The new "New Moms" thread!

[DMickey28]

Nicole- That's exciting, finding a new house!! I can't wait to buy a house, I don't even care where or what at this point I just want a house of our own. Since we already have baby #1 and working on #2 we are looking for a larger than average 1st home!!

Becky - I hope you feel better!

k_reile- Yeah on the cereal. We started giving Alexander cereal in his bottle at 3 months or so. We just put 2tbsp in his bottle and got the bigger nipples. He was/IS a big kid so he needed that extra food too. Still does!

DznyLvr2005- I can't believe she is 6 months already. She'll get the hang of sitting on her own soon. Once she hits 8 months or so the growth just explodes!!! Enjoy the little baby now!!

Amber - I am glad that everything turned out normal. I notice that DS's head is pretty flat in the back but noone has mentioned it so I don't worry!!

Kelly - Enjoy your day!! We are from the NE and can't wait to move back to family. DH won't enjoy the weather but as he puts it all his reasons for wanting to stay in S. Florida are superficial while my reasons for wanting to be home are important ones!!

 

[beckmrk04]

Let's work on keeping each other in check when it comes to those bills and stuff. There has got to be a system that would work for us!!

Amen! I am trying to figure out a sure-fire way to minimize the pain while making sure I get them done. I am so bad at procrastinating doing things I don't want to deal with, but it only makes my situation WORSE.

But- NO MORE.

Besides, I want Vaylie to learn to be responsible with money. And I can't teach her that unless I get more responsible with money.

We'll be each others' cheerleaders! Now we just need a fool-proof plan.

 

[beckmrk04]

Amber- That's good that the x-rays came back ok. I never noticed anything particular about Spencer's head in pictures. He just looks cute! And I was doing the peroxide thing. I might try it again later- it did work somewhat. I just don't want to have to pay a co-pay to have the dr. do it.

I stayed home from work today. I am just tired and achy and blech. I have slept and layed around all morning. I don't know why I am so tired, though- I feel like I haven't slept in days.

 

[DMickey28]

Becky - I hope you aren't getting sick. Rest and drink lots of juice. Enjoy afternoon tv!! I'll work on finding a fool proof plan. I try so many different things but it never works. I have tried a filing system but that was a joke. I think that maybe leaving them out on the computer desk would work but then I would just put them aside and never find them again. Denial works great until it catches up to me. I am so bad ... anything that can get paid later than the due date, like with a grace period does. The cars are like that ... I don't know why. It's like the extra money in my bank account for a week makes a diffence. It's totally a mental problem for me.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Becky, I hope you aren't getting sick! Bummer on your ear being all stuffed up. DH has had some of that lately and it's been driving him nuts.

So on the subject of teaching kids about money...
Our friend, a CPA, gave us the coolest bank for Owen to help us teach him about money. It has 3 sections in it - one is a bank, one is a store, and one is a church. The idea is that when he gets money, some goes in the "bank" section for long-term savings, some goes in the "store" for him to save to spend on something he wants, and some goes in the "church" for him to give to charity/church. The friend who gave it to Owen has one for her DD, too, and she said her DD(3yrs) gets really excited when it's time to spend her "store" money and carefully picks out her toy and then tells everyone that she bought that toy all by herself.

I'm hoping this bank helps us teach Owen some good habits. We still haven't figured out what % we'll put in each section of the bank. I mean, DMIL gave Owen $100 for his first birthday. So do we put 10% in the giving, then split the rest between the other two? Or should we have him put more in long-term savings than in the spending section? What if it was $10? Would we do the same break-down? I just don't know...I've never been good at saving, and DH just does it without thinking about it, so he's not so good at explaining why he's saving x amount verses y amount.

 

[Pollito916]

Question for you ladies - my Aunt sent $50 for Alex's x-mas present and asked me to by something for him from her. But I don't know what to get him. He has so many cars and trucks, which are like his favorite thing, my mom bought him a tricycle, and he has a little tykes car.

What's another gift in the $50 range that's good for a 2 year old?

