Thanks guys... they are long time family friends of DH's family so he's been busy all day with funeral stuff and I've just been sitting at home trying not to dwell on it...
Money saving tip for those who know they want to formula feed or expect to need to supplement with formula:
Try to get with another mom on the board who is going to do the same (or one who ends up needing to do the same) and, if you're both able, use different formula brands but each both sign up for the coupon programs that both the formula brands offer. Then, you can swap coupons and both save $$$
For example, my bestie that's due a month before me will be using Enfamil to supplement for her newest LO b/c that's what she used with her son so I'm going to check out Similac formula for our LO for the same reason. Assuming the formula brands work for each of our new LO's, what we'll do is, I'll give her all the Enfamil coupons that are mailed to me and she'll give me all her Similac coupons. When she started having to supplement for her son the first go round, this saved her buckets of money on formula because she and one of the other moms on her BMB did this coupon swap.
Scuba Steve is ridiculously active today. It's damn near constant motion! I haven't had anything sweet or coffee or anything, either. Feels like they're doing alligator death rolls in there!
Today I heard a baby cry and I had a pang. A full-on stomach twist of longing to hold a screaming newborn. I have been so disengaged with this pregnancy (what with the continued nausea and the been-there-done-that feeling and the worry about how I could possibly deal with two children under 3 at one time) that I was starting to worry that I wouldn't love this one as much as his older brother, but that "give me that baby now" feeling was incredibly comforting.
@ignoscemihi- I'm happy for you. As for me, we went camping last month and a nearby tent group had a screaming infant, and all I could think was "THANK GOD that's not me."
This attitude could prove problematic in a few months.
ETA: I realize this can sound rather insensitive in light of what happened with kmolleltz' neighbor. Not intended to be...just real life folks. Not everyone is suited to newborns, turns out.
@ignoscemihi lol, I haven't BTDT but can def relate bc I think I look crazy and sick in public bc I can't help but smile when I hear a little baby crying! Now that I know it happens I immediately try to turn away or hide it a little but it still warms my heart. Also, when people are being difficult I've been daydreaming a lot about how much I'd rather be at home with a screaming newborn
Oh and, this may be very SS-esque but I have to ask....does anyone else get worried that internal organs could get damaged or at least bruised from LO's kicks? I've gotten a few really strong whacks inside that I was sure might cause irreparable damage (I'm pretty sure she's breech and kicking away at my intestines and bladder)....ok dumb brain retiring for the night!
I seriously just want to pig out tonight before bed, but I'm trying to control myself. I keep saying "selfie eating a bunch of junk is only going to make you have to spend more time on the ellipical after the baby is out." I can't even talk the sense into myself sometimes.
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@UponAStar16 Your organs will be just fine, don't you fret. Just wait until after baby arrives and it still feels like there is a baby kicking inside you because your organs are shifting back down into place... talk about a weird sensation.
@bnsmith85 I didn't know about it either, one of those bizarre little PP surprises I learned on my own that nobody seemed to ever mention. It lasted for 6 months with DD, and probably 3 months with LO. Just a heads up!
Eww @AllyTheKid I def remember after my D&C the weeks of discomfort/cramping/pain that was partly apparently from my uterus shrinking and things returning to their usual place even just after 12 weeks so I can only imagine the changes after a full term pregnancy....not looking forward to that!
Not getting anything done at work today. baby is kicking and rolling all over the place and I get distracted by her so easily, after 2 years TTC they feel like a miracle to me, every time! so I had to get on here and share since my brain is having trouble getting back into work mode.
I've been away not able to bump because I was in Atlanta for the holiday weekend visiting in-laws. Holy balls, it was hot. Also, my SIL's mortgage is $2200 and she lives in a beautiful new house with 5BR and 5BA in an awesome school district.... our rent is the same, and we live in a 2BR 1BA old craftsman from the 1910s which we love..... but but but but, sometimes I wonder if we should move away from California.
@annabenanna FI is from California and wants to move either back there or to Oregon once we aren't legally bound to this state, but everytime I see the cost of living in other places it makes me feel like I'm going to be stuck in Oklahoma for the rest of my life... we pay $400/mo for our 3 bed 1 bath that we're currently converting into a 4 bed.
