Sitting UP!

Kylie's latest project is learning how to sit up. She's made a lot of progress in just the past few days. We had an unfortunate accident last week where she bumped her head pretty hard, and cried without consolation for about 5 minutes. I imagine we have many more incidents ahead over the next few years. The other night I decided to sit her up inside one of her Boppy pillows and it worked wonderfully, offering her a bit of support, but also insuring that she won't smack her head on the ground if she really loses her balance. Now in addition to tummy time, we have several "sitting up" sessions each day. It's so exciting to watch this little girl learn, grow & develop each and every day!

I Used to Collect Shoes & Handbags

These days I find myself collecting Fisher Price Little People sets & accessories with the same enthusiasm that I used to look for a deal on shoes or purses. I guess it's part of becoming a parent, and I'm loving every minute of it! We've accumulated quite the collection, and still working on a couple more specific pieces to complete it. When I was a kid, we had almost all the old, original Fisher Price Little People stuff. My favorite thing was to set up a little "town" in the living room and play for hours. The only thing I enjoyed better was when my mom would sit down and play with me, too. I was talking to a friend the other day and realized that the Little People play sets include a lot of "boy" stuff. I guess I like all that kind of thing since I grew up with all brothers. I want Kylie to be able to enjoy her dolls and princess toys, but I'd also like her to have the opportunity to embrace her tomboy side too, if she wants! I feel like I got the best of both worlds growing up, and I'd love nothing less for her.

Lately, I've been trying to take advantage of our location in Salt Lake and the plentiful opportunities of "second hand" shopping, which will not be available once Bryan is in school again, since we'll be living in a little, tiny college town. The plan is that all this loot is going to be boxed up, and then pulled out for birthdays, Christmas and other gift occasions while Bryan is in graduate school. I know that some of you may recoil a bit at the idea of giving your child a used toy for a birthday or Christmas, but Bryan and I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. First, kids (especially when they're very small) don't know the difference. Second, if I can get a Fisher Price play set that's in great shape for $1 at a thrift store, I'm not willing to pay $25-$40 for the cardboard packaging it comes in at WalMart, Target, or Toys-R-Us. It's just not worth it to me. I'm glad that Bryan and I think the same on this subject, since we've saved tons of money on baby and kid stuff already in our married life together. 

Our Collection of Little People play stuff

In various trips I've been making to thrift stores (I love garage sales, but life has been too busy the last couple of years to allow me any extra precious time on Saturday mornings!) I've been able to find almost complete sets of farm, airport, school and other fun stuff. I've been finding the play sets & buildings themselves for about $1, and the little vehicles and other accessories for .50-.75 cents. I only get the stuff that's in great shape, which means that all the sounds and lights work, etc. Once I get the toys home, I wash them up with baby wipes, then spray them down with lysol, just for good measure. The one thing we have discovered is that it's very difficult to find the actual little people figures second hand, (in all my travels and searching, I've only ever found one little people figure at a thrift store!) so we've taken to eBay and been able to find some deals on a good variety of different characters. All told, we've spent under $100 for our whole lot of Little People play stuff. I can't wait to start pulling it out and spending lots of quality time on the living room floor with Kylie over the next few years!

Some New Year's Goals

So this is the time of year when everybody is thinking about goals -- or at least they were two weeks ago, haha! Well Bryan and I are no different. We believe goals are important because they are how we measure progress and hold ourselves accountable for working towards them. We also think it's very powerful to write things down and put them in a place where you can see them. Since we've been married, we've tried to do this, and have felt like we were making progress in some ways, but in other ways we have felt stuck in a rut at times.

Our main goal when we were first married was to become debt-free and stay that way. We determined that we would not buy anything more on credit or payment plans, and that if we didn't have the cash for something, we didn't really need it. We began to try to fully embrace the old pioneer adage, "Use it up; wear it out; make it do- or do without!" so often quoted by President Gordon B. Hinckley (one of my heroes!) This has been difficult at times, but we've reminded each other of our main goal whenever one of us was feeling weak, (and I confess, I'm most often the weaker party...I like pretty, shiny stuff.)

This effort is probably obvious to anyone that's ever visited our home and watched a movie on our 15-year-old monster-box television set with the microscopic screen. A new TV has been a temptation to both of us -- especially during the "crazy deal days" of three-day-holiday weekends. But we've resisted. We've also had major obstacles in the form of medical expenses not covered by insurance, but we've also seen major blessings from Heavenly Father as we've done our best and tried to live by true principles.

Happily, once in awhile amidst all the struggles and challenges of life, we get a payday - a moment or event where you're finally able to realize some of the progress you've made. We had one of those earlier this week as we sat down and looked at our full financial picture and were delighted to discover that we will be completely debt-free (except for our mortgage, but more on that later) by the end of this year! Obviously, over the next six or seven months there's still a lot of work and sacrifice required to reach our goal, and we're not there yet-- but it's finally materializing as something attainable and within reach! And, we're to the point where our assets are finally greater than our liabilities -- that is if you're not factoring in our mortgage...but I feel like if we can continue down this path, we're doing really well for where we are in life.

