My Dearest Little - 8 Month Letter

So I wrote this a week ago but 

didn't get around to publishing it.

Better late then never.

I love you snuggle muffin!

My Dearest Little One,

Well here we are...another month has gone by and you are now 8 months old.  I still can't believe how fast time is going with you.  I say it each month, but what they say is true - time flies!

In the past month things haven't really changed all that much.  You are still not moving and still have no teeth.  LOL.  Daddy and I are fine with that, but we know that you would probably enjoy this great big world a whole lot more if you were mobile.

You have moved on to enjoy feeding yourself.  You aren't trying with any sort of utensil, but those hands of yours sure do the trick.  We will start moving away from purees now and on to more solid food so that you can continue to work on this.

Your hair is still long and luscious.  We keep saying that you need a haircut, which you do, but we have yet to do it.  I love your little baby thin hair at the ends and the way it curls around your ears.  ::selfish mommy moment::

We are pretty sure you said "DADA" the other day and you know who (DADA) was super excited about it!  Mommy was excited too, but of course not so patiently waiting for you to say "MAMA."  But you love your Daddy so and he loves hearing you babble away with "DADADADADADADA."

You are growing like a weed and eating us out of house and home!  I don't know what we are going to do when you are a teenager and possibly have siblings!  You never let anyone forget to feed you and you are a great eater at that!  We have only found one food you dislike, squash, but we are going to try it again and see if you can't change your mind on that one.

It is basically getting to be Summer around these parts and you are a sweaty boy when you sleep so we have switched to summer pajamas, which are much harder to find then expected!  You are so cute with your little toes sticking out of your pants though and I am secretly loving this warm weather just a little more because of that fact.

This past month we spent a lot of time with our favorite people and you are becoming more attached to them and less "friendly" to "strangers."  You still smile and laugh for them, eventually, but we have found our "Stranger Danger" stage and we are working on moving out of it.

We love you so much Snuggle Muffin!  Keep growing big and strong and know that Mommy and Daddy are always here for you.  Work on them teefers and crawling/walking!

I love you,
Mommy

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8 Month Stats:
Weight: 22 pounds - he can now sit more upright in his carseat :)
Height: I honestly didn't measure him this month, but I assume he has grown another half inch at this rate.
Clothes: 9 months for all and even some 12 months!


And now for a photo dump...

 

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is the day we celebrate the most selfless woman I know.  She is the bravest and strongest lady I know and I am so lucky to call her my mommy.

Growing up we were always close.  I don't know if it was because we looked very much alike, there was definitely no denying that I was her child, or just that I was her little girl, but we have been close always.

Once her and my dad got divorced we got closer.  Of course that happened during my junior high school years so that is always tough, due to attitudes and hormones, but we survived.  We grew closer than ever after my dad passed away and she has always been that person for me.

She did whatever it took to keep our lives together.  She worked 3 jobs for most of my teenage years and she taught me what it means to work hard for what you want.  There were times when we would only see each other in the mornings for breakfast before work and school, but I always knew that she loved me.  How could I ever question that after watching her work her little toosh off for us?

She made sure that I went to college, DEBT FREE!  That woman, I tell you!  Just thinking back on it now I am amazed that she was able to do that.  She made sure that I always had a roof over my head, food on the table and a way to get from here to there to fulfill my dreams.

She never once told me that I couldn't just be a vet who delivered puppies.  She never once told me I couldn't be a professional ballerina.  She never once told me that being a teacher was a horrible idea.  She never once told me I couldn't be a stay at home mommy.  She has never told me I couldn't do anything.  She has always supported me 200% and for that I am forever grateful.

She has taught me what it means to be selfless and unconditionally loving.  She has taught me how to be strong and brave when things get scary.  She has taught me that you can't get what you want in life without working your tail off to get there on your own first.

I remember when I was little I would always tell her, "I'm going to grow up and get married and buy a house and have lots of babies."  She would always tell me, "Why don't you grow up, buy your own house, get married and then have lots of babies?"

She is the reason I am able to go to work each day and not worry about Caleb being safe and taken care of.  She is the reason that even though I am not able to stay home with him, like I have always wished I could, that I feel as though I am never missing a moment due to her pictures and videos I get all day long.

With her help and guidance I am able to be the best mom possible for Caleb.  I know that I will live the rest of my life trying to be the person she is for me for Caleb and any other children we get blessed with.

She gets me.  She knows what I mean before I say it.  She can guess what I am trying to say every time.  She understands me while I am brushing my teeth.  She laughs and pees her pants just like me - or maybe I do it just like her.  Either way, she is it!

