Author: jesser

We are so happy to be back in CO. IKEA was tons of fun, but the drive 8 hours to SLC and back was not so much fun. My pregnant body was very grumpy about sitting for a long time and sleeping in a strange bed. The only thing I'm ticked about is how few photos I took. The scenery was gorgeous but we were on such a strict time frame that we couldn't stop (I took a few photos from the car but they didn't turn out) and Tabby was adorable at IKEA, but I didn't want to carry around our camera the whole FIVE HOURS we spent there, so it was in the car.

Yes, that's right. FIVE HOURS in IKEA. We had an awesome time. Tabby was totally taken in by the colors and the swedish meatballs. By the time we were about half way through she was totally tired and she ended up falling asleep in her daddy's arms and then being rolled around the store in a cart full of pillows as she slept. She wasn't the only one either. No, not me. I was tired, but I didn't succumb to the allure of the pillow-filled shopping cart.

We got everything we set out to get and not much we didn't, which is a big accomplishment when you go to IKEA (at least if you're me). And of course we had great road trip fun and laughs.

I hate that I've been such a bad blogger lately. We haven't been that hugely busy, but “morning sickness” seems to like to strike me in a big way in the later evening. I'm basically fit for nothing but lying in bed watching TV. That's when I used to do quite a bit of my blogging (and blog reading). Things like keeping my kitchen clean and doing laundry have gone largely by the wayside and I have a hard time caring very much. I'm really hoping that with the end of first trimester on the horizon that I will get back to some of my normal self. The one who remembers to take out the camera and doesn't like living in filth.

Tabby has been helping mommy out a lot lately by being a great napper. I've been picking her up from her sitter's house and taking her home for a lovely snuggly afternoon nap every day I can manage it. She out-sleeps me most days and I have to gently wake her up so we can go make some dinner. We've been amazed what consistent naps have done to her mood in the evenings (and really all day). We're having so much more fun and now she can stay up until 8 or so which is much nicer. She used to always be in bed by 7:30 and sometimes as early as 6:30!!

I can't believe what all is coming out of her mouth lately too. No worries – it's all been good so far, though she has picked up my “geez!” and “fine!” exclamations which is rather hilarious. Last night we were visiting our friends and their little boy was getting close to bed and had a little melt down and was in time out. My friend was telling him to stop crying and Tabby picked up on this and parrotted “Stop crying!” about 10 times. I couldn't get her to stop. It seems like she knows the word for just about everything and pops out new ones faster than I can count. Matt and I look at each other and goess “where'd she learn that??”

We have big plans for the weekend … drive 8 hours to Draper, UT (apparently a suburb of Salt Lake City) and visit IKEA. This was part of my sister's promised graduation gift way back in May. Since she's got her new place, we're making the trip before (fingers crossed) the weather gets too awful. I'm not especially keen to go right now but I know that once we get rolling it'll be good fun. Tabby will be the big winner from our family … she'll be getting chairs and a table for her new playroom. Just let's hope that we don't have to endure any more traffic fun on the way home.

Have a good weekend, y'all!

Money is on everyone's mind, I think, what with the economy being so err… wobbly. We got to talking about various budget techniques when I went to dinner with The Moms last week and it was very interesting to me. So when I read Janet's budgeting post, I thought it would be fun to steal her idea share our budget strategy with you guys.

Our budget is housed in one of my maniacal spreadsheets (sorry MS h8ers … I'm a huge Excel nerd). And I think the overall concept is pretty simple. What comes in is pretty darned consistent (knock on wood) and there are some fixed out-gos (like car note, mortgage). Everything else is tracked and categorized. Then we can see where the $$ is going. Eating out is always our biggest money pit.

But I think we do a few things that have really served us well and that I am very proud of.

