Budget Buster

This fall I was hoping to hire a sitter for about 10 hours a week so I could go out by myself during the day and get some work done. Then I realized that I wouldn't be able to afford to pay someone for 10 hours a week, but I was definitely in need of someone for Saturday afternoons while I was in class.

This way Mike wouldn't be forced to work every Sunday.

So tonight I was doing our budget and there is no way that I'll be able to pay someone even 5-6 hours a week. Sitters are expensive, especially when you've got two kids.

So, I am slightly (very) grouchy right now. I realize this semester will be a lot of ball juggling, late nights and early mornings. It will 9 hours of Saturday class, Saturday night church, and long Sunday's with Mike working every one of them. It will be squeezing in study time, an hour here and an hour there.

Staying home is seriously a sacrifice because we feel the crunch a lot!

I was crabby, and was about to go over the budget with him to show him the numbers, when he informed me that he locked my keys in the garage, his keys were locked in my car (which still doesn't have a spare key since we just got it), and his car, which does have a spare key, was still at his work 15 miles away because I picked him up tonight.

The night keeps getting better!

the most ridiculous

Yesterday when Lacey woke up, she seemed a little hoarse, but then she went merrily along her way. After her nap yesterday she was a grouch. The most crabbiest kind of grouch.

Lacey: I don't want this blue plate...(sob, sob, sob)
Me: Hun, that plate is fine.
Lacey: I just only want apple juice...(sob, sob, sob)
Me: sorry, you can have water
Lacey: I want my black car, I can't find it (sob, sob, sob)

etc. etc. etc.

You would have thought that with a nap she would have been a happy camper.

Woke up hoarse, grouchy after nap, didn't eat any dinner, asked to go to bed? By now, you are probably connecting the dots, but I was clueless.

Until 12:03 a.m. When she woke up coughing this crazy, rattling, cough. I swear I didn't know if she could even breath. Plus she was sweaty, and lethargic. She's crying and I am fumbling around in the bathroom trying to find some meds. I hear my husband holler out "Lacey, STOP crying, just be quiet!!"

Oh. no. he. didn't.

If you have ever wondered if your 'mama bear' instinct can come out on your own husband...it can (and it usually happens in the middle of the night).

Me (in a loud whisper): Mike, BE QUIET, she can hardly breath.
Mike: She needs to be quiet, she is going to wake Miles up!!
Me: No, YOU need to be quiet, she's sick.
Mike (irritated): How did she JUST NOW get sick? It's because she swallowed her toothpaste. (insert our bedroom door shutting).

And that, my friends, is the most ridiculous 'conversation' I think I have ever had.

And I told him that as soon as I got back into bed. Actually, I made fun of him.

He's the one who brushes her teeth. What, did she swallow the entire tube of toothpaste?

A day in AUGUST

Saturday, August 21, 2010

We woke up and were a little, okay a lot, crabby.
We had been out late the night before, but still managed to wake up early.
Why does that always happen?

Anyway, I was prepped. Staying out past bedtimes has its consequences, and I knew to expect this. Really just expecting we are going to have a rough and whiny day, makes it less difficult.
I was not surprised when she whined for milk and drank it on the floor...

Then we went to get her brother up. I don't just let my kids sleep in, it throws the entire day off. I get that not every parent would agree with me, but that's okay.
He was still sleeping.

Waking up is hard to do!

But it doesn't take long before this dude is ready to go!

Our friends borrowed the dining room table for some pictures in a house they are selling. We were table-less!

OSo we made our own and the kids thought it was a grand idea!
After a breakfast of oatmeal (pretty much the only thing in the house), we watched Leapfrog's Letter Factory. I don't care what people say about TV dumbing their kids out. This show (although obnoxious) does teach kids their letters and sounds. Miles knows about half!

Oh, we got our table back too!
(That's my to do list on the table, keeps me moving through the day)!

My children were filthy so we had baths!
I am not sure when dual baths become inappropriate, apparently not yet.

He has the greatest boy hair.

Then we decided to get some fresh air and go for a walk.
If I can get them away from the plants and into the stroller.

We live right off of Minnehaha Parkway which is fantastic for letting them run.
Since we don't have a yard, this is probably the next best thing.

Running down hills...

Playing in trees...

Finding yellow leaves...

Time for lunch!
On the menu today was chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries.
Healthy lunch award?
I think not.

They both napped today. Thanks to the late night last night.
Two hours of quiet is bliss for this mom.
Lacey only naps about every other day now.

After naps we decide to build towers with legos.

Apparently hiding in the lego bag is a good time!

Watching some Veggie Tales while I shower.
An uninterrupted shower is like a mini vacation, and this is the only way I get it!

Then we are eating an early dinner because we are picking daddy up from work.
He rode his bike to work this morning.
We have to return some library books and a DVD on the way.

Mac & Cheese

Picking up daddy is fun! He brought Mario and Luigi dolls, which were perfect because Mario has an "m" on his hat for Miles and Luigi has an "l" on his hat for Lacey.

Miles was freaked out of Mario. He kept throwing in on the floor saying "scary mario" it sounded more like "oreo".

