Sick Day

Lainey is not feeling great.  She was extra fussy this morning but I took her temperature and it was normal so we went about life as normal.

Since noon she has refused to eat and has a fever of 101.  She took a three hour nap and has been "lethargic" ever since.  Basically laying in my arms - cries if you put her down.  She hasn't puked at all but she sure looks like she might - hence the bowl. 

One of her ears still seems to be infected despite 10 days of Augment.  I am guessing these new symptoms are due to a virus though.  We'll see.  She has an appointment with an ENT on Friday but if not better by Wednesday she will likely need to see her pediatrician before that.  Errr!  Poor kid.

January Budget

Well, I have closed up this months expenses.  Overall, I am pleased with how we did but before I give you the results I thought I would explain how I have everything divided up.

I have been tracking every penny spent using Excel.  I have divided up our expenses into 5 different categories....

 1) Fixed expenses:  

This takes up a large portion of our income.  In this column I include...
- WI mortgage (this is covered by our renter - plus it covers most of the WI property tax)
- MD mortgage
 -WI/MD property taxes
-life/car/home insurance
-electric
-gas
-water
-church/missionaries/Compassion kids
-phone
-gym
-internet
-Erik's preschool
-401K loan repayment (we took an interest free loan out against ourselves to use as part of the down payment on house #2 which we are now repaying)

The only things that vary in this column are gas, electric, and water.  So I have this column set at a specific "expected" expense.  I won't tell you what that is but I will tell you how far above or below we are that each month.

2) Groceries:  

I set this budget at $500 a month.  This is pretty reasonable but still challenging as I like to buy as much organic, grass-fed, cage-free, etc. food as possible.  We also eat a TON of fresh fruits and veggies which can be costly.  Milk alone costs close to $50 a month as a gallon of Organic Milk is $6 here and Lainey's Rice Milk is $6/gallon.

3) Household Expenses:  

$500 a month in this column too.  This includes most daily expenses such as gas, soap, shampoo, paper products, cleaning products, anything from target, haircuts,  medicine, etc.  Gas takes up a large portion of this column.

4) Entertainment:  

$150 a month.  This includes eating out, kids activities, date nights (including the sitter), girls nights, movies, etc.


5)  "Unexpected" Expenses:

$500 a month.  This includes things that don't happen on a monthly schedule but aren't truly unexpected.  This might include medical bills, car repair, park and rec class tuition, clothes shopping, etc.

6)  Savings:

Goal:  $500 a month.

I hope that by tracking everything very closely and sticking to the above budget we will be able to save $500 a month from Victor's monthly income.  (We can go over the set parameters a bit and still do this but I set the parameters low as I know we will likely spend whatever the parameters are set at.)

In addition to the $500 a month we also hope to be able to save the 2 additional paychecks unaccounted for (I based his monthly income on 24 paychecks, not 26), any tax returns (in the past this has been around $5000), and any Navy pay.  He has 2.5 years of Navy reserve duty left before he can "retire."  This requires him to work one weekend a month plus 2 weeks a year.  The income from this is quite modest but will still help.

What are our financial goals??

YEARLY:
Fund my IRA
Continue adding to the kids college funds
Set aside for a family vacation, trip back to the Midwest, and a weekend away for Victor and I

CURRENT:
Save for a minivan
Beef up our "emergency" savings account by 1 months salary


HOW DID WE DO???

1) Fixed Column:  +184 (over)
2) Food: +49
3) Household: +20
4) Entertainment: -32
5) Unexpected: +30

Total Saved: $518

The fixed column was over significantly mainly due to the way we pay for house/car insurance.  The biggest bills are at the beginning of the year.  Gas/Electric are also probably as high as they will get.

Goals for February:
Stay under $500 for groceries.

Anticipated unexpected expenses:
Extra $200 security deposit for Erik's preschool.
Medical bill related to Erik's bout of pneumonia in December.
Possible Tubes for Lainey this month.
Highlights in my hair?!

