Tax Season

Tax season officially started on Monday, January 20th. 

I have a big love/hate relationship with it.

I love my job and I love that the time consuming months are when it's cold and sloppy out. I love helping my clients and I really enjoy my co workers. I love that I feel like I am finally at a job that 'I belong' and that I feel appreciated and needed. I love the family/life balance they allow me to have.

I hate the long days and I hate that it's 4:50 am on Friday morning and I've been up already for over an hour working. I hate that I miss out on so much time with my husband and son.

But that's exactly who I do it for. I do it to provide a good home and life for my son. I do it so he can grow up and learn the importance of work/career, but not lose sight about family. 

I'm working my butt off this tax season not only because the work is there...but I want to show myself and my employer, that even with being a new mom, I can still do the hours and still provide outstanding work all while maintaining a life outside of work that involves spending time with my lil' family and my friends.

Not only am I working 70 hour weeks, I am still making time for the gym 3-4 days a week (over my lunch hour), still pumping/breastfeeding Turner, going to Mexico for a 4 day vacation/friend wedding and making time for friends where time allows.

I have goals...one major goal is I want to be promoted to Manager and I hope by proving myself this tax season that motherhood has not slowed or affected my work, a promotion will result. 

So here is to 81 more days of living in my office (kind of..I'm actually working from home right now) and to a great tax season full of laughter, tears (because I miss my son and husband) and to achieving what I am working so hard for.

Turner - 7 months

January 2, 2014

7 months...Hi, my name is Bridget and I have a 7 month old, what?!!



Baby Stats:
 

Weight

19 lbs 2 oz

Length
28" (92nd percentile) @ his 6 month check up

Sleep
Turner is sleeping in later and later and it is very  much appreciated. We hit a few rough patches when traveling with him since he was teething and sleeping in his pack n play, but back home he sleeps through night and has been waking up later and later.

Daily Routine
His daily routine has not changed at all from 5 months... 
I get up with him every morning to feed him. I get him ready for the day then. Then it's time to wake Daddy up so I can finish getting ready for work. Tate takes Turner to daycare every day. It's on his way to work so it's a good 30 minute drive. Turner naps on they way there. He has a super fun day at daycare which usually consist of a nap around 10 and 2...lasting anywhere from 30-90 minutes each. Some days I go get him, but for the most part, Tate brings him home and Turner usually takes a lil' cat nap on the way home. Once home we play and have family fun. After dinner feeding it's either bath time or play time including reading. Tate gives him his bed time bottle and puts him to bed around 8-8:30.

Feeding
Turner is still getting 6 feedings a day with 2 of them with solids. His noon and dinner feeding have a solid feeding with it.

Diaper Size
Still going strong in the cloth diaper department. We did use disposables when we traveled over the holidays. Turner wears a size 3 diapers in those. He was teething pretty bad during this time which resulted in quite a few explosive diapers...not fun!

Clothes Size
Turner wears 6 month and 9 month sleepers. He is growing out of many of his 6 month clothes, so we is currently wearing the remaining ones that fit and 9 month clothing.

Hair Color
His hair seems to getting darker.

Eye Color
By the looks of it, he will be a blue eye handsome boy!!!

Milestones/Likes/Dislikes
Turner celebrated his first Christmas. He was so spoiled. His favorite this was to open all his presents and stuff the paper in his mouth as fast as possible.



Our first family Christmas!!!

Turner went swimming for the first time also. He had a blast. He wasn't sure what to think @ first, but warmed up to it and even started kicking and screaming in excitement.




Turner has been crawling backwards like it's nobody business!! It's hilarious. Still doesn't understand or know how to go forward yet. He'll be getting before we know it!

Turner dislikes sitting in his high chair if he is not being fed. Seriously...we have to try to wait to put him in it until the food is ready otherwise he sits there and screams. Demanding lil' fella we got!

this diaper is stuff for overnight...hence the extra puffiness :)

And for good comparison in the last few months...

