I’m starting something new. Well, new and old. Long ago I used to do two different posts a month, one on how we saved money that month and one on things I was currently really into (TV shows, music, activities, etc). I stopped doing those and focused most my efforts on bringing you posts on how to do things or talking about being a mom. Those are great things and things I want to write about! My main goal in blogging is to help you on your motherhood and frugal living journeys.
Buuutt….I feel like I’ve lost a little bit of my personal touch by no longer sharing my life. I’m a blogger, not a “how to” article journalist. “Personality” and “blogger” go hand in hand. I want to bring a little of that back. Each month you can look for an extra post with things that we did over the month, ways we saved money, ways we failed, etc.
February- general review
Early February wasn’t overly interesting. The kindergartener was able to stay up to watch some of the Super Bowl. She was quite excited by that. Midway through the month, a stomach bug hit the family. It started with the toddler and it was awful! The worst part was the girls were scheduled to go spend most a week with my parents. They did still go but the 5-year-old got sick while there and gave it to both my parents. :/
The same day she got sick, my husband got sick and came home from work. It may be completely selfish but I had greatly been looking forward to those few days of being completely alone. My introverted nature had been needing it. So hard to have plans like that changed. I crave alone time some like people crave chocolate. It’s how I recharge and function. I hadn’t had any alone time for many months then to have it taken away was disappointing. Understandable as illnesses just happen when they happen, but still disappointing. I actively tried for some “self-care” and it failed. At least I managed to completely avoid getting sick myself!
February- money review
We did go over budget in a few areas. That stomach bug caused some issues. The toddler was going through pajamas faster than I could wash them and we only had a little bit of Pedialyte in the house. I had to send my husband for supplies. He did find pajamas in the right size on the clearance rack at least! Having it happen after a smaller than normal paycheck was a challenge.
However, our tax refund arrived late February and I was able to pay off my student loan! It took us a little off course from out debt snowball but it will bring peace of mind. As summer comes, my husband’s hours will slack off and his side jobs aren’t an all the time guarantee. My student loan payment was half a truck payment a month. The months he has enough hours, we will still follow the snowball. The months he doesn’t, we’ll have that cushion to help.
(Yes, we financed a vehicle while doing the debt snowball. Also not the right way to do it but we didn’t have enough to purchase a new to us vehicle in cash and the van was beyond unreliable. It is the decision we made and we’re both good with it.)
February- motherhood review
The toddler. Oh, the toddler! So many new words! She was slower to speak than her older sister. We can only hope that means she doesn’t talk nonstop about everything like her older sister. 😉 She is also getting pretty good at “asserting her independence.” Which is a nice way of saying she says “no” quite often. It’s fun to watch her grow, even if it is tiring. She is casually potty training. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate potty training? That and teething are two of my least favorite parts of motherhood.
The 5-year-old is officially reading! Homeschooling definitely has its challenges but I love that I’ve been able to be there where she discovered that she can read. Not just a word or two but she has learned the skills to figure out a lot of words she doesn’t have memorized.
That doesn’t mean that our days were perfect all of February. There were certainly days where motherhood was incredibly tough. Both my kids are a bit on the “highly needy” side but in very opposite ways. My kids are polar opposites so our days are sometimes very long.
March is going to bring lots of birthday parties, hopefully some melting snow, and I’m hosting my first Thirty-One party the second week. I’m excited about that! How did February go for you?
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