Here and back again: Our debt journey

As you can see I have done a terrible job of keeping up this blog. Mostly I blame our lack of Internet. You see, for the last two years our family has been "living like no one else", trudging uphill through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace program. We are slowly making our way to the end of baby step 2, a process full of blood, sweat, and on my part especially, tears.
You see, when we got married back in 2009 we sat down together and added up our combined debt. And we were shocked. I came into our marriage with one small credit card balance and two hefty student loans. And hubby...well let's just say I needed all my fingers to count his credit cards plus his student loans plus some very stupid 401k loans we had taken out to close on our house. All together the debts totaled nearly $50,000! Yikes!
Then it dawned on us that we owed more than hubby made in one year. And that $600 of his meager monthly earnings was going to minimum payments. Double yikes! You can bet that at this point I was freaking out, yelling "why me?" and "this is YOUR fault" and other non-helpful, marriage-destroying things. I think for hubby the worst was realizing he had nothing to show for all the debt. It's not as if he had bought some nice furniture or a huge tv. The balances were mainly little things purchased at the end of each pay period. You know, when there was too much month left at the end of the money.
We knew we were in trouble. We knew we needed some serious help to gain control over our spending. And we knew we needed it ASAP, or we were going to end up bankrupt. Not a good place to be with a brand new marriage, a new mortgage, AND especially when we discovered that we were expecting a baby. I know, we are crazy but we try to keep things interesting :)
Anyway, luckily my dad, who happens to be a financial planner, saw all this and being the concerned dad that he is bought us a copy of "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. Thank you dad! The next month we enrolled in a local FPU class and began the most important journey of our marriage. This is our third year paying off debt, and I am thrilled to say we owe less than $16,000 and are on track to finish this year! In the midst of all that we are now expecting our THIRD child and still feel confident that we can meet our year-end goal.
I write all this to show that it CAN be done, and all the hard work, sacrifice and overtime at work for hubby (meaning long hours at home alone for me) are so worth it in the end. We have so many dreams that would remain unfulfilled if we had never tried to achieve financial stability. Like taking our kids on vacation, renovating our home, starting our own business, being a rockstar (ok that's hubby's). Even the little things, like having internet, going out to eat, and saving for retirement were out of reach, but now they are possible. We are so grateful that nothing catastrophic has happened along the way, and we are looking forward to the day we can scream "We're debt free!"
So what does all this mean for me and this blog? For starters, having money to actually DO things means that I can begin to plan the renovation of our lovely Grant Park victorian. That is generally the purpose of this blog because I love houses and looking at pictures of beautifully decorated houses. My hope is that this blog will not only document the transformation of our home, but also any future investments we make in real estate. I did say I wanted to start a business, right?
We are so excited for what the future has in store, and we can't wait to share as we make progress. Stay tuned!

On the third day of Christmas...

Merry Christmas! Here is a picture from St. Ann's Dinner with Santa:


Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas Season. Remember to celebrate ALL of the 12 days of Christmas!

Postpartum update

Sophia and I went to visit Rachel on Monday for my postpartum checkup. When it came time to weigh her I nearly fell out of my chair. At 7 weeks she is already a whopping 12 pounds! Holy cow!
The strain on my back was becoming noticeable while breastfeeding, even with the boppy, but I never would have guessed she had nearly doubled her birth weight.
Here she is with her big sister:


House update:
I still need to finish the mess I made of our hall bath and laundry area. I started painting 4 months ago but then we had to give our neighbor's ladder back and since then I have lost the motivation, er, NESTING urge! I swear I will finish before the year is out! I can't decide on the cabinetry though. It was painted black and I loved it. Then I decided to try white to go with the new wall color but I just don't like it as much. It's too "beach cottage" for my taste so I will most likely repaint it a dark color.

I do want to share an exciting find from Pier 1. I found these adorable bird salt and pepper shakers. Okay, for those who don't know I have an obsession with bird decor of all kinds. Hubs says I have the decorating taste of a 75 year old woman (!?), but I do have certain criteria for the birds I allow into the house.
First and foremost, they cannot be real. Ugh! I do NOT like real birds. They are creepy and mean, like little dinosaurs.
Second, they have to be either very elegant or plump and cute. The salt and pepper set, I believe, is both cute and elegant.

Cute, no? And only $3 so I had to buy them!

Bad at Blogging?

Yes, I really am. So we have some really big news that you may be able to guess due to the passage of time.
Our new baby girl has arrived!

Sophia Elizabeth Kener
born October 24, 2010 at 10:31 AM
6 lbs, 15 oz; 19 3/4" long

She is absolutely beautiful and we couldn't be more thrilled. Avery is just as excited to finally be a big sister. She is constantly asking to hold the baby and wants to help change her, bathe her etc. I couldn't ask for a better child!

The most special thing about the day Sophia was born was that it is our wedding anniversary. How crazy is that? We couldn't have planned it if we tried (ok, unless it was a C-section) but thankfully it wasn't. I was able to go completely natural and do a home birth, something I really wanted and am so happy I decided to go for it! So now we have a New Years Eve baby and an anniversary baby. So cool! We feel truly blessed with our two sweeties.

Avery, Sophia and I are hanging out home alone today for the first time, and so far so good. Our neighbors and families have been so helpful with food and household chores. Thank you to everyone who has helped this mama recover, we appreciate it more than you know and will return the favor when needed!

So here is a pic of our princess, better pictures are coming when I'm not working with a point and shoot :-)

First blog post EVER...with some awesome news on the side

Since so many people I know have blogs and I spend a majority of my online time lurking around them, I believe it is high time I start my own. I am, after all, quite opinionated and full of myself so why not?

This blog will be primarily about my family, my kids and whatever I happen to be obsessing over at the moment which varies greatly depending on the minute. I love being inspired by pictures so my intention is to include as many as possible for your viewing pleasure. And now, on to the posting!

The good news is that...I'm pregnant!

I'm just dying to tell EVERYONE, but I'm only six weeks along and we are waiting until my first appointment with the midwife. March 18 seems so far away! Until then, here are a few natural baby stores I am drooling over:

http://www.theecoemporium.com/

http://www.seedfactoryatlanta.com/

Avery has been talking nonstop about getting a baby sister It was a special request that even made an appearance on her Christmas list. For her sake lets hope this is a girl! Either way I know hubby and I would be happy (but secretly I am hoping for another girl myself, and even more secretly I am hoping for twins!) We recently found out hubby's brother and sister-in-law are also expecting; she is due two months before I am. How exciting!

I will leave you with this gorgeous nursery designed by Chic Shack