Gingerbread Houses (Minus the Gingerbread)

I can't remember the last time I made a gingerbread house...or if I ever have. So my trusty assistant at work, Joelle, came over and showed me the ropes. She and her husband whipped up their "Noah's Ark" house in no time. My OCD definitely came out and I got so into it that it took me two nights to finish. I can't take all the credit though, Brett was a great helper. We used graham crackers and meringue frosting.

Here's our creation...

Here's Joelle and Nate's Ark...

Merry Yeehaw!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Winter Wonderland

Winter has finally arrived in Idaho Falls and we are covered in a blanket of white! I love the snow this time of year. It just makes is seem so much more like Christmas. Wahoo!

Our house...

My manly-man with the snow blower...

Our street...

Tater Tot

Brett loves to hang out in the basement and watch sports. Usually Austin is right there with him turning his head trying to find the TV. Grandma Nagel came over one day and said to Austin "Well, since your Dad's a couch potato, that must make you a Tater Tot!" It stuck. So, here are a few recent pictures of our Tater Tot!

Lounging around with Dad on Nov 21st in his Vandal gear! Go Vandals! We still have Vandal pride even though they can't win a game to save their lives!

Sitting in Grandma Nagel's highchair on Thanksgiving. He just finished his sweet potatoes. He's eating solids like a champ and loves squash and sweet potatoes.

This is Austin today hanging out in his Bumbo giving one of our tupperware lids a once over. If it's within his reach, he's going for it!

Another picture today. He is so close to sitting on his own without toppling over! Give him another week and he'll be a sitting champ...and maybe a football star! Okay, give him a few more years for the football thing.

A Sucessful Golf Season

Most of the year Brett spends his days teaching golf lesssons, working in the pro shop and playing in golf tournaments. He loves his job and comes home happy every day (well, most days!). It is such a good feeling to have a husband who is truely happy with his work. Well, the golf season in Idaho Falls is officially over for the winter. Brett had another really successful golf season and I wanted to share his tournament accomplishments for 2008.

Blackfoot GC Pro-Am - 4th Place

Juniper Hills GC Pro-Am - 1st Place

Rocky Mountain Section Assistant's Championship- 3rd Place

Highest Place Finisher for Titleist Staff Member - $$ Bonus

Teton Lakes GC Pro-Am - 2nd Place

Jefferson Hills GC Pro-Am- 3rd Place

I'm so proud of him! He works hard every day to improve his playing ability and teaching skills. Brett is now spending his days with Austin as Mr. Mom while I'm at work during the week. He's really enjoying his time with Austin and I love the fact that they get to bond with each other!

Online Shopping Tips

Christmas is right around the corner, which means most of us are in the midst of the shopping craze! Well, the Nagels are on a budget and always enjoy a good deal. We thought we'd pass along a couple great websites and online shopping tips that we're using to help you save some cash if you're shopping online too! It's bargain shopping online...and you don't even have to fight the crowds!

1. ebates.com
2. retailmenot.com

Ebates.com is a shopping site that gives you up to 26% cash back every time you shop online (avg is about 5% but every penny counts!). You can shop at over 1000 stores including Barnes & Noble, Gap, Target, and Expedia. Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales. Best of all, it free! If you sign up with Ebates today, we'll each get a $5 bonus when you make your first purchase! Click here to sign up: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=TK61s%2FlyXuw%2FO37BP5As7Q%3D%3D
Brett's email is brettnagel@hotmail.com if you need it for the referral. The site is so simple. Just connect to your shopping site through ebates.com. Brett and I have already earned some cash back when we shopped online on Cyber Monday (they paid double % that day!)!

The other site we recommend is retailmenot.com. You can look for special online offers and free shipping codes on tons of websites via this site. We actually found some discount codes on this site that weren't offered on ebates.com.

Combine these two sites together when you shop and you've got one wild and money saving online shopping experience! It makes us all gitty inside and we love it!

Enjoy!