If you made it to the end of this LOOONG post - thanks!  I am curious if anyone else wants to join the budgeting world with me?!  It is kind of fun and I feel good knowing we are being responsible with our dollars!

For those of you already budgeting and using mint.com I am wondering if that program lets you manually enter things or is it all pulled in automatically from your checking/savings/credit card accounts?  I am a slight control freak and like be able to enter things manually.  Thanks!

Church #5

We tried out a 5th church today.  It was a non-demoninational church which is what we have gone to in the past.  We liked it quite a bit and will go back again next week.  This is only the 2nd church we felt worthy of more than one visit.

Pros:

1- Type of church we are more familiar with and comfortable attending.
2-  Tons of families with young kids.
3- Lots of activities available -- game nights, movie nights, bible studies (with childcare), volleyball team, etc.
4- Very close to our house.  We walked there today.  The church just relocated- it had been meeting 30 minutes from our house which seemed a little to far for me.
5- Really friendly people.  The pastor made sure to greet us.  I saw him in the gym this afternoon and he recognized me first.  The woman in charge of the woman's ministry came up and said hi to me as well, making sure I felt welcome. Really nice!

Cons:

1- It's a young church (a church plant from a larger church) due to this they meet in an elementary school.  This isn't a big deal but for some reason it bothers me a little.  I like the comfort an actual church building provides I guess?

2-  The pastor, while kind and inviting, didn't capture our attention as well as some of the other speakers we have heard.  Hard to really evaluate this after one service though so we'll see what we think next week.


It's a pretty small church - probably 100 people in attendance (not including kids) today.  Only one service. 

Anyway, I am hoping we will like it again next week.  We'll see!

Baby's Room

We are slowly starting to get baby boy's room ready.  The walls are painted and wall vinyls up.  The wall color is actually sage green but looks brown in the above photo - I am not sure why.  I ordered the "vinyl wall stickers" off of Etsy.  Aren't they cool?  I really think it looks like we painted a mural but it is some fancy stickers instead. 

We have a plan made regarding crib/bed switch but are not sure when we will execute it.  Probably in the next week or two.  We are going to give Lainey the mattress from the guest bed (it will be on the floor until she is older) and move the frame to the (unfinished) basement.  We have a queen size futon mattress that we will put on the frame instead.  Not nearly as comfortable for guests but the best option for us at the moment. 

Baby boy's clothes are washed and his dresser is set up.  There are other small things I need to get set up before he arrives (newborn diapers need bought, find my nursing shield, wash the breast pump equipment, pack hospital bag and kids overnight bags, bring cradle up to our room, wash out car seat and make sure it fits in the backseat with the other two kids seats) but otherwise getting the crib in his room is the last big thing we have left.

I am still feeling fine.  I have been really tired this week and had a little more heartburn than I had been having.  Braxton Hicks have finally started (normally I have them by 28 weeks) which makes me feel like we are getting a little closer to delivery.  This pregnancy has been quite easy so far but I am to the point were I am looking forward to the end and meeting baby boy! 

Outdoor Fun

It snowed about an inch here yesterday.  School was canceled but it was actually really nice out so we spent about 3 hours outside playing.  Erik braved the hill in our backyard and went sledding down it on his own 2-3 times.  He liked it but was still a little anxious.  It was a fun day but I am looking forward to normal activities resuming tomorrow.

Budget 101

When Victor took his new position we knew his salary would drop.  It was somewhat inevitable as the past 3.5 years his salary has been inflated due to a generous salary "match" from GE.  By salary match I mean that GE paid us the difference between his Navy base pay and his old GE salary which amounted to 2000 a month.  GE did not take into consideration the fact that as active duty Navy you are also paid a housing allowance which was really part of his income, just lumped in a different category (plus a lot of your income is tax-free).  We informed them of this but they didn't care and paid us anyway. 

