More holidays. More pictures. Part II

Now I am playing catch up since I took a two week (or more) long hiatus from the blog and I've got more pictures from Christmas.

Most guys are excited to get video games, electronics or firearms (Austin would be excited to get the latter) for Christmas, but my husband was eagerly awaiting this Christmas gift:

Yes, that's right: a new vacuum cleaner!!

Austin should consider modeling home appliances for SEARS 

I know what you are thinking...where can I get one of these?  Sears.  Oh wait, you were drooling over my  housekeeping husband!! (don't tell him I said that because he may just stop vacuuming...)

We needed a new vacuum cleaner, especially since Jag is now spending more time in the house.  (He spends the evenings in the house, usually laying by the fireplace...doesn't that sound nice?)  I am not 100% on board with dogs in the house--especially since I have allergies-- but I told Austin that I would agree to it if:

A. The dog stayed off the carpet
B. Austin brushed the dog daily (or close to daily)
C. Austin kept the floors clean

And I am happy to say that I have not had to vacuum or sweep the floors (with the exception of the kitchen) since we've had the dog.  Way to go honey!  You are great!

So, Cailey is happy because the floors are clean and Austin is happy because Jag is happy:

Happy to be inside.

Well, Nate has fallen asleep on me and I'm craving a little cuddling time, so that's it for this post.  But don't worry, I have much more to post.  Maybe tomorrow!  ;)  I will leave you this this photo.  Nate looks so tired, but he was sitting up on his own for long periods of time when Austin took this picture!  My little guy is growing up so fast!

Playing with his Christmas toys!

More holidays. More pictures.

I have been meaning to take the time to update you, but it seems that at the end of the day the list of things that didn't get done (including a blog post) is so long I can't seem to rationalize getting on the computer and getting lost in blog-land.

Oh.  And another reason why I haven't had time to update my blog is because I've fallen in love with a new internet sensation: Pintrest.  I have found that it is so easy to spend an hour or more searching this website and getting great ideas for things I will probably never have time to do (because instead of actually doing these things, I just continue to surf the web for more great ideas...)

Here is my Pinterest pin board (or whatever you call it).  I am mostly using the site to store recipes that I have tried and those that I want to try.  Check it out...I have found some great recipes!  And as I type, I have the chicken enchilada soup cooking in the crockpot.

But enough excuses.  Here's the update:

Nate's first Christmas was fantastic!  We had my family over on Christmas eve for a pizza party, cookie decorating, and a showing of Austin's new favorite animated film (which we have watched 6 times this month) A Christmas Carol.  The weather was so great that the kids took Jag on a walk to the park, played football and even stood in our front yard and serenaded our neighbors with Christmas carols.

Here's our packed house on Christmas Eve

Nate chillin' with Grandpa, getting tons of attention from his Aunts, Emily and Sara-Anne

Lovin' the attention

And this is Christmas morning:

Santa's little helper getting a little nap in before brunch.

Coffee with daddy on Christmas morning!

And my favorite.  Adorable.

We had Austin's family over on Christmas morning for brunch and presents.  Nate was so tired from an exciting, fun-filled Christmas eve that he slept through present-opening.  Though we saved a few gifts for him to open up after his nap:

Opening gifts

Look at the chunk!  He's adorable!  (I'm so sorry if I over-use that term...but it's so true!)

Well, I think that's all I have time for tonight.  I would post more if it wasn't for Pintrest.

And my long "to-do" list.

Thrifty Tuesday

I know that although thrify starts with a "T," it doesn't rhyme with "Tuesday" and the phrase isn't an alliteration.  But I like it anyway.

Since I have been home on maternity leave I have been trying to find ways to save money, however towing a newborn to various grocery stores in the cold with a handful of coupons has not been working.  In fact, I find myself making several trips to HyVee each week, even though I know I am paying quite a bit more at HyVee than I would at Walmart or Aldi's.  But Hy-Vee is just right around the corner from our house and I don't have to fight quite as many people for a parking spot or a grocery cart as I do at Walmart. My desire to find ways to save on our money grocery bill has been renewed by two things: my return to work on a part-time basis, and one of my friends' blog posts.

