Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween - Butler's Orchard!

A couple weeks ago I took Joseph to a local farm that has a little fall festival type celebration. They had so many activities for the kids - Joseph LOVED everything! Unfortunately, my camera died early on so I didn't get too many pictures, but I did manage to get a few good ones :)

ridin' the tractor
playing in the water at the duck race
he LOVED the duck race (because of the water)
collecting ducks
so. many. pumpkins!
Joseph would have stayed there all day. They had lots of stuff for little ones to climb on, a petting zoo, a hay ride, a barn filled with hay for the kids to roll around in, 2 HUGE slides (we're definitely going to do that next year!) and lots of other stuff that I can't even think of right now.
We actually went with a couple friends (we had 4 boys there altogether), but I didn't get any pictures of them. I will next year, for sure.

And later today (hopefully!) - pictures of the cutest giraffe you've ever seen :)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

What I Wore Sunday (#1)

I saw this linkup last week and thought it would be fun to participate. I'm no fashion guru by any stretch of the imagination, but figured I'd give this a whirl. I'm currently attempting to make my summer maternity clothes work for winter by layering - one of my non-talents. Here was my first attempt:
Dress: Motherhood Maternity - I wish I took a close-up of the detail around the neck because that's my favorite feature of the dress.  Alas, I did not.
Sweater: Old Navy, but bought at a consignment store for $3
Leggings: Motherhood Maternity
Shoes: Coconuts (that's all I know, I got them a while ago)

Hair: in a pony tail as usual
Glasses: because it was rainy outside and I figured we'd be lazing about the house awaiting Sandy's arrival anyway

There you have it. My Sunday attire for this past Sunday.
I'm not sure I'm in love with the leggings, but they are pretty warm and will enable me to wear my summer maternity dresses so we'll see.

For more put together outfits go check out Fine Linen and Purple's linkup.

Friday, October 12, 2012

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 45)

7 quick takes sm1 7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 188)

1) I taped all the flaps in our lift the flap books last week. I was tired of the flaps ripping and decided there had to be a better way. So, I took packing tape and taped the front and back of every. single. flap. This included the repair of a couple flaps that had already been ripped off, but that I had saved to fix. So far, so good. We haven't had any flap mishaps since the taping.

2) We bought a couch over Labor Day weekend and it finally arrived last Friday. I love it! It's so nice to have somewhere to sit/lay while Joseph is playing in the play room.


3) This is Joseph's favorite use of the couch...

...watching people and cars go by. He waves at them when they drive by. Maybe one day someone will wave back.

4) This past weekend Will and I attended the Indian Summer Ball to support The Northwest Center - a crisis pregnancy center and maternity home in DC. This is the second year we've gone and we have really enjoyed the event both years. I'm hoping it will become a tradition for us - especially since it's one of our favorite charities to donate to.


5) My mom also came up this past weekend to watch Joseph for us while we attended the ball. We are so thankful that she was able to make the trip up. We spent the day Saturday up in Mt. Airy at a craft fair. She was even kind enough to buy Joseph an adorable rocking chair. It's still a tiny bit too big for him to rock himself, but he really enjoys sitting in it. And he loved hanging out with his grandma!

6) I hit 22 weeks in the pregnancy on Wednesday. The documentation:

7) Joseph is starting to try and mimic what we're saying now. He's gained a few new words in the past week or so including: moo, hiss, two and three (we're still working on "one"). And just today he tried to say "meow" buuut, it still needs a little work.

Have a lovely weekend and go see Jen at Conversion Diary for more quick takes.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Ten Minute Tuesday - The Need for a Budget Edition


I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much I haven’t been blogging. I’ve realized that it isn’t as high of a priority for me as it was before. That, and I’ve started reading about a zillion other blogs and by the time I’ve read them I’ve basically used up my computer time. I am only able to write this right now because a) I know that it’s only 10 minutes and b) Will and Joseph are having some quality bonding time right now.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that budgeting post (or posts) I said I was going to do. And I still plan on doing them. So, maybe this would be a good place to give a little background as to why we started budgeting in the first place.

Shortly before Labor Day I finally decided we needed a couch for the front room (the play room). I had been pondering it for several months and wavered back and forth whether it was something that needed to be purchased now or if it was something that could wait a year (or two or three). But the more I thought about it the more I realized how nice it would be to have somewhere to sit (not the floor) while nursing baby #2 and watching Joseph play. So, I started looking for a couch.

I told Will about this and informed him that it would likely use up the rest of my “for the house” budget for the year and likely dip a little into next year’s budget. He had forgotten we had even set a limit for me. But when it comes to spending money I need clear limits. When he realized how much this was going to cost he started looking at our bank account. I had mentioned before that I thought we were spending more than we were taking in, but he brushed it off saying that he gets paid every 2 weeks so occasionally we would have a 3-paycheck month that should cover the monthly decrease.

It wasn’t until the couch purchase was almost a done deal that he took a closer look at our bank account, and we were, indeed, spending more than we were taking in….to the tune of approximately $100/month (eeks!!!). So, we sat down that same weekend and made a budget. As with most families (I think) food and household supplies are our biggest monthly expenditure (behind mortgage/rent).

My time is running out, but let’s just say our first month with putting a limit on our food/household supplies budget was a bit of a challenge, but a really good learning experience. I think it’s going to take a little time to get used to, but I’m up for the challenge.


Now go see Rachel at Testosterhome for more!