On our way to {great}grandparents' house...

We are heading to see Grandma and Grandpa (Great, to Rylie!) this weekend. Oma and Pop-Pop (Connie and Roy) are also planning on meeting us down there so that we can celebrate the two January birthdays - Grandma Morre's and Connie's.  We are planning on leaving tonight after Chris is done with work, but we are supposed to be getting a whole lot of snow right around the same time!  So, we're playing it by ear (or eyes)...  If it's looking too bad we won't even attempt it tonight and just wait until tomorrow when the roads should be cleared and it'll be safer for everyone!

We haven't been up to a whole lot lately, hence the lack of blog posts.  We have hosted several play dates here and gone to some others' houses to play.  I love the new mommy friends I have made...they will certainly help us all get through these tough winter months together in one piece!

Rylie is sooooo close to crawling!  I think she may be holding out until she sees her grandparents this weekend to show off!  We'll see :-)  I've got the video camera ready!

I haven't been on here much lately because my new obsession of last week has been Budgeting!  I figure a new year, a new start. I found Mint.com and it is a very user friendly financial/budgeting tool.  I believe it is made by the makers of Quicken, but is a "lite" version.  I have attempted to use Quicken before, but it was so complex that I got bored of trying to figure it out so that it worked for us.  And Mint can be accessed from anywhere and they have several Android and Apple apps, so we can always see where we stand when it comes to budgeting.  So far, I love it!  Chris has always been a lot more mindful of where our money comes in and goes (seems to be doing a lot more going these days!).  And with me at home with Rylie (arguably the most important job!!) for the time being, this program has really helped me to see the bigger picture and help us to set savings goals.

We are constantly catching ourselves saying "we'll have to save for this or that"...or "we'll get/do that after the bonus check comes"...  well we are trying very hard not to do that now.  Chris' bonus checks are usually "spent" on many different things before we even get them.  Hopefully by starting our budget, any bonus or birthday money will be an added surprise that we can actually use for things that we are saving for:

- Patio and landscaping
- Trips to North Carolina, Maine, and Bermuda this year
- Playroom furniture/decorations
- Finishing touches for Guest room (lamps, side tables, etc)
- Miscellaneous "toys" for ourselves
- Rylie's tuition!
- ...and lots more

It definitely has helped to see how much money we need to save per month even just for the trips we are planning for the year.  And by having a list of the things we actually do want (not necessary in any prioritized order) written down in black and white, it helps to remember our goals.  Hopefully by using this program we will stay ahead of the game!

Oooops...sorry...went off on a little tangent :-)

Here are some photos from our trip outside with Rylie's sled last Saturday.  It was a gorgeous day!  We actually went for a long walk before the sled ride with Rylie in her stroller.

And just a few of her being cute at lunch time last Sunday:

I'll be sure to have the camera and video camera ready for some shots this weekend!  I think Chris is wanting to take his snow tube and her sled with us, so we'll certainly have some fun!