 

[Pollito916]

Dude, I had a nice long post all typed up, but lost it, dang! I'll be back!

 

[Pollito916]

K reile - That's good that Caleb is sleeping through the night again.

Becky - I hope you're feeling better! Alex tries to stretch out his bedtime too, but by reading the same book 6 times!

Hi Tasmen -

Amber - sorry to hear about the scare, but glad that Spencer's ok!

Dmickey - I can't believe you've been living in FL for over 2 years, I still remember you from the old Chicago Diser's thread! That's so great that your DH is understanding of the right reasons to move!

Bethany - That bank sounds really cool. I've heard about that idea before, some people suggest splitting evenly between all three, but I think that's not realistic. Most people can't afford to put 1/3 of their income to charity, so I think your suggestion of 10% is more realistic, then split between the two. Some people add a 4th category for college savings, too, but it's really up to you! Let us know what you decide and how it works out!

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Tonight is my first night truly alone since Alex was born. He is staying at my mom's house tonight, and DH won't get home from work until midnight. I was thinking I should organize our computer room, but I decided I would rather have sushi and some wine and watch girly movies on tv instead! And the best part is, I get to sleep in tomorrow, without anyone yelling, "Mama, Mama, MAAAMAAA!!!" at 7 AM!

 

[beckmrk04]

Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm doing ok. I have relaxed all day, and that may have been just the ticket. I still feel drained.


Pollito- oooh, those moments are precious and rare. Enjoy your sushi, movies and sleep!!! As for the gift- personally, I'd buy a savings bond. "I Bonds" are getting really great rates right now (over 5.5%). That's what I have been doing with all of Vaylie's money. I mean- what does she "need"? She has more toys than she can play with. I figure I'll save the bonds for her first car or college or something. I can get away with that for now, while she isn't begging to spend the money!

Bethany- I agree with Pollito; I like 10% to charity, then split the rest between savings and spending. And I LOVE the idea of that bank! I had planned on doing the same thing, but I was just going to buy two more piggy banks... But yeah- I think I would stick to that same system regardless of the gift amount. I think it will really instill good ideas about how to manage money. I wish I had been taught how to manage money.

DMickey- It sounds like you and I share the same struggle! I think for me, it's because we went through such a stretch where we really could NOT pay the bills (while I was pregnant and couldn't work). And so I would just ignore them, because I felt like there was nothing else I could do. But, that same mentality has carried into the present, and even though we generally have the money I still tend to ignore the bill until I HAVE to deal with it. Like, they send the pink "Hey-goofball-pay-your-bill-or-we're-disconnecting-your-power/phone/satellite/etc" notice. Now granted, I'm not that bad usually, but I have seen more than one of those notices, which is just STUPID because I should have just paid it when the bill came in the mail. But I have no system. And, I have piles of mail I don't feel like dealing with (bill anxiety). I need a therapist and a professional organizer, I think. BUT, I am commited to doing better. Plus, I have to be super-extra-good because I want to clean our credit scores up. They took a dive during the whole broke-and-pregnant stint (which, really- there was not much that could be done about that), but our scores were really good before I got pregnant. But they won't go back up if I keep messing up. We'll figure something out!


(whew. that was long.)

 

[kellyf2626]

Amber - Glad everything with Spencer turned out ok! Brady's ped has been wanting to do an MRI since he was about 4 months old because his head circumference is off the charts huge...like an inch above where the normal curve is! But, I keep telling her big heads run in our family, and that he is developing normally. Brady's head is in proportion to the rest of his body (especially his cheeks ), so I'm not concerned. If he starts not developing normally or having health issues or his head growth jumps a lot between visits, then we will re-look at the issue. So....basically....I think ped's have to err on the side of caution with all these things. God forbid something was ever wrong and they didn't look into it - they would be in huge trouble.

Pollito - I would save the money for Alex for something later that he really wants or needs. If you're looking for ideas....I found that Brady is really into drawing/writing lately. His Little People Learn About Town has a mini Magna Doodle that he LOVES. I want to go out and get him a bigger one....just a thought for Alex if he didn't have one already. Brady loves it!