Because of this I have been able to be home with the kids with little to no financial concerns.  The first year we were out here the GE match portion of his salary went to cover our WI home which was vacant (we thought we would be back) but the last 2.5 years it has truly just been extra income. 

What did we do with that money? 

Thankfully, Victor and I have very similar financial ideas.... Save first and always spend less than you make. 

So, we invested some of the extra income.  Some went towards nice vacations, buying a new vehicle, etc.  The rest was really used on things that are not at all necessary.  I am kicking myself that we weren't MORE careful with the GE portion or better yet - wish we had just saved all of it (at least during the time that we had renters in our WI house).  But we didn't and there is nothing we can do about it now. 

Anyway, back to today...

As I mentioned before, we anticipated that Victor's salary would drop when he changed jobs unless he took some terrible job that meant he was traveling constantly.  Thankfully, Victor found a great job.  The hours are nice -- way way less than he has ever worked since we got married (still gone 11 hours a day but he is off every other Friday).  The salary is great, I would never complain about it as I KNOW most people in the US are living on less, but the drop in his take home was significant.  HUGE really! 

How much???

38.6%

SCARY!!!

Not to mention we are carrying an extra $450-500 of costs each month related to not selling the house in WI and our family is about to expand. 

So, what does this mean?  Well, in order to make sure we are still living by the ever so important principal of "Save first then spend less than you make" budgeting has become a requirement! 

I have truly never lived on a budget for more than a month or two at a time.  I like tracking our expenses and setting monthly goals though so I really don't mind.  My plan at this time is to live by a budget for the next 12 months.  Assuming we are sticking fairly close to it we will reevaluate whether or not every dollar needs tracked but I know for sure we need to be tracking now as our spending habits are going to have to shift a lot. 

I am curious how many of you are actively budgeting?

Do you have a set budget or do you just track your spending?

Any good tips on saving money?  I am already a fairly good coupon user.

I will do a monthly budget update -- letting you know how good/bad we were at saving each month.  With the next budget update I will lay out our specific monthly saving goals and how I have the budget divided. 

Better than White

 Our newly painted living room!

Although it still needs to be touched up, I love it!

I am so glad to have at least one room on the main level with a little life to it.

Next room that this 31+ week pregnant woman would like tackled - kitchen!

Inspired by this new rug which I purchased using a gift card

from my dear friends Jenn and Karen!

Notable Moments - Lainey

Lainey is a sweet but spunky girl!  She has a really big sense of humor which is entertaining since she is only 19 months old. Here are a couple of situations this week that made me laugh and cringe....

1) One afternoon she was making herself fart. Every time she did she yelled loudly, "FART!" and giggled like their was nothing funnier.

2) Another day as we were getting ready to go outside I told Lainey she needed to try to go potty before we left and took her into the bathroom. She said, "NO. All done!" Then she walked out of the bathroom and with a smile on her face said, "Bye!" 19 months. Yikes!

Checking In

It's been a long week with very little time for blogging.  Here is a brief update...

House Stuff:

It is nice to be living in a house that we own again.  However, houses seem to require work (and money)! My nesting may be setting in a little early as we started the week with painting the baby room and ended with painting the living room. I love the living room -  blue and brown.  I can't wait to have the rest of the main level painted but poor Victor probably needs a little time to recover.  Erik, Lainey, and I did "help" with the painting projects but Victor probably did about 75% of the work. 

In addition to the painting I have spent all week interviewing fence/deck companies - 5 of them! This has taken quite a bit of time.  We have a good idea of what we want and have quotes from everyone.  Next week I am going to see how good my negotiations skills are.  Fence and decks seem to be quite expensive.  We will be putting every penny of Victor's "vacation day pay-out" he received after coming off of active duty towards that project.  I was hoping to have a little left over to pay someone to paint the kitchen but there will be nothing left.  More fun for Victor! :)

* I will post photos of the paint jobs soon but my computer is not cooperating at the moment.*


Erik:  

He had a good week.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  It was in the 40's most of the week so we were able to spend more time at the park than usual (3x one day).  After a two week break gymnastics class started again (both kids are in a class).  Erik loves "gym" class and was happy to start it again. 