Turner,

The love I have for you is beyond words. I still can't get over that I am so lucky to be your mom. You are seriously the happiest baby and make me laugh so much. I just know it's going to get better and better! Your growing stronger and stronger every day. Mama is going to start tax season here very soon so I want you to remember I work hard to give you the best life possible. I know you and your dad will have the best time while I am at work on those long days! Love you so much...more than you will ever know!

 

xoxo,

Mommy

  

Sharing Turner's birth story

Today I am sharing Turner's birth story over on one of my favorite mama blogs, Mama & Mou!

Not only was it one of the BEST days of my life, it was also one of the scariest! I'm happy to share our story as I love reading other birth stories. There is no 2 birth stories alike, that is what makes them so unique!

Go ahead and enjoy :)

2014 Goals

I'm not a new year resolution type of girl..I'm all about goals! I really really just love setting them and achieving them :)

As I look back at my 2013 goals I feel so great because I met EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM :)

wooohoooo....pat on the back for this girl!!!

It you look back at my 2013 goals, I met them by:

-having NO TIME to really watch TV...a little human took over that time which I am TOTALLY OK with!

-we did fund our emergency fund and we feel great about it!

-we did start paying off our mortgage early! Our finances are in check, we agree and don't fight over money and it's all thanks to a guy named Dave Ramsey!

-making work lunches the night before is so much better than doing morning of. Now that Tate helps since we started our 100 day challenge, life got so much easier :)

-I did meet my pregnancy goal with a few weeks to spare!

-I did become more organized but I still feel like I could become even more organized!

-we did have a healthy baby boy and feel so BEYOND blessed!!!

And now I sit here at the start of 2014 and think what goals I can make to help this year go smoothly and stress free!!! 

ORGANIZATION

-Seriously...since having Turner I feel like I have lost my marbles! I feel so un-organized! I can't wait to spend the first few weekends of this month to organize my office @ home and work so I can have a good start to tax season

HOUSE MONTHLY GOALS

Tate and I decided to take one thing a month with our house and make it a goal for that month. For instance, January is going to be clothes/closet month. Meaning, time to pack up clothes we have not worn in a few years and donate. Pack up Turners clothes that he has outgrown. Organize the closets in our house and get rid of 'junk'. I CAN'T WAIT!!! We are going to take it one month at a time. We will decide February's monthly house goal when it nears.

I decided to go the monthly route vs making a 'house list' because when I see a big long list of items, I get very overwhelmed and sometimes don't know where to start. By having on area to concentrate on for that month, I feel like it will help with me staying anxiety free :)

COMPETE IN ANOTHER SPRINT TRIATHLON

I took a break from my yearly triathlon due to having a baby...but would love to do one this year. I love the feel I get when training for them and when I cross that finish line. I really hope to do one this summer/fall.

 CONTINUE TO LEAD A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Tate and I feel great about our 100 day challenge and can see this becoming a lifestyle for us. We would love to continue with it. Along with eating healthy would be working out on a regular basis and being an active family. We are excited for Turner to do things with us!

BLOG MORE

I'm really bummed that I have put blogging on the back burner since Turner's birth. I have so many memories to record from the last 1/2 of 2013 and look forward to finally getting them on here and back dating them all so they fall in the right time frame since I love to look back and read them.

MONTHLY DATE NIGHT

It has been decided that we need to make date night a priority and so we've decided that once a month, we will set a night aside for just us. I'm excited for this 'goal' as it's been categorized per this post!

Did you set goals or resolutions for 2014?

Easy Canvas Prints {Reveiw}

I was BEYOND thrilled when I was able to do a review for Easy Canvas Prints. Not only do I love photos...but putting them on a canvas just makes me smile!!!

I decided to do my favorite newborn photo of Turner for my canvas. It turned out great!

I have to say that ordering it was super easy. Easy Canvas Prints website is easy to navigate and uploading the picture was a breeze. I loved all the options they provided when selecting different features for my canvas.

I received my canvas very fast. I was so excited when I got the package to open it and check it out. I loved seeing my lil' man on the canvas. I'm so excited to put the picture up in our downstairs family room. I have plans to make a gallery wall and I know right where it's going to go.

