Budgeting

Today (on this lovely 80 degree and sunny afternoon) I am working on our budget for the next year. We now have estimate on the house

Actually a quick catch up over the past 2 weeks - we stayed home for the weekend of the 11/12 and I think we just got things done. Geoff started work on 7/13 and had a really long week. He loves his new job but it is tough work. That Friday, 7/17 we signed the final P&S. I had to pick up all the mortgage and house stuff from Geoff bcs he was so busy with work. So we go it signed (Jon dropped of his and Christina's deposit at the same time ;) and then headed to the lake with Jordan and the 3 cats. Saturday was rainy in the morning but then turned out to be a nice day. I dropped by Cyrstal Lake to see Colleen and pick up the bin of maternity clothes she had for me. That was really super sweet of her and I honestly have no idea how she packed so much into one bin ;) Sunday we mostly tidied the house and spent a few hours looking for Lily, who ended up hiding in the tub of Geoff's parents bedroom. She basicaly opened the door and then hid under the tub where the pipes were exposed from the work they are having done there (from the frozen pipes that Geoff and I caused over the winter).

Mum & Dad came home on Monday night from their UK trip (wedding, Sicily, wedding) an then Christina came home on Tuesday night from seeing her family. I forget what we did Wed. night but Thursday night Geoff and I went to Stonehearth Pizza for dinner and then last night J&C and Jeannie and Mike came over for take-out Indian food.

Today we have the Red Sox game tonight and then I am headed to Maine (have to be in Saugus at 10am) tomorrow with Kevin till Tuesday afternoon/night. I am kind of bummed Geoff cannot make it, but understand how he does not want to take the time from work.

Okay so now back the budget - I am trying to figure out how we are going to be able to pay for everything we need over the next year. The house and baby are just huge expenses (not a surprise here) but Geoff's salary is still quite low and even a bit lower than we expected. Oh well - I will nto feel right until I have the numbers in place so I am going to focus back on that.

Oh very exciting news - I felt the baby kick for the first time last night after dinner. So that was about 17 and 1/2 weeks. We were lying in bed watching Tudors and I distinctly felt it :) It felt so very wonderful and I am just enamored with having my own little buddy inside me along for the ride. I am still around 152 pounds but I just don't trust that scale any more.

We have 2 more weeks until the bug scan and I think Geoff and I will try to save the gender results to open them on our anniversary. It will just be a weekend and a few days, and our anniversary is exactly at my half-way point. That will be our third anniversary and the best guft to eachother. I madfe reservations for us at Chez Henri in Cambridge. I have to say that I love that our anniversary falls on resteraunt week so we can try these fancy places at affordable prices :)

Busy bees

Future baby daddy gets a new job! :)

Geoff had his interview this morning with Percussion at 10am and had a new job secured by lunch!! I am just so thrilled for him - he is just so happy and truly deserves this opportunity.

He got a call 2 days ago from the President, had a phone interview yesterday and then they invited him in today for the full interview :) After his interview he came into Boston for our Dr. appt. at MGH. It was just literally to say hi and listen to the heart beat. That was it. Geoff then brought up the discussion on where we want to have the baby and naturally the Dr. said that the hospital environment was the best to ensure a healthy baby and a healthy mother. She did suggest that we talk to the midwifery director at MGH which we will do at our next appt. on Friday August 7th. I appreciate that she recommended this option, but I would feel better about it if she had suggested resources for us to read up on to help inform our decision.

Anyways lets get back to Geoff and his good news. So tonight he is playing poker with freinds and then tomorrow I think he may have plans as well. He did agree to go to Wrentham Outlets with me this weekend to get maternity clothes. I just need more options in the morning. Also, with Geoff and his new job I can now afford for personal training :) So far I have gained about 10 pounds over the past 15 weeks (today is 15 weeks). I guess that if I keep around +10 until 4 months then I can gain about a pound a week until the end (total of 35 pounds) and that will be at the high side of the normal (but just fine) range.

Tonight as Geoff plays poker I am going to watch Netflix on demand and then head to bed early. I have been yawning since 3:00pm so I really need to catch up on my rest :)

Yeah for Geoff!!!

Wating for Geoff's tea to brew

So this week has been going pretty well. Sunday night I had made the Greek baked pasta for dinner so then we ate it on Monday night bcs Geoff's parents were busy getting ready to go away for a few weeks (England wedding, Sicily, then another wedding in England). It came out pretty well and I know Geoff's Mum appreciated not having to think or deal with dinner for a night.