I remember when I was in college standing in line at the grocery store behind a young family whose grocery bill exceeded $100.  I thought, that will never happen to me...I will never spend that much money on food.   And look at me now!  Austin and I have always had a budget, but lately we haven't really been sticking to it.  We have $400/monthly budgeted towards groceries (not including household items and diapers), but I know we are spending more than that with all my quick grocery runs.  So yesterday I planned meals for the next week (maybe I can stretch it to two weeks) and then today I went grocery shopping.

I have a book with all of my frequently used recipes, so I looked through those and picked a few that I wanted to make this week and this is what I came up with:

Chili
Chicken and Dumplings
Cheesy Rigatoni
Quesadillas
Lasagna
Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Pizza

I went to Aldi's and bought the majority of my groceries and then drove across the road to Walmart to pick up household items.  And I only spent $60.99.  Woohoo!  That's great improvement for me!

A picture of my receipts from my grocery adventure today and the recipe I used to make lunch: Cheesy Rigatoni

While dinner was in the oven, I calculated both the calories and the price of the meal.  The meal cost $4.74 and the cost per serving (it could serve 8, but in the Oates household it will only make 6 servings...) is $0.79.  The whole dish has 1310 calories (plus the pasta noodles...they vary depending on brand and ingredients), which comes to 218 calories (plus the 100+/- calories in the pasta noodles) per serving.  Again, if you can stretch it for 8 servings, you save even more calories!

All my notes

Throw in a loaf of bread with butter and garlic salt (yumm!) and a quick dessert (I didn't make one!  Oops!) and you have a cheap, semi-healthy meal.  Ready in 45 minutes.  15 minutes of prep and 30 minutes in the oven.  Perfect.

Not too bad for a quick lunch-time meal.  

Quick meals leave me with more time to spend with this dude:

He is always drooling.  But even so, isn't he cute?

Of course I took 30 pictures of him sitting in his bumbo.  Just be glad you only have to see two of them! :) 

Funday Monday

This is my last Monday of maternity leave.  And I've decided to make EVERY minute of my dwindling maternity leave count.

Today was great.  Nate went to sleep last night happy.  And I mean really happy!  He was so happy he wouldn't finish nursing; he was all smiles and even when I put him in the swaddler (which he usually fights against) and laid him down for bed he just looked around, wide awake and happy.  Then Nate slept in until 7:30am and was...you guessed it...happy!  He was smiling and cooing.  Adorable.

Then after Austin woke up, Nate and Austin and I shared coffee as we did our quiet time.

He's concentrating on the Lord's Word as read by Austin. (Oh, and that toy by his right hand...AMAZING! He loves it!  Thanks Jamie M.)

Then Nate went down for a nice nap in his room!  (He has been sleeping in our room for the last 3.5 months).
While the Nater-Gator was napping, I was baking.  I made some English Muffin Toasting Bread.  It's gotten me excited to start baking again.  Perhaps I'll make a point to do so during his nap.  The bread recipe is super easy and definitely a keeper:

King Arthur English Muffin Toasting Bread

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
• cornmeal, to sprinkle in pan

directions

1) Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.

2) Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. Be sure to stir the liquid well before measuring its temperature; you want an accurate reading. If you don't have a thermometer, the liquid will feel quite hot (hotter than lukewarm), but not so hot that it would be uncomfortable as bath water.

3) Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.

4) Beat at high speed for 1 minute. The dough will be very soft.

5) Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal.

6) Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.

7) Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.

8) Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, till it's golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F.

9) Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

And the finished product.  Yummy!  (Austin showed great restraint and asked me to cut the bread for him instead of just digging in...thanks honey!)

And I rounded out my great day with playtime with Nate, P90X and finishing up a few Christmas presents.  I can't show all of them since some of the recipients have internet access and may check out the blog.  And If you get one of these, please be surprised:

Great Grandma Hope and Nate at Thanksgiving

Side view.  It's not perfect, but I'll work on it!

Well, Nate and I are going to end our day with a nice warm bath (for him, that is).  He loves his baths now and I love seeing him have fun.  What a great way to round out a great day.

How do you do it?

Eight days until I return to work.

Yes, I know I should not be complaining.  I will have had over 14 weeks of maternity leave...that's amazing and I am so thankful for that, but I am still not ready to go back.  Thank goodness I am not going back full-time.  It's hard enough thinking about spending 16 hours a week away from little Nate.  What I will miss the most are our mornings cuddling and watching "Good morning America."  That is probably my favorite part of the day, even though it is at 6am!

