A little piece of me

This is my last week of being home with Timmy full time. Sunday, the three of us leave for a cruise to the Mexican Riviera(!) as our last hurrah / wedding anniversary trip. Then Timmy will start daycare right after Labor day. Time isn't just flying by anymore, it's hurtling past me at breakneck speed, threatening to knock me down and render me unconscious if I so much as try to watch is pass.

As Timmy's preschool debut draws nearer, everyone has been asking me if I'm nervous. And I say no, because that's definitely not the word I would use to describe it. I'm excited for him to go, because I know he'll love it eventually; I'm anxious to see how long the transition takes because I am quite certain it's going to be absolutely awful; I'm thrilled that I'm going to be getting dressed up, enjoying a solo car ride and walking into my office every day; and I'm sad that I won't have as much time as I want/need with my really, fantastically fun boy.

I think one of the hardest parts of his transition will be nap time. I have never known him to sleep anywhere but his own crib very well. Add in the distraction of the other kids and the lacking of his usual comforts (blankie and puppy), I think naps just won't happen for a while. I thought maybe I could comfort him a little bit by giving him a nap mat that has all the things he loves on it. So I made this, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.






He loves to point out the things on the top blanket, and I hope that might distract him slightly when he's distraught in a few weeks. "PLANE!" "CHOO-CHOO!" "WOO WOO WOO! [Firetruck]" "BOAT!"

I'm not the type of person that gets emotionally attached to tangible objects, but it does sort of comfort me knowing that he'll have something I made specifically for him to wrap him up and cuddle him during nap time when I can't be there with him.

a boy

Not so much a baby anymore. Most of my friends in the Mom's Group (the ones with kids the same age as Timmy) are on to round #2 of babies. He's still my baby though. Sometimes I wonder, until what age is it appropriate to squeeze, cuddle and smother a boy? I hope for many years to come...

Questions about: Family Budgeting

Now that PJO and I have nailed down most of the relevant figures for determining a budget (i.e. known rent vs. unknown mortgage amount, picked a daycare vs. estimating average costs), we decided to revisit our family budget and see where we stand.

It wasn't all doom and gloom. I managed to squeeze in a budget for an occasional manicure with student loan payments, 401K/IRA contributions and savings. I didn't mind too much getting rid of HBO and Netflix. But I couldn't help feeling a little dismayed when I realized that I'm not actually going to be able to replace my cat-scratched bedding or take up a new hobby anytime soon. And that idea that when we do buy a house, we'll be able to decorate to our hearts' content, free of budgetary restraints? Not going to happen.

I have to say, knowing that our money situation will be static for a while makes it seem much more important to stick to the budget we made. Previously, we would create budgets but it was harder to define our monthly income and expenses with my temporary jobs or one-time stipends. This time, we tried to honestly estimate or over-estimate what we spend on each category so that, if anything, we end up with extra money each month that we can use to pay down my student loans.

So here's what I'm wondering:

* How do you keep track of/enforce your budget?
I remember my mom used to take out a certain amount of cash at the beginning of each month, put it in labeled envelopes and limit herself to whatever was in them for the whole month. Then if there was anything left over, she would treat herself with it. I don't like the idea of carrying around that much cash, but I will have no idea what I'm spending on what (without considerable work) if I just use my credit card for everything.

* Do you use sinking funds, and if so, for what?
We were thinking of diverting money each month into different smarty pig accounts for several categories that are annual or semi-annual. Car insurance, gift-giving, travel. That doesn't seem like the most efficient way to earmark the money and keep track of it, but I'm not sure what else would be easier.

* What about miscellaneous spending?
We made a separate category for miscellaneous spending (because we always spend miscellaneously), but I guess you could just make it a catch-all fund from whatever is left over at the end of the categories you really need.

For you women that work, do you have a separate account for your own discretionary spending or do you just share accounts and budget separately for what you need? I'm thinking specifically about spending on clothes/shoes/bags/personal maintenance, but it could be whatever you want to spend money on.
I made clothing a category in our budget, but I didn't differentiate between PJO, Timmy or myself. A set amount of money will be set aside each month, but I'm sure we'll spend more sporadically than that. And I am pretty sure I'll spend more on my clothes than the other two members of my household.

What is your biggest budget pitfall?
I already know mine will be the food/grocery one. It always is. I can't help that I really like to order a margarita when I go out for Mexican food or buy wine with every grocery trip. I just can't.

Or do you not budget at all? Maybe you just naturally exercise so much fiscal restraint that you have plenty of money diverted to savings and investments without even having to try?

Not to make myself seem frivolous or anything...

I mentioned recently that even though I know I am excited to start working soon, all I can seem to think about is how I'm sad that my time as Timmy's sole caregiver is coming to an end. Maybe the shock has worn off and I have fully accepted that soon Timmy will be at daycare every day. (Filling out enrollment forms and getting labels for all of his things has a way of bringing a sense of reality to it.) Or maybe it's just that my first day of work is looming nearer. All I know is I am actually getting really excited for my first day at the office.

