April Budget

Well, this month was even more painful!  Here is how we did....

Savings Goal:
$500/month of Victor's usual monthly income (2 paychecks)

Total Savings in April:
$180 :(

Costs:

Food:
Over $130 -- This is due to the fact that I ordered 3 months worth of grass fed ground beef.  It costs about the same as our grocery store lean beef (full price) but you have to order in bulk so that was an additional $80 over normal groceries.

Fixed Costs:
Under $100 -- thanks to lower gas/electric

Entertainment:
Under by $30

Household/Unexpected Costs:
Over the goal by close to $700!! 

What were the big expenses??

MEDICAL costs are killing us at the moment
Total this month was $515!
We have good insurance but it is allergy season so Victor, Erik, and Lainey all saw the doctor at least once plus they are all on Singulair (expensive) and Claritin on a daily basis.
We also had to pay $150 for Victor's new c-pap machine (thanks to the airport employees who "gently" tossed V's bag onto the plane and broke the last one).

We also spent close to $300 on a new mower.

Anticipated expenses next month?

Vehicle registration/driver's license x 2 -- $360 for 2 cars/people
Victor's birthday
Swimming class and gymnastics registration for the kids

We owe the hospital and obstetrician approximately $1100.  We are just going to pay this out of our savings though, rather than try to squeak it in over the next 2 months budget and still try save $500/month.  It would cause me stress to include it in our monthly budget and would probably reduce my grocery list to rice and beans.  We figure hospital bills for a new baby are a reasonable thing to use our savings for!  He is certainly worth it!

How are we doing after 4 months on a budget?

Overall, we are doing well. 

I am happy that we have always spent less than we made and feel we have been spending our money wisely. 

It is a little stressful to be in a position were I feel the need to plan how every dollar is going to be spent before spending it.  I think it is probably a good fiscal policy to live this way but a little frustrating to feel like it is not a choice - after living pretty freely for a number of years!  

I am getting creative at finding fun things to do for free and making sure to get the best deal on things.  It is a sometimes fun to see how many days we can go without spending a penny (never more than 7 since that is how often I get groceries). 

We did get a nice tax return this month so we were able to fund an IRA and add to our minivan fund.

Family Fun

We spent today in DC, first attending Liam's 2nd birthday party.  Most of our "playgroup" friends were there so it was fun!  We miss them all lots but we got stuck in terrible traffic on the way there (accident on the freeway) which we don't miss at all.  Thanks Karen for a fun time and good food!

Dipping their fingers in the pool.  Doesn't Erik look LONG!

After the birthday party we took the metro into downtown DC.  Both Erik and Lainey were quite excited about the train. :)  We visited the sculpture garden and Air and Space Musuem today. 

The weather was perfect and the kids were well behaved.  We had a fun, busy day!

Happy Baby hanging out during a pit stop on the way home!

Baby Update

 Carson is one day shy of seven weeks.  He is doing well.  He seems to be moving out of the newborn stage already. :(

 We have a nice bedtime routine set up for him and he seems to understand day vs night.  I usually nurse him for the "last" time between 9-10 pm, swaddle him, and put him to bed.  He usually sleeps until 2 AM or so.  Some of his feedings are quick (30 minutes) but other times he is awake for a loooong time (2 hours or so).  Most nights it is around 45-60 minutes from start to finish.  He get up for a second feeding most nights between 4-5 AM and then usually sleeps until 8 AM or so. 

Beautiful Boy!

Victor, my very helpful husband, has been sleeping on the couch since Carson was born.  I could never sleep on the couch but he seemingly doesn't mind.  About 50% of the time he does the first feeding for Carson allowing me to sleep from 10:30 (or so) - 4 AM (or so).  The nights Victor doesn't do the first feeding he thereotically can get a full 8 hours but that's not garenteed as Erik and Lainey still get up at times.    Anyway, since Carson is a pretty good sleeper and Victor is very helpful neither of us are overwhelmingly tired at this point.  Yay! 

