Bills

Ick is all I can say.  I'm being brutally honest here, so you should all know that I have a lot of bills.  This is due to my pregnancy, not because I'm a big spender.  My husband is the big spender, but that's neither here nor there :).

I have 7 different bills that are huge, all from my pregnancy and deliverly, not including the one I did actually pay off today.  They are not cheap by any means.  I can't believe how expensive everything is.  Actually I can, but I don't think it should be this way.  At least every other place has done the 20% cash paying discount, but they still really suck.  I actually need some kind of planner or journal to keep track of the payments.  I need to insure I have all of this for our taxes next year.

I am doing very small payments.  I'm talking $20 a month on most.  I plan on paying more at some point, but I did as little as I felt comfortable with to ensure I can pay them every month.

And of course, we can't forget all of the other "regular" bills a family has.  We have the electric bill, mortgage, gas bill, water bill, 2 car payments, student loans, cable/internet bill, and cell phone.  Whew, I think that's all.  All of this plus groceries and gas, and I am completely overhwhelmed and stressed out.  I am working on a few things to make our lives not quite so stressful, but I'm not sure how those things are going to pan out.  I'd love to get rid of the cable, but the husband won't allow that.  Plus, since I'm home all day, I do need some entertainment ocassionally.

Sorry about the vent.  I'm going to purchase (???!?!?!) some of Dave Ramsey's books and hope we can be debt free soon, though I highly doubt it.  Wish us luck :)!

The blog that will never be

I was going to write a terribly long post on my current frustrations.  However that isn't productive, and could potentially hurt people's feelings, so I am choosing to avoid this right now.  Just know, I'm very frustrated right now, but I'm pretty sure this will change.  Instead, I want to channel my frustration into productive activities, and believe me there are hundreds to do around this here casa.

There is so much I need to get done.  Some things are short term, like completing this semester; and some are long term, like getting our finances in order and living debt free using Dave Ramsey's ideas.  I guess I could put these on my 101 goals in 1001 days.  So maybe my goal for this week is to start working on my goals for the next few years.  Huh, a goal for goals, how odd!  I feel like this will be much more productive than dwelling on my annoyances/frustrations.

Weston is doing well, of course.  He had his first visit with the Easter Bunny yesterday.  He was absolutely adorable!  Please ignore me!

Here's a better view of his little outfit

I love this little boy!

Almost 5 Weeks

So Weston has been on this Earth for almost 5 weeks.  I apologize for the lack of blogging, but holy moly it's hart taking care of a baby and all of my millions of animals.  He has these days where he absolutely doesn't want to be put down, and as you can imagine, that makes it very hard to do anything, much less blog.

My priorities have definitely shifted, to say the least.  My life absolutely revolves around my little man.  Everything I do is for him.  Also, I'm exhausted!  The every 3 hour feeding schedule may just be the death of me.  OK, it won't, but it is really hard.  Those days he is super fussy are also quite hard on me.  But, I love him so much.  Even at his worst, he is still a great baby.

I almost have the birth story completed, though I don't know if I will post it.  That is something very personal and special, so I'm still on the fence about that.  Sorry to leave you hanging.

I really don't have anything interesting to report.  I spend all my time with Weston, and while I think he is the most interesting thing ever, some might not agree :).  I will say this much though, he is incredibly advanced for his age.  He was trying to lift his head before he was a week old, and has been able to fully lift it since he was 2 weeks.  He's also been smiling and laughing for about a week now.  He also is trying to crawl already!  He can move the legs, its just the arms that are throwing him off.  He will have it soon though!  I'm so amazed and proud of my baby.  He really is perfect.

With that, I'm going to end since he is probably about to stop fussing since his Dad put him in his swing to take the dogs out.  Hopefully it won't be so long for my next post.

Being a Mom

Weston Michael arrived on 2/21/10 at 1:29pm after 7 hours of labor.  Yes, it was quick, but it was mighty painful.  He weighed 6lbs 10 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  I'll try to write the delivery story sometime soon, though who knows when because its apparently really hard being a Mom.  I know that's common knowledge, but I have no energy or desire to do ANYTHING at all.  I don't want to answer my phone, I don't want to get on the Internet, I don't want to watch TV, I don't want to do anything at all.

I've been very lucky on many fronts.  First, Weston is a great baby.  I say that even though he has been quite fussy today, he seems to have a tummy problem right now, but I believe that is normal.  Second, my husband stayed home with me all last week, which was a life saver.  Third, my Mom is staying with me all this week, which is another life saver!  I'm actually dreading next week when I'm with him alone, though I've heard that is also a common fear of new Moms.

We ended up staying at the hospital until Tuesday because he has a thing called stridor, he became jaundiced, and he had low blood sugar when he was born.  In order to save us money (since we have no insurance) we did a thing called rooming in where they let us stay for free, but I lost all nursing care once that happened.  Let me tell you, I definitely preferred having the nursing care.  I hated the other side of the hospital and I felt very alone.  It was quite depressing, so I was very happy to leave Tuesday.

We took him to the doctor on Thursday to check his bilirubin levels for his jaundice and it was at 14.7, so they had us come back on Friday to have them checked again, which they had then gone down to 13.  My poor boy has been poked in the foot SO much.  He had to have his blood sugar tested before he ate from Sunday to Monday, and then of course the blood tests to check his bilirubin levels.  I have to take him to get his 2nd newborn screen this Friday and then to his 2 week checkup...I am looking forward to neither.  Luckily my Mom will be with me to help me.

I really love being his Mom, he's an awesome baby.