Day 2- 365 days of photography

Day 2, January 2, 2011
Sofia and her Grandpa.  :)

New year, new beginnings, new goals

I'm not one for New Years resolutions.  The excitement of the new year fades quickly and most of the population does not stick to the resolution(s) they made.  But I guess you could say this year is different for me.  I feel more resolve to change certain things in my life.

I've decided to do a scaled down version of 101 in 1001.  Let's face it, a lot of things can change in 2.75 years.  So many things on my old list be came unimportant or things that just weren't attainable any more with a new baby.  But, I did complete quite a bit of it, and as a list maker, it made me feel good to cross off a few things here and there.  So, I decided that this year I would make 27 goals for the year.  One for every two weeks of the year.  They don't have to be completed weekly, I just wanted to scale down the number of goals.  I originally started with 52, but I trouble coming up with that many.  I'll start with 27 and if I have more to add I'll add more.

I've decided to make some of the goals more long-term and therefore, more difficult to achieve.  But others will be quick and easy.  That way I can feel like I'm accomplishing *something*.  So, here they are.

1. Get on a budget, and try to stick with it for good!  I've lived out of my/our means for a while.  Living on credit and not really having a solid plan to pay it off.  Right now I'm using Mint.com for budgeting, and I recommend it, it's pretty cool! (0/12)
2. Pay off credit card 100% and keep the spending within a limit that I can pay off *every* month- I'd say $500/month.  I paid the card off a few days ago using a lower (than the CC) interest rate loan that we already had.  But now the challenge is to keep the spending down every month so that I can keep the balance at zero. (0/12)
3. Lose 6 pounds.  I've got 6 pounds of baby weight left to lose! (0/6)
4. Lose 4 pounds to equal a total of 10 (0/4)
5. Lose another 5 pounds to equal a total of 15 to put me into the middle of my BMI range. (0/5)
6. Save for  and buy new camera (monthly goal $150).  I've got my eye on this one!  ::love::
7. Take pictures of Sofia monthly.  This one should be easy as I'm already doing it, but I want to make sure I continue it! (0/12)
8. Go to the dentist every six months.  To some this might seem silly, but I, sadly, have not been to the dentist in years.  It just wasn't something that was instilled in me in my childhood. (0/2)
9. Finish Sofia's growth chart
10. Hang curtain rod and curtains in Sofia's room
11. Get Bandit's claws clipped or filed every 3 months (0/4)
12. Buy and start a compost bin.  This is something I've been wanting to do for a while.  I really want to be better about not being so wasteful.
13. Try to finish C25K program- 9 weeks.  I don't know if this will be feasible for me because of my knee, but I think it might help me to get back into running. (0/9)
14. Sell maternity clothes, put that money towards camera savings
15. Start savings account for Sofia
16. Sell Sofia's no longer used toys and "gear".  Put that money into her savings account.
17. Get cloth diaper inventory up to 24 diapers and/or GroVia inserts (16/24)
18. Fill Sofia's month-by-month picture frames, 13 total pictures in each (0/13 x2)
19. Have a small, successful, and cute first birthday party for Sofia.
20. Buy an external hard drive, keep all pictures and important files updated on said drive.
21. Get house "baby-proofed" (stove button caps, oven locks, doorknob locks, cabinet locks, toilet seat locks, etc)
22. Try to be consistent in using coupons (i.e stockpile non perishables)
23. Work on my photography skills (do any one or more of the following- complete my photography book, complete the 12 weeks to better photography, and/or take a photography class)
24. Buy a chest for my Grandmother's silverware, polish said silverware and store correctly
25. Buy and install fireplace doors or screen (kind of counts as baby proofing)
26. Buy and install a ceiling fan for Sofia's room
27. *Possibly* re do fire place hearth and surrounding area with new glass tile
    

Christmas traditions

Now that we have a baby I've been thinking a lot about Christmas gift-opening traditions.  In my family, the tradition was to open one small gift on Christmas Eve and then open the rest on Christmas day.  Everything was wrapped, that could be, even "Santa's" gifts.  If it needed to be assembled then it was already done, and obviously not wrapped.  On Christmas morning we would wake up look at all the unwrapped stuff and then go in order around the room opening the wrapped gifts.  That way everyone could appreciate what they received.  The hubs has never been very specific about what they did, but he would be fine opening all gifts a week early. 

Earlier this week this exact topic came up on a chat board that I frequent.  Someone polled the users and asked what traditions they had for Christmas gifts.  There was one option that stuck out in my mind that I thought might work best for our family.  That was where all the family gifts (from mom/dad) were opened on Christmas Eve- this would appease the hubs.  And then all of Santa's gifts and the stocking were done on Christmas day- this would appease me.  I don't like opening EVERYTHING before Christmas... it just ruins the fun.  The only thing I wonder about is when the kid(s) learns there's no Santa.  Do you still do it this way?  I would assume so, and I know that even as an adult I will get gifts from "Santa" and my mom still acts like she has no clue what it is.  ;)

I'm thinking next year we'll start this little tradition with our family.  I like it.  It separates family gifts from Santa's gifts and family gifts don't get over shadowed by Santa's.  Which, lets face it, are ALWAYS what you really want!

