Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford

Let's face it; times are tough for a lot of people right now. The past year has been especially difficult for our family in regard to finances: we switched to a single income home one year out of college, endured one long layoff, and were heartbroken by Emily's three month NICU hospitalization. Nevertheless, this year has been the best of my life--not only because we received the most amazing addition to our family--but because Eli and I had a few wake up calls and are learning to mature and make our lives more meaningful.

The next few entries of the blog will share my experiences of learning personal finance, oftentimes in the hard way. We still have much to learn and are hoping for some insight from our readers. Start by watching this hilarious 2 minute Saturday Night Live skit.

http://consumerist.com/consumer/clips/snl-skit-dont-buy-stuff-you-cant-afford-252491.php

Big News!

Drumroll please...we're moving here! Can you believe it's going on 7 years that we've lived in Dallas? A lot has happened here...college, meeting our best friends, falling in love (well, really that happened in Rome), getting engaged, our first home, our first baby, our first salary jobs. I could go on and on. We plan to make the move after Christmas and are excited to be closer to family, but are sad to leave our good friends behind. We had already looked into moving down and Eli had started to send out resumes, when a change in his job position encouraged him to resign and move on at the end of the year.

I thought that finding a job last year would be difficult, but this year's recession has us worried about how much hiring companies will be doing in the future months. Eli is the hardest worker I've ever known and scarecly takes even five minutes for himself to relax. His capstone class is very labor intensive, but also interesting and well worth the hours he puts in each night. In December he will graduate with his MBA and take a break from school for awhile (but seriously, who knows what he'll do next!). At TEMSCO he is the marketing director and at his previous job he was the marketing manager, so naturally he will be looking for a marketing job in a large company.

I wish I could bottle Emily and save her in this age forever. What a sweetheart! Apparently she had been going through a phase of being a little difficult (not sleeping through the night, not letting me put her down or leave the room, fussing all day, and not playing by herself) for the last few months. I chalked it up to sleep deprivation and severe stranger anxiety, and am pleased to say she has moved miles this month!! Oh I wish you could see her crawling and cruising around the room. She plays independently for a good portion of the day and rarely cries! Finally she is going down for 2 naps easily and bedtime is 1000 times easier than in the past. I'd like for her to sleep past 5am (since she goes to bed at 7), but I'll take what I can get! I think she's used to going to mass with me and although she still wants to talk and play, she has shown a great improvement in her patience. Emily still eats like a champ, eating everything I put in front of her--all vegetables, fruits, meats, beans, breads and pastas. I tested her dairy allergy yesterday with a pinch of cheese and she still got hives, so we'll continue to wait. I've begun to wean her (those top teeth are vicious) and she likes the soymilk and is learning how to drink out of a sippy cup. The cloth diapers are still easy and are better for her diaper area than before. We have a pedi appt on Friday to see if the medication is helping her condition, and we may do an ultrasound as well. Keep our little trooper in your prayers:)

I realized that I never really talk about myself, and so I thought I'd take this chance to update on what I've been up to. Besides taking care of Emily all day everyday by myself, I've been working on my faith life. I enjoy reading about saints' lives and am strengthening my devotion to Mary. When I was having a hard time with Emily in the hospital and when she was such a high need baby, I was able to put my life in perspective with remembering the seven sorrows of Mary. To keep the faith during hardship is nothing but an extreme necessity for us all. I also spend a lot of time reading about strenghening my marriage and family in the Catholic faith. It's tough having just a few hours to spend together as a family a week, and even tougher on a marriage if you never see each other! We know that full time school and work are what allow me to stay home with Emily, and it's worth it. I also spend my time doing marriage counseling and teaching about Natural Family Planning. This weekend we're starting up our pro-life involvement with the life chain and 40 days for life vigil in front of the abortion clinics. Of course for fun I recently taught myself how to knit and sometime soon my cousin will be teaching me how to make bread from scratch.

