Budgets, Trips, Zoo Fun

Scott and I went through out "budget" the other day and I put budget in quotation marks b/c although we have set up a budget, it is more of a guideline that we'd like to follow rather than a budget we must follow. So, we went through the past 7 months of expenses (yes, 7 months which just goes to show how seriously we take this) and took a monthly average of our spending to compare to our budget.

Big surprise, but it appears I spend way more on groceries than I was allotted. My credit card bills were a tad bit high (on the average) but that was because of my VitaMix purchase. Without that, I would have been under budget (yay!?).

So, we sat down to have a discussion about my grocery spending and finally decided that I just need to make sure not to waste stuff. So, don't buy more produce than I'll be able to use, don't forget about leftovers in the fridge and then have to throw them out, and try not to throw all Blake's leftovers away when he doesn't eat them. I love my husband--he is fully aware that there are items, such as more natural or organic items, that I spend more money on, but he didn't ask me to stop those purchases. He fully trusts my ability to purchase and cook healthy meals for him and Blake and never gets upset about the cost.

I sure am thankful to have a husband that is so understanding and loving. Scott and I really are quite a good fit and think alike in many respects. They say opposites attract, but I think it would be hard being married to someone who is opposite of me!

It is also nice/fun sharing some of the same interests--for instance, we just bought flights to CO in January for a ski/boarding trip!!! No, not in our budget, but that's what savings are for, right? :)

We are going with some great friends, the Whitsitt family, as well as others from Indiana. They reserved this huge house (sleeps 24) where we will be staying and the great part is that there are non-skiers that are going who are more than willing to look after my children while I ski! They are also willing to come pick me up for lunch so that I can pump/breastfeed our baby...can't really ask for more than that! I can't wait!!! We got great prices on flights from Madison, which was awesome. This is the second time I've gotten a great price on tickets to CO from Madison--I wouldn't have thought that would be the case with Madison being such a small airport...

We are going to visit David, Kristi, and Clara the weekend before we ski, so it should be a great trip. Whenever we take ski trips to CO, it is always just weeks after we see David & Kristi b/c of the holidays--it would be nice to spread it out a bit since we see them infrequently, but that's the way it goes :)

I absolutely love that we have an amazing free zoo with an amazing playground so close to our house. The zoo is just fantastic, and whenever I want to go to Trader Joe's, we stop at the zoo for some animal fun, train ride, carousel, and play ground (not necessarily all every time though). I love that we can spend as much or as little time as we like--it is small enough that you aren't walking through a large parking lot, entrance, etc. Just park a few spots away, walk through the gate and start looking at the lions! Well, this zoo trip it really hit me how much my baby is growing up. He has developed so much more confidence and coordination in his play, that I stopped following him up the stairs and guarding his every move (not that I did that--I am not the overly protective Mother, I am not!). :)



Eagerly climbing the stairs

Blake's confident gait over the suspended bridge. His first crossing of the day was careful baby steps (like his previous crossings), but by the end, he breezed by with head held high like a big boy (even when others were making it bounce).

Really contemplating going down this hole (which has alternating holes for kids to climb down all the way, but not to fall all the way should they trip). Really cool, but still too much for Blake. He needs a little more height to be able to conquer this one.

Going down the big slide, over and over and over

Yay Blake!!

Making his way back up without Mommy. He can also make it easily up those arched bars in the lower RH corner by himself.

Cruisin' the bridge

Checking out the otters

Labor Day Weekend

Scott, Blake, and I had a nice relaxing weekend together with some great weather. I love when the nights get really cool and comfortable. Yesterday, Blake attended his first birthday party, which was for Caitlin, the girl I watch. He had a blast and although I forgot to bring my camera, I guess I could give a recount :)

Caitlin wasn't in the best of moods--maybe b/c she spent the night at her grandma's the night before and got up earlier than usual, and then came home to an apartment full of people, which might have thrown her off for the day--a little too much stimulation. Either way, she looked cute in her tulle dress! Anyways, she got a lot of gifts, which Blake was more than willing to help her with. He confiscated her stuffed kitty once she opened it as well as her new tricycle. He wasn't really sharing much with the other kids either, b/c once they got a turn, he jumped on the back and sat on the little compartment and held onto their seat. It was pretty cute--I wish I had gotten a picture. Fortunately, Caitlin wasn't interested at the moment, so it made it fine for Blake to be hogging it. :)

He also had a lunch full of saltine type crackers, graham crackers, and fruit. Enjoy it Blake, that won't be a usual for you :) Oh, and a bunch of grape juice from those straw juices (like capri sun containers). He loved it and just downed it and most of another. I'm not sure if it was from the novelty of the straw or if he loved the juice--I think it was a combination. Either way, I had changed his diaper right before we went and checked it a couple times for poop, but he was clean, so I didn't change him. Well, right before we left, he was wet on the bottom and I thought initially he had sat in something. No, turns out all the juice made him pee so much his disposable diaper was completely overflowing. Whoops, I felt pretty bad about that. How uncomfortable to be sitting in a completely water logged diaper, which is getting you wet!! He didn't seem to mind and still had big smiles while riding on the back of the trike.

