Learning a Lesson

So after introducing you to our growing son for the first time -- what do I write about next? I mean it has to be something memorable, ah I have it. The first petty theft.

I get a call this morning from my employer -- someone has called saying they found your purse.
Really? My purse is locked in the trunk of the car (yes I know--not the appropriate place for it). This has to be a mistake -- I call the lady and sure enough someone has broken into our car. Or maybe I left the door unlocked. I thought I locked it, but maybe I didn't :( Luckily -- I keep my wallet in the house.

So the purse was thrown on the street, diamond necklace still in it, and will be returned this afternoon. The first generation Ipod is missing -- good thing Jeremy has an Iphone. All in all -- a horrible experience but not too harsh -- and definitely lesson learned.

Ryan James Spell

I would like to introduce you all to our growing baby BOY, Ryan James. We recently had an ultrasound where we got to watch him move and sleep (sleep mostly). Here are a couple of pictures for you to enjoy.

This is a profile of Ryan -- so much bigger than the first time we saw him like this :)

In this one he is sleeping snugly, but you can still see his face.

We are very excited to know that we will be soon welcoming our son into this world. Please pray that God would prepare us for his arrival, and that we would be able to enjoy the birth plan we have envisioned.

Cutting the Grocery Budget

So here's honesty -- for the past three years we have spent WAY too much money on our grocery/dining out budget. Oh I've always clipped coupons and meal planned. However, until recently I wasn't concerned with pairing what we already had with sale items to make meals that were even cheaper. Oh -- and shopping at HEB didn't help either. Everything was so fresh and tasty we'd just about buy the entire store once a month. Yes..we only shopped once a month, which meant that we made $10-$15 Kroger trips a few times during the week buying what we needed regardless of whether it was on sale or not.

After moving into a house -- this had to change. Our once "disposable" income is now being spent on home projects, preparing for the baby, and trying to furnish our house. So I joined the grocery game , if you haven't heard about it - check it out! Many of our friends play this game and now that I have the time (and incentive -- as whatever I save gets reallocated elsewhere for date nights, trips, saving for a new bigscreen TV, etc.) I decided to go for it.

The first week -- I saved a whopping $53 and brought home enough meat to pack the freezer, as well as, produce for the week and other various items. The second week-- I wasn't too interested in the sale items, but we did have a dinner party, so I spent approximately $50 for the week. This week was the beginning of February -- and a real shot at seeing just how much money we can save each month, it being the beginning and all. So how did I do?

I watched my Kroger bill go from $145 -- down to $78. It was awesome -- I had a cart load of things (many of which I needed -- some of it was stocking up) for well under a $100. We are on our way to cutting our grocery/dining out budget by 50%. I'll update on our final progress at the end of the month! Pray for us to keep it up!

Here's what I walked out of Kroger with for a measly $78.

Night Owl

The baby is already taking after me with it's schedule :)

An ongoing "struggle" (annoyance) in our marriage is our different body clocks. Jeremy is the ultimate morning person, after his cup of coffee, getting up early and taking his time. He starts projects in the morning and usually by 7pm he is winding down for the night.

I on the other hand am quite the night owl -- I wake up at the last minute to rush out of the door, spend the entire morning groggy and start coming into real existance around 10 am. My most productive part of the day is usually from 9-11 pm. (Usually cleaning during this time -- Jeremy doesn't appreciate the vacuuming and mopping around midnight, while he is trying to sleep, which is why I called it a struggle.)

So up until today -- I hadn't really been feeling the baby moving -- only the really large movements whenever I happened to be yelling at a Cowboys game :) But I was sitting on the couch in my lazy stuper (it was before 9pm) and I start feeling this kicking... thinking it was the baby I started to experiment. I pushed on the side of my abdomen the baby prefers and yes the baby gave my hand a swift and pretty powerful kick for the little person weighing in at less than an pound and only approximately five inches. I never played soccer -- but maybe this is their calling. Or perhaps the baby knew how upset I was that the Cowboys need a reliable kicker and this is their way of being empathetic with my pain ;)

So it seems that we have an active night owl as the kicking has been steady for the last two hours-- I can't complain! Hopefully this means they will sleep in most mornings!

Nesting

In the last 24 hours I have developed the deep desire to start preparing the nursery. I have spent countless hours online at Target picking out all of the things that I am envisioning for the room. It might seem a little different to most people, I am following Montessori principles in setting up the room. There will be no adult furniture (except a dresser -- which happens to be free storage because we already possess it), crib, changing table, and all of the wall art and decor will be at eye level for an infant. In case your having a hard time picturing this ... it will resemble something along these lines --

A mattress on the floor supports independence, and of course their room would be more "child proofed" than this room appears. This is more along the lines of what our baby's would look like in about a year and a half. This is certainly not the traditional way of putting together a nursery -- but I am excited to see if it works for our family. I love Montessori and would love to put our child into the school that I currently work at -- unfortunately it is WAY too expensive! I have learned enough in the last few years of being there that I think that I can at least incorporate the basic philosophy at home.

I will post pictures as we start building the nursery :) If you have any questions feel free to ask!

A Window into Our Lives

Many of our friends blog, and while I find what they have going on interesting and funny, I am realizing they are giving access into their lives through this little window. So here I am, starting a blog.

With the impending birth of our first child and family and friends being spread across the country, I would like to share our experiences with everyone. As of right now it will be very basic -- just things going on, but as it progresses I hope to share recipes, good books, ideas for home projects, etc.