Looking forward to returning to work has made me wonder how I am going to do it all.  I mean I already feel like I am not doing a good enough job being Nate's mom, Austin's wife and a friend to those I care about.  I feel that there are just not enough hours in the day to do all the things I feel I need to and be the woman I think I should be. I've had to stop reading Proverbs 31 because it is so darn depressing!  I've always wanted to be the Proverbs 31 woman, but I am not and trying to be drives me crazy!  (Although someone pointed Prov 31:15 out to me: "...she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls" So she must have had a little help.  I guess that makes me feel a little better).

I feel so inadequate because at the end of the day I look back on all the things that I didn't accomplish.  I feel like I didn't spend enough time with Nate, I didn't make lunch for Austin, I didn't make any Christmas gifts, I didn't go for a run...I didn't even shower!  What makes the feelings of inadequacy worse is the tendency I have to compare myself with others or with an unrealistic standard that I set for myself.  

I compare myself with the women out there who are taking their 3 month old to the library and reading to them, teaching them Latin and sign language (...you know, they say the sooner the better!).  I look at all the ladies that have blogs that I enjoy following (the blogs about living frugally and being a creative, loving, adventurous, homeschooling, bread-baking and Christmas-gift making, freshly showered and good-lookin', strong Christian mother and wife) and feel at once encouraged to try new things and discouraged at how I am not quite measuring up. 

I know it's not beneficial for me to be striving so hard to become the woman--the wife and mother--that I think I should be.  I want to be more focused on becoming the woman God wants me to be for my family and friends.  

And I think that starts with a shower (and maybe some make-up too!).

In other news, the house remains on the market and we are continuing to do open houses (this weekend will make 4 weekends of open houses in a row.  Our house has never been cleaner!).  Before the open house last weekend Austin and I (and little Nate too) spent a day decorating the house for Christmas.  Here are a few pictures of the final product:

...and the stockings are hung... (notice my craft project from last week--the window pane?  Not too bad if I do say so myself!)

Cozy Christmas Corner.  I can't leave my plants out to die, so I have to find room for them (and holiday them up) inside.

And the living room has more of a formal feel with navy blue, burgandy and silver and gold.

Now no post would be complete without a picture of Nate.  This is one that Austin took this morning. 

Showing off his muscles...

Holidays mean lots of photos!

Wow, it was so nice to have a long weekend with Austin.  Although he had to work Thanksgiving night, he had Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, so we got a lot of house-cleaning for up-coming open houses and tours, football watching and lots and lots of black Friday shopping.  (If you know us, you know we didn't set foot in a store at all on Friday.  I did have to pick up diapers for Nate on Saturday and it was still too crazy for me!).  We did however do lots of cleaning and football watching.  

On Thursday after Austin went to work, Nate and I went to Gma Cordes' house and Nate got to spend some time with Great Grandma Cordes, Grandma and Grandpa Kettelkamp, a couple Great (and I mean that in two ways) uncles and lots and lots of aunts and uncles.  Here are a few pictures:

Grandpa Kettelkamp with sleeping Nate.  I was hoping to get one with Grandma too, but didn't get the chance.

Uncle Nick and little Nate passed out on the couch after too much turkey.  How cute!

When Austin was off work on Friday we relaxed at home and watched some football.  You may not believe me, but Nate already loves football.  (I think it's all the movement and colors on the TV).

Definitely NOT sleeping when it's time for some football!  (Look at the double chin!)

Watching the pre-game.  He's going to be an amateur commentator, just like daddy!

I'm loving these next two pictures!  Nate looking up at his daddy.  Isn't that sweet?

And that gorgeous smile!

After a leisurely day at home, we went to his Uncle Pete's house where he got even more attention:

Finally! A picture with him awake!  Nate movin' and groovin' with Grandpa and Grandma Oates

I suppose I could add even more pictures, but I think I've already over-done it!  But it's easy to do when you have such an adorable subject (and yes Nick, you're cute, but I was talking about Nate... :) ).  Hope you enjoyed a little update on the family and I promise next time there won't be quite so many pictures!