Last night Geoff made pizza (as I exercised - walked on treadmill). My weight had crept up to 152.5 pounds yesterday so I was a bit concerned about that. I found a chart online that lets you track your weight gain by week (with a high and low range marked on the graph) and I fell just about in the middle of the range. Today I am 151.5.

I had to change my Dr. appt. for this week from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon bcs the presentation to senior staff got moved from Wed. morning to Thursday morning. I want to ask her about my vitamin intake in light of the recommendations from Dr. Greene book. I just completed a podcast on Epidurals which was interesting - and the tidbit that 75% of all women get them during labor.

I also got in the mail all the maternity clothes that I had orded (all on sale) from Target and Pea in the Pod. The Target stuff is okay - it is not that nicely made, and not really work clothes. The Pea in the Pod stuff is def. better quality, but it is kind of annoying that they charge so much and only give you the option of Sm, Med, or Large. I think this is pretty standard, but I expect the best fit possible if I am paying extra. I am okay with the Target stuff just giving you those size options but wish they had a few more editions for better made clothing. From the lot I am going to return 1 shirt to Target and then 2 shirts to Pea in the Pod (one bcs I ordered 2 by mistake and the onther one just bcs I willnot wear it.) So I have a little bit more fall clothes stored, now I need to work on my immediaite needs - like pants, dresses, and a shirts tat are just a bit larger but the shirts do not need to be matiernity - but a litle longer in length would be great to cover the band.

Well off to get Geoff's tea and then wake him up :)

Winding down the holiday weekend

Geoff and I went to my parents today to see everyone. We brought 2 pizzas with us and quickly learned that we really should have brought three ;) We hung out there for a while and then left the lake around 4:00pm. We hit some crazy traffic on 93S but still made it home in just over 2 hours, which included a pit stop at the NH welcome center.

I got home and realized I had no fruit or veg. for lunch tomorrow so Geoff took me to Whole Foods and I got my food for the first half of the week and also bought ingredients for dinner. I am working on a few loads of laundry and also cooked Greek baked pasta for us to have for dinner tomorrow night. I figured it would be nice for his Mum bcs they are flying out on Tuesday and she has enough on her mind getting things wrapped up with the house before she leaves.

I got in a slight disagreement with my Mom today which bothered me. She basically (and unsurprisingly) does not think a home birth is safe and I should have the baby at MGH. I am not surprised, but I obviously did not convince her - which may be an impossible task. It is not like I am against the hospital and recognize its benefits in case of labor complications, but I still want to exmplore home birth, a birthing center and MGH before making our final decision. It is alot to think about and weight the pros and cons are but we are really just trying to do the nest thing for the baby and for me.

Well I must head to bed to I start the week off on the right foot :)

Fourth of July

I have not posted in a few days - I think since the offer on the house got accepted. We went out to dinner that night so I was tired on Wed. night (just ate leftovers and went to bed early). Thursday night I stayed at work a bit later bcs I have been feeling more energetic these days and wanted to take advantage of the productivity. Friday night we were originally planning on going to the lake, but I (well we really) were just so tired we ran an errand for Geoff, and then went to Not Your Average Joe's in Arlington for dinner. We split a chicken Caesar salad, Geoff ate half a cheeseburger and I ate half of a kids pizza. I think we filled up too much on the bread ;)

So we came up to the lake yesterday morning and got here by lunch time. It started to rain after lunch so I took a nap and then went for a (slightly chilly but very enjoyable) swim with everyone. Jeannie & Mike made us all dinner and it was really amazing. Oh yes, a few hours before dinner Dad bumped his head outside and had to go to Huggins and get 6 staples put in his head. Poor guy they made him sit there for hours but he is on the mend :) After dinner I went to bed on the earlier side and then watched the third episode of season 1 of the Tudors with Geoff. That brought us to 11pm and then I slept till 9am with the help of my eye mask.

I have not been sleeping that well, mostly bcs of these crazy dreams I have been having. They are just so vivid and pretty scary at times. That plus I have to get up to pee about twice a night.

Today I am going to go for a walk, and then we have the fireworks tonight. Geoff and I are going to go to my parents tomorrow to say hi and then head home from their place whenever we feel like it. We have the home inspection on Monday and I have dinner with Jenn on Wed. night.