Husband Tag

5 Things He Loves
1. His family
2. Golf and Sports in general
3. Electronics
4. His iPod (see #3)
5. A Good Deal

5 Things On His To-Do List
1. Score the Head Golf Professional jobby-job of his dreams
2. Replace the front door of our house with a new, improved one
3. Be Mr. Mom through the winter, Mon-Fri!
4. Enter the World Series of Poker Main Event- Anyone have $10,000 he can borrow?
5. Be debt free- Courtesy of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover

5 Food He Enjoys
1. The all American hamburger with cheese and no onion
2. Spicy Chicken and Shrimp from Carino's
3. Oatmeal with mixins- dried fruit and nuts of sorts
4. Chocolate Chip Mint ice cream
5. Gatorade- a must have on the golf course

5 Things You May Not Know About Him
1. He remembers everything- I call it his iron trap!
2. He had a crush on me long before I knew who he was!
3. He can make Austin giggle way more than I can- sniff, sniff
4. He's a creative cook and can create a masterpiece out of random stuff in the fridge
5. He's a great power napper and can fall asleep instantly if needed

5 Places He's Lived
1. Los Alamos, NM
2. Moscow, ID
3. Mom's House, Idaho Falls, ID
4. A Ghetto Apartment, Idaho Falls, ID
5. Current Residence, Idaho Falls, ID

5 Quirky Things About Him
1. He's obsessed with the weather. He should moonlight as a meteorologist.
2. He's an impeccable driver to the point where I get annoyed. Just make a u-turn already!
3. He has very sensitive ear lobes and hates when I touch them.
4. He likes to watch Oprah occasionally.
5. He has great penmanship- just like a fifth grader!

5 (okay 2) People to Tag
1. Katie Braga
2. Jona Hansen

Nana

We were able to make a trip to Boise last weekend to visit Nana in the hospital. On our initial visit, it made me smile to see her out of bed and in the common room eating lunch. She made it clear that she hated her chicken but loved her chocolate milkshake! She was doodling a bit on a piece of paper but no full words seemed to come together for her besides her name. I could tell that she was trying very hard to formulate thoughts and either speak or write them, but they would just get lost somewhere. I felt her frustration and discouragement.

On Saturday, out of the blue, she said “Hey Jod” to Aunt Jody like it was no big deal. But, we all knew it was and were happy to actually hear her say it. Dad was teasing her as usual and she was making all kinds of funny faces.

The WE LOVE YOU NANA banner that Sarah and the girls made is taped to the wall in front of her bed. I hope the banner and the continuous presence of family will give her the courage and strength she needs to recover. She is a strong cookie and her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren need her in their lives for a while longer.

When we had to leave, I gave her a big hug and kisses, told her how much I loved her and that we would see her again soon.

We love you Nan!

5th Anniversary

Brett and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on the 8th. We had a nice lunch together, toured the Pharaohs exhibit at our local museum and then pigged out on ice cream. It was a nice afternoon together, alone. Brett mentioned that it felt like the "old days" pre-baby. I agreed. We love our little man but it was definitely nice to get some alone time together. It had been a long time since our last "date." I gave Brett a little picture book to commemorate 5 wonderful years. The pictures are posted below for you all to enjoy too.

I love you Brett, with all my heart, and still haven't figured out how I got so lucky to be your wife. Thanks for loving me and wanting to spend forever together.

Our Honeymoon in Jamaica, November 2003

Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, October 2004

Christmas Picture, December 2004

Yellowstone National Park, July 2005

Marco Island, Florida, July 2006

Camping on Palisades Lake, July 2006

U of I Homecoming in Moscow, Idaho, October 2007

9 Months Pregnant, April 2008

Austin's Born, May 2008

Our Family, October 2008

Our Little Tiger!

Austin had a roaring good time on his first Halloween! We visited Grandma and trick-or-treated at the neighbors. I didn't want to take his costume off because he looked so stinkin cute!

Cousins

We went to Boise a couple weeks ago to visit and took some family pictures. I love this one of all the cousins sitting together- Jakob (15 mos), Ava (11 1/2 mos) and Austin (5 1/2 mos). It's so crazy that we're all grown up and have children of our own now. I love seeing the reflections of ourselves in them. Amazing.

