Weekend ramblings

Our Friday was filled with doctors appointments, yet again.  We had an eye screening scheduled (the appointment had to be made 4 months in advanced) and I was thrilled when Bella had a really bad nights' sleep and we had to head out and about.  I was assuming it was going to be the worst day ever with Miss Crabby Pants.  But I was amazed at how well she behaved all day long.

I also lucked out, big time.  You see the eye appointment was for 10:45am, and I assumed we would be out of there around 11:30am.  I didn't realize that when they reminded me that Bella's eyes would have to be dilated, that it meant waiting around 30 minutes to be seen, and then getting eye drops which take 45 minutes to work, and then waiting around another 30 minutes for the actual eye tests to happen.

 That means we didn't leave the office until 1pm, and somehow Bella was not fussing for lunch.  I on the other hand would have been, if say I wasn't an adult and supposed to know better.  I was starving.
The results of the eye screening were that Bella's eyes are fine and she seems to have normal vision.
We then made it home, quickly both ate lunch, and then had to head back out to the Ears/Nose/Throat doctor to check out her ears which we thought were infected again.  But they actually looked good to the doctors and instead we had no other explanation for her fussiness the night before except the usual teething.  This second appointment which took the doctors a total of 15 minutes to look into her ears, took us 1.5 hours of waiting around in the office.  Does anyone else have this happen to them?  It usually isn't so bad if you only have a couple of appointments a year, but when you are in to see a doctor on an almost weekly basis, it's a huge time drain and one of the things I dread the most.
Okay onto a different subject.  With some of my Christmas money I bought a new game for the Nintendo Wii.  Jesse gave me the Wii Fit for my birthday 2 years ago, and while I like it, it just doesn't seem to have the greatest cardio workouts.  So I read some reviews and got this game:

I highly recommend it for 2 reasons.  One it's actually a really good workout and you can customize it to different time lengths and intensities.  It has dance and boxing, both really do work up a sweat.  The second reason to buy it, is for enjoyment of anyone watching you try to accomplish this workout.  I'm guessing you get better as you get used to the game, but for most of the moves you are fumbling around trying to figure out exactly what they are doing.  Or maybe it's just me, I have never been completely coordinated, but I am definitely liking this game.

We are still alive

I apologize for not posting in awhile.  I can't stand when I check the blogs I follow and they haven't said anything for days, yet I'm guilty of the same thing.  Sometimes life just gets busy.
Bella is in a fun new sleeping pattern.  It's called sleep from 7:30pm till midnight, stay up for 2 to 3 hours, then sleep till 5am, talk loudly for an hour or two, and then fall asleep again right when we should be getting up and getting ready for school/work.  This has been going on for almost 2 weeks now, so our mornings (Bella's and mine) seem to get a later and later start each day.
Both Jesse and I have work deadlines in the next couple of weeks, so we've been stressing and trying to split our time between work and Bella.  Really hoping for a nice break once we get past February.

And what do I have in common with these ladies?

Let's see, it's obviously not looks or money!  But they have all recently been in the tabloids for the same reason.
Yes, this is my way of announcing I am pregnant, due in June.  This week we went into the doctor for an ultrasound and were told everything was looking great, just as it should be.  We had a little more extensive ultrasound done this time around, so it was interesting to see them get all the different angles and measurements.  The baby (no we are not finding our the sex, and yes it was not my decision) was very active and didn't want to show it's face very much.  So unfortunately we didn't get the greatest pictures.  But the doctors were able to see all the important things for their tests, so that is what counts in the end.

It's getting loud around here

If I was just a little more ambitious I would get out our hardly ever used video camera and record Bella.  Bella has found her voice and loves to yell.  We assume she is happy to be rid of the ear infection she was fighting for over 6 weeks.  She isn't making any new sounds, but all the sounds she already makes she now likes to vary her tone, pitch, and volume.  It's quite cute and funny to hear.  It sounds like some new animal is living in our home.

Maybe just maybe I'll catch her at a good time and get some on tape, because isn't that what we bought the camera for in the first place?

What's a schedule?

