir mixture well.

--In a 9 x 13 baking dish, put about ½ the mixture, then put your cooked chicken on top of that layer. (I usually moisten the chicken with a little extra chicken broth). Then add the rest of the dressing on top of the chicken.

Bake at 325 about 30- 45 minutes until brown and slightly firm to touch.



Easy Gravy

Buy two packets of chicken or turkey gravy mix and prepare as directed.

Add about ½ to whole can of cream of chicken soup.

Add 2 chopped boiled eggs and some of the cooked chicken chopped up.

Arkansas Lovin' and Memphis BBQ

We recently returned from a visit with Jordan, Mary Avery, and our two precious grandsons (and of course Jackson, the bichon).  John Michael was sick when we got there...roseola and then very congested and just feeling yucky in general.  He demanded a good bit of attention, so I'm glad our visit came at a time when we could be some help.  We spent a lot of time reading books, watching TV, and wiping his nose.  HA!  This first picture pretty much sums up how he felt for most of our visit.

Matthew is growing up so fast.  He recently had his 2 month check-up and weighed in at a solid 15.7 pounds!!  But considering he weighed almost 11 when he was born, I guess that's about right.  He is just the most pleasant baby.  He hardly ever cries and when he smiles, his whole face just lights up.  Here is a picture of him on his 2 month old birthday with his Gamps.  I think Matthew has more hair than Gamps!

John Michael was feeling better by the time we left, but then Matthew caught the cold.  At least he didn't get roseola and run a high fever.  We had a great time loving on our grandsons and just spending time with them all.  Our time there flew by, as always.  Why does time seem to stand still when you're at dentist office, but flies by when your spending time with your grandbabies?  Before we knew it, we were on our way back home.

We stopped for lunch in Memphis at Interstate BBQ.  I'll use John Michael's words to describe the food...
 mmmm....mmmm....mmmmm! They were featured on one of our favorite shows, "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives".  We have a couple of the DD & D books and are checking them off as we eat at them.  We are eating our way across America....haha.   I ordered a "small" BBQ and fries.  Nat ordered a "small" BBQ and a dish they are famous for....BBQ spaghetti. I can say that it was different and pretty tasty.
Their BBQ was excellent and the sauce was amazing!  We have several other places in Memphis to check off our list, but we will definately make plans to eat there again.

A death, a move, a birth, and another birth

Not sure why I haven't posted in such a long time. I suppose that I started this blog when I lived in Virginia to keep in touch with my family and friends that still lived here in Alabama. I also wrote about the updates on my mom and dad's health so that those who wanted to know could keep informed. Since my last post, my sweet mother passed away. She was the kindest, most loving mother with the prettiest blue eyes ever. She left this world with those she loved most at her bedside. Oh how I miss her still today.  This picture was taken not long before she married my dad. 

My husband retired several months later and we moved from Virginia back to Alabama.  We lived in my parents house for about 6 months...making improvements and getting it ready to put on the market while we looked for a house to buy.  We sold their house a week after it was listed.  We moved across town into a house in the same neighborhood as my son's in-laws, which makes it very convenient when they are here visiting from Arkansas.

Now comes the exciting part of this story.  Nat and I became grandparents for the first time on May 8th, 2008!  What a day that was!  We got the call from AR about 1 a.m. that Mary was in labor and they were at the hospital.  The next several hours were a blur, but within just a few hours, Mary's mom got us a flight to AR and we made it to the hospital just in time to see our grandson, John Michael Wigley, born at 12:46!  A day that I will never forget!  He weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 21 inches long and was the most beautiful baby. 

He will be 2 years old this May and is the love of our life!  His big blue eyes can just melt your heart!

On John Michael's first birthday, Mary Avery and Jordan, surprised us all.  John Michael came out of his bedroom wearing a "big brother" t-shirt.  None of us noticed for several minutes, but we were all so excited after we found out the news.  Nat and I left the next day with John Michael, Jordan, and Mary Avery for Disney World. Jordan celebrated his first birthday at Disney World, so we decided to keep the tradition!  We all had so much fun and John Michael was a perfect child the whole trip. 

Our next several months were spent waiting to see if we were going to have a little granddaughter or another grandson.  They had decided not to find out what sex their second baby was going to be.  Don't they know this drives grandmothers crazy! haha  It was kind of fun to have a surprise waiting for us though.  And what a surprise it was.   On Nov. 24th, 2009, Matthew James Wigley came into this world.  Our "little" fellow weighed in at a whopping 10lb 14 oz!! And was 22 1/4 inches long!  Wow!  He was not even able to wear newborn diapers...haha.  He was every bit as beautiful as his brother and is just the sweetest little baby. 

They are both so adorable and we love them so very much.  We have spent a lot of time traveling back and forth from Alabama to Arkansas.  It is very hard living so far away from them, but Mary Avery does a great job on her blog,  http://mary.wigley-family.com/ .  She posts almost everyday with pictures and details of what is going on day by day. John Michael calls me GaGa so I might have to change the name of my blog. HA!  The boys are growing up way to fast for this grandmother and I just always look forward to the next time that I will get to see them. Never soon enough.

Whew!  That's the last 2 years abbreviated into one post!  Maybe I won't wait quite so long before posting again.

Can't forget Sami

It just dawned on me that I never gave an update on my sweet Sami. Last October, she started losing weight and sometimes would lose her balance. I took her to the vet and he ran many tests and determined that she had liver disease. She was 14 years old, but except for losing her hearing about a year ago had been in good health. We tried medications and special diets. She continued to lose weight and didn't have much of an appetite. About a week before Thanksgiving she stopped eating altogether, except for a few occasional Cheerios and also quit drinking water. I knew the time had come to put an end to her suffering. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. The veternarian provided us with some time alone with Sami before she came back in to start the procedure. It was a very calm and peaceful death. It has now been almost 6 months and we still miss her dearly. I'm not sure if dogs can go to heaven, but if they can....my dad is the happiest man in the world!

Snow at Easter

Can you believe that we had snow the day before Easter!!! And they talk about global warming!