Naptime Blog

The pediatrician at Tristan’s last appointment for shots told me to pick my battles. When he said that I laughed at him. My perfect angel fighting with me, NEVER.

Well tonight I had Tristan in his cute toy story pajamas. Some time this evening he decided he no longer wanted to wear the toy story top. So for twenty minutes he struggled to get his shirt off. I tried to help him and he didn’t want my help. So instead I took pictures. After he got the shirt off he went to a basket of clean clothes I had in the living room that I needed to pack away. On top of the basked was a Halloween shirt. He brought me this shirt and I never said a word. I guess he thought I would say no, so he started yelling at me and waving his arms. The only real thing I could understand was shirt. So I put the shirt on him. You figure all would be well. But NO I caught attitude until he went to bed.

So my teenager is currently sleeping in a non fire proof shirt. I figure he is ok for one night since he has two sprinklers in his bedroom, one of them is over his bed. No post is complete without pictures. Here is his final outfit. Also this week Tristan has broke two child locks. One on the lazy susan and one on the pantry door. UGH! The boy is strong and smart.

-Chrystal

 I promise this post is going somewhere. We have a 14 cu ft standing freezer in the basement. I love to buy meat in bulk and food saver it. I have saved so much money this way. Since I do this I have a list of the meat I have. I knew I wanted to make pork chops. So I checked the list and I had 4 bags of 4 chops. I looked and looked and could not find ANY pork chops. So I complained to Rick and changed dinner. Rick came home from work and found the pork chops on top of the freezer. He never put them in. He must have set them down to open the freezer and forgot to put them in. No big deal lesson learned.

Here is a picture of the top two shelves of my freezer, the rest is just as filled. Do you think I have enough food? I am not sure.

So I decided for the next month we are eating out of the pantry/freezer. No more weekly grocery shopping. We are stock piling food. For what? So my cooking adventure begins. We only will have to buy things like milk, bread, and yogurt.

Since I didn’t have pork chops I made Apricot glazed chicken instead.
Ingredients

• Chicken (I used 5 thighs & 3 breasts)
• 1 cup apricot preserves
• 1 cup Russian dressing
• 1 package dry onion soup mix

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl combine the jam, dressing and soup mix. Mix together.
3. Place chicken pieces in a 9×13 inch baking dish.
4. Pour apricot mixture over chicken and bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

I’m also making a green giant vegetable steamer and couscous

-Chrystal

A week ago I wrote about eating generic. I found an even better way to save money. With two people eating ALL the time, I’m not ashamed to admit that I will do anything to save a dime (have you heard about my stay at home etsy mom obsession?)

That’s right, boys and girls, reusable bags. Know what that means? Mama’s saving money. And, Mama is also helping to save the environment. Want a disturbing little factoid? Each year, an estimated five billion to one trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. By the time my kids are adults they’ll apparently be heading to the beach to swim in plastic. Building little plastic bag castles on the plastic. Sitting under their umbrella, soaking up some plastic. Nothing like a little plastic to relax on/ with/ around.

I currently have switched to cloth diapers, reusable bags, reusable snack bags, un-paper towels, and I no longer buy single serve water. I want to save money and the earth for my children. The bag pictured hangs on my oven and my un-paper towels go in it when they are wet and dirty. It’s a water proof bag and I LOVE IT!

So go to etsy one day and look around. You can support America but buying American and home-made and save some money and the earth while you are at it.

-Chrystal

Growing up, there were five children living in our house on a permanent/ semi-permanent basis. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. It was my twin sister and I and my Moms best friends three sons. It used to make me crazy that my mom would shop at our local grocery store and bring home the generic versions of Doritos and peanut butter and cookies. I remember being envious when I saw those pretty red bags of cheesy chip goodness at my friends’ houses. At our house, there were cabinets of white bags, cans and boxes with red writing. Generic, for as far as the eye could see. I’m sure we had name brand products as well, but I know for a fact that the majority of the food us kids ate came in an ugly white package with red writing.

Finally, I get it.

Although I’ve not always made the best financial decisions in life, I’ve never been much of a shopper. The older I’ve gotten, the more fiscally responsible I’ve gotten as well. And now that Tristan in the picture, I find that I am even more of a penny pincher. As much as I hate to admit it, it’s possible that I might even border on being a little cheap. But, for the sake of my ego, let’s just say that I’m frugal.