Carson is still sleeping upright in his "bouncy" chair.  He is getting 1 cc of Zantac (75mg/5ml) 3x a day.  This a big dose but seems to be doing the trick for now.  He still can not lay flat though so for now he will stay sleeping in his chair.  This works okay for the time being as he sleeps in the room with whoever is taking the next feeding.  I would like to get him used to his room, and Victor sleeping in a bed instead of the couch relatively soon though.

We saw the first smiles this week.  Wonderful and fun!  Carson is a wonderful, laid back, easy going baby.  I just love everything about him and think he is the easiest baby ever.  His sweet demeanor has certainly made this transition smooth. 

He is tracking with his eyes as well and it is neat to watch him look around to see Erik and Lainey. :)

He is a good eater and growing fast!  I nurse him on demand which is usually every 2-3 hours.  At his doctor's appointment today he was 12 pounds.  I think he is close to 25 inches as well.   Long and "thin." 

Erik and Lainey are doing MUCH better!  For two weeks they were little hellions, Erik being the ring leader.  I think their behavior has returned to normal now and I am grateful! They both love Carson and want to help if possible.  Lainey loves to give him kisses on the mouth. :)

We are doing well!  Three kid are certainly more work than two but I am really enjoying being a mom of three.  I think this has been the easiest emotional transition for me.  I don't feel anxiety that comes as a first time mom or overwhelmed like I did as a second time mom.  So it's been good. 

Easter Weekend

I hope everyone had a nice Easter.  Ours was quiet and relaxed.  The kids searched for eggs and baskets before church.  We ate a quick lunch and got the kids down for their naps.  I roasted chicken and potatoes for dinner along with a side of black bean and corn salad.  Yum! 

We spent the evening playing at the beach.  It isn't a huge beach but it is only 5 miles from our house which is fun.  Much better than playing in the snow as one might have done in WI this year! 

Erik and Lainey had a lot of fun.  Lainey was especially enthusiastic about the water, she will need a good life jacket at the pool this summer as she little fear of the water!  Erik liked the water but LOVES digging in the sand. 

Carson dips his toes in the ocean

One interesting/scary thing about swimming in the ocean here is that you frequently see small jellyfish wash up to shore.  I am not a fan but will learn to "deal" as they are at all the beaches.  If you get stung it shouldn't cause more harm than a welt but still not something I hope to experience (or my kids of course).

A patient patient

Don't worry - Carson wasn't injured during his exam!

  (Just loved on lots!)

Blurry but still cute

Lainey- 22 months

Hi Lainey -

What a big girl you are!  It has been a busy month.  You have adjusted well to being a big sister.  You love Carson and have displayed no jealousy.  You like to nurse, burp, wrap up, carry, and swing your baby dolls.  Very cute! 

You are a silly girl with a great sense of humor.  Victor and I frequent laugh about things you say or do.  You are very social and curious.  You like to copy whatever Erik says and does (this sometimes leads to trouble)!

Lainey buckling in Carson. She LOVES all buckles!

You love buckling things - car seat, swing, chairs, etc.  You often buckle yourself into Carson's chair (see above) and then yell frantically, "Help momma!!  I stuck!!"   Ha!

 You are very interested in the "baby's milk" so one day I gave you a taste.  You said, quite surprised, "YUCK! I don't like that momma!"  I found that funny because you nursed for 14 months.  I also thought it was quite an impressive sentence for a 22 month old. 

You were started on Singulair and Claritin 3-4 weeks ago because of persistent stuffiness/runny nose and ear infections (after the tubes were placed you had 2 ear infections within a month).  I think the Singulair and Claritin have helped a lot and for the first time since birth you are not congested.  I am sorry it took us so long to figure things out.  I do think you seem to be a happier little girl since getting the tubes in your ears and starting on medication.  I would be crabby too if I were constantly congested. 

You are a sweet, silly, fun little girl.  We love you so much!  You add  a lot of joy to our house! 

Zoo Trip

April 2011; Erik 3.5 yrs, Carson 5 weeks, Lainey 22 months

Viewing the elephants

 The zoo has lion cubs this spring.  

The female, male, and 5 lion cubs were all out in plain view.

The male lion kept roaring loudly as though he was 

warning people to stay away/not get too close.

Pretty neat display although I did feel a little bad for the lion family.

Standing guard

Cute kids viewing the cows. 

