Friday, May 21, 2010

Found It!

I went to the last maternity store in Omaha to look for clothes. And by "last" I mean "second of two." It was a failure. Everything was cute but so expensive. Tank tops were $60 and the cheapest pair of jeans was $105.

But then last night I found where all the cute, affordable maternity clothes are hiding.

Europe.

I came across the UK clothing website ASOS and wouldn't ya know, they sell maternity clothes. Plus, they have an online clearance outlet with clothes starting at $5! I bought three tops and after shipping only spent $46.



Overstock.com also has some pretty affordable maternity clothes. They have jeans and tops starting at $20. I grabbed a green dress, capris and a pair of jeans that were originally $180! Who on earth besides a Spice Girl would spend $180 on maternity jeans? That's insane.

Assuming everything fits, I think I might be set for the second trimester. Which is a good feeling. I think Matt is getting tired of seeing me in pajama pants and Rolling Stone t-shirts every day.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Week 16

I feel that as a woman, I'm pretty maternal and caring. I'm looking forward to bath times, bedtime stories, baking, art and crafts... But oh my god, pregnancy kinda sucks. I am officially not a fan. I really can't wait to finish growing this baby and meet who it is and start living our lives together. But I also cannot wait to be able to reclaim my body as my own.

It's week 16, let's recap what's happening in my exciting life:

I am dying for a drink. Beer, margarita, wine, $6 jug of vodka... whatever. I want it.

I am also dying for a runny plate of eggs benedict with a side of sushi.

I tried to buy a cheap pair of "outgrow em in 8 weeks" jeans from a junior's department but failed. I got up to a size 11 and still couldn't get them to button. Teenagers are bastards.

For the life of me I can't stay up late enough to watch an entire episode of Top Chef. Ahem, Top Chef is on at 9:00.

WHY IS MY ASS GETTING SO BIG!

GIVE ME NACHOS! (Oh, that's why...)

I have to get up twice a night to pee.

One night I dreamt that I put my baby in a kitchen cabinet so I could go to work. I came home and it was completely covered in poop and starving. I kind of had an "Oh, riiiiiight," moment where I remembered that you can't store your baby in the kitchen while you work.

But on the plus side...

There is a teeny tiny person living inside of me and I can feel it moving around! And I get to find out the sex some time in the next four weeks. So it's not all bad, despite the complaining.

Mo Money Mo Problems

I am a money panic worry freak spaz. Money, bills and budgeting scares the shit out of me. I worry about it constantly and I'm not even sure why. We pay all our bills every month. I have some money in a savings account. Our credit card balance is pretty low. Yet, I break into a cold sweat every month when I have to pay bills.

In 2009 we paid off a loan Matt had out and at the end of 2010 our credit cards will be paid off. In all respects we're better off financially now than we've since we got married. We have money to eat out once a week and money to take trips to Target, so we're certainly not struggling. But I don't feel that we have that financial cushion beneath us that we should have at this point. (And by "this point" I mean "FUUUUUCK I'M 4 MONTHS PREGNANT!!!") We don't end up with an extra $200 or $300 in our checking accounts at the end of each month. But does anyone really?

We're pretty sure that 2011 is going to be better financially, yet again. Matt is probably going to get booked more with his show and might be hired on as a bass player for a second touring show. I already have a handful of weddings booked next Spring guaranteeing me a second income for part of the year. Pretty much all of the money I made off of photography this year went back into the business to pay off my gear. Next year I don't foresee any big expenses like that so hopefully I'll be able to make actual income off my weddings. Realistically, I shouldn't be panicking about this stuff. I can't stop myself from it though. It's compulsive and I'm guessing hereditary. This family is chalk full of folks with stress disorders.

I keep looking ahead to having a baby and it seriously scares the financial shit out of me. I'm incredibly lucky to work for a company that has a pediatric health division so all pediatric care is free for my child if I use company doctors. Which I fully intend to. Okay, deep breath there. That makes me feel a little better. Formula is super expensive so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my already giant boobs will serve their purpose (not the purpose of being there for my husband to stare at) for a few months and willfully feed my baby. Another deep breath right there.