Some of my favorite money saving tactics include:

• Reading unit prices on EVERYTHING. I’ve come to learn that bigger isn’t always cheaper. Sometimes the bigger packages actually cost more per unit. Isn’t that nice of the manufacturers of these products? “Family size” is more expensive… trickery, pure trickery.
• Coupons and lots of them. And, not always using them because I have them, but using them because they are really worth it.
• Unless it’s a staple item, I only buy sale items at the grocery store. Therefore, we have a pantry stocked with ten cans of corn, five boxes of rice, four cans of soup…. and on and on it goes. If I buy things when they’re on sale, I won’t ever have to pay full price for anything unless absolutely necessary.
• When it comes to parties, gift giving and all that good stuff, I try to be proactive. For example, I am always on the look-out for sale items that could be used as party favors, party supplies and gifts for friends’ kids’ birthday parties.
• I also scour the after Valentine’s sales, Easter sales, etc. for non-holiday looking favor items. Then, I store them for later.
• Generic. Sorry, but it’s true. I’ve become my mother. I buy generic. Of course, I won’t give in when it comes to some items. Triscuits? Can’t be replicated. Frosted Mini Wheats? Only the real deal. Coffee? You’ve got to be kidding me if you think I’m doing that in the generic form. Some generics just can’t hold their own. But, for things like pasta, green beans, macaroni and cheese and frozen waffles, it really doesn’t matter much, especially to the girls. Oddly and disturbingly, the boxes are white. With blue writing. It’s just eerie.

-Chrystal

Yesterday was SO beautiful out, finally!!! Its been a harsh winter this year so I think we’re all about ready for nice warm weather

We have been going to the indoor play place so long I am not sure Tristan remembered what the park was. LOL. He was running around like a mad man for 2 hours. When it was time to leave he cried, screamed, kicked, yelled, threw himself out of my arms, and caused a big scene. Then I had to drive a half hour home from the park with him freaking out.

I live so far in the middle of nowhere that if you want to go somewhere you have to drive. The indoor play place we go to is a hour away. So all in all it takes up about 4 hours when we go. An hour to get there, two hours play time, and an hour drive home. But with Tristan at home with me, play dates are his only non Mommy/Daddy interaction. 

I want to have his second birthday at this play place but I am not sure people would drive an hour to get there. Most of our friends/family live by us. Maybe I should ask around to see what people say.

On another note Tristan has started calling me Chrystal. It drives me batty. I try to act like it doesn’t bother me. But it does. I want to pitch a fit and yell CALL ME MOMMY!!!!!!

What do you all do for play dates? I am always looking for new ideas. I was thinking of signing him up for swimming at the new pool this summer.

Chrystal

We went to the post office, grocery store and gas station.

• When you grab your DSLR grab your Memory card too.
• I can drive on unplowed roads and not die.
• Tristan will laugh when you bump, grind and slide all over the unplowed roads.
• The parking lots won’t be cleared well so this will lead to mass panic.
• Because the parking lot is not clear police officers will be directing traffic.
• Also because the parking lot is not clear a guy with a shovel will offer to shovel you a spot for $25.
• After you say no you will wish you had paid the $25. TRUST ME!
• The store had tons of milk, eggs, bread, and toilet paper but NO FROZEN VEGETABLES.
• When your son is the only kid not screaming his fool head off in the store and he smiles at the manager she will give him a cute little stuffed sesame street character for making her day.
• I can carry $100 in groceries and a toddler up the stairs and only drop a sippy cup.
• Old ladies are mean when you grab the last two packages of cubed beef stew meat.
• Three aisles later when you see the cranky old lady be sure to check your cart for said beef stew meat. 
• 3 of the 4 gas stations in Prince Frederick are out of gas.
• Giant is better than Safeway. They had all registers open and I waited all of two minutes in line. At Safeway I waited over 45 minutes.
• The site of Tazo tea concentrate will make your day!
• You will be so tired from your adventures you will feed your son a lunchable and he will LOVE it.

Can my winter weatherland go away now? I don’t want to build anymore snowmen in the meadows.

-Chrystal

I am trying something new with Tristan. He has not been sleeping well, so I did some research and decided to put a twin mattress on the floor in his nursery. A gate is across the hallway so he can only get to my bedroom. His nursery and my bedroom are 100% childproof so I know he is safe if he gets up at night. Plus I am a super light sleeper. It seems to be working out.

Another reason I decided to try this was I have been studying the Montessori way of learning. They believe:  “A bed should be one which the baby can get in and out of on his own as soon as he is ready to crawl. The first choice is an adult twin bed mattress on the floor. Besides being an aid to development, this arrangement does a lot to prevent the common problem of crying because of boredom or exhaustion. It helps to think of this as a whole-room playpen with a baby gate at the doorway and to examine every nook and cranny for interest and safety. If the newborn is going to share a room with parents or siblings we can still provide a large, safe, and interesting environment. Eventually he will explore the whole room with a gate at the door and then gradually move out into the baby-proofed and baby-interesting remainder of the house. These are the beginning stages of independence, concentration, movement, self-esteem, decision-making, and balanced, healthful development of body, mind, and spirit.”