I would be lying if I said it's purely because I can't wait another minute for the stimulating legal analysis that will be in my future at the Firm. While I do look forward to using my brain for more challenging problem-solving than figuring out how to cook dinner while entertaining a toddler, the substance of my future career is a little too amorphous for me to understand it right now, much less be excited by it. What is making me feel giddy is planning out my work wardrobe and thinking about the school work supplies I'll be able to buy order from the supply cabinet. Organizing my appointments and to-dos in outlook. Showering before nap time and making myself presentable for someone other than my son to see each day. Working as a team with other intelligent and hard working people.

Due to budget constraints, I'm going to ask for advice for my first day of work instead of buying new work-wardrobe pieces.

- What should I wear the first day? Suit? Conservative business casual? Dress?
- What essentials will I want to have in my office?
- Should I plan on going to lunch with people the first few weeks so I force myself to socialize or should I get in the habit early of packing lunches to save time and money?
- Should I introduce myself to all the partners I may want to work for so they might give me assignments before my peers or should I see what is handed to me so I'm not overwhelmed at first?
- Should I get to work early and stay late even if I have nothing to do, or should I take advantage of not being busy and go home?
- What words of wisdom have helped you feel comfortable and confident at your job?

Also, if you hear of any truly great deals, my work wardrobe does in fact need some updating. I bought many nice pieces when I was a summer associate, but that was two years ago and I was pregnant. And if I dressed poorly, I could still blame it on being a student.

10 Questions about: Your Scent

1. Do you wear perfume?
2. If so, every day or just on special occasions?
3. Do you switch up scents or stick to one tried and true?
4. Does your significant other also wear perfume/cologne?
5. If you don't use perfume, do you consciously use a scented lotion or hair care products so that you will have a signature smell?
6. If you're physically allergic to perfume, how do you let the offenders know?
7. Have you ever been scolded for wearing a noticeably strong scent?
8. Are there certain perfumes that should only be used at certain ages?
9. Do you buy it online, get it as a gift, or impulse buy when walking through the cosmetic section of a department store?
10. Do you try on new scents from the samples in magazine?


I've been wondering.

Latest Adventures in Crafting

As my baby grows older, parenthood is becoming less physically demanding and seems to require fewer accessories. Timmy can pretty much eat and drink from whatever a restaurant gives him. I no longer need to carry around burp cloths or little toys. Most of our outings are just to the parks and playgrounds we can walk to. Lugging my big and heavy diaper bag around seems more and more burdensome as the days go by. With this in mind, I present to you....The Diaper Clutch!



It is a little thing to hold a couple diapers, a disposable changing pad and some wipes. I could throw in keys or a cell phone too. You could also throw it into a bigger diaper bag so it's easy to find amidst all the baby accessories when taking a younger baby out on the town.



It snaps shut, is fully lined and the only exposed seam is just a little teeny thing at the bottom of the inside.



I can't take credit for the design. My friend and I have become obsessed with sewing, and she came up with the pattern for this. I really love my little clutch and I get better and more efficient with each one I make. I think they'll make good gifts for my friends having babies.

My next project is to make a little sleeping bag/nap mat for Timmy to take to daycare. I have the fabric but I'm still trying to settle on a design.

There is this style, or something more like this. If the final product isn't completely embarrassing, I'll post pictures when it's finished.

I think in timelines

We've been busy...Here's what we've done and what we're planning on doing.

We celebrated the fourth of July at the beach.





I (mostly single-handedly) entertained my in-laws this month. This included a trip to Disneyland. It was fun and I was surprised at how much there was to do for even a kid Timmy's age.



Seeing cousins together is very cute, especially when they hug and kiss:


I went with my brothers and Timmy to the Midwest for my cousin's wedding. I think my aunts, uncles and cousins are exceptionally fun and I love reunions. There are 19 cousins on my mom's side, and now that many of us are married, we make quite a crowd wherever we are. We also visited Chicago for the first time and really enjoyed it.







We planned an end-of-summer vacation...Cruising down to Mexico at the end of August, and we'll celebrate our anniversary in Mazatlan! I decided that this means I need to get in shape, so I finally broke the seal on my 30 Day Shred DVD. I have pretty much been keeping up with that, but my nasty habit of finding/seeking out cookies has sort of been sabotaging my body slimming plan.

Timmy's daycare is officially set up. He will start going a few days a week the first week of September. I imagine starting daycare will be for him much like starting work will be for me: exciting, thrilling and tragic all at the same time. I am still very excited to start my job, but now that I have only 1 month left of staying home with him full time, I just find myself wishing that I was only going to be working part-time. I'm going to miss hanging out with him so much, and I'm going to miss being the person that knows him better than anyone else in the world. Maybe once my student loans are paid off. Sigh.

Now you're pretty much caught up on my boring life. And given the rate of my posting, you won't hear from me again until I am a working woman.