Giving thanks

I will not be blogging tomorrow since it is Thanksgiving.

I will also not be joining the crazies who are going to spend their Thanksgiving in line for Black Friday deals or, even worse, actually shopping on Thanksgiving.  This year many stores are opening at midnight, 10pm and even 9pm.  So after Thanksgiving dinner you have a few short hours to digest your meal and chat with family you haven't seen for months before tearing off in your SUV to the nearest shopping center.  (Who am I kidding.  How many people actually chat with their family members in person anymore.  People are more likely to be text-messaging their cousin or facebooking (via smart phone, of course!) their brother who is in the other room watching TV, listening to their I-pod and reading their Nook or Kindle (Or both. At the same time).

Really, how far is that from the truth?

Thanksgiving is a day when we are suppose to be giving thanks, not getting things at the mall.  I am going to spend my Thanksgiving with the people I am thankful for: my family and friends.

And now, in spirit of Thanksgiving, which seems to be as dead as the true meaning of Christmas, I will share with you a few things for which I am thankful:

1. Nathaniel David Oates:  I am thankful that God has blessed us with him.  He has grown up so much since the picture below.  Now he is smiling, cooing and laughing...it's amazing!  He is truly a gift from God and I am thankful for him everyday.  On a lighter note: I am so thankful that he is sleeping through the night- I got 8 straight hours of sleep last night!

Nathaniel David, 1 day old

2. My wonderful husband and our soon-to-be 4 years of marriage: It's hard to believe that it's been that long!  We've had many great memories already and so many more to come.  Austin is such a hard-working and loyal man.  He is so tender and sweet with Nate, but also so strong.  He is a wonderful husband and a great father.  Nate and I are so blessed!

This engagement photo was taken over 4 years ago!

3. Our families-the Bill Oates family and the Kettelkamps.  We have such an amazing and supportive family! 

4. Austin's job, especially his new schedule-weekends off!  We are loving all of the family time!

5. The opportunity for me to go to part-time so that I can spend more time with Nate and we can maximize our time together as a family. 

Well these are just a few of the things I am thankful for, there are many more.  Enjoy your Thanksgiving with your family and not with the retail workers who are missing their family on Thanksgiving!

Modge Podge and craft night with Nate

With the holidays here, it's really hard to stick to a budget so I am trying my hand at some home-made decorations and gifts.  I did some research and picked out a few things that I would like to make.  Most of the items I decided on making are made with re-purposed items.  So with my "list" of junk I needed to find, I made a trip to Stuff Etc.

I was surprised by how much STUFF Stuff Etc has.  It was hard to navigate the aisles because it was so full.  And busy. I picked up my junk (or as much as I could find) and got home to get crafty.  Here are my frugal finds:

4 pane window frame with mirror

This one also had a mirror in it. 

And these gorgeous coasters for $0.99

Disclaimer: I am not a naturally crafty person. In fact I didn't even know modge podge was until a few days ago.  Now, I want to use modge podge on everything!  

This may change your life!

Disclaimer number 2: This is not a tutorial.  It's a before and after.  (If you want to know how to make these, let me know...I'll give you the details).  

The old coasters with a cute picture of my cute little Nate.  Adorable.  P.S. If this is your Christmas present, pretend to be surprised...

Not the best caption and I may be changing it a little.  I think I may change the ornaments a little and maybe add a few more embelishments...

Disclaimer number 3: I have to admit that I didn't make these all by myself.  I had help.  Please see below:

I can't figure out how to rotate it, but isn't he so cute?

Nate getting ready to help me paint the window pane frame.  He was an animal.  Going for it with two brushes!

But he got tired and Jag had to babysit:

Keepin' the Nater in line.

So the moral of this story is that Modge Podge is great! (But not near as great as my buddy and craft partner, Nate). 

Extreme couponing and a new family member?

Who knew couponing could be fun?

Really.

I've never watched "extreme couponing," and to be quite honest, in the past I have gotten annoyed when the lady in front of me at the check-out line has some forty coupons and requests "price matches" from ads from other stores. (By the way, Walmart in Marion does that).  I get especially annoyed when the cashier and lady in front of me get into an argument about prices or the fact that she can only use a certain number of the same coupons in one visit.  It's even worse when I'm crunched for time, or when my sweet, precious Nater starts to get fussy.  <--Yes, that does happen.  My baby is just like yours; he cries.

