If only Walt Disney knew

Song from bedtime tonight

He's got the whole world, in His hands
He's got the whole world, in His hands
He's got the whole, wide world, in His hands
He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got Handy Manny, in His hands
He's got Handy Manny, in His hands...

He's got Mickey Mouse, in His hands
He's got Mickey Mouse, in His hands...

He's got Einsteins, in His hands
He's got Einsteins, in His hands...

Breaking the Budget...

One of the new outfits...

The new casual shoe...

Grant and I have set up a budget several times in the past. We usually just stick with it for a month. This is our 5th ? week now on our budget and I am obsessed with it! It is like a game for me! I am now clipping coupons, separating cash into envelopes, planning our meals, and adding as I go at Wal-Mart! The hardest thing has been (NOT) buying clothes for Addison, but I have found ways to manipulate the system- my own system! HA! But budgets can be broken occasionally, right? Like today- Addison and I went to LR. I cashed in some miles on our Discover card and got some Children's Place gift cards. I also had a coupon to Gymboree so we went there, too-had to earn some gymbucks! We then went to Shoe Connection because I wanted to get Addison some Maryjane Keds for spring. They had an awesome sale going on. I REALLY needed new boots. My brown boots were so bad I threw them away, and my black ones are close to visiting the brown ones in the trash! I thought I would get a brown pair at an awesome price of 25 bucks. But I would actually save money if I went ahead and got the black ones, too, instead of paying full price in the fall, right? So I did. Then they have the cutest bows there and at $5 a piece- what a deal! So...I broke the budget a little today. But girls have to have shoes! and bows!

My next plan to break the budget is going to entail me buying a reader for my memory stick so I can post some picts! Addison had so much fun tonight trying on her new clothes for her daddy. We would put on an outfit and she would run into the living room saying, "look daddy, look!" She was too cute! Wish I had of taken some picts!

Do any of you have any pointers or suggestions for budgeting? How do you make it work? I am amazed at how much money I am able to save!

Working 4 Days

I have been bothered by some comments I have received lately. I am probably just a little sensitive (Me sensitive?!?:) ) about the subject but I need to vent- I guess to make myself feel better.
The comments boil down to this- "Oh, working 4 days now, huh? But your in a new house." This makes me feel like we picked the house over me staying home with Addison on the 4th day. Grant and I worked hard to stay within our budget to make sure our house payment stayed where we were comfortable. We achieved this! (Despite my brother-in-law and father-in-law's predictions..HeHeHe!)

We had always planned on me going back to work 4 days before we had another baby. We were not in any hurry for either, but, yes, with building the house a little extra money did come in handy. I was the one that offered to go back 4 days until January to take some pressure off of us. Money pressure is not good for a happy family and we didn't want that stress! So now it is February. I am still working 4 days. We plan on me going back to 3 days, but it has been nice to buy blinds for the house and know we were able to put extra money down on the house and can now build our savings back up. I also hate to go back to 3, and the other therapists I work with have to pick up extra work. AND when we do have another baby, they technically wouldn't have to hold my 3-day a week position while I was on leave. So this leads to the next comment... :)
We will start trying for baby #2 when we are ready. We are not there yet so you don't have to ask:)
My Thursdays aren't bad. I work extra the other days so I can leave early on Thurs and usually pick Addison up after her nap. This works for us now and will probably continue untill baby #2, whenever they may be!
So, thanks for listening...even if it isn't anyone else's business, I feel better.

Heart Makes it a Home

So I don't really remember the saying...A heart makes a house a home, maybe? Well, we have been in the new house for over 2 months now. We are truly enjoying making it a home. We already have made some great memories! However, when I think back to the rent house, I think that we made the best of living there and made it our "home" for almost 7 months. Addison changed so much while we were there! I don't want to forget what all she accomplished during that time...She turned 2! She began putting herself to sleep at night instead of being rocked. She was potty trained. Her speech took off and she began using sentences. She learned her colors and shapes. She began to get interested in dressing up.
If you know me well, you also know we battled the fleas while we lived there! Not a great memory, but still a memory. It was a 3 bedroom house, but one little bathroom. I cleaned the baseboards, but still never got them to look clean! It wasn't a nasty house by any means, and only one family had lived there before us since it had been remodeled. All the cabinets had been redone, new carpet, and new appliances. Still, it took some getting use to, and Grant and I were ready to get out of there!
So, why did I think of this today? I went to Addison's Valentine's Day party at MDO. Grant had to work late, so I just took off the rest of the afternoon to spend it with Addison. (Instead, I am blogging and she is sleeping!) While we were driving home, Addison asked, "Are we going to the rent house, or our house?" We haven't talked about the rent house in a while. I told her we were going to the new house, but we could drive by the rent house and so we did. That was home to Addison for a while. She doesn't remember or ever thought much about the nasty baseboards, the fleas, or the inconvenience of only one bathroom. It makes me happy to know that no matter where we live, or what the circumstances are, we can make a house a home for our family!