Bubba's Light Eyes

Bubba was born with lighter eyes than Jordan.  They looked light grey for a bit, now they're more of an amber.  It's been difficult to get a photo of it.  Well, that is until now!  Thank goodness for fancy cameras.  I've been playing with the manual mode lately, learning what I can so I can take good photos of my kids.

Breakfast is always fun with Jordan.  He wakes up immediately and comes into our room asking for "mommy's phone" or "eat?"  If I tell him no Disney Junior (the app that plays shows) via my phone, he says "just games Mommy, no Disney Junior" because that's what we ask him to do on Sunday morning.  He's learning so much and talking so much.  He remembers things we tell him the names of after just once and surprises both of us with new words that he's only heard a few times often.  Today, he wanted my necklace so Andy told him it was for girls (while I chimmed in not boys!) and later he pointed to it, telling me, "Mommy's necklace for girls, not boys."  What a smartie pants.  He also told me my necklace was "broke, I'll fix it Mommy" even though it wasn't.  he loves saying things are broken and then that he'll fix it.

 Bubba loves his brother.  He loves being awake and in the mix of things.  He's trying so hard to roll over but he can't quite yet.  He is grabbing things more and more and has a secure grip on whatever is nearby.

What can I say.. he loves his cape!  That hair.. it just sort of rises in the middle on its own.  

 Bubba just recently met an important milestone.  He has begun sleeping for six and more hours straight through the night.  It may have helped that we put him in the crib instead of the pack n play and that we bundled him up (his arms were kinda cold a few days even though we wrapped him up in the swaddle).  Hooray!  Not that getting up was really that big of a deal since he was such a great eater.  He would just take about 10-15 minutes and be done.. but the sleep is also nice.

 The brothers.

 Aye aye Mom!

See the light eyes?  Wonder if they'll stick around....!

Family Budgeting... Do It!

After almost a year of using my new and improved excel template for budgeting, I can confidently say I love it and have worked out all the kinks!

It now takes me a maximum of ten minutes to download my transactions from Mint.com and copy it over to my budget, categorize everything... and wam, bam, thank you ma'am.....  I can tell you exactly how much we're over or under and then pinpoint where we went over.

Because I love it and so excited about how much it has helped me analyze where we can save or spend more, I decided to make the Excel Template available for everyone to use!

Warning: it is a little more advanced of a workbook than most budgets, it may take some time to learn and understand.. but I guarantee you ... the time put forth to understand it and become comfortable with it is an investment that will benefit your family!

If you do end up using it, please leave a comment to let me know how it went.  Much appreciated!

Intense Budget Template

Disclaimer: To be real, we really don't look at it compared to our budget... we really just look at the bottom line and see if we've come out under or over for the month and then overall for the year.  But it is always nice to have an idea of where you'd like to be when the year begins and see how far you've fallen away from that at the end of the year. Ha!

Freshly Vacuumed...

We just spent a lot of money on a nice vacuum that was slightly on sale at Costco.  Oddly enough, I have used it everyday since we've gotten it!  Now if there's one household chore I don't mind and actually look forward to... it's vacuuming.  Vacuuming doesn't suck the moisture out of your hands.  Vacuuming doesn't require gloves.  Vacuuming is almost a bit of a work out.  

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved vacuuming.  It was the only chore I'd willingly do without being asked because I loved the fresh footprints you could see in the perfect lines of just vacuumed carpet.  The praise of how filial and what a wonderful daughter I was following didn't hurt either but the act itself was indeed enjoyable.

As an added bonus, our vacuum is also my favorite color.. purple!  It's like they knew.
Thank you for joining our family Ms. Dyson.  You da bomb.

 

I Live for the Weekends

As a stay at home mom going out all the time mom who works part-time a lot more than part-time feels, I live for the weekends.  Sure!... the weekdays are fun.  Sure!... we get to go out quite often.  Sure I have all the time in the world to do whatever my heart desires (NOT!).  The reality of the matter is... getting two kids out the door is tough.  Bubba, at 16 almost 17 pounds in a carseat is not light or kind to my arm that bruises easily.  Jordan, at 2 with a mind of his own, can articulate that he'd like to go to the park mom, he'd like to go outside mom, he'd like to go to Grandma's or Jan's and that he'd like to watch a show now.  It isn't the easiest to tell him that Mom has to work, that he has to nap, or that it's raining so we can't go outside.  He hasn't learned "why" yet but I imagine that will be loads of fun.

This weekend.. we had Thai food and got ice cream after at Arctic Circle with the grandparents, ventured out for bagels and waffles for breakfast, went to Costco, Home Depot, and Best Buy together as a family, watched BYU beat Texas at Jan's (while Andy went with his dad, brother-in-law and his pops to the game in Provo) with extended family, and celebrated HG's baby blessing (which I missed cuz of the Sunday School class I teach and forgot would run until noon since we just recently switched from having Sacrament last to Sacrament first).  What a weekend!

I just adore the weekends.  Though the weekdays sometimes mimic the weekends because we do get to see our family all the time and eat out or at Grandma's more often than not, we just don't get as much of Daddy as we do on the weekends.

The other day, I was in the bathroom and I heard Jordan climb onto our bed where Bubba was laying.  He said, "Bubba... I love you." And then he just sort of lay there with him.  I've found that if I'm not in bed when Jordan comes into our room, this is a normal thing for him.  It's absolutely adorable.  I managed to get a photo of it the next day.  