Then there's the mountain of diapers that we're going to have to buy. There's no way that I know of to stop your kid from peeing and pooping so diapers are a nonnegotiable. I broached the topic of cloth diapers to Matt as a means to save money but he wasn't having it. Plus, I don't understand the mechanics behind (1) how they don't leak everywhere and (2) how you wash them without getting fecal reside inside your washing machine and (3) what you do when your kid poops in a public place. I mean seriously, you're supposed to put the poopy diaper inside a baggie and carry it around until you get home? Is that a joke? So, maybe $100 a month for diapers. Not the end of the world.

That leaves daycare to figure out. If bookings go well for Matt he could potentially quit his 8-5 job and just tour one or two weeks a month. Instead of full-time daycare we would have to find part-time daycare which is likely even more expensive if that makes any sense. I don't even know how to FIND part-time daycare. I'm guessing it's going to run at least $200 a week for an infant though. $200 a week to feed and change a lump of baby that doesn't move. Does it make sense? No. Do I still have to pay for it? Yes.

It all boils down to one of the biggest stressors I feel, which is not having enough in savings. I wish I could turn back time and live at home for my first year post college and save that $20,000 salary. It would feel so amazing to have a large sum of money like that in savings, just sitting there. I think that would alleviate a lot of my fears regarding unexpected expenses and emergencies.

I guess the bottom line is that I worry about money. All. The. Time. When perhaps I shouldn't. We survived a job loss, a pay cut, 2 busted wheels and 5 new tires, and a vacation to California and came out the other side without any problems. I'm sure we will be just fine.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Whoa. Really?



Suspend Hers: In case you need to hold up your giant pants, or hold down your creeping bra. I pray that I do not ever need to own one of these.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Homemade Drain Cleaner

Our bathroom sink drain is always backing up. Usually one of us will buy a jug of Draino and get the job done. I'm a little afraid of Draino these days though. I'd rather not breathe in whatever harmful baby poison that crap is made of. So, I made some myself. And it worked!!!

Dump 1/2 a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by 1/2 a cup of white vinegar. Once the vinegar is done fizzing, follow it up with hot water. It dissolves the soap buildup and (in my case) released the giant hair clog that was caught in the soap and pushed it up and out of the drain. It was... gross. But now I have a clear drain. And I didn't poison myself in the process.

I don't think this will work on completely clogged drains, but it apparently works great as a preventative drain cleaner.

Monday, May 10, 2010

15 Weeks and New Furniture

Welcome to pregnancy, week 15. It is much like pregnancy weeks 12-14, but with a slightly bigger ass. My weight hasn't really changed since I was 18. Sure, there was that period freshman year of college where Smirnoff Ice and Runza took it's temporary toll, but other than that I haven't gained this much weight... ever.

Yes, I'm pregnant. Yes, this is supposed to be happening. But my god it is bizarre. I think I've gained somewhere between 6 and 8 pounds so far. (I didn't have a scale pre-pregnancy so I'm just guessing based on what I *think* I weighed before.) According to baby charts that's pretty on track with what I should be gaining... but it's still weird. I put on an old pair of jeans and a tee yesterday for lunch with my husband's family and I looked like a sausage about to burst from it's casing.

Jeans are officially sidelined for the time being.

The strangest thing about pregnancy weight-gain is (obviously) that it's not evenly dispersed. It all piles up in certain areas. The butt is a little bigger, the tummy is bulging, and the boobs have no place left to go.

Obvious statement of the year: Pregnancy makes you feel so round!

In other news, we had some bedroom furniture delivered this weekend and the bedroom looks so fucking nice now! It looks like mature, responsible adults live in it. Unfortunately though, the nursery is still an office, and the studio is still a room full of crap. Those rooms are a package deal though. They both need to be emptied and rearranged at the same time. And that time was not this past weekend. Hopefully we can manage to get it done this week because my studio gear is being delivered today and I can't wait to get it set up and find some babies to photograph!