Baby Sullivan | Week Forty Seven

Today, June 3rd, Sullivan James is 11 months old...give or take a few days in the grand scheme of things. This time last year, I was uncomfortable and quite pregnant. We were getting ready to have air conditioning installed in our home and that has been one of the best decisions we have ever made as home owners. Seriously, life changing. 

Anyways...11 months old. I can hardly believe that in a month we will have a 1 year old in our home. No more formula and bottles, hallelujah! He has slowly been wanting bottles less and less and his preference is most definitely solid foods. I feel like the transition to just milk at meal time and no more bottles will be fairly easy with him. Just like with no longer breastfeeding, it just sort of happened one day. One day, he decided he was done and that was that. I, of course, am still kind of sad about no longer nursing but I am working through that a little more every day. 

Sleepy dude after the Splash Park with Grammy. 

I need to start planning a 1 year old birthday bash for Sullivan now. We have never really been the type of parents that go all out for birthday parties. I am not the mom that invites every kid from school and life to a party at our home. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing that but we just love to open our home and lives to those we are closest to, our family. I am looking forward to the fact that Sullivan has a summer birthday (July 3rd) and we can be outside. With Marin, she was born in February so we are always cram everyone into our living room with over flow into the kitchen and up the stairs. 

In other news, we bought a new car after the great Hail Apocalypse of 2018. It's still crazy to me that we even had a storm like that but we are moving forward. We ended up leasing a Kia Optima for Ryan and he is nerding out with all things new car. It's super nice and we got a killer deal on it from a local dealership in town. I know leasing isn't always the best option but it worked within our budget for now and we went for it. We weren't exactly planning on having a new car payment right about now, especially now that I'm working a lot less hours than before. 

This week is shaping up to be a busy but good one. I somehow conquered most of the laundry this weekend and tomorrow will just be for bedding and towels. I'm off tomorrow and this house needs a good scrubbing. I didn't really do it last week and I can always tell. Next week, Ryan and I are going on a little trip and to say I'm excited is an understatement. First off, we are seeing pretty much my favorite musician ever at the best venue ever. Ryan Adams at Red Rocks. It doesn't get any better. We are then going to spend some time up at Blackhawk. I am looking so forward to getting away for a few days, kiddo free. The last time we were up in Blackhawk, that was the weekend I found I was pregnant with Sullivan. Good times. 

Here's Marin at forty seven weeks. 

Life Lately | An Update

Life has been such a whirlwind as of late. So many things seem to be occurring and coming into fruition. We seem to be in a good groove and I am alright with that. I haven't done  post like this in a long time, but as a bit of an update and some link love thrown into it....

 I am almost half way through my Whole 30, look for a post on that tomorrow.....I haven't felt this good and confident about myself in a very long time. People are starting to notice and comment and I'm only half way. I feel that is a good sign. Read my first post on my first week, if you haven't already. 

Work is in full swing as always and I'm just trying to live out a good "hustle." I've been editing photos like a crazy from a wedding the we photographed at the end of June. Any spare moment I have, during nap time, late at night: I edit. 

I've been loving the library as of late. A library card is literally one of the best things to happen to me. I can't even begin to tell you how much money I was spending on books that I would only read one time and then would fall back in place on a shelf, left untouched. The library is awesome. Currently on my nightstand, I am reading: this, this, this, and this.  I also am really into audio books and nerd up every time I am driving in my car. My current listen is this.  I read the book years ago but it's wonderful because it's read by the author and I like her vibe. How can one not love the library? My book list of things I have on hold is ever growing. I wish I had more hours in the day where I could get lost in a good book. Sometimes nap times allow me to do so but most of the time it's before I go to sleep at night. I read with the roar of the A/C in our room and the baby monitor humming next to me. 

Yesterday, we did something that we have been talking about for a long while but I never thought would actually happen. WE BOUGHT A NEW CAR!!!!! I no longer have to drive the mom mobile. The minivan was great for the years that we had it. We played a lot of shows with that car and crammed it full of music gear. I've driven Marin all over the place. I've fretted about how the van is running and whether or not it will make it to the next season. I have never in my life had a new car. My own NEW car. Dodge had some amazing deals out there and we spent the day at the car dealership. Overall, it was a great experience. I am not a big fan of dealerships but we had a great experience, albeit a long one. We drove home a new Dodge Journey, which is literally the bigger brother to my husband's car. I love it. I can't wait to go drive it today. 

That being said, I've also been researching ways to live more frugally in our lives. With a brand new car, comes a brand new car payment. We managed to get our payment in a decent range, but I need to tighten things up around here a bit. I won't be frequenting Starbucks per usual, that is for sure. Here's what I've been reading lately..... 

Keeping Our Household Budget Under $300 Monthly 

Tips on Living on Next to Nothing

Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps

Pinterest is full of ideas... 

And on a kind of related note...I found this article interesting: Take the 1000 Day Challenge!