But today I may have to join the couponers; I have experienced the "thrill" of saving money with coupons.  I saved a whole $2.40 with coupons on my weekly grocery budget, and probably about $20.00 more by grocery shopping at my least favorite store--Walmart.  I've found that when I go shopping with Nate I spend more money.  Partly because he's strapped to my body with the Baby Bjorn and I loose some range of motion necessary for strategic grocery shopping and partly because I am afraid if I take too long I will face the stares of all the other shoppers when Nate starts to cry.

To be honest, since Nate has been born I have not been very good at sticking to a budget.  There's cute clothes to get (he is almost out of his 6 month onesies, and he isn't even 3 months yet!) not to mention diapers, wipes and all the other baby necessities.  Also, I have been spending money on thing to make our house look cute for the open houses and then there is my desire to buy stylish clothes since I have not looked cute for the past 9 months.  (Who am I kidding...I wouldn't wear stylish clothes even if I had them.  I live in jeans and sweatshirts!)  But now that I am only going back to work part-time--16 hours a week--I need to do better about sticking to a budget.  So I am going to focus my next few posts on my journey to frugality.  We will see how this experiment goes.

But in other news, there is another male living in our house...our garage actually. (Although he is well-behaved enough that he gets supervised house privileges).  Here is Jag, our "trial dog:"

Jag, 5 months, looking at Austin (who is standing in the corner).  Jag has really taken a liking to Austin!

Jag and Austin.  Austin says it's strange being around a dog that doesn't need to be "tazed" in order to behave.  Just in case anyone is going to call the humane society on us, the tazer is an e-collar and it's not harmful. 

And just for fun, here is a picture of Nate from this morning while I was doing my quiet time.  Isn't he a cutie?

Is this a waste of time?

I'm sitting at my dining room table (smelling icky after an hour of P90X) and a thought just occurred to me: is blogging a waste of my time?  Is anyone really reading this?  And do I really have anything to say?

Now, I apologize if this offends you.  I am in no way saying that blogging is a waste of time.  In fact, your blog is probably the reason I decided to give this a try.  There are so many fresh, fun and thoughtful blogs out there and many times I get ideas for projects and suggestions and insights about faith from other peoples' blogs.

I guess the reason that I question whether or not I should be blogging is because I have so many other "to dos."  In fact, in front of me is sitting a moleskin book that I have titled my "Book of Lists."  In it I have written crafts I want to make, ideas for Christmas gifts (homemade of course!), goals (spiritual and fitness related), "to do's," "to buys" (like a new vaccumn cleaner and water glasses), ways to decorate and projects I want to do (like working on Nate's baby book or organizing all of my pictures).

(In case you couldn't guess I am a first-born and have a type-A personality)

So, there's no real blogging today, however I want to link you to a blog that I visited a few days ago.  The current blog post is about organizing your prayer life and since I have a type-A personality I was all over that. Trista, a high-school friends' wife offers a really good idea on how to organize your prayers and develop a fruitful prayer life.  Check it out!

http://jonandtrista.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/organize-your-prayer-life/#comment-15

Weekend of open houses

I'm already failing in my resolution to blog everyday, but this weekend has been super busy.  We had an open house on Saturday and Sunday and although no one came to the Saturday open house (it was last-minute AND advertised incorrectly), we did have one potential interested person at the open house on Sunday.  Tomorrow we are having a realtor's open house (where realtors can go through the house to see it), so I guess we can't trash the house yet!

Here is a picture of the house with the For Sale sign up:

A little out of focus, but I took it from the car quick as we were leaving...  

During the open houses, Austin, Nate and I camped out at Austin's parents' house, watching football.  Nate got LOTS of attention.  Here are a few pictures:

Checking Grandma Oates out

"Talking" and smiling at Grandma Oates

Well, it's time for Nate and I to head out and run some errands.  We have to get a few things (a card for daddy's birthday tomorrow and groceries to make snacks for the hungry realtors who will be going through our house tomorrow) and maybe make a stop at Barnes and Nobel to pick up a chapter book for Nate.  Haha.  Yes, my child is very advanced.

:)