The only thing I didn't like was that the piece to hang the canvas on the wall that they put on the back is located in the wrong spot. I'm not sure if they pick where it's going to go or thought the picture should be vertical, but it's not in the right location. I honestly don't even know if I can specify where to locate it, but luckily, it's an easy fix that involves just us moving it. 

I would definitely refer someone to use Easy Canvas Print for getting quality prints on canvas. I was very satisfied with the product. Easy Canvas Print also has other affiliate sites for more custom print options, www.buildasign.com and www.alliedshirts.com.

Turner - 6 months

December 2, 2013

6 months...They weren't joking when they say they grow up so fast!

Baby Stats:
Weight

17 lbs 10 oz

Length
28" (92nd percentile)
We have a tall boy on our hands!

Sleep
His sleep pattern is pretty much the same at 5 months, but showing improvement in sleeping in. It's a very rare occasion if he were to wake up before 5 am these days. If he wakes up during the 5am hour, Tate usually goes in and moves him back to the middle of the crib as he is usually stuck in the corner. He usually goes back to sleep until 6ish.

Daily Routine
His daily routine has not changed at all from 5 months... 
I get up with him every morning to feed him. I get him ready for the day then. Then it's time to wake Daddy up so I can finish getting ready for work. Tate takes Turner to daycare every day. It's on his way to work so it's a good 30 minute drive. Turner naps on they way there. He has a super fun day at daycare which usually consist of a nap around 10 and 2...lasting anywhere from 30-90 minutes each. Some days I go get him, but for the most part, Tate brings him home and Turner usually takes a lil' cat nap on the way home. Once home we play and have family fun. After dinner feeding it's either bath time or play time including reading. Tate gives him his bed time bottle and puts him to bed around 8-8:30.

Feeding
We have now introduced solids. We did this about a week after his 5 month birthday. Our boy sure does love to eat!!! Turner still gets 6 feedings a day every 3 hours. I nurse him at 6, bottles at 9, 12 and 3. I nurse him again at 6 and then his bed time bottle around 8. He takes down about 6.5 ounces per feeding. He gets solids at noon and 6 pm. He will get oatmeal or brown rice cereal at noon then a veggie or fruit for dinner.

Diaper Size
We use 3 different cloth diapers brands. When we first started cloth diapering, I didn't like the Alva brand because they leaked all the time so I stopped using those and only used Sunbaby and BumGenius. Well, Sunbaby started leaking pretty bad from 5-6 months so I went back to the Alva diapers. No leakage problems now that he is bigger with those. So right now we are just using Alva and BumGenius. I think Turner is in between snap sizes on Sunbaby so we will continue to just use Alva and BumGenius until he grows a bit bigger.

Clothes Size
Still in 6 month sleepers. All his clothes are now 6 month or 6-9 month.

Hair Color
Light brown color.

Eye Color
By the looks of it, he will be a blue eye handsome boy!!!

Milestones/Likes/Dislikes
-Turner loves tags. He can't get enough of them. Grabs them, sucks on them...just loves them!!!

-Turner has mastered sitting on his own. We still surround him with pillows since he can reach for something and fall face first or straight back.

-Turner celebrated his first Thanksgiving with both sides of the family. He did great traveling for the long weekend.

-We have started him on solids and HE LOVES IT!!! He has loved every single thing we have gave him. Brown rice cereal, avocado, bananas, squash, sweet potatoes, and pears. Sweet potatoes are his favorite.

- Turner has been trying to crawl. He gets into position, but doesn't get it that you need to move your hands forward to actually move.


-Turner has said his first words...even though we think he has no idea what he is saying...but since it's 'mum', I like to believe he knows what he is saying :)



- Turner dislikes when we wipe his nose. He loves when we suck out snot...but hates the wipe part after. He also hates when we wipe his face after eating.

Turner,

I can't believe you are already 1/2 year old. Before I know it, I will be planning your first birthday party! The joy you have brought to your father and my life is indescribable. Everyone said that having a kid is the BEST thing...well they were right! I'm so happy that you are a very happy and healthy boy. You make this parenting thing a lot easier since you are such an easy baby (I say this as he's crying having to go down for a nap). haha. Love you so much and know that your mama is always always always here for you...no matter how older or independent you become!!!