He completed a 48 piece jigsaw puzzle with very little help one afternoon.  He was proud. I was proud. 

Lainey:

Poor baby has had a tough week.  She cut 4 molars!  She has also had a mild cold.  It didn't seem to bother her much but last night she was up for 2.5 hours.  So I checked her ears this morning and wouldn't you know - another double ear infection (#8).  We took her in this evening - she is back on antibiotics (Augmentin).  I am calling an ENT on Monday.  The pediatricians we have seen have always mentioned that she may need tubes in the future but had never referred us.  I have been very hesitant to see an ENT/have tubes placed because I hate to think about my baby being sedated, worry a little about having an artificial "entry point" in her body (the tube itself), and keep hoping she will outgrow it.  She has had more ear infections this year than last though so I think an ENT is the way to go.  I am hoping we can get everything arranged and done before baby #3 arrives.  We'll see how long the wait is to get into the ENT. 

Potty training is still going well.  She probably has an accident once every other day.  She is in underwear full time now unless sleeping.  She often wakes up dry from her naps and in the morning.  I am considering leaving her in church nursery diaper-free this weekend but I am not sure I want to leave a newly potty trained "baby" with other people yet.  We'll see. Hopefully, the augmentin won't give her diarrhea and screw things up! 

Victor:

In addition to the painting projects he had a busy week at work.  He was involved in coordinating a 2 day visit for the Discovery Channel for a video project they are working on.  Long days while they were here.  This weekend he will be in Norfolk, VA for reserve duty.  This is the first time since getting activated in April of 2007 that he will be gone for a reserve weekend. 

Me and baby: 

Just trying to coordinate it all.  Still feeling fine.  Tired though which is partially my fault because I stayed up too late reading one night - sucked in the the Steig Larsson series (The Girl Who Played With Fire).  Baby boy seems fine.  I had an OB appointment Monday - measured 29 cm at 30.5 weeks. No concerns.  I will have appointment every 2-2.5 weeks from now until I am full term though - lots of trips to DC.  Hopefully, lots of coffee with friends!

My sweet girl!

30 weeks!

 30 Weeks

 I leave my head chopped off because I can't figure out how to take self-portraits with my new camera without making a retarded face (since you have to actually look through the viewfinder rather than at the screen).  Just in case you doubt that it is me in the photos I left one intact below...

Can you believe I am only 7 weeks and 3 days away from when I delivered Lainey?!  Yikes! 

We have SO much left to get ready.  Everything really.  I have gone through Erik's clothes and picked out the items that I think will fit baby #3.  Unfortunately, even though I have boxes and boxes of boy clothes most of them I won't be able to use again because the boys will be born in opposite seasons.  Once baby #3 is 12 months or so and stays in his clothes longer than a few weeks at a time I think most things will be usable but the first 6-12 months of his life I am borrowing clothes from friends and neighbors who had boys born in spring.  I have also lent out Erik's 3-9 month winter clothes to 2 of my neighbors who had baby boys this fall. 

Other than going through clothes nothing else is ready.  I have started to think about the nursery.  We will likely paint the walls a sage green color and buy some jungle wall decals for decoration.  He can use Erik's crib sheets. 

We need to switch Lainey out of the crib into a regular bed.  I thought we could do this now but she has a cold, is cutting molars, and just potty trained so I am going to hold off on that transition for a few more weeks.  We will likely need to buy a mattress for her - maybe a full size instead of a queen as her room is a little small to host a queen size bed.  Plus, if we give her the guest bed anyone who stays with us will have to sleep with Erik, on the couch, or Erik will have to move out of his room.  We seem to have frequent visitors so that isn't the best plan.  Future guests may end up in the very large (unfinished) basement suite but you should still have a nice bed to sleep in! 