Bethany - That bank sounds neat! Do you have any pics of it? I would love to see it!

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

As for money, bills, etc.... if I were in charge of that we would be BROKE as a joke. I am awful at paying bills and saving/allocating money. I'm just good at spending it! So, DH does all the bills and stuff like that. He is very good at that kind of stuff - super responsible and an excellent saver. Thank god!

So I am going off the pill this month! We are not TTC yet....we are going to start in May. But, when I went off before we TTC with Brady, I ran into problems with ovarian cysts. So, I want to give my body plenty of time to get back to "normal" before we try again. I have started temp'ing again each morning to help learn my cycles. We will see how it all goes!

 

[Villain-lover]

I had terrible credit and was just generaly terrible with $ (okay lets face it, with life in general) until I me t my husband. He lliterally saved my life in soo many ways! I have a good credit rating, have matured a lot and am more responsible all the way around.

Yay Kelly on TTC!!!! We are gonna wait another year and possibly do IVF again..we have 11 embryos left. The only thing that holds us back on whether to do it or not is the fact that we were soo sucessful the first time..egg donor IVF is fairly sucessful, and what if we ended up with twins again? We are still not sure if we will do it again, but we'll give it some time and revisit the idea! At least if we wait a year, AND if we were to get pregnant our first cycle like we did with twins, the twins will be almost three or just over three when the new one is born and hopefully at least one if not both will be potty trained so I dont have 3 (or 4!!) kids in diapers!

 

[beckmrk04]

Kelly- how exciting!!! I did the charting thing too! I'm very torn- I want to try for another, but I'm scared to do it this soon. So far, the plan is to ttc in 2010- Vaylie will be around 4 by the time we have the next one. I worry about the spacing, but I guess we'll figure it out, you know? I've been thinking about having my IUD removed. I wish I could just get pregnant on accident. Then there would be no decisions to make, you know?

Meredith- you are a woman braver than I. Honestly- if money were no issue, I'd probably have 4 kids. We've considered adopting down the road. We'll see. :

 

[kellyf2626]

Meredith - That is great that you guys are talking about it too! Wow, another set of twins would be crazy and exciting, huh? At least you would know what to expect! I feel the same way as you about the age spread...ideally I would like my kids 2 1/2 - 3 years apart. So, if we get pregnant sometime this spring/summer that would work!

Becky - I love charting....I use Fertility Friend. Something about typing in my temp each day and watching my graph makes me happy. Isn't that crazy? It took us 8 months to conceive Brady, so even if we start TTC in May, I have to assume it will take us a while as it did before. So, we may not be pg until 2010 either!

 

[7beasley]

Kelly -- that is so great that you are going off the pill in prep for TTC again!!! We are going to go through IVF again in May or June as well!!! Looks like some of us moms will be migrating back to the TTC thread and/or the Moms to Be Thread!!

Meredith -- you are brave to try again after twins!! We have 4 on ice so we have 4 trys for another baby. I think we are going to only transfer 1 this time around -- I know it decreases the chances of getting pregnant but I don't think we can handle twins...Izzy is enough of a handful!!

Bec -- hope you are feeling better.

Hi all!!

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

Well - DH is off winter camping this weekend -- so as I type this I am enjoying a midori sour while I watch Private Practice from last week and play online poker....ahhhh -- life is good!

Have a great night!

-Nicole

 

[Villain-lover]

Nicole, I thought the froze embies in twos..At least thats what our Dr does..so they automatically thaw two. I would probably be more likely to go through IVF again if we transferred one, which I guess is likely since we have an odd number (11) left. Yeah, its great to see some of you getting rady to TTC again. Like I said, I may join the 2010 bandwagon!

Oh, and speaking of my twins..they are actually stating to say a couple of words finally! Sam says dada, mom, shoe, yay, and is trying to say good boy but it comes out "baaay" in a really cute voice, He can also buckle himself into his high chair basically by himself (he has more trouble withthe left side). Zoe STILL will not say dada or mama (has said what we think is dada one time), but is now saying thank you (taank cheew). She can say shoe also. Shoe was her first word and she can meow like the cat. Oh, and they can both say Stitch (as in Lilo and Stitch). We have a talking stich in their room that they love!

