Jan recap

Let's start with money...

I spent $371.62 which is over my budgeted amount but I ended up with extra thanks to babysitting money, so I'm not burdened with this like I was in December. Good grief December STUNK money wise. I will be much more prepared for December this year thank you very much! My budget is 360 for the month, divided out I get $180 every other week on pay day for grocery spending. This includes all groceries, cleaning supplies, laundry, paper products, diapers... So, $371.62 sounds pretty good to me, knowing that I had my grocery allowance and some on top still in my purse!

In spending $371.62, I saved $340.57 for a saving percentage of 47.82% !!! This knocks out October and November's savings by far. My goal is to get at least 50% or higher in savings verses spending and I'm getting there!

Right now things I don't need to buy again for a LONG time include:
-toothpaste (I think Jamie has 15, I have 5 or 6, Matthew has one spare)
-shampoo (I think we're at 11 spares)
-baby soap/shampoo (7 spares)
-wipes (I have about a two month supply thanks to Amazon Mom)
-laundry soap (we have 9 and I have a rain check for 6 more, thank you CVS for your killer sale on Wisk when the $2.00 coupon came out!)

I'm not going to list food items all out but I'm really pleased with where my stockpile is going right now. I'm needing some deals on jelly and ketchup and toilet paper and paper towels, but they will come, I'm sure.

One other thing, is I didn't realize JUST how much trying to stock up on the grains was going to be hard.... I've got rice and pasta and oatmeal coming out my shelves and we're no where near close to even one person's six month supply. I may just try to get things at a two week supply and then move forward to a month, two months, etc. Perhaps I bit off to much in my desire to go go go !


Book wise:
-I still haven't finished "Scream free parenting"... I'm close to the end but for some reason having a hard time finishing it. I want to go through it though and review my notes (yes I write in my books) and make the best of what I've tried to glean from it. I will say that I haven't agreed with all he's said to do, but it has helped some and I have taken much from it.
-I have started Sense and Sensibility and wow... it's been a long time since I read something that really took effort to sift through it. I like the story and where it's going, but her writing is hard for me to take in with all the distractions of mommy-hood. I used to read things like this in HS and college, it's nice to go back to a familiar place.


OT wise:
Well, we're still without right now. But we're also making slow slow progress. EVERY SINGLE DAY he has taken a bite of something at dinner. Sometimes it was A, one, single blueberry or A, one, single corn kernel, but it was something. Something is more than nothing. Yesterday, Matthew and I listed out each and everything he tried either by touching it to his mouth or by biting it and it was pretty cool to see it all listed out! (this was possible be/c I wrote on the calendar each day what he tried). We promised that we'd do the same thing in February. Every single day, try something new... I know he can do this. I know we're getting better. But the hard days are just so so hard still and seem like the world is ending when they appear. It's hard to not lose focus but I need to just keep reminding myself that THE DEVIL WILL NOT HAVE OUR MEAL TIME. And we shall overcome this!


Mark:
Mark had his 2 year well check visit, finally! It was postponed once be/c he was sick and then postponed again be/c of our week of snow, but he finally went in. He's wonderful. He is growing and excelling. What's funny is that I see him as a little pudgy. He's got a little belly on him, but he's only in the 25% for weight his age. I was like, "really?" so even though I think he's built maybe a bit more like me, maybe both my boys will be skinny dudes like their daddy.

Pants:
Speaking of skinny... Matthew is in size fives now... however 5R (regular) fallllllls off him. We've reached a new kind of stupid in clothes for kids... he needs 5 S (slim) pants for them to stay on. He for sure has his daddy's build.


Baby wise:
Baby is doing good. He or she is so active. So so active. Each and every night it feels like there is a soccer game going on in my tummy. As soon as the boys are in bed and I sit down to rest on the couch with Jamie, this kiddo starts kicking a ball around. Bam! Bam! Bam! from one side to the other side to the other side. As much as I could complain about it, I really try not to. I'm very thankful for this gift God has given me of reassurance each night that everything is okay and Baby Bear is doing well. -- or at least doing. I go back to see Kendra on Monday. I can't believe we're approaching the end... NEXT MONTH, our miracle baby will be here. Craziness.


Well, I guess that's all the updating for now.