I am so excited to see how this works long term. So far he wakes up and comes and gets me. Maybe one day he will decide to explore and play.

Chrystal
www.everydayoates.blogspot.com

I was reading in line at the store the other day and the article was very interesting. Here are a few of the things that I learned and thought were helpful: 

1. When cooking put a thin layer of butter around the rim of the pan to keep the water from boiling over (which makes a huge mess depending on what you are cooking). 
2. If you run out of eggs you can substitute in two tablespoons of real mayonnaise for one egg (I have not tried it yet but I think it’s quite interesting). 
3. A common mistake people make when cooking meats is salting the meat before you cook it. This actually pulls the moisture out of the meat as it cooks, making it dryer. 

My new favorite cake to take places is:

DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE

• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 1/4 c. boiling water
• 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 10 T. butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1 t. vanilla

1. Grease three 8-inch cake pans and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk boiling water, chocolate, and cocoa until smooth. 
3. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, scraping the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. 
4. On low, bet in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat in half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat wth half of the remaining flour mixture, then the remaining chocolate mixture, and finally the remaining flour mixture. 
5. Give the batter one final stir using a rubber spatula. Divide batter evenly among the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake 15-20 minutes. 6. Let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Flip onto wire rack, flip capes upright, and let cool completely before frosting, 1-2 hours.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened
• 1 1/3 c. creamy peanut butter (don’t substitute chunky)
• 3 T. heavy cream
• 2 1/2 t. vanilla
• 2 1/4 c. confectioners’ sugar

1. Beat butter, peanut butter, cream, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl on medium high speed with an electric mixer until smooth, 1-2 minutes.
2. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low, slowly add the confectioners’ sugar, and beat until incorporated and smooth, 4-6 minutes. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 5-10 minutes.

This recipe is straight from The America’s Test Kitchen Baking Book. Let me know what you think!

-Chrystal

Since I’ve been laid off longer than we anticipated we’ve made a few changes. I pulled Tristan from day care so he’s home with me. Once a week we go on play dates so he still gets some interaction. The bottle is gone but he still gets formula at night. I know he’s eating rounded meals but he can be super picky sometimes. At least I know the parents choice stage two formula will get him essential vitamins.

I’m also buying in bulk when I can. I wish that the stage two formula came in bulk at sams club. We love Sam’s. I can buy 204 size 3 diapers for $35. We also buy a huge case of wipes and that saves more money. Sams club also sells his instant oatmeal, bananas and other staples of his diet that a sure thing when he’s being picky. Some things I won’t buy at Sams since I don’t use large amounts of it, such as eggs or cheese.

My husband and I also changed to almost 100% store brand of everything. I’m in love with Wal-Marts great value brand. Instead of buying baby juice I buy regular juice and dilute it with water. Staples like sugar, flour, butter, and spices are also a great price compared to national brands. I added up the saving on my last trip by going to giant online and I saved $53.

The only thing I can’t get at my local Wal-Mart is meat. For that I drive 45 miles once a month. That same trip is when I stock up on our parents choice toddler meals since they have a bigger selection. Tristan eats what we have for dinner but for lunch he eats the toddler meals.

Being home with Tristan has strengthened our bond. He’s inseparable from me. It only gets a little crazy when he won’t let Daddy do things like bath time or feed him. I guess it’s all a learning curve. I need to make him more independent but I don’t know how.

-Chrystal

So some people would think by now I over react but really I swear I don’t. I often get yelled at during appointments when I say such and such happened. Then I get a long lecture about being laid back.
WHEW…I am SO glad this roller coaster weekend is over! Friday morning I took Tristan to Dr. Singh because I just knew he was getting dehydrated. He had a super high fever and a terrible stomach virus. And sure enough…to the ER we go from the pediatrician’s office! Tristan was a great baby…he tolerated all the needles SO WELL. His first IV didn’t go in right, so they had to start a second! I felt so sorry for him. The staff was wonderful.

He was discharged two whole long exhausting days later. It was crazy! Luckily I was pretty well rested from lying in the hospital bed with Tristan all weekend. I can’t even add photos since my blackberry camera is all messed up and my flip video camera was dead. My new blackberry should be here ASAP! Its sad how much I rely on my blackberry camera for pictures.

Chrystal