Pregnancy Info:

Baby info:
Baby boy has been much more active this week.  He has been quieter than the other two so far so I am happy his movements have increased and become more pronounced. As far as I can tell he has never had the hiccups yet -- Erik had them 4-5x a day at this point and Lainey had them at least 1-2x a day.  Strange!

Mommy info:
I am still feeling good.  My legs are a little achy so I pulled out the "ted hose" which seem to help.  I am up 15 pounds now.  Occasional heartburn - nothing notable.  I still have not had any braxton hicks contractions.  This is also different from previous pregnancies as by this point with both Erik and Elaina I had them off and on all day.  I am hoping that my uterus hasn't "gotten lazy/sluggish" and   feels no need to evacuate this baby in a timely fashion (as my doctor indicated is somewhat common in back to back pregnancies).  I have an appointment on Monday.  It should be pretty straight forward - measure the uterus and listen for a heartbeat. 

Commentary:
Strangers finally started commenting on the pregnancy when I was 27 weeks 5 days along.  I still don't think it is obvious if I have a jacket on so people only seem to comment if they see me in street clothes.  Fine by me!

19 Months

Hi Sweet Baby Girl! 

What a month you have had!  You have really grown and changed during the past few weeks.

Speech:
You now can speak in sentences.  Most of them start with "I need" or "I want" but you use them a lot.  You "chat" with me all day long.  It is fun because I feel like I can "converse" with you. 

Eating:
It seems like you are much less picky now.  You eat most of what I make - I don't give you anything else as an alternative.  You are still drinking rice milk.  You can tolerate small amounts of cheese and yogurt now but not actual milk.  You still only have 8 teeth.  I think you should have 16 by the time you are 2 which means 8 more teeth in the next 5 months.  I am hoping they come in before baby #3 arrives.

Health:
You had another mild ear infection before Christmas (#7) I think and at that time failed a tympanometry test (meaning your ear drums weren't moving since there was so much fluid behind them).  We treated it with Amoxicillin and Bromax.  You are feeling better now but I need to take you in for a follow up so the tympanometry can be repeated.  If you fail it again I am guessing we will need to see ENT for a tube evaluation.


Potty Training:
I started potty training you 10 days ago and you are pretty much done.  You wear underware all day long and always tell me when you need to use the bathroom. I have taken you out in public the past 2 days and you have told me when you needed to use the bathroom.  You still have occasional "accidents" if we don't get you there quick enough (at most once a day).  Sometimes it takes 10-15 minutes from the time you say "poop" until you actually use the bathroom so we do a lot of back and forth.  You prefer to use the potty seat instead of the potty chair which is nice as there is no clean up but it means I have to be there to assist you completely.  We will keep you in a diaper at night for quite a while.  You are pretty amazing to me! I am quite proud!

Pretend play:

This is starting to expand for you a little too.  You love your baby dolls and have now trained them how to use the potty chair!  You like to "feed" them but get very mad when I don't let you give them real milk.  You also really love animals and balls.  Erik's trains are a favorite as well - you like to line them all up. 

Overall, it has been quite a fun and exciting month to be your mom!  I love to watch you grow and change.  You are are a delightful little girl.  I am grateful to spend my days with you. 

Fish!

I have always hated fish or any other food that comes from the sea.  As a mom though I want my kids to eat a healthy diet and think that fish provides certain nutrients not found in a lot of other foods.  Therefore, I have been trying to prepare some kind of "fishy" meal 3 times a month or so.

Tonight I tried a new recipe.  The kids and Victor loved it and I would say I even enjoyed my fish!  I didn't think to take a photo of it until it was pretty much gone but here is the recipe....

