Baby #3, 30 weeks or somewhere in there

I started writing this post somewhere are 27 weeks and just not finishing!

Baby Girl is growing and growing!!  She started out being very active and was a nonstop mover and then decided to hibernate for the winter and is moving less (more at night than anything).  Carrying high as normal, as the bump grows it just keeps moving up.  Pregnant life, is not much different once I get past the 13th week of terrible throwing up then  I feel great except for the occasional rib aches.

Niah loves to feel the baby she puts her hand on my tummy and just leaves it there.  I am so anxious for when the baby is bigger and Niah will be able to see when her feet and hands push out.   Malachi talks about baby and loves babies but does not grasp their is a baby growing inside of me.  He does grasp we are getting a baby though.  Niah pretends she has a baby in her tummy and it is due the same time my baby is due.  She says things like, "Malachi come feel my tend baby or listen to my tend baby's heartbeat."

All the details are worked out with the hospital on same day discharge.  The only visitors allowed after the baby is born will be Matthew, Niah, and Malachi at the hospital so that I can get discharged quickly.  Then we are looking forward to getting settled in our normal routine at home with a new baby.   Niah is most excited that I am not staying the night.  She likes all the details and has already got every detail confirmed and was very worried about me staying the night at the hospital and did not want that.  She can tell you every dr. involved for the birth and the baby.  She has already formulate rules on who and when people can hold the new baby which involves just Me and her right now :-)

After the holidays and Little Man's big 2 year birthday will be full of preparations for the new baby girl.  Getting all of the clothes out and washed and ready to go.   Rearranging of rooms for everyone and adding room for baby girl.   Weeding out things we do not need such as toys, clothes, and ect.  Pulling out all newborn toys and equipment.  Thankfully we will not need anything for baby girl except the huge, ongoing expense of diapers.  I have started going through Niah and Kyah's clothes and I can not believe the amount of clothes.  I have soo many I do not have room for them.

As far as a name goes we have not even talked about a name but I am trying to incorporate something from my name to baby girl since Niah has my middle name and Malachi has Matthew's middle name.  We don't have a theme or anything to the first name we look for a unique meaningful name that no one we know has the name and won't appear on any most poplar list.  We also never pick a name until we see them because we want the name to fit them.  You can instantly tell if a name goes with them but we have always had a list of names we liked.

We are praying for our new addition and so excited for the joy she will bring.  The anticipation is growing and I am so excited for her arrival.

Chugga Chugga Two Two! Malachi Turns 2

Last Saturday we celebrated Malachi's 2nd Birthday.  He has an absolute love for trains right now so the theme was Chugga Chugga Two Two, and the party was decked out in trains with a special surprise of a ride on train for a present (More details to come on the Party).  Anyways, Malachi's actually Birthday was this Wednesday.  So we made the day very special for him.  We went to lunch where he got a special treat and all the waiters sang to him, then we went swimming, and after dinner he got a cupcake!

I can not believe that it was 2 years ago that my sweet baby boy came onto this earth.  The time has literally gone way to fast as it always seems to with your kids.

Malachi is a spunky little boy, that is all boy!  He loves trains, dump trucks, and helicopters.  He never goes anywhere without his Thomas the Train and we are up to 3 of them to make sure we can find one at all times.  He has always been my cuddle bug that loves to come up to me lay his head on my shoulder and as the cuddling is shorter he still always runs up and wants to lay his head on my shoulder for about 1.2 seconds.  He absolutely loves and adores his Daddy.  He loves to play and be with him.  Will usually asks when we get home where he is at.

Malachi knows what he can get away with, with each person.  He knows that he can prolong bedtime with Daddy.  He will call out after we lay him down, "I need more ice," a few minutes later, "I need lotion, itchy," a few minutes later, "I need something to eat."  I eventually have to go in there and tell him Daddy is not coming in his room and it is time for bed, he immediately lays down and goes to sleep.  Malachi is not afraid of a spanking and most of the time it does not even bother him.  We have really started to stay on top of discipline with him as he is always trying to push the limits but once he knows he will not win he usually begins to straighten up.  He loves adventure and will test the limits but he wants to make sure Mommy or Daddy is near by.  He has really gotten into amusement rides and gets mad if he can't go on a ride that Niah can he gets upset.

Malachi is an excellent self entertaining and can fiddle and play with things for long amounts of time.  Since Niah has gone to preschool, Malachi has enjoyed his special outings with mommy on preschool days.  After we pull out the parking lot he immediately begins to make request of what he wants to do next.  Malachi's favorite foods are; chocolate, baked beans, refried beans, french fries,  tacos, chips of any kind, and chocolate milk.  Malachi has a huge vocabulary and usually talks in complete sentences.  He is a much better communicator than most 2 year old boys.  Malachi loves to sing, his favorite songs to sing right now are Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, Old McDonald, and Happy Birthday.  You can usually hear him sing one of these songs when he is going to sleep.

 

I can not believe how much he has grown!

We love our sweet little boy and can not imagine life with out him.    I can not express how thankful we are to have him and that I get to be his mommy.  

The Goal

The husband and I have been talking about our budget a lot lately and it has always been a goal to pay off our house but we have been inspired.  We have 11 yrs left on the 15 year loan but with extra payments we have made along the way over the last 4 years it would be paid off in 9.5 years.  The goal.... to pay it off in 4 years.

I found a lovely blog on Dave Ramsey's site, The View Along the Way, and they made it seem so possible.  The reward, financial freedom.  A big goal for my husband is building our retirement and savings but when you do not have a house payment you can just apply your entire house payment to retirement!  My goal is to have the freedom to use our house payment where we need it whether it be savings, a vacation, or a repair to the house, wanting financial freedom, that the largest percentage of our budget is no longer applied to a house payment.

The Commitment

1.  Give!  - We believe in tithing and giving to our missionaries!  We plan to always give and increase our giving as God blesses us!  We believe in giving back to our Father because everything we have is His.
2. Eat out less - We eat at home a lot for dinner but found that we were going through drive thru, through out the week that were really making us spend more than we realized.  I am taking cash each week from what we budget and that is it for eating out and anything extra I buy (Starbucks, treats for the kids).  Matthew is taking less than that since he only buys for one and I buy for 3.
3. Balance extras and outings - We will cut back on any big vacations and just continue to go on our small getaways through out the year (which is vital for our sanity and family time).  My kids favorite outing is an activity center I take them to and running errands.... Good news, activity center is already paid for with a very cheap season pass of $30 bucks (I had family buy the new season passes for 2015 for presents).  Running errands is one of Niah's favorite things and that will always happen.
4.  We plan to cut our things and stuff that is not needed.  My kids have an over abundance of toys and stuff so for over a month now ever week Niah and I go through and pick out an item she no longer plays or needs to donate.  Then we talk about how there are kids that do not have toys and we can help them.  The great thing is that it is getting rid of clutter while teaching my kids to think of others because now it is second nature to her to say, "Mom lets give that to someone else that needs that.  This helps on not having them ask for unneeded items at the store.  We need and want less.

We may have to make a few sacrifices in the next four years meaning we may not go out to eat as many times as we want or go on a fancy vacation but in the end the reward is well worth the sacrifice.  Financial freedom of not having debt.  The goal is HUGE, to think about it as a whole can be overwhelming or even seem unattainable but to think about it on a daily/monthly goal so much easier.

I will try to update on things that work for us and do not work and things that help us for anyone that may be working toward or thinking about working toward this same goal.  If anyone has here now or has been and is on the side share your advice and what worked for you.