Money, Money, Money

Well, it has been pretty hard to get some blogging time in...it appears that I have a baby that loves to be held...a lot...but I plan on dealing with that issue at a later post.

I have decided (after reading my friends blog ; the actual post can be found here) to also take the plunge and be the financial wizard in the family. So the start was to find a budget software (cause my husband loves programs with all sorts of gadgets and wizards on them so just an excel spreadsheet would not do...sigh).

So I have decided to give YNAB a try...it is free for 7 days but after that you gotta pay for it. So between consoling a crying baby, and breastfeeding her in front of the computer (really hard to type with one hand) I managed to set up most of the program. The problem is that I am starting to make a budget in the middle of a month were most, if not all, expenses have been paid; so I am setting up for next month. I am finding the biggest issue is when I import our bank accounts it is hard to remember what each transaction was for. So it makes it hard to categorize each part...but I am trying.

I am also using the budget from the show Till debt Do Us Part to help allocate what should be in each portion of the budget. I like it cause it shows what percentage you are using on debt, life, transportation, etc. It can be found here.

Well, I am crossing my fingers that everything balances (I am on maternity leave...but EI is taking their time to figure out what I will be getting a month...not to mention my work was really late in getting my ROE to me, but oh well). I will post in February to let you know how the whole budget thing is going.

TTYL

Life's A Whirlwind

Well, I have been MIA for a bit...for good reason though!

On December 20th 2009 @ 0103 we welcomed our little bundle of joy into this world. Her name is Hannah Rozalind and we couldn't be happier! She was 7lbs 11oz and 19 3/4 inches long. We are doing well and getting into the swing of breastfeeding and cloth diapering.

We had a visit from our public health nurse today and found that Hannah is now 7lbs 13.5 oz (the lowest weight that Hannah was ever at was 6lbs 14oz at 1 day old). The visit went well and no concerns for Hannah or myself.

But I have to say I love, absolutely LOVE our cloth diapers. At this point we are using orange edged Green Mountain Diapers (GMD) prefolds and Kissaluvs fitted size 0. Both are very good, hold in her pee and we haven't (cross our fingers) had a blow out yet. Everything is being contained, so far...

The GMD had to be shipped from the states as they are not available here in Canada but I have to say that it is worth it! I can't say how they are compared to other prefolds but I find that I am not struggling to get the right fit and they are not very bulky (just a slight fluffy bum :D). Which is what I heard on some cloth diapering boards was the biggest problem some people had using prefolds on a newborn. So if you can I would splurge and get the GMD...so far they are worth it. I paid $70.95 for 1 doz orange edged and 1 doz yellow edged. Also for some reason they came across the boarder with no tax or duty applied on top of that $70.95.

I have to say that the best cover we have to this point is our x-small. I have two of these covers and they are the first ones I reach for. They fit amazing with both the GMD and Kissaluvs. The leg gussets fit very well on Hannah's thighs but haven't really been tested with a blow out.

The next best cover we have is a fishnoodle that I also got shipped from the states. It was on a recommendation that I got from a lady on "The Pin forum" (which I highly recommend to anyone who is cloth diapering; but they also have a subtopic of things like healthy living, frugal living, and even a creative corner). Unlike the Thirsties covers, this cover has snaps which can be nice cause sometimes I forget to attach the tabs and cause a nice diaper chain in my washer.

Here are a few things that I am looking forward to this up and coming weeks (and hope to post about soon :D):

- getting some infant/newborn photos done

- trying out our wool covers (still need to prep those too...oops)

- getting the house completely organized (half way there :D)

Thank you for ready my blog and I hope to continue with postings (I will try for at least once a week) about how the cloth diaper and life with a new baby is going.

TTYL!

p.s will post pictures of the model in her diapers but a cute pic of just her will have to do.