1. Savings comes off the top. Some goes to a general savings pool, some to Tabby's college. But it all goes automatically … we hardly even see it, let alone long enough to miss it.
2. While we sometimes end up spending a bit more than we'd like to on certain things, we have strict allowances for personal spending. And personal spending in our house encompasses a lot. Fun things like books and DVDs and necessary things like haircuts and clothes. Matt and I get $200/month and Tabby gets $100/month. She doesn't control this of course, but any parent out there knows how quickly a few clothes and a book or two can add up. If we go over our limit for one month, it comes off the next (thus, Matt will be paying off his ski pass until Dcember).
3. The first place any “extra” goes is to paying down our mortgage. Savings is alrady taken care of, so we can take the opportunity to make an extra payment or two to our mortgage, which is awesome. Because it's all principle.

How do you guys crunch the numbers?

I really used to think it was a sin to even think about Christmas before Thanksgiving … or at very least mid-November. But that, of course, was before I was in charge of any part of it. While I'm still not a huge fan of hearing Jingle Bells weeks before Thanksgiving or decking the halls before buying a turkey, I plan Christmas early these days.

This year I got started extra early by setting up an automatic transfer back in June to stick some cash every month in a Christmas slush fund. We've always been able to easily cover Christmas with bonuses, but Matt's doesn't come until March, usually and I am not keen on relying on them anyhow, since they are dependent on company financials (or in other words, our shaky economy). Plus, little squirrel that I am, stashing away cash always appeals to me … just more we can't spend.

Now that it's October, the cash is mostly in place and I am starting my Christmas planner. This is the same just about every year … a multi-page spread-sheet with a list of who we buy gifts for, gift suggestions and estimated costs. Another page holds a calendar of events and reminders … party dates, when out-of-state packages need to be sent, etc. etc.

This year I've also started using Kaboodle, an online shopping list site, to track gift ideas for people. That way when I'm on any site, be it Think Geek or Uncommon Goods or Amazon, I can hit my Add to Kaboodle button and it saves it in my Kaboodle lists where I can tag it with a name. I'm a big fan so far. You can also share lists/finds with friends.

Rumor has it Santa has also been doing a little shopping … but no one else has yet bought anything. I plan (as usual) to buy the majority of gifts) over the internet and try to get 99% of the rest of it done in one all-day marathon in the middle of the week. Then I can use December for parties, wrapping and baking. Nerdy organizaional high + Christmas??!? I'm a happy girl.

Can't believe how long it's been since I managed to post. Too much going on and not enough of me. But the weekend has been great. I got off early on Friday and got to spend some time with my best girl. We had lunch and naps and a bit of fun.

I spent the evening with some of my favorite moms from my mom's group. We went to Olive Garden for dinner and chitchat and then we went to the comedy club and saw three different and very funny acts. Don Reese, the headliner, was my favorite.

Saturday, I thought Tabby was starting her tumbling class, but I got the date wrong apparently, and it starts next week (when we're planning to be out of town) … oops. But we spent the rest of the day with Kelly doing a little shopping for her new place and hanging out.

Today was relaxation and slow slow slow. But in a really good way. We all needed some of that. We tried to make these mini caramel apples, which didn't go as well as I might've thought, but it was fun. And we capped off the evening having dinner with my family. Now I'm playing catch-up and finally uploading photos from last weekend.

Do you like this title? No. Me either. It's kind of cheesy. But as I said last week I'd like to do the link thing more regularly, even weekly. I guess I'll try it on for size. Maybe it will grow on me.

• I totally dig XKCD's (a great geek comic) take on digital rights management
• Another parenting book … but you might like it's promise: 12 Hours of Sleep by 12 Weeks
• I thought this site that allows you to set up food trains was an interesting idea.
• Have y'all seen Coverleaf yet? Many magazines delivered in digital form, for free if you're already a subscriber!! Great idea.
• Can't help but love these duct tape bandages … they're destined for my Christmas gift guide!
• If I didn't already own an awesomely cute cruiser, I might have to purchase one of these Paul Frank styled ones from Nirve. 6 cute styles to choose from.
• I've been loving Family Fun magazine lately. I even subscribed to it (just $6/year on Coverleaf!!). They have such cute/easy craft ideas. And I cannot wait to try these butternut squash popcicles and they have a ton of Halloween ideas.
• Campfire cakes: hollow out oranges, fill with cake batter, wrap in foil, bake in the fire. Genius!
• Get $5 off a Whole Foods purchase of $25 or more.