Baked Sole

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese-- I LEFT THIS OUT (didn't have any)
• I ADDED a teaspoon of parsley as well
• 1/4 teaspoon ground dried thyme -- I used closer to 1 teaspoon
• 4 haddock fillets -- I used SOLE
• 1/4 cup butter, melted -- I LEFT THIS OUT

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).  -I COOKED IT AT 450 degrees
2. In a small bowl, combine the milk and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and thyme. Dip the haddock sole fillets in the milk, then press into the crumb mixture to coat. Place haddock sole fillets in a glass baking dish, and drizzle with melted butter. 
3. Bake on the top rack of the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily, about 15- 20 minutes.   

I served this with a side of sauteed spinach and brown rice.  I make brown rice about 2x a week.  I almost always add a little butter, cilantro, garlic, salt, and cumin to the rice. YUM!  I also add peas sometimes as the kids eat them without any hesitation if they are mixed in rice.  

New House Pictures

Thanks to Terri I have finally taken photos of the house!  Notice all the barren white walls!  We need some paint and decorating advice!

 Playroom

 Dining Room

 Living Room

 Messy (and empty) breakfast room/kitchen

 Walk-in pantry!

The House!

Meatballs with Peppers and Pineapple

This is a pioneer woman (PW) recipe.  All four of us liked it, it is different than what I normally make, and it was colorful.  It would have been better with a little extra spice to it but I was making it with the kids in mind.

I pretty much followed the PW's recipe but used red pepper instead of green pepper.

Ingredients

• 1-¼ pound Ground Beef
• ½ whole Onion, Diced Very Finely
• 1 whole Egg
• ½ cups Panko Bread Crumbs (or Regular Breadcrumbs)
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• ½ teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper, More To Taste
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• Canola Oil, For Frying ( I used about 1/4 cup only)
• 2 whole Green Bell Peppers, Seeded And Diced Roughly
• 1-½ cup Fresh Pineapple Chunks
• 2 cups Beef Stock Or Broth
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• ½ cups Sherry Or White Wine Vinegar
• ⅓ cups Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
• Salt To Taste
• Crushed Red Pepper, To Taste
• Extra Beef Stock If Needed

Preparation Instructions

Combine ground beef, diced onion, egg, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, and crushed red pepper. Mix with hands until combined. Roll meat mixture into small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Freeze on the pan for 15 minutes to firm.
Mix together beef stock, soy sauce, sherry (or vinegar), sugar, and cornstarch.
Heat canola oil over medium-high heat. Roll meatballs in flour, then fry in two batches until nice and brown, about two minutes per batch. Remove meatballs and set aside on a separate plate.
Pour off oil from pan and return pan to medium high heat. When pan is hot, throw in the chopped green peppers and cook for one minute. Add pineapple to pan and cook for one minute, stirring gently. Pour in stock/soy sauce mixture, then add meatballs. Stir gently to combine and allow to cook and bubble for a few minutes, or until sauce is thickened. Add salt and crushed red peppers to taste. (Hint: this dish is yummy if it’s a little spicy.)
Serve over cooked brown rice.

Playdough

 

 Nature's Playdough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
beet, spinach, and carrot juice

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the playdough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and add a few drops of the vegetable juices to make green, pink, and orange.

I used regular food coloring.  I think this is the best playdough I have ever made and it was easy!

Notable Quotes- Erik

1)  This weekend I got up from the dinner table to go get something.  Erik told Victor he wanted to get up because he had to ask me something.  Erik came charging into the kitchen and said as sweetly as can be, "Mom, Do you need me to help you with anything?"

2)  Today as I was getting lunch ready Erik was watching from the island stools.

Erik: " Mom, where are you going to eat lunch?" 
Me: "I don't know probably at the brown table.  Why?"
Erik:  Patting his bench he said, "I want you to sit here because I really want to be close to you."

Potty Training at 18.5 months

I am a bit hesitant to post about this as I don't want to "brag" about the early success I am having potty training Lainey if we go backwards next week.  I am going to risk looking like a fool though!