Fat Dog

Brett took Bailey to the vet this week for his annual check up and shots. The vet weighed him and he tipped the scale at 98 pounds! Last year he weighed in at 85. So, according to the vet gaining this amount of weight in a year's time is like a human gaining 100 pounds! Our poor dog has become fat with an extra inch around his middle! I'm not surprised since the lack of outdoor activity we've had since Austin was born. He's not getting his nightly 1 hour walk like usual- maybe just 2-3 times a week at 40 minutes max.

So, Bailey Boo, I'm sorry to say that you're officially on a diet. Your poor Labrador joints are too fragile to be carrying around a fat tire. No more table scraps, no more extra dog treats, a precise amount of dog chow. I promise, we do this because we love you. Ruff! :)

The Flu Bug

All the Nagels caught the 24-hour flu bug last weekend. First Austin barfing on Thursday (poor little guy), then Brett Friday and me on Saturday. The worst, simply the worst. Thank goodness for Gatorade- for Brett and I at least! We're all feeling much better now.

Blueberry

This was my last pregnant picture before Austin was born 3 days later. Brett called me "Blueberry" when I wore this shirt. Since I started this blog after Austin was born, I figured I'd share a prego pic. He's all I seem to talk about these days!

Austin had a big day last weekend- he rolled over from his tummy to his back!

Pretty Pants

So, I washed up a bunch of 6-9 month clothes that we bought for Austin before he was born. I was so excited for him to wear his first pair of blue jeans this fall. I think they're adorable on babies. Well, apparently I wanted my child to be a bit too adorable because after close inspection, I realized that we bought him a pair of girl pants!

Seriously, look at these pictures. What was I thinking? They are totally girly. Didn't I notice the pink bow on the tag? Please tell me I'm not the first mother to do this. So needless to say, these puppies will be passed along to an adorable little girl. :) There's no way I'm making my son wear girl pants.

Working Zombie and Control Freak

Ok, so Austin's sleeping through the night didn't last long. Hence the reason for my blogging absence. Zombie, pure zombie I am. But no worries, I've resorted back to my Baby Whisperer books and think I might have a few answers-more food, longer naps, steady routine. Now, if I can just communicate the importance of this to Austin's daytime caregiver and have her stick with it. You know, this working mom stuff is hard for someone who's striving for parenting perfection (I know, I'm totally delusional). I feel like I'm losing all control! I admit, sometimes I go crazy thinking about all the things that are or are not going on in my absence. And oh how I miss his smiling face, giggles and farts, yes farts, during the day. I long to be a stay-at-home mommy when my control freak tendencies rise to the surface. Some day I tell you all, some day!

Snoozzzzzing!

Austin slept through the night last night and I feel like a new woman! Crazy what a little sleep can do for your mental state, especially as a working mom. He hasn't done this since he was about 8 weeks old and even then it didn't last long. I'm crossing my fingers for another good night!

It's the Bumbo!

Austin has graduated from the swing to the Bumbo! Brett has wanted Austin to sit in this thing since the day he was born. He discovered it when he saw Jakob sitting in his many months ago. This item was top on Brett's list of baby items for the little guy.

Splish, Splash!

Who can resist a naked baby?! I thought the grandparents would love these pictures for sure. Bath time at our house is usually a pretty happy affair, unless I try to squeeze one in too close to bedtime. Then I get mister cranky pants very quickly. Austin loves to suck on the wet wash cloth and anything else that gets even close to his mouth these days!

Happy Baby

I must say, Brett and I produced one cute kid! He was all smiles tonight before bed.

Check out this video!

Tell me how many you count in my comments section! :)

Fam Comes to Visit

Dad, Mom, Elisha and Jakob made a spur of the moment trip to Idaho Falls this weekend. We walked around the river on Friday night and lounged around watching the olympics and eating chinese food. We all definitely have olympic fever! Go Phelps! Here's a few pictures of the weekend.

Austin snuggling with Grandpa.
Me, Austin and Jakob.
Jakob with his new wagon that we gave him for his birthday. He's quite the big boy!

Elisha, Mom and Jakob.

Austin 3 Months

Our baby boy is growing so fast! We're enjoying his new milestones every day. He loves his hands right now and can't keep them out of his mouth. He's also quite a drooler!