It's Not a Porsche

Actually it is quite the lemon.


It does come equipped with a steering wheel though.


However, no ignition (much to Charlotte's dismay.)



And it is very clean...

...coming equipped with its very own garbage bag. (And yes, we keep a garbage bag in our car!)

My Little Guy

I feel like I don't write very much about my Elijah on this blog and figured I better start! There are just so many cute things he does that I don't want to forget, so here goes.

Almost always calls for daddy when he wakes up in the morning, except it usually sounds like "Daaaaaaddyyyyyyyyy." (This I don't mind!)

When I do get him up (and yes, it's usually me, since Greg is getting ready for work), if there are any blankets left in his crib, he will gather them all up and I'll have to pick him and all the blankets up (which then end up downstairs, disbursed throughout the house)

After dinner, when he's all done eating, and if he's tired, he'll run laps around the dining room. (It is the cutest thing ever!)

Thought he was advanced for walking/running on his toes, until it was brought to my attention at his 18 month appointment that he really shouldn't be doing that, and is now set to get assessed by a physical therapist.

Will give Charlotte a hug whenever she asks for one (I mean, he'll give any of us a hug when we ask for one, but there is just something very cute about two siblings hugging!) Unfortunately no pictures of this since I never seem to have my camera handy for those moments.

Loves water and will do anything to get his hands washed.

Loves brushing his teeth, which makes getting him ready for bed very easy, because all we have to say is "Want to brush your teeth?" and he'll cooperate.

Loves bath time, especially if we get the jets going on the tub. (Charlotte doesn't like it so much since it is "too loud" but Eli always asks, for "Bubbles!")

Can say lots of words, but sorry folks, I haven't kept track with how many he does actually say. His first string of words though is "I don't know."

Can sing Old McDonald Had a Farm as evidenced here:

Monthly Financial Checkup

It's the end of the month, and a long month at that, so I wanted to report how we did on our debt snowball. We paid 10% of our income to my school loans! Yes, 10%! And that's not it (yet)! First of all, we were able to do this because this was a 3 paycheck month. Because we are so used to living on 2 paychecks a month, the plan was to use the third paycheck for the debt snowball, which we were able to do. However, because it was a third paycheck month the last paycheck came near the end of January and we needed to keep some money out for February bills and budget. (We're still working on the whole cash flow thing.) So, when the next paycheck comes we'll be able to put another big chunk toward our debt snowball! (And we're keeping track of how much we are "lending" to February).
I must say, at first I was bummed, because I really wanted it to be more, but Greg really put it into perspective for me, telling me we should celebrate because we put in X amount of money, and X amount of money really is a lot, and he's right. It is a lot of money AND (I just had to figure this part out now) the 10% of our debt snowball pays off 11% of my school loan, so that is happy news.
So, how did you do this month?

Monthly Financial Checkup Addendum

Already God is honoring our debt snowball! Greg got a check in the mail from one of our health care providers because he overpaid a bill! When does that ever happen?!? And since this is extra money, right away it's going into the checkbook, only to be taken right out to pay off more of my school loan. Isn't that awesome? Isn't God awesome? Woo hoo!

Monthly Financial Checkup

It's a new month and a new year, and if you remember from this post each month we are going to report on how well we did on paying off my school loans. I am happy to report that in December we put 2% of our income towards our debt snowball! Now, before you gawk at 2% thinking that just sounds measly, to put in in perspective it is more than a date night out would cost us. Plus, 2% is better than nothing! I doubled checked my school loans (I have 2 of them) and we believe we can pay the one off by June, so we are working towards that! And of course, we know that nothing is too difficult for God, and we trust He is going to help us along the way get to that goal!

Our Christmas Fun

We had a fabulous time in Iowa for Christmas. Ever since my mom moved there, she thought camp would be a great place to celebrate Christ's birth, and she was right! No one was around, she doesn't have a TV with an antennae or cable (so we were able to watch movies) and the gravel roads to and from camp were pretty icy, so we stayed put in Heckmann House. It was a great time of chilling and relaxing, playing outside and just being together as a family!

Our first project was decorating Heckmann House. My mom had a little tree, with some of my childhood ornaments, plus we made a lovely paper chain!


Charlotte making the nativity.

One of our little snow bunnies!


Greg went sledding everyday, and often took one of the kids with him, although I don't think they had as much fun as he did. One highlight was sledding on Christmas night with everyone, minus me and Foster baby, although we did join everyone outside!


There were plenty of baking projects! Here, Elijah is chopping nuts for my mom's famous truffles. Below the kids make our birthday cake for Jesus! Another baking project included sugar cookie Christmas tress the kids decorated.



We made a snowman on Christmas Eve!


Our Christmas Eve dinner! We had lasagna (my favorite), homemade bread, and salad, plus truffles for dessert!


The cousins on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas!

Today, thanks to CBS, Elijah came home with a very precious handmade Baby Jesus doll. As soon as I heard this I knew Charlotte would love it. And love it she does! She saw it right away and hugged it tight, even neglecting the craft she made with goodies in it!

And as she played with baby Jesus, being Mary and setting him up in his manger and singing to him I couldn't help but remember that that is the way it should be! God sent Jesus so that we can hold on tight to Him and yes, put aside everything, so that we can LOVE Him, hold on to his truths, and follow Him, and of course, know that He is right here loving us!





Oh, and this was not staged at all! Everything was Charlotte's natural doing!