Cute.

and of course dad brings Jamba Juice.

Which they love.
And always pull the straw out and spill it everywhere.

And this is where I stopped taking pictures. I totally forgot after this!

After I picked up mike, he was starving and so we had a coupon for BOGO at Noodles and Company for their new sandwiches. We headed over there. They are SO GOOD.

While we were getting our food, we were invited over to a friends house. They were having a few people over. We cruised down to Burnsville and hung out with some friends and ate pizza (we didn't, they did). We left late and got home around 9:15.

Another late night!

50 Things

Here are 50 Random things about me. We'll explore them deeper in the coming weeks!

1. I've been married 4 years.
2. I don't like chocolate.
3. I was a gymnast for 12 years and competed all through high school.
4. My first job was at a candy store.
5. I went to private school through 8th grade, and then a public high school.
6. I went to North Central for college because I had a dream about it one night.
7. Found out I was pregnant with Lacey less than 6 months after getting married.
8. I cried in the work bathroom.
9. When she was 7 months old I got pregnant with my son, on purpose.
10. I hate airplanes.
11. I also hate rush hour traffic.
12. Blue is my favorite color. All shades of blue.
13. I wanted to be in architect when I grew up.
14. Still love architecture and hope to build my own house one day.
15. I don't cook.
16. I don't like the heat.
17. I love wearing boots.
18. I also looooove skinny jeans and leggings and I am thrilled they are "in" right now.
19. Favorite place to shop is Macy's (either Downtown or Southdale).
20. The biggest mall in the country is 4 miles from my house and I can't stand it.
21. I want to send my kids to a language immersion school.
22. I never thought I would be a stay at home mom, ever.
23. I am studying to become a public accountant.
24. I've had my hair every length and color.
25. Vowed I'd never have short hair again.
26. I have a photographic memory.
27. I am super organized.
28. Love to clean.
29. I have sadly never been overseas.
30. I am a tad bit too cynical.
31. I don't like the TV, but admittedly use it as a "babysitter" when I need a moment to think.
32. Probably the world's most creatively challenged individual.
33. I can't find dress pants that fit for the life of me.
34. I was born and raised in North Dakota.
35. Both my parents worked growing up, probably why I always have planned on working.
36, I have an auto-immune disorder. I've had it since I was 7.
37. I just turned 27, on the 4th of July.
38. If I wanted to adopt from China I'd only have 3 more years (I am not planning on adopting but I read an article the other day that they changed their age limit to 30, for mothers, and I thought that was really young)!
39. We have never owned a house, but want to own one painfully bad.
40. We want a Goldendoodle.
41. I am a total introvert and love being alone (which never happens with 2 toddlers)!
42. I was sick throughout most of my pregnancies and threw up a lot.
43. I was electively induced both times.
44. Super easy deliveries (8 hours and 3 hours). Told both times I was made to have kids.
45. I am done having kids.
46. I couldn't stand garlic when I became pregnant with Lacey. It's never gone away. I still can't stand it.
47. I drink a lot of coffee, more in the winter when it's cold.
48. We go to River Valley Church in Apple Valley, MN and we absolutely love it there.
49. I am a no excuses type of girl.
50. I loved Babysitter's Club books when I was young. I read #128 of them one summer.

quotable

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs;
ask yourself what makes you come alive
and then go out and do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

-Howard Thurman

I own a giant.

I'm lucky. You see if there is one thing I don't believe in, it's skinny babies or toddlers. Thankfully I don't have to worry about that because I own a giant boy.

I giant I tell you.

(I was going to insert a picture of a giant here, but all of the google images were a little freaky).

He is 29 pounds and 35 inches! Holy Moly! I couldn't believe he was so tall. I knew he was heavy. He did the 18 month Autism screens and passed with flying colors, and didn't get any shots because he has a cold, so we passed on them (he's on a delayed schedule anyway so I have zero concerns if they are delayed further).

Just for kicks, I looked back at Lacey's stats to compare. At 18 months Lacey was 23 pounds and 32 inches. At 24 months she was 29 pounds and 35 inches. I thought that was interesting because 1) that is the exact size of Miles now (although she was 6 months older), AND she didn't slow down, growth wise, until after 2 years (she probably weighs 31 pounds now...). I keep wondering when Miles will slow down and now I know that it may happen in the next few months, or not until after 2. Good to know.

Off to a phone interview! Eeeek!

re-doing a sidewalk

this past weekend my husband tore out about 100 feet of sidewalk that wrapped around the house, framed up a new one, and poured and stamped the new one today.

just like that!?!

no. it was (seemingly) thousands of hours of work, dreadfully long days for me, and probably a few too many cuss words** (thankfully not in front of the kids).

I like to call it
"the weekend in which i nearly, almost completely, lost my mind."
or
"the weekend in which the mailman rang the doorbell to deliver a package and i answered it while crying, because i had nearly lost my mind"***

Oh, and he did it all on his 29th birthday! Happy Birthday Mike!

And I have a phone interview tomorrow, which I have NOT had the chance to prepare for. UGH. I am totally stressed about it and that is probably why I was losing my mind today.