We had a fun trip.  I am planning to spend some one-on-one time with Erik tomorrow

with hopes that he will be better behaved next week.

Vote for Casey!

We don't have working TV at our house (too cheap to pay for cable and for whatever reason we don't pick up any channels at all here).  I have been sucked into American Idol this season though as I have been watching it at the gym or online.

I LOVE Casey.  If I weren't 11 years older, married and a mom of three this guy would totally make me swoon.  At least his voice would!  If you haven't heard him sing you should listen to these clips.  Enjoy!

20 years old!  Amazing!

Vote for Casey next week! :)

Good Night

Carson, Erik, Lainey

Carson - 1 month old!

and growing like a weed!! 

Having a new baby in the house has been wonderful. Carson is such a nice baby.  He is really laid back and calm.  I have enjoyed every moment spent with him.   

Eating:

He nurses every 2-3 hours around the clock.  He has no issues taking pumped milk from a bottle which is nice as it gives me freedom to leave the house (without him) and not worry about him being hungry.  It also allows Victor to help some at night.

Reflux:

Still bothering him - he has periods where he is really restless and uncomfortable.  This often happens at night.  You can hear the reflux going up and down his throat.  He is on Zantac.  The past 2 days I have given him 7.5 mg of Prevacid (left over from the other kids) and it seems to make a BIG difference. In fact last night he slept from 10:30 pm to 4:30 am.  AMAZING!  The longest he had ever slept before was 2.5 hours as he was almost always up "restless" in the middle of the night.  

Unfortunately, I did this without the doctor knowing.  I didn't tell him that I have been treating him on my own so at today's appointment he just suggested we bump up the dose of Zantac from 2x a day to 3x a day.  If the reflux is still bothering him in 2 weeks to call and we'll switch to Prevacid then.  I am sure I could have told him about the trial of Prevacid the past two days but I didn't so I am going to continue the Prevacid for another 2-3 days.  That way I should know if it is really making a difference or coincidence.  Then I'll switch him back to the recommended dose of Zantac so I can say, without fibbing, that we need to switch to Prevacid (assuming his reflux gets worse again). 

Sleep:

Usually up every 2-3 hours.  Slept a 6 hour stretch once as mentioned above.  He is sleeping in the swing or his chair.  I don't think he will be able to lay flat for awhile as that definitely bothers his reflux. 

 

 

 

How's the family?

Erik has been nothing but trouble the past 2 weeks.  He is driving me crazy.  Lainey of course follows along with everything he does.  I can not leave Erik alone for more than five seconds or he gets into something that he isn't supposed to have.  This is very frustrating.  I am trying to be patient and find ways to spend extra one-on-one time with him (reading extra books, taking him along alone for errands, bike rides, etc.).  There have been moments where he has been yelled at and/or put in his room for a time out.   Erik adjusted without any issues when Lainey was born so I am slightly surprised at how poor his behavior has been  this time.  It seems extra frustrating because he clearly understands that what he is doing is wrong.  Ahhh!!!

 

Lainey is doing pretty well.  She has been having trouble going to bed since Carson was born.  She cries for every nap and bedtime and never used to do that.  She often ends up falling asleep naked (she undresses herself because she is mad) and on the floor.  She doesn't cry for more than 5 minutes and has been sleeping really well at night.

 

 Other than that we are doing well.  I have handled this transition much better than last time.  I feel as though I can go about our normal daily activities without feeling overwhelmed.  I love having a new baby to snuggle.  He is SO sweet.  

 

 

One Month Stats:

Height: 23.5 inches (95%)

Weight:  11 pounds fully dressed (75%)

Head circumference:  I can't remember specifically but per the doctor he was at the 50%

He is in size 1 diapers and wears 3 month old clothes.

He is the biggest baby I have had by quite a bit! 

He is very long and still has very big hands and feet.  

He is solid but not at all chubby (yet).

HAPPY We MOMMY! You!

Here's an online version of one of Annie's birthday presents.  Enjoy!

Signs are for crushing.
Semi-compliance, sort of.
We prefer one sock.

Happy birthday Annie!  We love you!