Saturday morning breakfast!  We got Einstein's Bagels and Jordan had the fancy waffles from the cart outside of Dan's (there's always a long line and they are delicious!)  Andy thinks they coated it with some type of sugar mixture that makes it better than at home waffles.

Bubba is a happy baby, as most fat babies are.  This is my favorite onesie because it is a t-shirt over a onesie so it is not tucked into any pants I put over it.  And it has fake little suspenders on it.  

 We watched the game at Jan's house and thought we saw OGO on television.  It wasn't him.  But I snapped a photo of it.  hahaha.

 Bubba sleeping with Daddy.  So cute!

 Jordan and Bubba at HG's baby blessing.  I didn't get any photos of the kids.  Doh!

Bullies... Where Are They Now?

I had my fair share of bullies growing up.  To this day, I am 31 years old and I still remember their names, the things they did, and harbor a bit of resentment towards them.  In my heart, I am trying to forgive and forget, but it seems a rather slow and extremely arduous process.  I think I have forgiven much of the pain inflicted upon me, but the forget part.. probably will never be decimated.  It is embedded in who I am now.

How grateful I am that social media didn't exist while I grew up.  When I hear the stories of all the bullying that goes on now, I am indeed shocked at first that suicide could result.  I think, pridefully so, I made it through.. why can't they?  But then I realize.. the times are different.  It's much more difficult now.  I was bullied in elementary school... middle school... and shortly in high school.

Let's just cover elementary school for today.

Jade Chien.  Tatiana Shalabi.  Amanda Evans.  

Yes.... I remember their names.  I even know vaguely what they're doing now because the internet allows me such stalker creeper methods.

Jade Chien - My daughters will never be allowed to wear light pink thick rimmed glasses.  And forever I will remember it hurts more to hear someone say "you are not even worth my time to make fun of" than to make fun of.  She took the grapes my mom prepared for our after school Chinese program.  Told me to play "slave" and do whatever she wanted.  Made fun of my broken English (English didn't click for me until fourth grade.. I'm not sure why).  Because of her, I will always say "FUNNER" and when I hear her first grade voice admonish me for using improper English, I will rebutt with "So what?!?!?!?!"

Tatiana Shalbi - She hated me for my height and ripped on my clothes all the time.  Yes, my mother was a first generation immigrant to the United States.  Fashion was probably not our first priority.  Most of the time, I was dressed in stuff my mother deemed cute, the teacher thought was adorable, but probably not the coolest of the late 90's trends.  When I showed up to school in a black and hot pink polka dotted matching shorts and tank top, she told me "At last you look decent today."  What did I ever do to her?  Did she feel like imparting her judgment on my dress would somehow elevate her own status?  Did she feel sorry for me?  Because of her, my daughters will taught that those who wear fobby t-shirts from other countries are not to be scoffed at.

Amanda Evans - She stole my Little Mermaid watch that would probably be worth over $500 today!  When I accused her of taking the very watch she had complimented me on just weeks before, admiring it so, she said she just had the same one.  Funny how hers also had the same scratches and broken parts as mine.  Right?  Because of her, my daughters will never be allowed to do AYSO or wear the bright red jackets that go with it.  I am not a fan of soccer girls, especially blonde curly haired ones because of her.

Why now Daisy?  Because I saw that AYSO has begun for most of the kids of friends in South Pasadena.  I am sad that I have not forgotten and suddenly felt the need to share what it felt like to be bullied.  To be tortured for no apparent reason.  And I am praying that I teach my own kids by example that bullying is not okay.  How I will do that, I'm not entirely sure... but it's part of the good parenthood conundrum I am faced with everyday.  How grateful I am that Heavenly Father will be there to make up for where I lack.

All Grown Up!

We started Jordan in a nearby pre-school that is 1.5 hours once a week.  He didn't really understand where he was going but he really was hoping his cousin Violet would be there (but she goes Monday through Thursday) and was a bit disappointed when she wasn't.  After a few minutes of playing with toys there, he couldn't care less. 

The lighting here sucks but we still managed to get one okay shot.  

 

Some mothers cry when their babies start school.  Not me!  I was excited for the brief hour I'd have to do work uninterrupted and spend time with just Bubba.  I actually had hoped to accomplish more but I didn't get around to working out before it was time to pick up Jordan.  He was hesitant to leave and it was obvious he had a great time.  The teacher has a private blog for parents to view to see what they did during school.  I'm looking forward to it, and am working hard to convince other parents of 2 year olds to enroll (there are only two kids right now, but the more, the merrier... right?)  

LDS Tithing and Fast Offerings With Bill Pay....Life Changing!

I just learned from my brother-in-law how to use bill pay for our church tithing and fast offerings.
It's so easy I don't ever want to forget and maybe you will want to do the same.

You send an e-mail to Donations@ldschurch.org with the following information:

Bill Pay Set Up Information
Donor's Name
Membership Record Number Obtain from ward clerk or temple recommend. Include all leading zeros and dashes.
Spouse's Name If donating together.
Mailing Address
City
State
Postal Code
Country
Primary Phone
Email Address Monthly statements will be emailed to this address.
Financial Institution And then you just wait for them to respond with further instructions and set it up with your bank as per usual.  Brilliant!  No more looking for the Bishopric before or after Church, getting way behind and sending in one huge chunk of change, or mailing in tithing slips.  You do have to submit LDS-Tithing and LDS-Fast Offerings separately (or any other specified donations), but it's so easy, I can get it in on time and have records on my computer (and not those yellow receipt slips lying around everywhere).  Wonderful!  Amazing!  Life changing!