Happy Easter from our family to yours!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Birthday Money
Alright, so this is going to be a very random post. A few weeks ago, I received an awesome birthday gift from my parents-birthday money! Money is always a great gift, but I am completely frozen with indecision about what to use it for!
Thankfully, we don't need it for groceries or anything, but every time I receive $ that is supposed to be 'just for me' it is SO hard to spend it on myself without thinking there is a 'right' way to spend the money. This is especially difficult when there are things you wind up needing as a family (new car seats for instance) that aren't necessarily budgeted for on a regular basis.
I do great coming up with ideas for what to use this gift for, it's just the making a final decision part that is tough. So here are the ideas I have come up with so far.
#1. Turning our guest bedroom into a playroom. A new coat of paint, new curtains, repainting some furniture would help me reserve my living room for more adult use and keep the toys out of sight and out of mind. :)
#2. New clothes. It has been a year since I had Melody and I am still not into those pre-pregnancy clothes. Maybe it is time for some new ones? Summer is coming up and I have very little that I can wear!
#3. Decorating the kitchen. Our kitchen is sad. White and off-white, nothing on the walls, clutter everywhere. Our kitchen could use some serious love in the color, decor and organization department. It is seriously depressing in there.
#4. New car seat. As I mentioned last week, car seat recommendations are changing. We are keeping the forward facing seat we already bought since it will fit Melody up to 100 lbs, in a 5 point harness for a long time and functions as a booster after that. But now she will likely have an interim where she won't fit the infant seat nor will she be ready to be forward facing. We are looking at this one.
#5. Registration for a conference for my business. It is an awesome training opportunity and very motivational. My business can obviously cover this expense, but if I went ahead and paid for it now with my birthday moo-lah, I wouldn't have to worry about making enough this month to cover it and I could focus on earning for the plane ticket, hotel cost, etc. (If you are interested, check out my business website here.)
So there are lots of options. Let me say that I know for many people these are difficult economic times, so I am thankful for this gift from my parents. Having extra money is definitely a good problem to have, and one that not many people get to enjoy right at the moment.
But just for the fun of it, here's my question this week.
If you had extra money this month, what would you spend it on?
Thanks for reading again this week!
Love, Rachel
Thankfully, we don't need it for groceries or anything, but every time I receive $ that is supposed to be 'just for me' it is SO hard to spend it on myself without thinking there is a 'right' way to spend the money. This is especially difficult when there are things you wind up needing as a family (new car seats for instance) that aren't necessarily budgeted for on a regular basis.
I do great coming up with ideas for what to use this gift for, it's just the making a final decision part that is tough. So here are the ideas I have come up with so far.
#1. Turning our guest bedroom into a playroom. A new coat of paint, new curtains, repainting some furniture would help me reserve my living room for more adult use and keep the toys out of sight and out of mind. :)
#2. New clothes. It has been a year since I had Melody and I am still not into those pre-pregnancy clothes. Maybe it is time for some new ones? Summer is coming up and I have very little that I can wear!
#3. Decorating the kitchen. Our kitchen is sad. White and off-white, nothing on the walls, clutter everywhere. Our kitchen could use some serious love in the color, decor and organization department. It is seriously depressing in there.
#4. New car seat. As I mentioned last week, car seat recommendations are changing. We are keeping the forward facing seat we already bought since it will fit Melody up to 100 lbs, in a 5 point harness for a long time and functions as a booster after that. But now she will likely have an interim where she won't fit the infant seat nor will she be ready to be forward facing.
#5. Registration for a conference for my business. It is an awesome training opportunity and very motivational. My business can obviously cover this expense, but if I went ahead and paid for it now with my birthday moo-lah, I wouldn't have to worry about making enough this month to cover it and I could focus on earning for the plane ticket, hotel cost, etc. (If you are interested, check out my business website here.)
So there are lots of options. Let me say that I know for many people these are difficult economic times, so I am thankful for this gift from my parents. Having extra money is definitely a good problem to have, and one that not many people get to enjoy right at the moment.
But just for the fun of it, here's my question this week.
If you had extra money this month, what would you spend it on?
Thanks for reading again this week!
Love, Rachel
Monday, April 11, 2011
8 Hours Update
So here is a quick update to the "8 hours a week" post!
This past week I didn't manage to clean 8 hours- I only managed about 3! However, that has left me with a pretty clean kitchen and a fairly tidy dining room, also a clean bathtub. Other than that though, most things are still pretty crazy around my house. Thanks for all the tips though, and I will definitely be continuing to shoot for that goal of 8 hours a week! I will keep you updated next week about how it goes!