Birthday Weekend

Last week was super busy and went by super fast! Eli has been enjoying the Cowboys games on his new TV and had company over to watch the Monday night football game. On Tuesday I had a baby play date over here with Teresa and Aidan, and Katy and Caroline. Caroline cracks me up...she loves to carry her toys in her mouth so she can cruise around. She and Emily pretty much fought over every toy the whole time. Aidan is growing so much too, as he can hold his head up and has really good trunk support. What a sweetie!

On Wednesday night we hosted (a very lonely without the Kanes and Alexanders) supper club. I made my mom's King Ranch Casserole and Rebecca brought some fantastic peach cobbler. Sophia is very mature and officially is a toddler!

Friday evening we made our way to San Antonio to spend the night with my parents. I just realized that somewhere down the line I stopped referring to my previous house as "home". Eli had a meeting for his capstone class in San Antonio the following morning, so it worked out great to spend a few hours hanging out with my sisters. Teresa scored some points at her volleyball game and afterwards we had a birthday steaks for Eli on the balcony. Of course no visit is complete without a dip in the pool! Emily loves to swim!

From there we jetted off to Austin to meet the Danzes for the birthday party of Wilma, Felix, and Eli. The whole family got together to watch the UT game and hang out. Lots of fun! Emily loved playing with her cousins and all of their toys. She was very content the entire time--it always surprises me how much Emily thrives outside the home. I guess she takes after her parents because she's definitely not a homebody! Grandma and Grandpa have a fun setup for the grandkids in the backyard--I can't wait to see Emily playing with her cousins in the future!

Yesterday we celebrated Eli's birthday with dinner for our Dallas family. Of course I made Eli's favorite--steak and potatoes!

Love never fails

The first reading from last Wednesday's mass is one of my favorites. Each time I hear it, my heart jumps to 5 years ago while Eli and I listened to our professor recite the beautiful verses in Corinth, Greece. Centuries ago, St. Paul went to the town only to encounter dozens of citizens living in deep sin, disrespecting all of God's gifts. In dire need of help, St. Paul encouraged them to live by these very inspiring words:

Love is patient, Love is kind, It does not envy, it does not boast,
It is not proud, It is not rude,
It is not self-seeking,
It is not easily angered,
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
Love always protects, always trusts,always hopes, always perseveres.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. Love never fails.
Corinthians 13 : 4 - 8

One Sick Little Girl

Last week started out great with a trip to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth with Katy and Caroline. The Impressionist exhibit was spectacular--you could see the same Monet, Van Gough or Renoir everyday hanging in your house, but when you see the original, it's almost magical. Each brush stroke stands out, and the color is as vibrant as the day it was painted. Katy and I strolled our babies through the bits of history hoping the girls would sit still long enough for us to hear the explanation coming from our audio-tours. The only thing predictable about Emily--not when she's tired, not when she's hungry, not which toy is her favorite--is that she will not sit still...ever. I felt bad for her and for the others in the exhibit giving me stink eye when she couldn't be pacified with puffs (no food in the exhibit) or toys (she may apparently throw them at the paintings...too bad she couldn't throw them at the man's face...). Just God reminding me to be flexible and pay attention to my child. 24 hours a day.

With Ike on its way we began to pray hard for those in the Houston/Galveston area. Meanwhile Emily began a crisis of her own. It began with the blood in the urine on Wednesday night. Thursday morning at the doctor they took samples and prescribed a high level antibiotic and cream. When we got home she started to run a fever. For the next 4 days she had a temperature of 104. Monday morning the fever went down to 102 and by the night she was back down to 97. Whew! I was beginning to think that the Motrin and Tylenol were fake. Today, a week later, she still has blood in her urine, and the samples showed there was no urinary tract infection, so another door has opened. After medicating her for 3 weeks she will be referred to a nephrologist and will begin another battery of tests, including a ultrasound of her kidneys. Please pray for Emily...she has gone through so much already. On a happy note, Emily is enjoying her new talents of pulling herself to stand up and sit down. She also loves to open drawers and pull everything out...life is so fun when there are things to get into!