I have been keeping nice and busy with a myriad of things; thus, I have neglected both blogging and reading blogs. I have been attempting over the weekend to catch up on y'all's archives, but I have been naughty and have not commented to anyone! Sorry - still love all of you! Part of it was that Jason has the Google account and he changed the password and I didn't feel like looking for it...so, I didn't log in and didn't comment!
A random assortment of information that is either swirling in my head or something we've done lately that I want to share!:
-I could cry at how big Evelyn is getting! What a joy it is to watch her grow and learn! She is working on shaking her head correctly to "yes" and "no" this weekend and she has mastered pretty much every body part including cheeks, knees, and elbows (which apparently my little brother didn't know his elbows until preschool...hmmm :-) I was looking at pictures on our computer and she just looks SO big in them. My baby is growing up too fast!
-Jason painted the living room while I was in MN. It turned out great and I am so appreciative for the hard work that he put in every night while we were gone. I have been working on finding curtains for the past two weeks and finally settled on some. The bonus is that they were on clearance! Woo hoo! I intended on getting these to kind of throw a funky twist in the room, but they were sold out because they had gone on clearance too. I think it is odd that online they are still full price. Oh well, the swirls of polka dots are felt-y and give a nice texture and some modern appeal (and can I say it again - clearance). After I have pictures printed for two frames and hang them, the room will be officially done and maybe we'll even post some pics!
-Speaking of curtains and painting, I found some curtains on clearance for our room too. I have always wanted silver curtains for our room to go with the silver hardware on our furniture and the shades on our lamps. I found some silver-ish gray ones that will work. I know I have complained about Target, but 50% clearances make up for their horrid return policy! :-) We hung them this weekend and I must say, curtains really make a room and complete it. We are going to paint at least two of the walls a rich orange color. Can't wait! Next weekend Jason is painting the entry way a mocha color and our room is up after that. Painting each room just makes the house "ours" even more. I love that feeling.
-I just got a good laugh going through our pics - without realizing it, I wore the same shirt every time I had my picture taken in November and December! Thanksgiving, Advent reading at church followed by an attempt to take a family picture, and Christmas. It is kind of hilarious as you go through the pic archives. I must really like that shirt! I have found myself with a closet full of work attire that is collecting dust, a bunch of zip-up sweatshirts and fleeces for everyday, and about 3 shirts that I wear to get more dressed up. That will just have to do for now! Good thing I was with different people at all three of those occasions, right? :-)
-I am really cold right now. The utility company estimated our bill WAY too low last month. So, we should've known something was up and budgeted accordingly, but instead are stuck with a bill 4 times the amount of last month because they read our meter finally and realized they undercharged us. Jason turned the heat down to 65 starting at 10:30 now instead of 12:30 a.m. Late night blogging and emailing will be cold events! I am not sure if I can feel my feet anymore...hopefully my fingers won't freeze to the keyboard. My hands, toes, and nose are always cold already.
-Punkerdoops Diapers is getting some awesome free promotion in a week! I contacted the local paper again a couple of weeks ago and this time they were takers for a story on cloth diapering! A reporter and photographer were out last week for a good hour interviewing me and getting some great shots. The story is going to be the cover of the Lifestyles section in next Sunday's paper. I am thrilled and hope this will be the start of a bunch of new business! I also wrote an article on Modern Cloth Diapering 101 that will be in another local publication and a local woman's paper/magazine is doing a story on me/Punkerdoops in their April "green" issue. I am so thrilled that the word is going to get out there! Thanks again to all of you for your support and prayers as I try to get this business going!
-Tax time...I am trying to decide what to do about taxes this year. I did my own Excel spreadsheet accounting thing for Punkerdoops this year and so I sure hope it will work for filing taxes. Between starting a business where expenses grossly outweighed revenues, selling a house and buying another, and Jason commuting for 5 months (which I hear is a tax deduction...), I am not sure how to go about taxes. We can't afford an accountant and I am trying to decide if going with a tax prep service like H&R is any better than what I have been doing the last several years at taxact.com. Any feedback? I am kind of avoiding this but know I need to make decisions soon. I also should look into QuickBooks too probably. Just another expense I don't want to incur.
-We bought a potty chair today! I am not getting it out for another month or so. Myself and several of my sisters were potty-trained around 18 months and Evelyn will be 17 months in a few days. I plan to take the next month to research the whole thing a bit before we jump into things. I know I need to be home all week the week I do it and that's about it as far as my knowledge goes!
I think I will leave you with that! Happy Monday, all!
Yep, she already can walk in heels!
One of my favorite recent pics!
Look at those curls! She is eating frozen peas - cutting tooth #8!
We play a lot of dress-up! Jason thinks she looks like a gnome in her cone princess hat.
I find she is in pj's when I take a lot of photos...anywho, notice the shoes again! My little girlie girl!
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6 comments:
Evelyn is getting so big, and it sounds like she is very smart, too! Jonah had all his body parts down at about the same age...of course, there are days when I think he is almost TOO smart. It's scary sometimes!
Glad to hear your business is being promoted. It sounds like you've got some good things going. We'll be placing an order in a few weeks...I'm starting out with disposables for the baby just because I won't be able to go up and down the stairs to do laundry a lot the first 3 weeks or so after the c-section, but I plan on ordering around the end of February/first of March! So, keep an eye out for us!
They grow so fast!!! It sounds like you have been a busy lady. Congrats on the business starting to take off.
hahaha..evelyn is soo big!! and i have to say that i agree with you/jason EVELYN DOES LOOK LIKE A NOME IN THAT PIC!! but a very cute little nome! idk the spelling on that (whoops!) :] i miss you guys a lot! cant wait to get back into the mn/wi area and see you again! love you guys
auntie autumn
She's so grown up! I remember talking to you before she was born...oh my. Time keeps on flying.
Tax opinion: We have used Liberty Mutual for a few years - in the middle, we did our taxes ourselves again, and decided that even without a coupon, it was worth having it done by them. The years we've done our own taxes, we used TurboTax and it was good, even simple...but for the difference in cost, it saved us time and peace of mind having someone else do it for us. No second guessing anything. Especially when things change it's nice for us knowing that we didn't handle the change incorrectly.
Oh, and thanks for the comment - Miss C puked ALL OVER my bed around 1:30am (then was ready to play b/c she felt SO GOOD), and Baby J is still not well, though improved thankfully.
Nice update. They do grow up fast, don't they? Brody is now 4 and Hannah, two weeks away from 18 months. We, too, are getting ready for potty training intro to her. But at their own pace -- we aren't pushing it yet. We use an accountant because I want someone to find all the deductions instead of me looking into all of them. It only costs $100. And there is no stress. You might want to look into it :)
Glad that you are doing so well. Take care,
Trisha
She really is growing up. I love how feminine she is (although I know you said she's kind of a daredevil, too).
I can't give you any tax advice, but I can give you advice on being cold. We keep our house at 65 around the clock (we kept it at 62 before Sebastian was born). Shannon gave me the advice of boiling water on the stove to add humidity to the air, which makes the house feel warmer. I just do it for an hour or so in the morning and it seems to help. I also wear the fingerless gloves when I get really cold (also made by Shannon).
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