5.

 Ergo Baby Carrier.  I didn’t actually find this until after Asa was one, but it is GREAT.  It can hold babies up to 40 pounds or something crazy like that.  I needed to have Asa on my person when we were taking a trip to NY (see below) and he had completely outgrown his Baby Bjorn.  This was what I found and it is AMAZING.  It really does relieve the pressure on you back.  Anyway, check it out.  I love it.  My only regret…not finding it sooner.  Find them here.

4.

Traveling Toddler Car Seat Travel Accessory- This thing (while a bit overpriced), was well worth the money.  I had to travel with Asa by myself to NY to visit a friend back in August.  I bought him a seat (I was not about to sit with a squirmy 1 year old for a 3 hour flight on my lap!) so I needed to get his carseat around the airport.  He has a Britax Marathon (here’sa picture) an let’s just say it was a bit heavy.  We had a layover in Houston and I needed to move fast.  I found this awesome invention that made getting his carseat around easier.  It was probably the best 14.99 I spent for a trip in a LONG time.  You can find them here.

3.

 Chicco Travel High Chair- LOVE this.  We keep it in the van and take it out whenever we are out and going to eat.  The seat comes off the metal supports and is machine washable.  It makes it so convenient to seat a baby in a challenging space.  There are not many places we haven’t been able to use it.  The best part?  The placemat below has a catch tray that fits perfectly in the space that exists between the chair and the seat!  Find one here.

2.
Summer Infant Tiny Diner Place mat- This thing is AWESOME!  We use it ALL the time.  It rolls up and that makes it easy for travel.  We use at home and when we go to other places.  It’s super easy to clean and has suction cups on the bottom that keeps it put.  Buy one here.

   Jesus Storybook Bible- Hands down the best.  I cry almost every time I read it.  Seriously, so good!  It is my son’s FAVORITE book.  Let’s just say it is falling apart in about 10 different places.  Find more about it here.  I can’t wait to get the Deluxe Edition!

Aaahhhh!!!  Almost everyday I think about how my little baby is becoming a sweet little boy.  I can’t believe in less then three months he will be two years old.  Where does the time go? 

I’ve been thinking about potty training lately.  I don’t know if it is too early or what, but I’m getting seriously tired of diapers.  I’m tired of changing them and tired of spending money on them.  Any tips and/or suggestions?

I’ve also started planning Asa’s 2nd birthday party and I am SO excited.  I’ve been scouring the net trying to find ideas and have found some, but it has really gotten my creative juices going.  I’ll be sharing more of what I am doing as it happens.  Until then, you will have to guess the plans (ladies- if you know, don’t spoil it for everyone else!)

I finished work on April 30 and am now just doing some stuff from home. The good part of that is now I can sleep in and work when I want to. The bad part is I can sleep in and don’t work when I should. Since I tend to be a procrastinator I end up doing my work later at night and then need more sleep in the morning…I guess it will prepare me for baby

Things are going well as far as baby goes. From what the midwife said, he is in position. For new mom’s this usually happens a few weeks before baby comes so we are right on schedule. We have the nursery set up for the most part. We still have a few things we need to get but they are not immediately needed (although a mattress for the crib and bedding is pretty high up there. Thankfully we have a bassinet that we can use until we are able to make the other purchases we need to). We finished our childbirth class and it was informative to say the least. I think I am going to leave myself some room to change my mind about pain meds if things get to be more then I can take. We also went to this really great GIANT “garage” sale if you will that had nothing but baby and young children stuff. That was nice because we were able to buy things that were close to brand new (in some cases they were new) for much cheaper then if we had gone to Babies-r-us or Target. Baby crap is expensive! Note to self: when you can buy it used- do it. Babies grow really fast.

My family is doing well. Mom is traveling, Andy is traveling, Quinn is in Texas, Dad is working. Greg is working and writing a lot. As for me, I’m ready for baby to be here. I’m a little freaked out about what happens once baby is here, and more freaked out about the process of baby getting here, but countless other women have done it and survived so I probably can too.

This whole election process is really starting to annoy me. I can see that Hillary rightly deserves her title as, “willing to do anything to become President”. Barring an act of God, I don’t think she will win this nomination and honestly, this process is taking longer then anyone cares to hear about. The drama that has come out is so junior high. Seriously. Granted, there are a few things that we should be concerned about, but some of it is so childish and petty.

I hope to have some tips up in the next week or two about how to have a great party with low cost. Until then, I’m just gearing up.

Greg stole my blog idea for Murphy and God fighting, so I decided to write it anyway but in a different way.

Last month we had over $1900 dollars of expected/unexpected expenses come up. We thought that we could budget some of it in (and did) but some of it was just unforeseen expenses. Yes, we do Dave Ramsey so we have our minor emergency fund in place, however, we hate digging into that money. It leaves you feeling vulnerable for those few weeks that you are trying to build that money back up again. In addition, the expenses were more then our emergency fund.

To top all of that off, we are due to have our first baby in 8 weeks and currently have a crib (no mattress) and dresser (thank you Greg’s mom Rhonda and step dad Steve!), a few diapers, a few toys, and some baby wipes. Granted, we haven’t had a shower yet, but it still makes you nervous knowing that you have a LOT of bills and need to buy things for the baby. What makes you especially nervous, is knowing that you have made a commitment not to go back into debt so it is NOT an option. Needless to say, I’ve been trying to work a few extra hours to make a little extra money, but also because I plan to leave the office at the end of April and need to finish some things there

Little did I know that God had other plans and showed up to what I thought would be really really TIGHT few months. I am humbly reminded once again what a great God we serve. He continually provides for us and is patient with me and my worry.

Below you will find an itemized list of expenses and how God took care of them all.

New Crown for Shannon’s tooth- 945.90
Doctor’s Bills- 118.41
Doola- 250.00
KGB-ahem-sorry, that was the IRS- 353.00
Travel for Greg- 65.00
Unexpected car trouble (the water pump needed replacing)- 64.94
Travel for a wedding- 100.00
Unexpected phone expense- 25.00
Other random things you tend to forget to budget for 50.00

A God who provides for His children and sends random checks to your house with your name on them that amount to over 1100.00- PRICELESS

There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s God.

Things that SUCK when you’re pregnant

10. You’re maternity pants continually shimmy down your hips. Frustrating as heck when you have to get up and down continually throughout the day.

9. 1st trimester sickness and 3rd trimester tiredness/difficulty sleeping

8. Bigger everything- Did you know that your feet can grow up to a size bigger and NEVER go back?! For those of us with wide feet already, this is distressing news.

7. Getting in trouble with your midwife for putting on a little too much weight for one month (Oops!)

6. Waking up in the middle of the night wedged between two pillows that act as a barrier to keep you from rolling onto your back and realizing that you need to go to the bathroom.

5. Pregnancy gas- it’s just bad

4. Not being able to exercise to lose weight

3. The emotional roller coaster that can make any sane husband crazy because you can’t decide how you are feeling that day

2. Body pain (backaches, footaches, etc.)

1. Getting the crap kicked out of you by your little bundle of joy

I know some of you can relate. I’ve got the pregnancy blues…