She is the woman who I see almost every day of the week, talk to at least 3 times a day over the phone and still miss her like crazy more times than not.  She is my bestie for life!  She is my role model.  She is every one's go-to gal.

She is my mommy!

Happy birthday Secret Squirrel!  Mi Monkey!!!

Mother's Day Is Literally Right Around The Corner...

And these gifts would be awesome!

Linking up with Karli and Amy as always on this beautiful Friday!

::ONE::

Canon - EOS Rebel T5 DSLR Camera.  Yes please!  Can you imagine all of the fabulous pictures of our little fambam there would be?!?  PLEASE!

::TWO::
Trisha's Table: My Feel-Good Favorites for a Balanced Life.  I love me some Trisha's Kitchen and her cookbook is probably just as nice!  :)

::THREE::
KitchenAid Stand Mixer Accessories.  I love my KitchenAid Stand Mixer and how nice would more accessories be for it?

::FOUR::
New Cookware Set.  We got our current pots and pans set for Christmas the year we moved into our first apartment.  It has now been 4.5 years and we are due for a new set.  PLEASE!

::FIVE::
Date night with my hubs.  We sadly didn't get our monthly date in April.  We were so busy and it just didn't happen.  We have a couple things in mind for this month to make up for it though so hopefully that happens :)

Budget Update - April

So here we are.  Another month of eliminating debt and 3 months down on our journey to being mostly debt free by the end of 2015.

April had ups and downs with our budget.  We had some really exciting highs and some really low lows and some highs that turned into lows and lows that turned into highs :)  Does that make sense?

Let's start from the beginning.

We sold my car.  Yes!  That was a huge pay off of $5698.34!!!  Now as exciting as that was, I can't be without a car, so we bought a new vehicle for me.  Yes, that means that we are now in more debt, but my car had a lot of miles on it, no warranty of any kind and was going to most likely need expensive maintenance in the upcoming future.  So we thought it best to get me a newer car, higher off the ground, still family friendly and something with a warranty so that we don't have to stress about car repairs and that monetary side of things.  This was a high, mixed with a little low, but we are super happy!

Next, we paid off Ryan's medical bill that he acquired after a food poisoning incident back in November.  We have great medical insurance, but ER visits can be pricey and this one was.  We have been paying monthly on it, but this month we were finally able to pay it off completely!  Another $132.50 paid off!

Lastly, we paid off our couch!  Last May when we bought our house our previous couch didn't match at all with the wall colors.  And since we were eager and excited we ran out the next weekend and bought a brand new couch!  The first time either of us had ever bought a big piece of furniture brand new!  We did get an interest free loan for a year and this month we were getting close to the end and decided to pay it off!  That was another $271.09 gone from our debt!

We also had re-financed our house back in March and had our first new lower mortgage payment due this month and those extra $200 this month saved was awesome!

I went ahead and opened up another savings and another checking account this month also.  We now have an emergency savings account with $1000 in it, a checking account for our monthly bills, a checking account for our mortgage, a checking account for spending and a savings account that we are working on building up a nice safety net.  We were actually able to put a nice amount of money into savings this month as well and we are working towards getting 3 months worth of expenses put away for a rainy day, or for the next maternity leave stint :)

Overall for the month of April we paid off a total debt amount of $8672.93!  We got rid of $450.00 in monthly payments we were making meaning that we were using our credit card a whole lot less this month to get by.  

***************************

And now, since we completed 3 months of debt elimination I decided that I would do a bigger recap of what we have accomplished so far.

We started out with about $50,000 debt back in February.  I had this awesome spreadsheet with 22 tabs for every single bill we had each month.  We had credit payments going to 12 different vendors/companies and we were not rolling in the dough.  Things were out of hand!

I gathered a plan for us, we talked it out, agreed on a plan and away we went with kicking our debt down little by little.  And this is what happened:

In February, the month we started this journey, we paid off $5108.

In March we paid off $2829.

And now in April we paid off $8672.93.

After 3 months of really focusing on eliminating our debt, without jeopardizing our nice life too much, we paid off $16,609.93!!!!!!  That is about 33% of our total debt in 3 months!  We got down to 7 vendors/companies and 15 tabs on my spreadsheet!  That means that at this rate we could have this $50,000 paid off in 9-10 months!  That would put us really close to our goal!

And honestly, as I am typing that out I am getting more excited!  I am getting more motivated to make that happen.  I see a spot where that could actually be possible!  :)

I am really proud of us and am excited that our plans are working.  The highs and the lows come and go, but in the end we are working on it as a team and that is making it so much easier!