**come on now, you know that do-it-yourself projects never go smoothly! tempers flare after you've made about 6 too many trips to home depot, and have worked about 24 hours too long.

***the mailman seriously did not know what to do...poor guy, we'll get him a Christmas present this year (but mostly because I feel so dang bad that he has to walk door to door in the heat, rain, snow, and freezing temperatures, to give me my mail. He deserves something)!

Strollers, Uggs, and Hair Color

Mike just did a concrete job and we kept some money to do whatever we wanted with. A real luxury when we are paying off debt. What did I do with it?

Uggs and strollers and hair color.

I just ordered a new stroller.

What? Yes, another stroller.

It was super cheap, and seems decently nice. It's a single umbrella stroller. It's really tough to maneuver the BOB around the library, or the mall, when one kid wants to walk and the other wants to sit.

Realistically, I went back and forth for a long time because Miles is 18 months and how long will he really be in a stroller, but when I read reviews that Mom's were having their 4 year olds sit in them I decided to go ahead and get it. Like I said it was cheap, not a large investment. I am excited though, here is what it looks like!

I will also be using some of the money for Uggs, like I mentioned earlier. I just can't decide what color to get. Black goes with all of my fall and winter coats, but I think the chocolate brown ones are cuter. The lighter tan ones (Chestnut) could technically go with black and brown, but I don't totally care for that color. Black it is I suppose. Thoughts?

The black ones get a huge ring of salt around them. Gross.

I could go gray.

Ugg! (pun intended).

Then I am also getting my hair colored. Because my hair color sucks! I can't really afford to do all these things but I have a cousin who works at a salon in Apple Valley (suburb nearby), so I am going to call her up. Perhaps we can work out a deal? I am going to go blonde. Not white blonde, but not mousy, dishwater blonde. I'll post pics. It will be a couple of weeks I am sure.

hot, hot, HOT

My daughter may look like she belongs in SoCal, but let's be honest, she lasts about 3.5 minutes in the heat.

Today she needed ice cream because it was too hot.

needed?

okay, maybe I needed it.

odds and ends.

Yesterday, I attended "Spend the Day at Baker Tilly." It was the first of (hopefully) many office visits, networking events, and interviews. Their office is downtown and after living in downtown Minneapolis for 5 years, I loooove me some downtown!

It was a good day. Learned a lot about the office and more about the field as well as specific industries. I learned that I don't want to work in not for profit accounting (lots of travel), and I learned that individual and professional services really interests me (more focused on tax, as opposed to audit, and more focused on individuals as opposed to businesses).

What else made it a good day was a break from the kids, because they have seriously been driving me to insanity lately. It's nothing but whining and sibling fighting in the house. I'm nearly losing my mind and I am blaming it on the weather, it's been insanely hot.

And Miles is teething, he's getting his canine teeth (the pointy ones). He'll just stop playing and suddenly start crying and holding his mouth. Poor kid. He also has a cold and is behind on sleep. It's really tons of fun.

Lacey's new habit is speaking like a baby and trying to be her brother's mother (polar opposite actions? yes.), then getting upset when he doesn't listen. But she's been sleeping better so maybe that is what really matters. I don't know.

And I decided I am going to bite the bullet and buy UGGS this fall. I decided that my feet will be warm all winter, and that is worth it. (actually I have a coupon for 20% off at Macy's, and get an additional 20% off because I am a "retired" employee, so they'll be cheap-ish)!

Kindle

For a long time, or as long as there have been kindles, I've thought to myself that I would never want one. I apparently liked the feeling of the actual book in my hand. But than as I started shopping for textbooks, I saw that many textbooks came in a Kindle version. For a fraction of the cost.

Imagine, if you will, NOT lugging around heavy textbooks (filled with tax law), I'd feel so streamlined, not to mention LIGHTER. Plus the amount of money I'd save from buying the kindle version, would pretty much pay for the kindle itself.

I want one. Not just for textbooks, but for streamlining. I've never been a fan of random bookshelves. I would love to keep them all on this thing.

But alas, my Audit and Math books don't come on kindle. My tax book does (or did), but tax law changes every year so just because the 2010 tax book comes on kindle, that does not mean the 2011 one does. Obviously I need 2011.

Paper version it will be.

But I am still asking for a kindle for Christmas!

15 Things

15. My daughter doesn't sleep, therefore I don't sleep.

14. Lacey's hair can fit in a ponytail now and it's the cutest thing EVER.

13. When I get bored, I rearrange furniture.

12. Admittedly, I am over summer. I want it to be fall.

11. Don't remind me of saying this come January. I'll remember.

10. I could never live where it was hot year round.

9. There was a spider crawling on me this morning when I came in from outside. I freaked.

8. I find weeding therapeutic.

7. I totally want a dog.

6. We'll get a Goldendoodle someday. That's always been our dog of choice.

5. I told Mike, no house buying and no dog buying until I am done with the CPA exams.

4. That'll be a while.

3. I wish we would have been part of a CSA this year.

2. That's Community Supported Agriculture if you didn't know. We'll do it next year.

1. It's almost naptime. Hooray.