A lot going on

1. Sleepy Time update update. He went down for an evening nap around 6 but was woken up by my sister not long later. In the evening he was not having it when I tried to put him down for bed and long story short, didn't get to sleep till after 11 and I was in bed with him.

I learned from that not to switch up the routine just to do it earlier. We nurse to sleep so instead of trying to put him down by himself after a short session, I'll just nurse him to sleep earlier. Duh. I caused my boy unnecessary stress to learn something I think I already knew. The highlight of my day or night is laying next to him as he calms down and falls asleep. Why in the world didn't I put it all together earlier?

After that long night, he slept in his own bed till 8 this morning. I hope it wasn't the stress of me not getting it immediately but he woke up cheery and goofy like always. With all this, I have a better plan for tonight's bedtime. Move it up but don't change it. The end.

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2. The playset I mentioned a few posts down:

At first it was a super awesome deal. It was originally 69-90 dollars down to 15 not including coupon codes and rebates. Then JC Penney saw that it was an online pricing error and it went back up to $90 and no one was sure they would honor it as people were told the orders would be cancelled. Well today they said they would honor the price!! You'll only get one only till they run out of stock! Hopefully you ordered one. I did and now I'm praying I get it shipped!

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3. I made Jetters some big blocks from the leftover Christmas boxes since that was something I wanted to buy him but decided against. Don't mind the dirty background:

 He likes them. We build them up tall and he crashes into them and knocks them down. He's playing with his aunt and laughing when it nearly crashes on her from the ball he's rolling at them. She, on the other hand, is trying to take his blocks to build something of her own. I think we know how he feels about that. I think I need to explore this area a bit more this year to keep costs down. I have another toy in mind to make him. I need to get crafty.

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4.
 I started looking for a homeschool/unschool local group and found one last night that for a second there nearly made me rethink the Montessori school plan.

With this new group, infants to young children meet up twice a week to learn for a couple hours. It's $80 a month, he wouldn't need to attend a separate school as he gets older, and these parents would be in agreement with my homeschooling/unschooling plans.

The cons is that its over a half hour away so there's no walking him to and from school like I fantasized. I would also stay there with him which does away with my plan to work while he's away (the main reason he would even go to school).

Montessori is triple the cost of this school but I think that's where we're headed. I have found a few other local groups that have a similar teaching stance as I do. I think that will be great for outings which I'm aching to do lately. Maybe its the shift in the weather but being outside sounds so good right now.

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5. I've joined a few challenges and made a few goals

* NoSpend January: only spend on necessities in the month of January. For me that's bills and gas money. Maybe a few baby items but I've been good at not buying much else already.

So far:

01/01 - $15 gas, $1.00 lost in soda machine
01/02 - $10 gas, $0.75 can soda
01/03 - $6 gas
01/04 + $20 tip for being awesome

I'm also getting away from soda but that's the easy part.

* The Pantry Challenge: only eat from whats in the pantry. I can supplement if I need fruits, veggies, dairy but I'm going to try not to. I'm going to go through my pantry and fridge tonight and get a menu going. My sister bought us lunch earlier so I haven't started yet.

*2012 in 2012: decluttering. This year I will remove at least 2012 items from my house. I'll donate or trash it all. I'm at 10/2012


This year I am determined to get rid of my debt besides my mortgage. I don't have much but I have enough to bug me. I joined a meetup group for women and they do all the outdoorsy things that I want to do including this cute little surf camp (in TX of all places) where children are welcome. If I had extra money to throw around, I'd sign us up to get our toes dirty. I'll wait for next year when my boy can actually get on a board but with no debt and fewer bills, trips like this would be easier to consider. Rather than immediately think "oh man!" I could be all "wonder how I could work that out".

On top of that, I want to get a more efficient car in a year or two. With everything paid off, a higher credit score and more available money, I'd be on to something great in a year.

I'm totally feeling it.

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6. Period Tracker

 There was no super obvious sign of ovulation like last month. I would be right at end of it right now though I have this feeling it occurred earlier than usual. I'm partly unhappy since nothing is nailed down and it makes me worry about the hormone issue of before but on the other hand, I'm not ready just yet to do anything with my period anyway so I just wont think about it now.

This year, I'm starting to think, could go either way. Baby prep for the later part of the year or just a straight financial focus type of year. I don't know but I'm beginning to be ok either way.  Ask me tomorrow, though, when I'm bound to be a bit more clucky and I'm sure I'll tell you that I wish I could be pregnant with baby2 by Christmas.

Sigh.

No worries though. I've got enough going on.