Our Life Story: Part 1

Bella and Bianca played outside yesterday (2-1-12) with NO coats!

Well, not really our life story, but the last few years, at least, from the view of our finances! :) And, it got so long, that I have split it up.

Our budget is squeaking by the skin of our teeth these days.  We've had a hard few years in all areas of our life, and those hits have brought us back to square one financially.  It has taught us SO MUCH, and our lives are different because of it.  I can honestly say that I would not change one thing we've been through in our short almost 10 years of marriage. 

And Jacob watched.

We started out in mid-2009 nearly debt free.  We owned two homes, but sold both in a month, and came out almost even, just before the market fell apart completely.  We had just a bit left to be paid off on the credit cards, and a student loan.  Then we moved to Pennsylvania, where living expenses were SO much higher than they had been in Indianapolis (oh how I miss you, Indy!).  We knew this going into it, and lived as frugally as possible, but life happens.  I worked for 5 months (Jan-May/June) as lead teacher in preschool/daycare, but I had to work for one week to pay for two weeks of (discounted) childcare, so I was essentially cutting my pay in half.  It helped us limp along, but we were still scraping by.  We couldn't continue in that way, and for various reasons and after much prayer, we chose to move to Kansas.  We yearned to be closer to family after being so far away.

There's more....  find it in Part 2!

Wordless Wednesday: Shopping list

A shopping list for one week of meals, done as inexpensively as possible.... Meals/menu forthcoming. 

Slow Start...

Bianca

Wow!  SO many things have changed since I blogged last, I don't even know where to start.  How about a slow start?  Blogger changed its layout.  Impressive, huh?!

Bella

Being the
Perfectionist that I am in my mind (with a capital P), I wasn't going to let myself start this blogging thing again until I could do it and do it right.  Know what I mean?  But I have come to a terrible realization, and it has to do with my Word of the Year.  I've never done a WOTY, but I decided this was a good year to start.  Wanna know what my word is?  Yes?  Well, that's another post.  :)  You'll have to come back for that.
So here I am.  I am who I am, and no one is better at being me than me, so I'm going to be me to my fullest.  In the meantime, I'll leave you with some pictures.  Because I know you've been biting at the bit to see new ones of my little ones.  Who are now 6 1/2 years (Bella), 4 years (Bianca), and 5 months (Jacob)!  Where does the time go?!
Here's what's on my blog list for the month of February:

Jacob

• Word of the Year
• Meals on a budget
• Cloth diapering
• Crochet projects
• Pinterest projects
• Living in tight quarters
• Reinstating routines in our lives
• Book review

Some interesting stuff, eh?  You know you can't wait!  Well, at least my imaginary fans can't wait :)  Yeah, they cheer me on.  Maybe they'll even start leaving comments!  A girl can dream, right?

Maternity Photos

A friend of mine, Tiffany, of Anor Photography, offered to do maternity pictures at about 36 weeks.  We hadn't even thought about doing them, but they turned out beautifully, and I am so glad that we have them now!  Its a little late, but I wanted to share them with you.  This past weekend, we went over to her house and did newborn pictures with her and another photographer, Bekah Bowman, of Bekah Bowman Photography.  They both wanted to practice on a newborn, and I never pass up on pictures!  Anyhow, here is the video of the maternity shoot.  I can't decide which is my favorite, they are all so good!  

 

He's Here!

Bumblebee has arrived, for all of you out there wondering.  He is 9 days old today, actually.  We are still working on getting settled and into a routine, so I haven't been on the computer AT ALL.  Everything has been done from my phone (love that thing!).  SO... details!

Name:  Jacob Truett Dean Pittman

Born:  Friday, August 26, 2011 at 6:33 am

Weight:  8 pounds, 6.3 ounces

Length:  20 inches

I will tell the whole story soon, I promise!  I'm working on getting pictures off of the camera and posted to facebook currently.  For now, here's one to tease you with!

 

34-35 weeks

 
Pregnancy Highlights:  I am getting things ready!  All the baby clothes are washed, and today I'm working on packing the hospital bag.

How Far Along: 35 weeks

Size of Baby: Baby Bumblebee now weighs approximately 5 1/4 lbs, and is about 18 inches long.   

Total Weight Gain/Loss: So far, I think we're about 30 pound total gain.

Maternity Clothes: I am down to a pair of shorts, a couple dresses, and my maternity capris and shirts.  This baby needs to come soon, or I'm going to run out of appropriate clothing!
 
