Pregnancy fears

This is my first pregnancy. I'm also a worry-wart. Do you know what this leads to? I'm insane right now.

Every single day I have a new worry. "I haven't felt the baby move today". "My tummy hurts, something must be wrong with the baby". "I haven't been sick lately, I hope the baby is okay". The last one might be the most insane, but Chris is definitely putting up with a lot. Poor guy. I never stop worrying.

Then we go to the doctor and guess what!! Everything is fine. Of course.

Anyone else have this problem during pregnancy?

20 weeks

21 weeks

23 weeks

Budgeting

Wednesday night, Chris and I sat down and put together a budget. It was so much easier than I thought it would be, and afterward, I felt so relieved. The feeling of having a plan is great. I definitely feel more optimistic about our future.

We browsed pinterest for a bit, looking for helpful budgeting advice, and came across Christine's blog, First Home Love Life. She had a post about budgeting with differing paychecks. Neither of us have consistent paychecks... they are about the same every week, but never exactly the same, so this was perfect for us.

She uses an apple app called Numbers, but it was $9.99 to download it on my iPad, so I just stuck with excel on my laptop, and it worked well for us. I do eventually want to get the app that she uses, though.

Also, Chris and I haven't been very organized in the past, so we didn't have our old bills to reference back to. We do plan on trying to look at our old bank statements to get a better idea, but for now we just made do with what we have.

For now, I'm content with what we accomplished. I feel that we have a solid system down, that will allow us to manage our money so much better. 

2014

2014 is bound to be crazy. In May, we are expecting our first child together, and my first baby. I can't wait for this new adventure, but I'm not going to lie, I am terrified.

Chris and I only made one New Years resolution and it's to create a budget and follow it. Easy enough? I sure hope so.

I'm hoping to be able to come up with a plan so that while I finish school, I can quit my job. I'll be going to school 20 hours a week, and I want to be able to spend the rest of my time with the baby. Because of this, I have a few other goals I'd like us to work toward. They're not resolutions, just goals. I know it won't be perfect the first year, but I hope we can make things work and make our lives easier.

1) Don't be afraid to ask for help when I need it!! 
The women in my family are always offering help, and I always turn it down. I know their offers are sincere, so I want to work on becoming more comfortable with accepting.

2) Grow my Avon business.
I sell Avon, but I don't put much work into it right now. I want to change that and use it as a way to have extra money after the baby is here and after I quit my regular job.

3) Loose baby weight, plus some.

4) Write to my brother more.
He's so consistent with writing to me, and I have trouble finding the time to sit down and actually write a long, meaningful letter. I feel like an awful sister and I definitely want to get better at this.

5) Take more pictures.
I've realized that I definitely don't document my life as much as a I used to. I hardly have any pictures of the past year! That needs to change this year.

6) Add a mud room in the garage.
This would make my life so much easier and more organized.

7) Plan meals and waste less food.

A Look Back at 2013

From moving in with Chris and the kids, to getting a new kitten, to getting a new nephew, to getting pregnant myself, it's been a pretty crazy year.

Last night, we brought in the New Year with the kids, Chris' parents, sister, and nephews, bowling. My brother and his girlfriend met us there, too. It was a good, sober night (for me, at least) and we were home by 12:40AM. It was the quietest New Years Eve I've had in a long time but it was nice to not wake up with a hangover.

Chris and I talked when we got home last night, and we decided there's no way 2014 can be as crazy and life changing as 2013. Then again, we will have a new baby, so we'll see. :p