 

[beckmrk04]

Kelly- I love charting too! It makes me feel somewhat more in control of the process. I used Fertility Friend, but then I bought TCOYF, and the TCOYF software- which I loved!! When we were TTC Vaylie, I went off BC in April, and was pregnant in June.

oops- V's crying- be back later!

 

[beckmrk04]

OK- crisis averted. There was a ladybug on her crib when she woke up and she has a new bug phobia. Which is unfortunate for her because we havetons of those ladybug-like beetle-y things. I hate them! They are really bad in this area, though and no one seems to know a sure-fire way to get rid of them. So, we vacuum them up with a specially-designated "Bug Vacuum" (which is really just a handheld that we keep for bugs only- plus it means Inever have to squash a big or deal with it's carcass).

So, anyway- she was screaming "Bug! Get it! Bug! Get it!"

Last night we watched my nephew and boy was THAT an adventure. DH and I have watched him before, but last night we were feeling adventurous and decided to take them to Pizza Hut and Wal-Mart. We're not used to carting around two toddlers! WOW! My hat goes off to parents of multiples!

At dinner, they both started fake "crying." I don't know why, but they are very "Monkey see- Monkey do." So, one starts fake crying then they are both going at it, making us look like Parents of the Year, I'm sure.

So, then we went to Wal-Mart- got great deals on some toys!!! They had so much stuff on clearance. Then we got home and did bathtime and the kids had a blast with the tub crayons. Then pjs, books, and time for bed. That actually went much smoother than I anticipated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicole- it sounds like you guys have a lot of exciting stuff on the horizon!

Meredith- It is so much fun when they start talking. And so much easier!!! I love that Vaylie can tell me what's going on now (well, mostly, anyway).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: getting pregnant again. I'm just terrified that I'm going to be really sick again. I will feel horrible if that happens, because I know Vaylie won't understand. So, I hope that by waiting until she's a little older we can sort of explain it to her. IF I even get sick again. Hopefully I won't!

I'm kind of hoping my SIL will have another before me. That would satisfy my baby craving for a while.

 

[Villain-lover]

Yeah
becky..I um..get the monkey see monkey do...especially at the dinner table..shaking our heads, one coughs, the other fake coughs...throwing our bodies against the back of the high chair to make the whole chair move...

 

[beckmrk04]

Yeah
becky..I um..get the monkey see monkey do...especially at the dinner table..shaking our heads, one coughs, the other fake coughs...throwing our bodies against the back of the high chair to make the whole chair move...

Vaylie and Dnephew are only 3 months apart, so when they are together it's kind of like having twins.

Except they live in different houses, don't have to share their toys all of the time, and I get to send one home at the end of the night!

But they are so close- they call each other "Buddy." I'm so glad they are close in age- it's like a built-in best friend! It's so cute to see them play.

 

[DMickey28]

Meredith - I can't believe they are talking. That's great. Alexander still doesn't have much for words but he is trying. We are going to talk to the ped about it at 2 years and see what they recommend.

Kelly & Becky - I also use TCOYF. I charted for October and November but for the holidays I backed off with so much travel. Now my TCOYF is all wacky on the computer so I need to figure that out. I get too obsessed with the temping and the tracking. Right now I have been off BCP for 4 cycles and my periods have started to get weird. The last two months have been shorter and shorter. I HOPE it's just my body just working itself out. I've been getting HOT flashes so of course I am freaking out that I am getting close to menopause ... SERIOUSLY ... I am only 30 so I doubt that. At least I hope not!! Sometimes I can't wait for a baby and sometimes I think it's too soon but each month that goes by I feel more comfortable if it were to happen this month. I have basically said I am just going to put it in God's hands. If nothing happens within 6 months I'll start charting more seriously.


*****
I started writing this so early this morning I forgot everything I was going to write!!