@AllyTheKid, $400/month? The only thing we'd get for $400 here is probably a shared room somewhere..... It's so crazy, the difference! I have a friend who lives in SF, and they pay $2600 for a STUDIO. I can't. Oregon is beautiful though girl.... I heard that Bend, OR has awesome weather for the most part of the year... I love Portland too, but they are getting pricey up there.
@bnsmith85, if we move, it'll warm my heart knowing I already "know" a bunch of east coast gals that I can be friends with IRL. Be careful what you say, I'll be bugging you for happy hours constantly.
MD here. Our mortgage is $1100 for a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse. 2 bedroom apartments are $750-900 in a bad neighborhood, which is most of the reason we decided to buy.
I live in NC and our mortgage is $500 for a 3 bedroom 2 bath on 20 acres. You have to love the country living!
@emmaaa, about 5 years ago I came thisclose to moving to NC! I was looking for places in Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte. I couldn't convince my now ex-H to move away from Cali though.
@annabenanna we are about 2.5-3 hours from Atlanta and our mortgage for our 5 year old house - 4BA 3.5BA is $1300 a month. It's worth it to me to live in smaller cities for the better priced homes and just visit the bigger cities when you need to do serious shopping or fun stuff.
@annabenanna we are about 2.5-3 hours from Atlanta and our mortgage for our 5 year old house - 4BA 3.5BA is $1300 a month. It's worth it to me to live in smaller cities for the better priced homes and just visit the bigger cities when you need to do serious shopping or fun stuff.
Seriously! This is why we live a little outside of Charlotte... I have zero desire to be in a big city, and our taxes are so much lower... and so are the home prices. It's wonderful!
@annabenanna I know the feeling! I just got back from visiting my brother and sister in law in Austin last week and they've got a beautiful 5 bedroom with a pool that they snagged for under 400K. You couldn't even get a townhouse or small condo for that price in Los Angeles. But part of the reason we went was to scope out the area to see if we'd want to move there, and now it is DEFINITELY in our 5 year plan! Loved it!
@sjo_thetwins and @bnsmith85, you know I love city living.... but that is changing now that we have this little one on the way. I've always thought I'd go crazy in the burbs and I couldn't become a suburbia mom.... but my perspective is changing, really quickly. I would just really love to find a small town with a sense of community and a handful of good restaurants, and I'd be happy! Can't I just find a Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls reference) in real life?
Vegas here. We pay $700 for a 3 bed/3.5 bath that's 1900 sq ft. and have the smallest yard known to man. We will be buying a bigger home within the next year because the layout is terrible. It's a three story and the nursery is on the bottom floor.
I am obsessed with old fixer upper homes and would move to the east coast/Midwest in a heartbeat if I could make what I make there.
Overseas perspective: A nice 3 bd/2 bath home in Tanzania (specifically in the city I live) can cost $700-1000 a month. (and that's completely unfurnished -no stove, fridge, ect. ect) The further outside of the city you get the prices go down a bit.
Mortgage doesn't exist here. You either rent or flat out buy or build.
Hence why we're building our own!
ETA: These houses mentioned are largely lived in by the expat population. Most Tanzanian's live their entire family in one or two rooms with a communal outhouse.
Our birth class got cancelled tonight because of construction. Next week is a double class. Is it weird that I'm kind of sad we don't have it tonight? I'm not really learning much but I was excited for DH to go with me this time.
Holy crap am I jealous of all of your mortgage payments!! DC is exp!! We pay about 2800 for a 2 bed 1 bath apt...but that includes parking spots for both of us, which isn't cheap here either ...
On a different note, we started our Bradley Birth classes last night!! I was nervous about my husband liking it. Luckily, the teacher was great, and my DH was actually taking notes, and told me afterwards that he found it really informative. Yay!!!
@emmaaa Just don't move to the coast. Your mortgage will no longer be low.
SIL and her husband lived in Wilmington for about 6 years and ended up moving home because their rent was so high and they couldn't afford to buy. We love living in the country so we will probably never move, plus cities and certain counties are much more expensive than mine.
@annabenanna DH and I are both born and raised (and is where we still live) about 1 hour from Raleigh.
