Friday, July 24, 2009

Number Crunching and Kid Question

Well, Avery's two days off didn't go quite like he planned it. For one thing, our toilet is becoming quite the project. We think now (after spending a chunk of change of cleaning chemicals and solvents and other random tools) that there's a clog or some kind of hard water buildup further down the sewer line. Avery spent hours trying to clean out the toilet with several different nasty-smelling chemicals and all he got for his labor was a clean toilet bowl (i.e. it still doesn't flush well). So by Thursday afternoon he was frustrated and overwhelmed. Poor guy can't ever seem to get caught up on things he wants to do around the house.

Okay, first for the Kid Question. Kirk is thisclose to outgrowing his bassinet. He's rolling and pushing up all the time and I keep worrying that one of these days he's going to push himself out of the bassinet. He also squirms and wiggles and wedges himself in weird positions that can't be comfortable. So why not just transfer him to his full-size crib? Problem #1: we live in a 2-bedroom house. Shiphrah lives in the other bedroom. Problem #2: Kirk isn't even close to sleeping through the night. In fact, most nights he's up and nursing every 3 hours. Problem #3: Shiphrah is the lightest sleeper in the world. So if she and Kirk were to share a room at this point he would wake her up constantly during the night. Problem #4: I would be fine with keeping Kirk in bed with us, but he hates being constricted and kicks me all the time (nighttime nursing is no longer very fun). Problem #5: we could put the full-size crib in our room...if our room was big enough. I honestly don't think we could fit in there without rendering one of the closets unreachable. So what do we do? I wasn't planning on having these problems because I honestly thought Kirk would be sleeping through the night at this point. Families with several kids lived in tiny houses for decades...the Duggars did it with 6 kids for goodness' sake...why is this so difficult??

Finances are beginning to be a bit of an issue again. Avery's salary has increased considerably since graduating from the Academy, but so have his expenses. The city deducts about $500 a month for his pension, plus all the other fees for the union and his retirement health insurance. Altogether it adds up to about $700 a month, which basically wipes out all but $100 of his raise. We desperately need to be saving towards the purchase of a new-to-us car, but we're finding that difficult since we're also trying to pay off our accumulated debt from having a baby and equipment expenses from Avery's change in career. We've also had a lot of unexpected expenses in the past few months like trying to fix the toilet and random gifts (wedding, birthdays, etc.) that have kept us from both saving and paying off the debt.

Ugh, I just got a call from one of those travel agencies wanting to give us "free gifts" in exchange for listening to their presentation. Thankfully we're not within their income requirements, but the guy actually told me to just lie on the application. What?!? And then AFTER they go through everything they say, "oh and by the way, NO KIDS ALLOWED." Gah, stupid call centers!

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, money. :) On a positive note, we've been doing awesome with our grocery and eating out budgeting. I'm actually under budget by about $50 this month for groceries and right on budget for eating out. I know I've mentioned this before, but we budget $60 a week for groceries and $40 a week for eating out (this is because Avery eats out every night during work...he tries to at least find places that offer a uniformed officers discount, but it's still at least $15-$20 a week) for a total of about $400 a month on food (and household supplies like toilet paper and such, not including diapers). In fact, I only had about $25 worth of groceries to buy this week so I stocked up on a few things like napkins and toilet paper. If only I could stick to a budget this well in other areas! :)

Well, gotta go. As soon as Shiphrah's favorite movie is over ("MEENO!") it's bath time and then to bed for the babies. Then a 20-minute cleaning spree, dinner, laundry, and another 20-minute cleaning spree for Mama. Then if there's still time left I'll try to fit a 30-minute work out before Avery gets home.

(Ooooh I just sold 6 coupons on eBay for $3!! Yay!!!)

4 comments:

  1. I'd check out a metal apartment crib that I keep hearing about online. We're going to order one for Nate because of a similar space issue (two bedrooms, and one has to be used for guests and office space for Daniel). They're foldable, storable, and indestructable.

    Like this one from Target:
    http://www.target.com/L-A-Arch-Compact-Metal-Crib/dp/B000G7LSF8/sr=1-1/qid=1248482945/ref=sr_1_1/183-0496079-1835961?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Ametal%20crib&page=1

    http://www.target.com/L-A-Arch-Compact-Metal-Crib/dp/B000G7LSF8/sr=1-1/qid=1248482945/ref=sr_1_1/183-0496079-1835961?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Ametal%20crib&page=1

    I've also seen them on overstock and amazon (free shipping!). I'd check the dimensions, but it might work.

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  2. sell the bassinet, get a cradle. They are smaller than a crib at least....but it would only buy you a couple months probably. Maybe he'll be sleeping thru the night by then.

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  3. I just typed a long comment and then it disappeared. = (

    Anyway I basically said that we got a portacrib-sized wooden crib for my son to use in our room when we only had two bedrooms. It's similar to this one from Walmart:

    http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10854720

    It worked well for us, saved space, and lasted until Jathan was ready to use a big-boy bed. We will be using it for baby #3 soon, too.

    Also about finances, be faithful and prayerful and God will provide! He has shown our family that over and over.

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  4. The smaller cribs do work well. We've got one. Is your daughter's room the larger? A room swap?

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