Notable moments - Three Ring Circus

Well, my first week home with all three went better than expected.  This week has been a different experience.  I am still loving being a mom to three and think having a new baby has been wonderful.  Carson is still very laid back and easy going most of the time.  That is a good thing as Erik and Lainey have been TROUBLE!

Here are a few examples of the trouble they have gotten into this week. (Erik has been the ringleader although Lainey is more than happy to follow him down a destructive path.)

- Two separate days Erik stole a popsicle out of the freezer.  This involves using a bar stool to reach to the highest shelf in the freezer.  Then he used a chair to reach a sharp pair of scissors to open the popsicle.  Then he hid himself in the bathroom hoping not to be found.

-Using the same bar stool Erik has helped himself to snacks out of the pantry.  Tonight while I was on a walk I discovered he had taken a full box of cheerios off of the top shelf, cut the entire top of the bag off and flattened and recycled the box.  Victor was upstairs putting Lainey to bed.

- One morning I left Erik downstairs watching a video while I took Lainey and Carson upstairs so I could take a shower.  Even if I leave both Erik and Lainey downstairs they usually do okay.  Well, this time Lainey snuck downstairs.  I went to investigate about 5 minutes later to find them both outside in the backyard.  Lainey was outside standing in the garden in her socks digging up a row of lettuce (at least where we had planted the seeds).  Erik was watching her looking amused.

- Getting dressed in the morning is an issue.

               -Lainey wants to do it all herself but can't.  She kicks and fights as hard 

as she canwhen I am getting her dressed and almost always takes all of her clothes 

off at least once before we leave the house. 

-Erik wants me to get him dressed.  I refuse as he is fully capable.

This morning he wasted the entire 5 minutes (that's how long I set the timer for; if not 

making a decent effort to get dressed by then he gets a time out) laying on his back 

with his legs sticking straight up in the air singing.  Every once and a while

he would suck in his stomach and tell me to look at how skinny he is.

He got a "room " timeout.  When I went to get him out

he was still laying on the floor naked with his feet in the air.

- We have the doorknob on Erik and Lainey's rooms reversed.  We use this, as you may suspect, to lock them in their rooms occasionally.  Lainey door is locked at night (we have a monitor so we can hear if she needs anything) as she will otherwise wander around the house when she gets up.  On two occasions Erik has locked the door to Lainey's room.  The first time Victor, Carson, Lainey, and I were all in the room.  He did thankfully unlock it when we told him too.  The second time he locked Victor, Lainey, and Carson in the room.  I was gone but came home shortly after this had occurred.  Victor hadn't tried to get out yet but I am not sure what he would have done if I hadn't come home as Erik was downstairs and showed no interest in unlocking the door (this was when he broke into the cheerios).  

-Generally speaking getting distracted inhibits productivity.  Today we were at the neighborhood playground.  Lainey and Erik both walked and I carried Carson.  Lainey took her doll stroller with her.  The journey there went well.  Lainey only stopped once to dance to the neighbors music. The way home was more adventorous....  

We left the park shortly after getting there 

because Lainey had to go to the bathroom.

When crossing the street Lainey stopped and 

sat down in the middle of the road to collect pebbles.

Once I coaxed her onto the sidewalk she decided that walking 

home backwards was more fun. 

I picked up her doll stroller since she couldn't really walk backward and

manuever the stroller.  This ticked her off so I gave it back after she 

started walking "normally".

Five steps later she sat down because she needed to nurse her baby.

At this point I picked up her doll stroller and told her I was going home.

She threw a fit but didn't actually head toward our house.

Finally I had to actually take her doll which 

made her mad enough

to chase after me. 

We did make it home in time for her to go to the bathroom!  

One more day before the weekend.  I am sure tomorrow will contain more stories and adventures.  Hopefully, the kids will get all the dickens out of them soon.  Until them I am trying to be patient and find humor in their antics as I know they are a reaction to having a new baby/mom being distracted. 

I tried...

to put cute braids in Lainey's hair.  She even sat still for it which was amazing!  

My results were not...

 

CLOSE UP

It is quite evident that I grew up in a house full of boys.

Poor girl! 

Good thing I have time to practice.

Any tips from braiding pros are welcome!