Movin' Right Along

With each passing day Ian grows a little more independent. He has truly discovered why it’s so cool that he can crawl. This past week he has started venturing out into other rooms of the house. He wants to explore, open cupboards, and take things out. For us this means that the game has changed, yet again. So Ian is helping us learn the new rules. Also, it seems like every few days he starts the process of cutting a new tooth. All in all Ian is an absolute delight. He laughs and smiles easily and has great balance. We think he’ll take after mom and be skateboarding by the time he’s four.

Here in Houston it is absolutely soggy! We had a brief reprieve from the rain over the weekend but then the rain returned in full force. So basically Roxy is totally shack whacky because I haven’t been able to get her out for a walk. Still we love it here and are enjoying the novelty of this experience.

Matt and I are still enjoying budgeting together. We’ve learned that we make about $500 less per month than we did as students both working. We couldn’t figure out why things seemed tighter even though we were spending far less than we used to. Bingo!! Duh! Even though we feel greatly blessed and very wealthy. We both feel like we have everything we ever wanted and we lack for nothing. We truly feel rich.

Still the realities of our income vs. expenses pose some wonderful challenges, even opportunities. How can we reduce our expenditures and save money? Well, we’ve looked at our gift budget and decided we could be more creative. So, “Family, you can look forward to some pretty nice home made creations and bargain buys!” Also, there’s thing like yogurt and croutons, which I’ve decided that I can add to our repertoire of home made goods.

I made home made yogurt from organic whole milk this past week. It rocks! It’s way better than any yogurt I’ve ever purchased. Ian loves it. I am going to buy 2% milk and start making it for the whole family. This brings the cost of our yogurt down to like .30¢ per 6 oz. as opposed to 90¢ for good organic yogurt. And then I mix in some home made jam or other fruit into the yogurt and it’s so sweet and delicious. You don’t even need an incubator to make yogurt. But lucky me, my Mom bought me one a while back. If I can just perfect the art of boiling milk then I’ll be good to go.

If I can think of any other money saving or procuring tips I’ll pass them along. Until next time...be happy and have fun!

The Week In Review

 

It’s been raining a lot here in Houston.  The forecasters have been threatening sleet since yesterday but we haven’t seen any here yet.  It seems like the storms they predict bypass us or weaken by the time they get here.  Although, it is colder than I like right now (in the 30’s).  

This past week end we did chores around the house since the previous week end we went camping at Brazos Bend State Park.  That was our trial run at camping with a baby and it went really well.  I figured out that I don’t enjoy camping in temperatures much lower than the 50’s.  So last week end was perfect.  We also discovered that Ian doesn’t sleep well in unfamiliar places so we have to work on that.  Also, we love our new tent that we got for Christmas.  Thanks John and Jeanne!

Our new hobby is finances.  I spent this past week researching and learning about stock investing.  I plan to do some paper trading for a while.  Once I get the hang of that we’ll start investing for real in the stock market.  In addition, we plan to begin our retirement saving this month.  We have developed a strict budget, which enables us to save.  Rather than feeling restricted by our budget, we have felt greatly empowered.  Also, we feel budgeting has improved our communication.  We are truly committed to living debt free and are so excited by the challenge of living within our means.  This requires us to be more resourceful and creative.

As far as Ian goes, he is crawling all over the place.  It took him a few days but he finally realized what the ability to crawl really means to him.  Now he knows it means liberation.  It seems like he is now in a state of perpetual motion.  He even crawls around in his crib.  Both of us are learning that this can be treacherous.  Twice yesterday I rushed into his room in a panic.

The first time I found him standing up, holding onto the rail.  The second time I responded to a distress cry.  In his explorations he had unwittingly lodged his arm through the slats of his crib and panicked when he couldn’t free it.  Suffice it to say, we have resurrected the video monitor and have affixed it to his wall so that we can see what he’s up to when things get a little too quiet.