For the past 4-6 weeks Lainey has been telling me every time she pees or poops and immediately wants her diaper off.  She grabs at it and says, "Wet. Off!"

So, I decided that I might as well try potty training her now with hopes that she will be diaper free when baby #3 arrives.  I started on Monday.  Since then she has used her potty chair 2-5 times a day, for both pooping and peeing.  I started with a very casual approach - set her on the potty chair 2-3 times a day - but ramped it up a bit when she seemed interested.

Anyway, I am now leaving her diaper free whenever we are home and she is awake.  She can go up to 3-4 hours without using the bathroom/having an accident.  At least 2-3 times a day she will tell me or Victor that she needs to "poop" and she actually does pee or poop when you put her on the toilet.  She has even told us correctly that she needed to "poop" while wearing a diaper at home and in public (at the library today) "asking" to be placed on the toilet.

She does have accidents 1-2x a day (only urine so far) which seems to upset her.  She does not like getting wet.  If you tell her to "stop" she can and will finish on the toilet (or hold it forever)!

She has been waking up from her naps dry.

Anyway, if this process follows a similar course to when we potty trained Erik I probably won't make her diaper-free for a couple of months but I am quite surprised and encouraged by her success so far!

She is such a cute little girl!  We "hoot and holler" when she is successful and she gets so excited and happy about the celebration.  If she uses the potty chair instead of the potty seat she insists on dumping it out herself (as independently as possible).

Rock on baby girl!


Note: "Poop" is her word for both peeing and pooping.

Notable Moments - The Parents

This is quite geeky but I thought I should note that last night Victor and I hosted our first, non-family, guests in our new house.  One of Victor's colleagues lives in our neighborhood.  She and her husband came over for dessert and games last night.  We had fun.  It was nice to be social again. It is also nice to find people who like to play games and cards as that seems to be quite rare for people in our generation.

I am hoping to host a couple of neighborhood moms later this week.  Hopefully, it will work out!

Notable Moments - Lainey

1) This morning Lainey didn't cry when she woke up.  I had heard her over the monitor but must have fallen back asleep since she was just talking to herself and not upset.  Finally, I woke up enough to realize that she was playing, not sleeping.  When I went into her room she was sitting up in bed "reading" a book to her baby doll all while NAKED.  Apparently, she decided she didn't need her PJ's on anymore.  Funny girl.  She makes me laugh out loud at least once a day. 

2) Lainey now says a few complete sentences.   They all start with either " I want...." or "I need....".  I want more.  I need down.  I want dada.  I need up etc.  This makes me laugh too.  Silly 18 month old!

Church #3

We tried a new church this morning.  We really like the church we went to in November/December (we have been there 4 times) but since this church is likely going to be one that we attend for a long time I feel the need to explore at least 4-5 different churches before making a final decision. 

The church we like is a methodist church so I thought we might as well try another one.

We won't be going back. 

I knew as soon as we pulled up that is wasn't going to be a good fit but we were there so we might as well go in.  The infant nursery had ONE kid in it -- the child of the mom staffing the room!  The toddler nursery (where we put E and L) had ONE child in it as well.  Yikes!  The woman who showed us where the nursery was made a point to tell me they were looking for new people to staff it -- hoping I would volunteer.

The church was small -- probably about 60 people in attendance.  I would say 50 of them had gray hair or none at all.  Everyone was very nice and friendly.  The minister was quite lifeless and dull though -- Victor nodded off and I spent most of the hour composing a blog update in my head! :) 

Music was limited to a organ player and old hymns. 

The sermon seemed to be read from a script - not really applicable for your daily life. 

Anyway, as I said before the people were very friendly but neither Victor nor I had any idea why anyone would chose to attend this church if they are looking for a church that is going to challenge them to grow spiritually. 

I am meeting with the pastor at church #2 later this week.  We will still try out 1-2 different churches prior to committing to a church but at this point I would guess church #2 will be it.  We'll see.