He completely zonked on our ride home. I brought him into the house and Scott just loves loves loves when I am holding a sleeping Blake, so he had to run and get a picture before I laid him in bed.

I am 32 weeks pregnant here and holding my 22 month old "baby." He is without pants b/c they were wet from his diaper. Scott says I rest Blake on top of my tummy when I hold him--well, it appears this way, but it is really my arms supporting him, not my tummy :)

 Unfortunately, Blake woke up pretty mad and was temperamental for the rest of the evening. I decided he needed more sleep so was going to put him to bed early. Of course, right at the time when I had decided he should go down for bed (at 6:30 pm), he was an angel. So, he went to bed around 7 :) Scott and I then decided to share a pop (neither of us really drinks a whole pop at one time), have some popcorn and watch a movie. We got Zookeeper. Decent movie, but kind of boring and extremely predictable. Not that I always mind predictable movies, but this was just not that exciting for me, although I've been disappointed with a lot of movies that I've seen recently...



This is just a cute picture of Blake that I thought I'd add. The smile doesn't really look like him, but he wanted to hold the camera out and take a picture of us. He is starting to think that is what you do when you take pictures--you hold it out in front of you b/c that is what we do together :)

One of the nice things about the weekend was that we started to organize and clean up a little. One of the not so nice things was that we discovered we have mice (again). Last year around this time, we had the same problem. We've caught three so far. I discovered this b/c there were a few turds on my countertop. I can hardly stand to be in the kitchen when I know mice have been around--yuck yuck yuck! Fortunately, two of the ones caught were outside, right outside our door where we've actually seen them twice. After the first catch, I have not found turds on my counter, so I am thankful for that!

Cabin weekend!

Ok, so this post is going to be a lot of pictures, not much writing :) We had our "annual" Spaeth family cabin weekend 2 weekends ago and had a great time. Here is the picture summary of it. 

 

 

Blake riding in style up to the cabin. It is hot outside, but he still wants a teddy bear, pulls any reachable pillows over his legs, and snacks on a granola bar.

Blake loved the boat. Well, he loved to "drive" the boat. He went straight for the driver's seat each time he got in. We were hoping he'd like it, b/c when running it in the driveway, it was really loud and a little smokey and he hated it. Once in the water, he was fine :)

Our littlest driver



Oops, our littlest driver wasn't wearing a swim diaper b/c I couldn't find it (and the new one I bought for him was too small [we use cloth swim diapers too]). Here is Daddy rinsing off the seat from his, ahem, accident...:)



Scott chillin on the deck

My two men



Blake loved the cabin and being able to explore!

Breakfast



Yes, we got the men to help. Kyle is always in charge of pancakes--his specialty :)

Gary & David's turn for clean-up. They are inspecting the pans to make sure they are spotless :)

Mom & Dad's posed "sorrowful" face at losing some fish due to the fridge somehow getting turned off. The appliances here were pretty high tech and somehow it got turned off and all Dad's hard work at cleaning the fish was all for naught. By the way, Mom is awesome at her sad faces (LOL).

Another meal/lounging photo

Ha, I got Priscilla. She tries to hide from pictures

Me and my Blakey

Blake on the paddle boat. He felt most secure when Mommy was along for the ride. He is actually wearing his swim diaper here! Score, I finally found it!

The paddle boat was a great addition to the cabin amenities. It was being used constantly!

I believe this is Lucas waterskiing...his form has improved from last year! I wasn't on the boat to get great photos this year :(

Violet was loving being in the middle of the lake with the guys!

Another paddle boat picture

 

Me and my Blakers taking a dip

Blake loves to be kissed on both cheeks by two people. Usually, it is Daddy & I, but this time Grandma stepped in :)

The grandkids, minus baby Clara (the bunk house is in the background)

 

The Spaeth Family (in front of the main cabin)

Another pic of the grandkids, minus baby Clara. Violet was loving on Blake :)



The grandparents with all the grandkids! Aw, isn't baby Clara a cutie!!!

Kristi trying to get baby Clara to take a much needed nap!



This was a miserably hot and humid day (when we took our family pictures), so we retreated to the air conditioned bunk house. This is one group of people playing cards in the loft area.

Blake and Josh checking out the games



The second group of card players (Dad is behind the picture taker, which I believe is Priscilla)

Blake found another large stuffed bear! His first love was Debbie Whitsitt's large bear :)

Grandpa and Grandma came for a couple days, so that was fun!!

We got family pictures of those who happened to be there at the moment :)



More guys cooking--not sure why we only took pictures of guys cooking, haha

Lucas instructing David (or so it appears) :)



Scott (not much more to say about this picture)

Kyle and his hot swim trunks (hehe)



Mom and Sarah looking beautiful, as always

The boys checking out the trampoline

And loving it!



Got some great action photos here!

Love this one, haha!

But I love this one even more. Scott decided to help them out with their jumping height. The looks appear to be a little concerned...:)