Gender: It's a BOY! And I am pretty sure we have a name!  But don't bother asking, because we are not giving hints.  Nope, not even a little one.  Sorry MOM!  Well, okay, one...  He'll be named after someone in one of our families, keeping in tradition with the girls' names. 

Movement: Bumblebee is very active, especially at night.  He is moving around a lot between 10 and 2 at night.  Scott always says it looks like an alien trying to come out of my stomach because it just bobbles around. 

Sleep: Sleep has been better since the doctor prescribed Ambien.  I don't take it every night, but I can tell when I'm going to need it, and it works well.  I tried Tylenol PM and it does not work for me.
 
What I miss:  Being able to move around easily!

Cravings: Pizza and hot dogs.  I know, healthy, right?!  I actually tried to avoid the hot dog one day and had a salad instead, and it upset my stomach!  Guess I should listen better. 

Symptoms: I am experiencing some swelling in the ankles and wrists.  Its very unpredictable.  When it happens, I have tingling and difficulty sleeping, so I was sleeping almost sitting up in bed for a few nights.  Not much appetite, either.

Best Moment This Week: Bella and Bianca are very excited to meet this little boy.  We took them with us to the hospital tour, and that made it a bit more real to them.  Bella keeps telling me that she 'just wants to hold him!'  and Bianca has it all figured out...  Daddy will push the stroller and Mommy will hold the girls' hands.  She asks a lot of questions, like can he sleep in her room, will he stay with me during church, and she's very excited to be able to teach him all sorts of things, like swimming! 

Medically:  We are seeing the perinatologist weekly, and the ob every other week (we start our weekly visits this week!) . This week we will be having a growth scan to see how baby Bumblebee is doing growth wise. 
Refer to week 17 post for the perinatologist appointment about the Prothrombin/Factor II Mutation.

30-32 weeks

past 10 pm on 100 degree day!

Pregnancy Highlights:  We're getting closer.  Still a very active baby, especially between 10pm and 2 am.  We started and pretty much finished our baby registries at Target and Babies R Us in about 2 days (an advantage of doing one for the third child - you know what you want!)

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of Baby: Baby Bumblebee now weighs approximately 3.75 lbs (but peri estimated weight to be at 4 lbs 6 oz a week ago!), and is about 16.7 inches long (probably longer, he measured a week ahead).   

Total Weight Gain/Loss: So far, I think we're about 25 pound total gain.

Maternity Clothes: I am pretty round in the tummy, and my shorts are getting a bit more fitted than I'm used to.
 
Gender: It's a BOY! And I am pretty sure we have a name!  But don't bother asking, because we are not giving hints.  Nope, not even a little one.  Sorry MOM!  Well, okay, one...  He'll be named after someone in one of our families, keeping in tradition with the girls' names. 

Movement: Bumblebee is very active, especially at night.  He is moving around a lot between 10 and 2 at night.  The doctor was surprised at how active he was during the biophysical profile we had a few weeks ago, when he was actually awake for it. 

Sleep: Sleep, oh how I miss sleep!  I have been super tired, but can't seem to sleep.  I wake up every hour feeling like I need to visit the bathroom, but then I don't really need to, its just that he is on my bladder like a trampoline!  I also have to have a snack around 2 or 3, if I'm going to sleep anymore the rest of the night.  
 
What I miss:  Umm, sleep!

Cravings: Not much lately.

Symptoms: I am tired and irritable lately.  I'm feeling the weight of the pregnancy in my back and hips.  And I really want to start organizing things to get ready, but I have no where to put anything at this point!

Best Moment This Week: Bianca is very interested suddenly in how we will care for the baby.  I have shown her many times how to properly hold her baby doll, how to feed (nurse) her, and how to wrap her up in a blanket.  She also says that the baby's name is Bumblebee, and that's what she will be calling him when he is born.  I tried to explain to her that we would give him a new name, but she said she would continue to call him Bumblebee because she doesn't know what his new name will be! 

Medically:  We are seeing the perinatologist weekly, and the ob every other week (though I think this is our last week for that, then weekly).  The perinatologist appointment is for a biophysical profile, and they recently did a growth scan at 31 weeks, 4 days, where baby Bumblebee measured 32 weeks 3 days.  The biophysical profile is basically an ultrasound where they are looking for breathing practice movements and a few good wiggles.  They also measure the amniotic fluid level. 
Refer to week 17 post for the perinatologist appointment about the Prothrombin/Factor II Mutation.