Love you to the moon and back, Mum ;)
  

When it rains, it pours

So we've hit a few road bumps lately in the finance department...and forking over the money for it is NOT FUN!

First up..washer dies over labor day weekend! Not a big deal as I always wanted a new washer...so we went washer shopping and purchased one. Small expense?...NO, but needed! Especially when you are a cloth diaper family! Need that thing to keep those diapers clean!

Then...when MEA weekend started (for those not in MN, students get Thursday and Friday off of school...so there weekend starts Wed evening), some kids decided they would like to destroy other people's property. We were the lucky people they decided to throw a rock through our 2nd story window. Not only did it NOT wake us up, Mya didn't even do anything. I noticed it the next morning after feeding Turner. I went to go put him on his play mat so I could get ready and there was glass all over our couch and living room floor. The shades were down so I didn't know exactly what happened...but it freaked me out so I immediately went and woke Tate up. We called the police and they came to take a report. Turns out we were one of twos with window damage. What worries me the most about this is that living room window is right next to Turner's room. I just freaked out thinking what if they would have hit his window. What pisses me off is that these punk kids think it's OK to do this type of stuff. I said a prayer for those kids.

Next up...Tate and I BOTH needed new tires for our cars. Well we all know those cost a pretty penny. It's also something we can't put off. Winter is approaching and we have a little one to think about for safety reasons. So new tires it was...wah wah!

As I am getting my tires installed...they decide to tell me my brake pads need replacing along with some rotors. That would be an additional $400+ just for that. Luckily...I thought maybe our daycare lady's husband knew a think or two about cars and asked if does this type of work ever. Sure enough...he does!!! Woohooo...that saved us over 50% of what the auto repair place would have charged us.

THEN...haha, yes...a few more things!

Our house was built in 1995. We have windows that are wood frame inside (vinyl outside). I was cleaning and noticed that our bedroom window was 'rotting'. There was condensation on the window which causes the wood to get wet and eventually rot over the years. Well great...we've been sleeping in a room with rotting windows. I am a germ freak so of course I bleached the heck out it and called my dad to figure out what to do. He talked about ways to reduce the condensation in our home and also told us to consider replacing the windows since they were older. I've wanted to actually replace our windows and patio door for some time, but never wanted to fork over the money for it...I mean we are talking 5 digits here!!!! We've had a few window companies to the house to go over things and now Tate and I need to make some decisions on what we want to do for sure.

Then...one evening Tate and I were driving back from a evening with friends (with Turner in the car). We were about 1 mile from our house when a deer ran out in front of us...luckily Tate avoided hitting it. But then...the buck that was chasing the doe that we avoided hitting, literally runs into the side of my car. Hits my passenger side (where I am sitting). FREAKED ME OUT! Tate pulled over and got out. The deer had gotten up, ran back to where it came from, and then crossed the road. My car had a nice big dent on the side and my door makes a lovely noise when you open it. Thank gosh for insurance...but there is still a deductible to pay. I'm just thankful we were all OK and nothing more serious happened. Turner slept through the whole thing.

Even though we've been hit with a string of bad luck, I am still feeling truly blessed and thankful. I've been waking up every morning so excited for a new day and feel very grateful for the life that God has chosen for me. I'm not going to lie...this is not normal for me when things like everything listed above has been happening. Maybe it's because being a mom puts everything into perspective of what is really important, maybe it's our food challenge making me feel really good or maybe it's because I know we are going to be OK since we have money saved with our emergency fund for these type of situations. Either reason is fine by me and it feels good to not be stressed about it.

With Thanksgiving approaching, it's nice to be extra thankful for what we do have. We have our health and our happiness. We are beyond blessed. Of course I'm always thinking of new things I want want want...but everything I need...I already have!

And it looks like our luck is finally turning around. We got pulled over on Friday evening on the way to a friends house. Tate wasn't paying attention to how fast he was going. The State Trooper gave us a warning and sent us on our marry way...THANK GOSH (it may have had something to do with Tate telling the trooper that it was getting close to Turner's feeding time and him screaming in the back may have just helped)!!! Fingers crossed we are on the up and up from this point forward!!!