I started back up at work last September, and everyone always asks me how work is going.  I don't mind working and sometimes I actually enjoy it.  The problem I have is that I was really hoping once Bella went to preschool close to home we could have a schedule.  But that never seems to happen.  Every week it is something that keeps me from going into work.  And not only am I not showing up for my job but I have to cancel the sitter for Bella, and I'm not so sure she enjoys the crazy schedule of never knowing whether Bella is going to show up and whether she is going to get paid for the time.
This week we had the pleasure of having a snow day on Monday and then Bella's surgery on Tuesday.

 Bella's surgery went well.  It was an early morning with a 4:45am wake up call courtesy of Bella.  We got ready and headed out of the house at 6am in order to make it downtown by 6:45am on the snowy roads.  We had to wait around for 2 hours before Bella was even taken back for surgery due to some patients in front of her being late.  The worst part about it, is they can't eat or drink before surgery so you are hanging out in a little patient room with a child that is very hungry and doesn't understand what is going on.  After she finally went back, it was super quick and we were reunited with her in less than 30 minutes.  Now we get to see if the ears heal (a six week process) and what her hearing results and infection numbers will be.

 We had lined up my mom to come watch Bella after the surgery, but the snow kept her from making it down.  So another day spent at home trying to get work done in little shifts, some in the early morning, some during Bella's nap time, and some after she goes to bed.

 And a little bit was accomplished with a helper, granted we got bored pretty quickly and mom had to stop working.

What I would give for a normal schedule....go figure the engineer would like to plan things out and be able to stick to them.

Budget

I don't know how many people do budgets.  I do a budget but more to see where all our money goes, than to actually stay within certain amounts each month.  That's not to say we wouldn't like to try, but it never seems to happen.
So a few things I notice after finishing last years budget.  Ummm can you say house poor!  We spend 50% of our income on the house between mortgage payments and improvements.  Now the hope would be at some point we will be done with the improvements, but unfortunately we haven't even begun to hit the more expensive ones of kitchen, bathrooms, and basement, not to mentions some upcoming projects for Bella of a new front porch with ramp and a main floor master and handicap bathroom.
The next biggest chunk goes to our vehicles.  We are currently paying off one vehicle at an accelerated rate, so that probably has a lot to do with the percentage we devote to it.  Granted it should go way down in another year.  That's if I can continue to talk Jesse out of buying a new bigger vehicle, we know at some point we will need it as Bella's equipment grows, but I'm hoping we can hold out for a few years.
You can tell we like our vacations as we have a large budget for traveling.  Granted that counts our big yearly vacation, trips for weddings (we had one in Chicago and one is St. Louis) and then our many trips back to Nebraska to see family.
Some surprising finds, we spend more on entertainment, eating out, and at Target than we do on groceries.  Might have to redo some things there.  And also our charities/church is no where near the 10% mark.  We will also be working on that this coming year.  And lastly we didn't have a category for savings, because with all our home improvements and paying off the vehicle, we weren't able to save anything this past year.  In fact we spent $1k more than we made.  I would like to save this year, but we plan to get the car paid off first, so we will see.

Well that was our budget for the last year.  How did yours stack up?

Columns

Not anywhere close to being finished, but I love them.  I couldn't stand the old columns (I know many people liked them, but they just weren't my style).  Now they match the almost finished staircase....yes that's right the staircase is almost finished after 4 plus months of working on it.

It's been awhile

We really haven't had much to say as of late, because we seem to be stuck in this same cycle of sickness with Bella.  Jesse and I were just commenting on how it's been a really long time since we have heard her laugh.  We know she has been battling double ear infections for over 6 weeks, and I'm sure that is taking it's toll on her, not to mention the continuous teething.

We go in next week for an ear surgery to remove the tubes.  Hoping that will bring us some relief, but not really counting on it.

Has anyone been thinking about their new year's resolutions?  Jesse and I were talking and I suggested that ours should be to have more fun.  We seem to get stuck in the ruts of worrying about and taking care of Bella, and worrying about and working on the house.  We need to do a better job about enjoying life and having fun.  Our situation might not be the greatest but I can guarantee that even with our struggles we are very blessed, and we need to remember that.  I am not the most positive person, but for my new year's resolution I vow to be more positive and to take the time to enjoy life and try to the best of our ability to have fun in the process.