Three Months Old

Lila was three months old on the 18th!  No doctor's appointment at three months, so I'm not sure of her weight and height.

Now that Lila is a big three month old, she's talking up a storm and trying to roll over.  She can almost turn over but her arm gets in the way.  It makes her really mad, and she starts crying because she's stuck in an awkward position.

It's hard to be a baby.

First Father's Day

I realized this morning that I never did a post for Johnny's first Father's Day.  That might be because our new diet has me in sugar withdrawal, and I seem to be a bit spacey and less nice without it.  But anyway, for Father's Day for Johnny and for my dad, Lila and I decided to do some pictures of us together for their offices.  My mom took some in our backyard, and they turned out really nicely.

This one below is my favorite.  Lila seems to have her sassy pants on...I wonder what her teenage years will be like.

Johnny is upset he didn't get a # 1 Dad mug also.  He said he might just buy one for himself so that he can walk around the office with it.  Classy.

Losing the Baby Weight

Apparently in France, women only put on 20-25 pounds during their pregnancies and lose it within the first few months.  Well here in America, we like to go big.  I certainly did with my pregnancy.  Overall, I believe that I put on 45 pounds.  Almost three months in, I have lost half of it (though 10 pounds was Lila herself), and I'm having trouble losing the rest.

So we have decided to take action.  Johnny, being the supportive husband that he is, and I have decided to do a month long shock to our systems starting Monday.  We got the idea from my mom who has done it before at her gym, Infinite Fitness on 133rd and Roe.  Here are the general rules:

• No carbs after 1:00pm (and only one serving before that)
• No sugar at all
• 3-5 servings of protein a day (meat, fish, eggs, etc.)
• 3-5 servings of veggies
• 45 minutes of vigorous exercise 6 days a week

I've already told Johnny that I get to cheat on my birthday as well as when we go to Silver Dollar City with our families (funnel cake? yes please).  We bought a scale; Johnny bought a bike...we're ready to go.  You might not want to talk to me for awhile.

We Put the "Bud" in Budgeting

Ever since we got married, Johnny and I have been big budgeters.  That doesn't necessarily mean that we always make great financial decisions, but we do try to stick to a pretty strict budget.  We've tried a few different budgeting websites and quickly found that none of them worked for us.  They were all too complicated or had too many categories or squirreled away different expenses without us knowing.  

So, Johnny, being the Excel spreadsheet loving guy that he is, made a really simple spreadsheet that we use for all of our budgets.  I thought I would share it with you all here.

A slight tutorial:

First of all, the numbers are not our actual budget; they are just numbers that I plugged in.  

• There are two sheets as shown at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  The first one shows you what you have budgeted for the month in each category and how much is left in that budget.  The second sheet is where you plug in all your spending.
• On the second sheet, you simply type in the date of your purchase, what/where you purchased, the category it fits under, how much it cost (negative for spending money, positive for making money), and (if you want) what you used to buy it with.
• If you want different numbers or categories, simply erase what we have and plug in your own information. 
• For a new month, just copy and paste columns A, B, and C from sheet one underneath all of your spending on sheet two.  This will add new money to your budgets and start you over fresh for the next month.

This type of budget takes a little bit of work since you have to keep up with everything that you're spending, but it really helps you realize how much is going out and how much is coming in.  Enjoy!

Road Trip!

Here's a good idea: take a three month old on a six hour road trip, by yourself!  I jest, actually Lila and my road trip to visit Johnny in Moline, IL went off very well.  We got in on Friday afternoon, and Lila was very happy to see her daddy.

The hotel where we were staying was just steps away from the Mississippi River and the boathouse where we used to go to a regatta every fall with Wheaton.  Notice their neon homage to rowing...with five rats in the boat?

Here's the boathouse that was always Grand Central Station for the regatta.  We didn't see much activity there this weekend, unfortunately.

I can't seem to find it, but we have a big team picture on this dock in 2006. I would love it if someone would send that to me.

Johnny was excited to show the river to his new favorite coxswain.  Henley 2030!

Besides being on the Mississippi River, the other (and I mean the only other) cool thing about Moline is that it's the John Deere capitol of the world.  We went to the John Deere museum.  Lila was clearly riveted.  

I got to ride on a a tractor.  Side note, Johnny and I were listening to the results of a study where people were asked how much money they would need to be paid to do various things like cut off a toe, eat an earthworm, kill a cat, and live on a farm in Kansas.  Do you know that the one that people demanded the most amount of money to do was live on a farm in Kansas?  More money than killing a cat!  

One of the main reasons that Lila and I drove to Moline was that it was only a few hours away from Michigan where our friend Becca was getting married!  I planned to get us into the wedding an hour ahead of time, only to realize when we were about an hour and a half away that there is a time change.  Oops.  We got in with about ten minutes to spare.  I changed in the car while Johnny sped down the highway; we're a good team.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and fit Becca perfectly.  It was also fabulous to see old Wheaton friends that we hadn't seen in three years. 

Lila and I drove home Tuesday, and what should have been a six hour trip turned into a nine hour trip because Lila decided she did not want to be in the car any longer.  I don't blame her.  I don't think we'll drive anywhere for a few days.

June Book Club

We had our biggest turn out at book club this month, ten people!  We packed it in and chatted about a book that we all enjoyed and almost all of us finished: The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

fantaghiro23.blogspot.com

The Glass Castle is a memoir about growing up in an unconventional family.  Jeanette is one of four children who have extremely smart but unorthodox parents.  Her father is an alcoholic and her mother is (in my opinion) definitely bipolar.  The children work to raise themselves and take care of their parents, making for some surprising and interesting stories.  We all absolutely recommended this one for a quick, enjoyable summer read.  For next month, we are reading Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue.

Proud to Be an American

Johnny is off to Illinois for two weeks of National Guard training.  Lila misses her Daddy a lot already.  When I put him on speaker phone, she looks around the room to see where he is.  Lila and I are going to go visit him this weekend, so look forward to documentation of our first 6.5 hour road trip.

You really realize how much you need a person when they are gone.  We love you, Daddy!