Another big milestone

Well, those of you who are friends with me on Facebook might already have read my status from tonight. Brooklyn is sleeping in her own room from tonight on. At least that's "the plan". We'll see how mommy does. I know this is definitely harder on me than it is on her. She will probably sleep better now. At least that's what I hope. The last few nights have been very difficult. She's been waking up several times a night and having very fitful sleeping. I don't know what the deal is. The only thing I could think is that she's sleeping in the same room as Waylon and I and any time we move in the bed, it makes noise and she's pretty sensitive to noise. I think she just needs to be in a nice dark, quiet room of her own. Tonight will be a test run. I just know I'm going to freak out if I wake up in several hours and see that she hasn't woken up yet. I'm still a little worried about SIDS although I've taken EVERY precaution to avoid it. A mother will be a mother and will worry. There's not a whole lot I can do but continue to give her up to the Lord because he is in control and no amount of worrying on my part is going to help. So pray for me as I take this step forward in letting Brooklyn grow up by sleeping in her own big girl crib that uncle Bryan bought her. I'm excited to be using it at least! And now that she'll be sleeping in her room, we'll get more use out of her nursery and all the time I spent decorating it. I remember sitting in there thinking about what it was going to be like when she was finally here and we were using that room and now, here we are, 3 1/2 months into it! It's been a wonderful journey so far and I'm looking forward to enjoying every moment of it along the way.

I'm proud to say that Waylon and I have implemented a budget and a system to keep from over spending! It took so much of the stress about my worries in this area. We sat down and wrote down what our income would be for the month and then took out all the bills we pay every month. Then we budgeted amounts for gas, groceries, eating out, and entertainment. These amounts I withdrew from the ATM and put into envelopes labeled for each category. Waylon and I each have our own envelope for eating out for the entire month. Our goal is to only eat out on Sundays when we go with our family after church so we allowed each of us $50 for the month. This also goes towards my McDonald's ice coffee addiction so I won't be able to get them as often as I would like. Then again, I know how to make them so I should just start making them at home. Every three days or so I grab a $20 from the gas envelope and put that much gas into my car and just keep it from going under 1/4 of a tank. We allowed ourselves $30 for the whole month on entertainment. This would include going to the movies or renting a movie. We don't really do a whole lot more. We had a little left over and from that we will pay small amounts on the medical bills from having Brooklyn which aren't a fixed amount every month and also use this towards savings and any "shopping" we need to do that doesn't fall under one of the other categories. I really want to get into the habit of saving money so that we have the funds to go on nice vacations over the summer. I would rather have 1 really good week of vacation each year than be able to take several lame ones. Our goal for next summer is to save enough to pay for our family reunion in June and then a trip to Destin, FL in late July, early August with my parents. The hotel they stay in is right on the beach and is nice but not too expensive. It's a Holiday Inn. I stayed there once when we went in November (not a great month for the beach but you can't beat the off-season hotel price!). It was fun and I'm looking forward to going back when we can enjoy the sun. 

Now that we've got the financial situation going down a good path, I want to get the house cleaning going in the same direction. I think what I'm going to do is just make a schedule out where each day of the week has it's 2 or 3 chores that we do on that day every week. That way it's always getting done and it's never overwhelming where we have to clean the whole house all at once. That never happens! No matter how much time I give myself to clean the entire house, it just doesn't get done. ugh

Tonight when we were grocery shopping, we got the medium flow nipples for Brooklyn's bottles. I know this is just so exciting to read about but I'm excited about it! lol. I feel like it's really going to help Brooklyn's feedings to go quicker and for her to be able to take full feedings before she falls asleep. This is especially a problem in the middle of the night. She will start taking her bottle and after an ounce she's already falling back to sleep and ends up not taking the whole bottle. Then, an hour later, she's ready to take another ounce. It's frustrating, that's for sure. Especially when you're freaking out about the fact that you have to get up early and you're up for the 3rd time with your baby who only wants to drink tiny amounts at a time. 

As I type this blog, I keep nodding off to sleep. I'm a very tired momma and believe I will hit the sack before it gets any later.

Toodles