Thursday, July 30, 2009

Babies!

So, this is a few days late, but as of July 24th, Bennet and Jude have a cousin!! Tim's sister, Sharon, and her husband, Nate, had a beautiful baby girl! We are so thrilled to be related to such a gorgeous little girl!

Stella Elizabeth
6 lb. 5 oz.
19 3/4 inches

Jude had his 2 month check up yesterday and he is weighing in at a whopping 13 lb. 8.8 oz. and 23 1/2 inches! When he was born he was in the 5th percentile for weight and 25 percentile for length. He's now in the 95th and 75th respectively!!! He's actually starting to grow out of his 6 month clothes!!! The doctor gave him a clean bill of health and he got his first vaccine (DTaP) yesterday. We've chosen to do a selective delayed schedule of vaccinations for him. We are declining the rotavirus and varicella vaccinations completely (although if he still hasn't gotten the chickenpox when he's a teen, we'll consider it then). Otherwise, he will be receiving all the other recommended vaccinations, but spread out and several will be started later (such as Hep B, MMR, and Polio). Tim and I spent a LOT of time researching and deciding what to do about vaccinations and we truly feel that we are making the best decision for our family's situation. I was really nervous about him being pumped full of chemicals when he's so small, but I really think we've made the best possible decision for ourselves! AND, just to be on the safe side, I took extra fish oil, vitamin C, and probiotics in addition to giving Jude a 1/2 dose of baby vitamins to boost his immune system. So far, he's been a tiny bit fussy, but no fever or other side effects. We go back in a month for two more vaccines (HIB and Pc) and then monthly for boosters until he's 7 months. If anyone is interested, we came across a GREAT resource for vaccinations that is about as unbiased as you can get for such a heated topic! The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert Sears. It's absolutely wonderful and is pro vaccine, but offers a great schedule for vaccinating that includes ALL the recommended vaccines, just spreads them out, so your baby isn't getting more than one aluminum containing vaccine at a time or 6 in one day! We actually used the schedule as a starting point and made a few changes to suit our family. SO, if you have children, are currently pregnant, thinking about becoming pregnant, or just may have kids one day in the future, you NEED to read this book! Whether you choose, to fully vax, delay, or not vax at all, you will be able to rest comfortably knowing that you have made the best decision for your child(ren)!

Bennet's potty training is going well! He peed in the potty last night before bed and then stayed dry all night (the FIRST time ever) and even peed in the potty this morning!!! Which means, Bennet got a cookie with breakfast. It's acutally really cute! He sings a whole song whenever he pees in the potty. Tim and I started it, but B has added his own verse to it!

Pee-Pee in the Pott-Y!
Pee-Pee in the Pott-Y!
Now I get a cook-IE!

I'll let you guess which line was added by Bennet!! :)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Baby on the Way!!

It's official!! Tim's sister is in labor!! We're getting a niece or nephew today!!!!!!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Buy Nothing New Challenge!

This fall, we'll be heading back to the states to visit family and we couldn't be more excited! Or shocked at the cost of things! Between flights, rental cars, and hotels, let's just say it's gonna cost a pretty penny! So that's gotten me to thinking about our finances a lot lately. We also recently purchased a new computer and financial software. And any of you that know Tim very well, know about his penchant for charts and graphs! WELL, after one too many pie charts showing just how much we're spending, I started going a little nuts. We waste a LOT of money! I started looking into ways to reign in our spending and came across some interesting articles about a group of people in San Francisco called The Compact. Basically, they gave up buying anything new for a year. They could buy essential edibles and some hygiene products, but beyond that, anything else had to be free, borrowed, bought used, or bartered for! I'd heard of them before but never thought I could commit to something that intense. But it got me thinking!! IF we could buy nothing new for just one month, we could really save a lot! And learn a little about our spending habits as well as really see the difference between necessities and luxuries.

So, Tim and I chatted about it last night and decided the best thing to do would be to start immediately! That way there's no time to "stock up" before hand. So we came up with our rules and it starts NOW! No new clothes, household goods, toys, tools, makeup, salon services, gourmet foods, restaurants, etc!

1. Buy Nothing New period lasts from July 23rd to August 31st at midnight.
2. Groceries may be bought, but only essentials, no luxuries or prepared foods. (i.e. cookies and frozen pizza are out, flour, butter, sugar, chocolate, cheese, and tomatoes to make cookies and pizza are in!). No going out to eat either! OR coffee runs!
3. Basic hygiene and cleaning products are ok, but makeup, salon services, etc are not (with the exception of Tim's haircut ever other week -- it's technically part of his uniform).
4. Going out cannot cost money, with one exception: Harry Potter is coming to our theater on base next week and we've been waiting a LONG time for it! So at $2.50 each for Tim and I, we are "splurging"...but no popcorn or soda!!!
5. Any prescription or non-prescription products for health reasons are ok to buy.
6. Any car repairs are ok.
7. Postage costs are ok! As are any communication costs (phone and internet).
8. Obviously, we will pay our bills as well!
9. Any thing that comes up that doesn't fit into these categories must only be bought used, free, bartered for or borrowed!

Luckily, Bennet started potty training a few weeks ago, so he's out of diapers, and Jude is breastfed and in cloth diapers, so we don't have to worry about those expenses. I do foresee a few challenges though! Namely the pampered chef party I'm hosting next week and the fact that I am going to be an aunt sometime within the next few weeks!

I'll try to update once in awhile on our progress. I'm actually kind of excited about it! I'm a wee bit of a shopper and I really think that being restricted will open up a whole new world or cost-free hobbies and fun to us!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Aquarium Day!

Last weekend we went to the Shimonoseki Aquarium with the boys. We saw some really cool fish, dolphins, seals, and even a whale skeleton! While we were there, we also visited the fish market and tasted blowfish! Here are some of the photos we took while we were there.











Friday, July 17, 2009

2 Months!

Jude is 2 months old today! I can hardly believe it, but my little chunker is really growing up! He has started smiling at us recently, which is SO fun! Tim, Bennet, and I all sit around making faces and acting goofy, in an attempt to get him to smile at us again. He's also gotten huge! He hasn't had his 2 month check up yet, so we don't have an exact weight for you. BUT, we did use the highly scientific bathroom scale method to get a weight estimate and he's a whopping 13 pounds! More than double his birthweight! He's also awake during the day a lot more now and occasionally sleeps for longer bouts at night (OCCASIONALLY). He's still a very happy and easy going baby -- not much crying at all! We're extremely lucky to have two fabulous little boys who make our lives SO much more exciting!

As you can probably tell from the lack of posting, life has been busy around the Nelis household! I plan to update you all later with a mega-post and lots of pictures from the last month. But for now, here's Jude's 2 month picture from today and, of course, a shot of Bennet being his goofy self!!


You can see the fat lip he got today from falling....he's a rough and tumble little man for sure!