Just Keep Swimming... Just Keep Swimming...

Things are truckin' along on this side of the blogosphere.

Since I last wrote, we met with our Realtor and she explained the entire process of a short sale. We had a stager come in the next week and rearrange our furniture to make it more presentable to potential buyers. It's all about utilizing the space in the best way possible and then taking pictures to make your room look large and have great lighting, etc. They announced our listing at the Realtor meeting a few days later and I had one broker stop by to check it out for his potential clients. Now, it has been posted on multiple websites, including the Re-Max website, MLS website, and Craigslist. I will have to be available for open houses where buyers will come with Realtors and tour our house. During this time, I should try to be gone, meaning I'll have to pick up the kids and find somewhere else to go. I can always say no or reschedule it if it's not possible. But these open houses are really important for selling our house, which we really want to do! We are listing it for $10,000 less than we bought it for (and what's it's still worth), which we hope will make it sell sooner. Once someone makes an offer, we have to wait to see if the bank will accept it (which usually takes about 30 days) because they are losing money on the house at that price. If it's all good, then we proceed with closing the deal, which takes another 30-45 days or so. So, we could be out in as little as 2 months or it could be as much as 9 months or more. In the meanwhile, we'll be setting aside several hundred dollars each paycheck and should have plenty of money for our deposit and rent when we do find a new place. There's a possibility that my mom would move in with us, allowing us to get a bigger place, paying less in rent and utilities than we pay now. I've found some 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath houses with backyards and patios for $300 less a month than we are paying now (if we shared with my mom). Jesse and I are all up for the idea, but there's a lot of things that need to fall into place for that to happen.

On the daycare front, I had 3 1-year-olds last week (all born in August)! Goodness gracious! One of my mom's co-workers has a little boy born a week after Josiah. His normal babysitter has shingles, so I'm filling in for about 4 weeks for them. I don't think he's used to be around other babies and didn't like it if Josiah or Madison got too close or cried. One crier would set off another one and I'd have all 3 crying at the same time! He also wants to be held constantly and cries when put down. I've wanted twins in the past, but I've NEVER wanted triplets, and this confirmed that even more! It was hard to get all 3 to nap at the same time too. That was the only day I had all 3, but in general, I'm really ready to stop doing daycare. It's emotionally exhausting with long hours and crappy pay. Seriously, I make about $2.50 an hour and work up to 11 hours a day! Some clients are even behind in paying me, so even though I've been working consistently, I haven't seen any income from it. Since I haven't had any luck finding another job, it looks like I'll just tough it out until something else comes along. I do apply for new jobs when I see something that catches my eye, but I have yet to get an interview.

I have been working a lot on our finances and budget. I wrote up a record of every expense we've had in 2010 and then I budgeted how much money we need to be able to afford to spend based on the highest bill this past year. So, if we paid $70 (the highest) on a utility bill one month and $18 another month, I budgeted for it to be $70 every single month so that we can always afford it. I planned on spending $800 a month on rent, paying for my student loans every month, even eating out and money for entertainment. However, we may have paid $70 one month on that utility, but every other month it is much cheaper, so we'll be saving money every month. In addition, we may get a place where we only spend $700 a month on rent. I may get a deferment on my student loans, so they'd be $0 instead of $280. We may not go out to eat or watch as many movies that month. I feel like budgeting it this way would allow us to build up a really great savings account. And, in order to afford this lifestyle, I could afford to either continue daycare (with more consistent pay) or work part-time out of home. And, if I get certified as a coordinator, then I hope I can build up my business enough to make that a full-time career.

I plan on enrolling in school by next week to get my certification as a wedding and event planner. I've done some more research on schools and found out that getting a certificate is not the same thing as getting certified. One means you completed the classes and the other means that you carry a title with your name. Fortunately, the school I was leaning towards the most has all of the accreditations I'm looking for, and when I am finished, I will be Mandy Peterson, IEWP (International Event & Wedding Planner).  It's a work-at-your-own-pace curriculum, so I'm not sure how long the whole course will take (and, of course, it's not required to be certified in this field of work, but definitely adds to my credentials) but I'm hoping by next summer to have weddings and events booked. In the meanwhile, I'm helping a friend plan their vow-renewal for next summer and have a few upcoming birthdays plus a baby shower. I'm not executing the entire event for any of these, but am just giving some guidance along the way. I'm just glad to get my foot in the door, however much.

Jesse began school for the Fall term this last week. It's been stressful for both of us since I've had this new daycare client and Jesse has been gone for 13 hours a day (between work and school). We're both trying to be understanding of the other person's demanding schedule, but it's been a big adjustment.

Josiah is growing by leaps and bounds. He just turned 13 months old and the changes in him in the past month have been astounding. He's always been on the advanced side of his gross motor skills- rolling, crawling, and walking on the young end of the spectrum. His communication skills, on the other hand, have been less advanced, but since turning a year old, he has begun pointing at objects and babbling about them. He says "ball" and can show you or bring you the ball when you ask about it. His favorite toys involve putting the ball in a hole and watching it roll down a ramp and come out the other side. He also loves toys that sing and have blinking lights or have pull strings to drag around the room. He tries to carry everything. He picks up bags, purses, cars, booster seats, anything he can carry and walks around the room toting it. He also holds toys up to his head like he's talking on the phone and says "Hi". He started waving several months back, but then just quit. He just picked it up again last week and does it now on demand, waving at everyone, even waving goodbye when someone gets up to leave regardless of whether they say bye or not. Last night, he saw dogs on TV and when I asked him where the doggies were, he pointed at the TV. Sometimes it sounds like he is saying "What's that?" and he also says "Uh-Oh" when he drops something. He sometimes fusses when I carry him to his room, but if I say, "It's okay. We're just going to change your diaper," he calms down because he knows it's not "night-night time". He gives us kisses on demand. He'll even kiss stuffed animals or other people when we tell him to give them kisses. He still says "Dada", "Nana", "No-No" and shakes his head no all of the time. In fact, he started shaking his head no if you say anything that sounds like a question at all. He just recently started making the "ba" and "ma" sounds too, and every now and then he says "Mama", but doesn't really say it to me, although he'll respond if I say, "Give Mama a kiss". He is also becoming quite the climber. He loves to climb on the ottoman or couch and chair, stand up on them and bounce. And, occasionally, he dances when a commercial with upbeat music comes on, but neither Jesse nor I are much of dancers, so it's not often. And, finally, he's got 9 teeth, is only eating table food and whole milk now, and although the bottles haven't been removed from the cabinets, he hasn't really been using them. He's in size 4 diapers and 18-24 month clothes. His ears have been okay in the recent months, but if he has any infections this fall, he'll probably still get the tubes. Overall, he's our big, healthy, happy boy!

Let's see if I can get some videos of my cute son to end off this post: