Budgeted

So for a long time Nate and I have been trying to get on a good budget. I must admit that when it comes to spending I am definitely the weak one in the family. We have been listening to Dave Ramsey for years, and the past few months I stopped listening because I actually felt guilty listening to his show. In the midst of looking at our budget, I began recording how much money I spend every day and realized that I am a shopaholic. Don't worry, I am not buying tons of clothes for me hence the very limited wardrobe, but I love buying clothes for the kids, especially Ashlee. I can always find a "need" and a good sale. I finally have faced the fact that I go shopping just about everyday I don't work. I am shocked, but definitely need a new hobby. This week instead of shopping, I have been working on meal planning. I have saved money on the grocery budget so far, but it hasn't been a cake walk. My new hobby consists of planning weekly meals, and getting the Sunday paper to clip coupons. I'll let you know how it's going. I'm only on week 2 so far, but I don't think that Dave would be too disappointed. I guess that I can turn the radio back on.

What we did "lasterday"

Ashlee with Grandma Rosie


Evan delighted with his train for his birthday


Matt, Cami, Sabrina, and Sydney on the Metro


Love the space on the plane


Nate and Sabrina on the best slide in the world


Cousins...can you tell?


Evan's new friend (Evan now calls her Sabrina, but when we were there he would only say "where's my friend?)


Marching with fellow freedom lovers


In DC

This month has been a crazy, but very fun month. Evan has begun calling yesterday "lasterday" hence the title, and it made me laugh so hard that I had to use it. A couple of weeks ago we went to Maryland to visit Cami and Matt and their kids, and had a blast!!! Sabrina and Evan had so much fun together. We had a delightful trip. The plane ride was a little rough on the kids, 5.5 hrs followed by another 2...not fun for anyone, but we made it. Here are some of the highlights. We also celebrated Evan's third birthday while in Maryland, so Evan got to celebrate twice. We had a small family party for him when we got back. I definitely think that he loved getting on a plane for his birthday. Ashlee decided after being held on my lap for the better part of the day while traveling, that it was high time to crawl. Within a matter of a day she started zipping all over the carpet. Keeping up with her is going to be a big job!!!

Summer of Firsts

First house, first hotel stay for the kids, first pair of jeans, and first bike.

Back to Real Life

So much has happened to our family in the past couple of months, it has truly been a whirlwind. A week or so before our condo was supposed to close the realtor called on a Thursday afternoon and asked if we could be out by Saturday. We ended up moving in with Trevor and Chrystal for about a month on pretty much no notice. I am so grateful for their hospitality, it's hard to host an entire family for weeks on end but they were amazing. Then, we finally moved into our new house in which we went from 900 sq feet to 3500. The one word I would use to describe our new house is "project", but with new carpet and one bathroom demolished and almost completely put back together we're on our way. Evan has loved his new house, and I finally have enough room to put Ashlee in a crib. About 2 weeks ago I was giving both of the kids a bath at my mom's house, and I leaned oven and my cell phone fell out of my pocket directly into the toilet. Needless to say I had to order a new one, but I have never felt so out of touch with everyone and everything because we had just moved, and now I lost my entire contact list of phone numbers, and people couldn't call me either. Now everything is up and running, and hopefully I will be able to get back to normal life of routines and order which I have been craving!

A Day in My Life

Lately I have had so much fun just hanging out with my family! I feel so blessed to have two cute kids and an amazing husband. In spite of all the stress we are having because we have to move in 2 weeks, we are having fun just spending time together. We found a house that is perfect for Nate to begin fixing up. Nate is going to pursue his career as a real estate agent. We are really excited because this is what he has wanted to do for a long time.
Here are some cute pictures that I love.

MOVING!!!

Yes, it's true, we found a buyer for our condo. (Looks like ruining the kitchen floor was a smart thing to do...) We are really excited to move, but still have the unanswered question "where?". We are looking into a few different possibilities, but we'll have to figure it out by the third week of June, when our condo closes.
Ashlee is now almost 4 months old...my how the time flies. Last night she started talking, and woke me up at 3:30 AM. I picked her up and started changing her diaper when she blurted out "HI". It made me laugh so hard! Nate heard it too, so I wasn't just dreaming. Anyway, here are some family photos we took the day before mother's day.

The Only Constant in Life is Change

Here are a few random moments from my life in the past week...
Nate: "Don't go outside Evan"
Evan: "Why?"
Nate: "Because I said so, and I am the grand master"
Evan: "You're not the grand master"
Nate: "I'm not, then who is?"
Evan: "Mommy"
Last week I left a mop on the floor overnight. Not the brightest thing I have ever done, but with two crying children I get distracted sometimes. Needless to say I ruined the kitchen floor, which I didn't like anyway...so this week Nate had to replace our entire kitchen floor. I like the new cherry color better anyway. Here is a photo of Evan helping Nate repaint our kitchen, because with a new floor we figured we would do some touch up too, and we are hoping that a buyer will notice the new touches too. Yes, we are still trying to sell our condo.
I am just about done with maternity leave, with a week and a half to go I am still trying to cram in fun things before I have to stay up all night again...this time with other people's children. I am looking forward to seeing all of my friends at work though.
Ashlee is doing pretty well with sleeping, the longest she has slept is 7 hours, but that was only once. I must say that taking care of my second baby is MUCH easier than the first. Nate and I agreed that either Ashlee is an easier baby, or we just have some idea of what we are doing now. My pediatrician agreed that second time parents seem to deal with the trials of sleepless nights and fussy babies much better for some reason. Maybe it's that we have done it before, so we know that we are capable this time.
Lastly, I will try to leave some kind of tip in my posts, as I have benefited from others discovered knowledge. Check out www.pinchingyourpennies.com and you can get a grocery list of what is on sale at your local grocery store that week. If you want to get crazy about it subscribe to the Sunday paper and clip, organize, and save coupons. Check out the weekly sales on Tuesday night, and shop on Wednesday (sales start Wednesday). Use your coupons on top of the sale prices to get products for a fraction of the price, or sometimes free, but beware of the women that go on Wednesday mornings-don't ask. I haven't gotten the paper yet, but have clipped a few coupons from my parent's papers, and now I am a believer that you can save tons of money this way. Happy clipping!!!