Some other family Christmas-time traditions I have been considering are...  hot chocolate and a drive around to look at Christmas lights.  Watching the original "Grinch" (animated version) together as a family.  Getting an ornament for Sofia every year to commemorate that year.  Baking cookies for Santa, even when she gets too old to believe in Santa.

So for this Christmas I leave you a few of my favorites from this Christmas.  We did Christmas on Christmas Eve because my dad's side does a big lunch on Christmas day.  We decided to split it up so that Sofia would not be too cranky.

Oi...

Budgeting for a baby is getting frightening! And these are just estimates...

NURSERY
$400 Crib + Mattress
$100 Dresser/Changing table (ebay, hopefully)
$100 Bedding
$100 Closet organization
$150 Nursery Decorations
$310 Cloth Diaper rental for newborn
--------
$1160 To outfit nursery with furniture and diapers

$400 Glider/Rocker (extra)
$200 Rug (extra)
--------
$1760 for fully outfitting nursery with extras


PRENATAL NEEDS AND MEDICAL EXPENSES
$600 Maternity clothes
$36 Prenatal vitamins
$3500 Labor and Delivery cost with insurance co-pay, deductible, and out of pocket expenses
-------
$4136 Medical bills and clothing


BABY GEAR
$170 Stoller
$150 Car seat
$150 Breast Pump
$90 Pack-n-play
$60 Baby Sling
$60 Baby Monitor
$50 Diaper Bag
$50 Creams and lotions
$40 Bottles
$45 Milk storage
$36 Boppy
$30 Changing Pad
$20 Grooming Kit
--------
$891 baby gear and necessities


BABY CLOTHING
$100 Sleepers
$50 Onesies
$50 Socks
$40 Receiving blankets
$30 Hats
$30 Burp cloths
$20 Bibs
------
$320 on baby layette


Grand Total: $6507 ($7107 with extras)

This is most definitely a VERY conservative estimate. AHH!!

Our Adventure: Round Rock Express Game

We went to a Round Rock Express game for the first time a few weeks ago. I'm just now getting around to posting a few pictures. I didn't get to take too many pictures, because, well, there just wasn't a whole lot to take pictures of. But... here are a few from that evening.


TEXAS STATE!!!


Our snacks...

And us at the game, of course. :)

The time has come

We are now officially trying to conceive number 1. Boy am I scared. Yet excited. It's a rather surreal feeling.

Today I had a long talk with my insurance company about my benefits and out of pocket expenses to have a baby. It won't be cheap, but it also won't be as expensive as I thought. Phew! I think that really helped me to feel more excited than scared.

We'll see how the next two months go though. DH will most likely be out of town a day or two before my O day (if I stay on the same schedule as last month). It's probably pretty unlikely that it will happen in the next two cycles, but at least I won't have to worry about trying to avoid.

So, in honor of this decision. I have yet another nursery idea. I found this AWESOME site that actually lets you make a virtual plan of your "nursery". Here's what I came up with today.

Gatti's Jingle Contest

If you haven't already heard from me. My husband has entered a jingle into the Gatti's contest for a chance to win $10,000. If you have a little spare time, please go vote for his jingle.

To vote, you must create a login (using an email, I haven't received any spam thus far), then head over to the songs. Find "Gatti Goes Latin" and click on the 5th star. It's important that you click the 5th one, because if you click any other it will give that rating. For example, if you click on the 3rd star it will give a rating of 3. And of course, we're going for the highest rating! Also, leave a comment if you'd like. If you have even more spare time, go and rate the other jingles with a low rating :) It's dirty, buuuut we want that 10K :D

Thanks!

Thanksgiving and much needed update to 101

I'm not going to go into detail about each one, because that would be uber boring. But I thought I would at least list them... oh how do love lists!!
Everyday #4, Eat at 10 New Restaurants
First one down, Moonshine. And it was excellent, I will definitely be going there again!

Wedding #1, Came in under budget and it was damn fun! Still waiting on the pictures
Wedding #3, I wasn't completely stress free, but I did have enough spare time that I ws able to o things that I didn't think I would have time to do!
Wedding #4, check!
Wedding #6, kinda sorta... close enough I guess :)

Financial #3, #5, #6

House and Home # 5 and 12


And now for a few Thanksgiving pictures...

The Nephew

The end of the night

The entertainment

Entertainment #2

Second dress fitting and update

Yesterday I had my second dress fitting. They were suppose to hem the dress, finish the bustle, sew in cups, and take in my straps. They've done everything, but finish the hem. They did the inside liner, but wanted to make sure it's right before they do the outside fabric. Also, they're saying that I might need to have it taken in, woo hoo!! So I guess I lost weight even though I haven't been going to the gym. Note to self: going to gym= losing more weight. Yeah, I'll work on that!

Anyway, here's some pictures!



I was also suppose to have my first shower on Saturday- hosted by my Future mother and sister in law. But because of Hurricane Ike his family, who all live in Houston, could not make it down. So it got canceled. :( I went to my dress fitting at noon and at about 1 pm Kino calls me to tell me that his sister has gone into labor. I believe that she had her baby this morning! I guess things happen for a reason... If the shower had not been canceled as early as it had we would have had to cancel at the last minute for the baby.