We got bit by this bug when someone gave us a copy of Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover as a wedding gift. Check out my post from October 2009 as proof! I read through it in a couple of days and then wanted to read it with Bryan. We read through it together on a road trip one weekend after being married for one month. We felt like it had an incredibly powerful message that was so different than everything else we're told in society, and that Dave's plan, based on Bible principles of honesty, personal finance, hard work, thrift, and ultimate freedom-- spiritual and otherwise, was something that we wanted to use as the base of our financial life together. While we haven't always been great at following the plan, it has helped us to be aware of WHAT WE WANT MOST, when we are bombarded with the thoughts and feelings of WHAT WE WANT NOW.

As for our house, well, we feel blessed that we are in a better place than a lot of people considering today's economic climate. We were able to take advantage of refinancing into a lower interest rate on a 30-year fixed loan, and have considered even going to a 15-year, but we've got to see what the future holds for us as far as school. If we get accepted to the program Bryan wants, we will probably sell the house. This means that we will most likely take a hit, but in comparison to a lot of our friends, we feel blessed that the hit will be relatively manageable. Also, as much as both of us have loved living in Utah, it's not the place where we want to be long-term (GASP!) So we are looking at our options for getting back to our beloved Northwest!! We would love to settle down and start building a life in Oregon, Washington or Idaho, so selling the house will eventually be a necessity anyway. We'll see how everything pans out, but that's what we're working towards.

Over the last 12 years in my own life I have had moments where things have just not gone well, in spite of my best efforts. This includes the area of finances, so Bryan and I realize that while we have been working hard towards our goals, we have also been abundantly blessed by Heavenly Father, without whom we could not be successful. In sharing all our excitement on this, we realize that there are many people out there who are working just as hard, but still feeling buried. There is hope! I would recommend Dave's book to anyone-- no matter where you are with money. As we move forward into the new year, we have a renewed commitment to the plan -- and actually ending the year DEBT FREE!! And dang it, after all this hard work and sacrifice, if the world ends in December I'm gonna be ticked!

Neck-Less Giraffes

A few months ago I got a few little giraffes for Kylie's room at our work apartment. I've tried to make it cute and kid-friendly with little stuffed animals & pictures of a Noah's Ark type theme. Anyway, when I showed the giraffes to Bryan he was quite put-out about the fact that the giraffes had no neck. He argued that since that was the one distinguishing feature of a giraffe that it didn't make any sense to have these little toys around - maybe he was worried that Kylie would become greatly confused about giraffes? I don't know. Anyway, fast forward to December when I found Kylie her "big" Christmas gift - a set of little stuffed toys and rattles at Costco. I was with my friend Victoria and we both thought the little orange cows were cute. When I got them home and showed them to Bryan, he took one look at the box and set it down, saying, "You bought neckless giraffes!"

On closer inspection, the back of the box did specify that the gift set was made up of giraffes, a detail I hadn't noticed in the store. Anyway, Kylie got the set for Christmas and has seemed to have fun playing with all the little toys. Her favorite however, is a little stuffed giraffe that plays music if you pull it's tail. She smiles this huge smile whenever you give it to her, especially if it's playing the music. She's swinging in her swing right now with it tucked under her arm. I snapped this picture of her last week - I think in spite of the missing neck, Kylie's happy with her Christmas gift!

Isn't that the cutest little grin, ever??

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe it's 2012. I've been reminded lately that I haven't blogged in quite sometime, and it's probably true. I think Kylie, (who will be six months next week) was two weeks old the last time I posted anything...so I guess it has been awhile. Our family has been happily busy with the extraordinary and mundane tasks of daily life over these past six months. We absolutely love being parents and have settled into a really great routine with baby Kylie. I think she is a really good baby, and that we've been lucky with sleeping habits and colic, etc. Things couldn't be better. She is into such a phase of discovery and development that new things are happening almost everyday and Mom & Dad are having a hard time keeping her challenged. She wants to be standing up almost constantly when she is awake, and really hates having to lie down (even on her floor gym) for more than a few minutes at a time. Thank goodness for all the cool developmental toys out there!

Kylie playing in her Bumbo chair

As for Mommy and Daddy, we're doing great and moving forward with our lives. New Year's is always a great time for introspection and self-inventory, so we've been doing that lately. We realized the other day how far we had come together when we took a look at our financial picture and how it has improved since we got married. Turns out two-and-a-half years can make quite a difference when you've got goals and you're busy working towards them. I'm grateful that Bryan is such a hard worker, too. He's been working two full-time jobs almost the entire time we've been married, but we've always tried to keep our goals as a couple at the forefront and we realize that with the sacrifices we've been making individually and as a couple, we've made significant progress. We're so excited about this new year and the opportunity it holds!

I Try to Avoid Corny Food

Actually, I love corn -- especially popcorn, corn chips, tacos, and the like. Unfortunately while on Lyme treatment about a year and a half ago, I began to develop a corn allergy that has progressed to the point where I have to avoid it all in it's entirety. Sad, sad tale! Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who loves to cook, and he has taken to developing all sorts of recipes substituting other ingredients in place of corn syrup, corn starch or corn meal. It's been an adventure, but we've discovered that I can eat almost anything, as long as we make it ourselves. Aren't I such a lucky girl to have a husband like that?

The breaded sweet & sour Bryan made me for New Year's Eve