This past week I didn't manage to clean 8 hours- I only managed about 3! However, that has left me with a pretty clean kitchen and a fairly tidy dining room, also a clean bathtub. Other than that though, most things are still pretty crazy around my house. Thanks for all the tips though, and I will definitely be continuing to shoot for that goal of 8 hours a week! I will keep you updated next week about how it goes!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Forgetting to Eat and New Car Seat Recommendations
One of my best friends (I won't say names, but it rhymes with Rikel Rak) is notorious for getting so busy that she forgets to eat. I can't tell you how many times as teenagers hanging out at her house or going shopping I would be thinking "When are we going to eat lunch? I don't want to be rude, but how can she possibly not be starving right now?" And I would wait without saying anything until she finally realized how hungry she was and confess, "Good! I'm starving too!"
Well, un-named friend (*wink*), I am right there with you these days! With a baby, a job, a house to clean, my own business and a church to volunteer for I am constantly forgetting to eat. But it looks a little different than my super-productive best friend. What happens to me is that I gradually start moving slower in the day and suddenly while Melody is napping I find myself sitting at the computer browsing and thinking "I should be doing something right now. I should wash dishes or fold laundry, but I just feel so tired... Why do I feel so tired? Oh yeah! I haven't eaten lunch!" Sometimes then I will get up and eat something, but sometimes I get distracted in my over-tired and hungry state and forget to eat again.
There is a lesson to be learned here. No lunch = tired, distracted mommy! :)
Now, on to the more serious stuff... For all my mommy friends out there, have your heard about the new car seat recommendations?
The AAP is now recommending that infants stay in rear facing car seats until 2 years old or until they outgrow the height and weight guidelines for the seat. They are encouraging parents to use rear facing seats (such as a convertible car seat) that will hold larger children up to 35 or 40lbs in the rear facing position.
Being unaware of these new guidelines, Christian installed and I excitedly watched as Melody got to ride for the first time in her new forward facing car seat last Saturday.
Isn't she adorable?!
Then my sister let me know about the new rules. (Thank you, Renee!) Luckily, our old car seat is approved for children up to 30 lbs which I chose knowing that I would probably have a larger baby. Melody is currently 21.6 lbs according to my digital scale at home and is now one year old. That puts her right on the cusp of being ready for a forward facing car seat by the old standards. We had made the decision to switch her since the straps on her old car seat were becoming so snug they were making her uncomfortable while riding in the car. After reading the new info though (which can be found here and here), Christian found a way to lengthen the straps on our current car seat, so that Melody can stay rear facing for several more months.
So I guess she will continue to look like this for awhile longer... only bigger of course!
So what about you? Do these new recommendations effect your child? Will you be following them?
Well, un-named friend (*wink*), I am right there with you these days! With a baby, a job, a house to clean, my own business and a church to volunteer for I am constantly forgetting to eat. But it looks a little different than my super-productive best friend. What happens to me is that I gradually start moving slower in the day and suddenly while Melody is napping I find myself sitting at the computer browsing and thinking "I should be doing something right now. I should wash dishes or fold laundry, but I just feel so tired... Why do I feel so tired? Oh yeah! I haven't eaten lunch!" Sometimes then I will get up and eat something, but sometimes I get distracted in my over-tired and hungry state and forget to eat again.
There is a lesson to be learned here. No lunch = tired, distracted mommy! :)
Now, on to the more serious stuff... For all my mommy friends out there, have your heard about the new car seat recommendations?
The AAP is now recommending that infants stay in rear facing car seats until 2 years old or until they outgrow the height and weight guidelines for the seat. They are encouraging parents to use rear facing seats (such as a convertible car seat) that will hold larger children up to 35 or 40lbs in the rear facing position.
Being unaware of these new guidelines, Christian installed and I excitedly watched as Melody got to ride for the first time in her new forward facing car seat last Saturday.
Isn't she adorable?!
Then my sister let me know about the new rules. (Thank you, Renee!) Luckily, our old car seat is approved for children up to 30 lbs which I chose knowing that I would probably have a larger baby. Melody is currently 21.6 lbs according to my digital scale at home and is now one year old. That puts her right on the cusp of being ready for a forward facing car seat by the old standards. We had made the decision to switch her since the straps on her old car seat were becoming so snug they were making her uncomfortable while riding in the car. After reading the new info though (which can be found here and here), Christian found a way to lengthen the straps on our current car seat, so that Melody can stay rear facing for several more months.
So I guess she will continue to look like this for awhile longer... only bigger of course!
So what about you? Do these new recommendations effect your child? Will you be following them?
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