We live in southeast MI, Detroit Metro Area, and we rent a small 3 bedroom bungalow for $850/month. It's a dump, but it's liveable. But it's about 20 minutes outside Detroit and about 2 minutes away from a VERY bad part of town. My husband has almost been carjacked twice and we go to sleep to the sound of gunshots. We talked about moving down to Virginia to be near my SIL, but now that my parents have moved back here, we're staying. Hopefully we'll be able to get a mortgage soon and move out to the country.
Re: Weekly Randoms 07.04.2016
Try to get with another mom on the board who is going to do the same (or one who ends up needing to do the same) and, if you're both able, use different formula brands but each both sign up for the coupon programs that both the formula brands offer. Then, you can swap coupons and both save $$$
For example, my bestie that's due a month before me will be using Enfamil to supplement for her newest LO b/c that's what she used with her son so I'm going to check out Similac formula for our LO for the same reason. Assuming the formula brands work for each of our new LO's, what we'll do is, I'll give her all the Enfamil coupons that are mailed to me and she'll give me all her Similac coupons. When she started having to supplement for her son the first go round, this saved her buckets of money on formula because she and one of the other moms on her BMB did this coupon swap.
This attitude could prove problematic in a few months.
ETA: I realize this can sound rather insensitive in light of what happened with kmolleltz' neighbor. Not intended to be...just real life folks. Not everyone is suited to newborns, turns out.
Eww @AllyTheKid I def remember after my D&C the weeks of discomfort/cramping/pain that was partly apparently from my uterus shrinking and things returning to their usual place even just after 12 weeks so I can only imagine the changes after a full term pregnancy....not looking forward to that!
Not getting anything done at work today. baby is kicking and rolling all over the place and I get distracted by her so easily, after 2 years TTC they feel like a miracle to me, every time!
so I had to get on here and share since my brain is having trouble getting back into work mode.
Alice JoAnne 10/09/2016
MC 08/20/2017 6w4d
@bnsmith85, if we move, it'll warm my heart knowing I already "know" a bunch of east coast gals that I can be friends with IRL. Be careful what you say, I'll be bugging you for happy hours constantly.
Dating: 10/3/08 | Married: 12/27/14
TTC #1: August 2015 | BFP: 2/3/16 | EDD: 10/7/16
DD: 10/5/16
TTC #2: September 2017 | BFP: 4/28/18 | EDD: 1/7/19
DS: 1/9/19
DH: 34
Married: May 2011
TTC #1: May 2015
DS: 10/20/2016
TTC #2: June 2019
#2 EDD: 2/20/2020
And I'd happy hour with you any day @annabenanna!
BFP #1: 7/15/15, SB: 11/14/15
Rainbow baby DS born 9/29/16!!
BFP #3 3/26/18 | Due 12/3/18
I am obsessed with old fixer upper homes and would move to the east coast/Midwest in a heartbeat if I could make what I make there.
Me: 28 DH: 27
BFP #1: 7/15/15, SB: 11/14/15
Rainbow baby DS born 9/29/16!!
BFP #3 3/26/18 | Due 12/3/18
A nice 3 bd/2 bath home in Tanzania (specifically in the city I live) can cost $700-1000 a month. (and that's completely unfurnished -no stove, fridge, ect. ect) The further outside of the city you get the prices go down a bit.
Mortgage doesn't exist here. You either rent or flat out buy or build.
Hence why we're building our own!
ETA: These houses mentioned are largely lived in by the expat population. Most Tanzanian's live their entire family in one or two rooms with a communal outhouse.
Enjoy it @Julia70286!
DH: 34
Married: May 2011
TTC #1: May 2015
DS: 10/20/2016
TTC #2: June 2019
#2 EDD: 2/20/2020
On a different note, we started our Bradley Birth classes last night!! I was nervous about my husband liking it. Luckily, the teacher was great, and my DH was actually taking notes, and told me afterwards that he found it really informative. Yay!!!
@annabenanna DH and I are both born and raised (and is where we still live) about 1 hour from Raleigh.
Dating: 10/3/08 | Married: 12/27/14
TTC #1: August 2015 | BFP: 2/3/16 | EDD: 10/7/16
DD: 10/5/16
TTC #2: September 2017 | BFP: 4/28/18 | EDD: 1/7/19
DS: 1/9/19