Looking for our Wish Lists? Here they are.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Today...

*R had to be at work at noon instead of 2:30 and the day is lagging on forever.
*B&L are just going to leave K here until they come over for Bible Study, which is fine, but is also making the day lag on forever.
*We took the girls to the playground (for only about 10 minutes since it was FREAKIN hot) and Lil got to swing for the first time.
*I am catching up on last week's episodes of the View. And I appreciate them coordinating their summer hiatus with my vacation to Iowa.
*I did 6 loads of laundry. And I did laundry on Monday. Sick.
*I put butt cream on Lil's face because she has a huge rash I want to go away before her pictures on Sunday. She looks like a ghost.
*I am annoyed that Oprah has been in reruns for about 8 years.
*I used our last Swiffer Duster. I love those things. Gotta get some more.
*I am going to make three ham and cheese loaves for Bible Study.
*I let R take some of the Dirt Cake to work before people had it tonight for Bible Study, now it has a huge hole in it.
*I fed Lil Mango for the first time. She loved it. (It was from Gerber, no, I did not make her Mango)
*I cleaned our toilet AGAIN (see yesterdays post).
*I made finger jello for tonight. I love finger jello. I don't like regular jello but finger jello is so much better.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Interesting Facts

1. The lifeguard (known to us as Helga, although I found out today her real name is Elena) is from Serbia. Which "most people in the military know where it is because you people bombed us back in '99."

2. If you mix baby food peas and baby food carrots, the outcome is still orange, not the expected puke brown.

3. Lillian's favorite bath toy is definitely the whale.

4. Our neighbors got "personally served" with a summons to go to Court for failure to pay a debt. They got served by a Sheriff rubberbanding a summons to their door knob, never even knocking on the door. Doesn't seem personal to me.

5. Apparently the July cockroaches are the biggest of the bunch.

6. Randy Pausch, the author of The Last Lecture died over the weekend and Diane Sawyer is doing a special on him tonight.
EDIT: Currently watching the show and it is amazing and inspiring. You tube it.

7. The Cheesecake Factory is having an anniversary and for tomorrow only all of their cheesecake is $1.50 a slice, if you dine in.

8. I just discovered Google Reader. If you have not yet discovered this, or Gmail even, you should definitely ask me about it. Amazing, wonderful things.

9. A week from now our entire family will be in Iowa!! A trip together!!

10. I have horrible toilet issues. I cleaned our toilets last night for Bible Study tomorrow night and yet they already have rust colored lines and rings. Ugh.

11. Effective Tuesday morning, Bennigan's Restaurants across the nation will be closed forever. I find the statement on their home page "Introducing our new Jamison BBQ grilled items...for a limited time only" ironic. I will forever miss their Monte Christo Sandwich.
EDIT: According to this article, not all of the Bennigan's are closing, maybe Va Beach or Flint will get lucky.
EDIT#2: Va Beach Bennigan's is closed for good. Sad.

12. I am thinking of joining the YMCA. Primarily because a friend wants to and they have childcare services. I am hoping they will repeat last September's "pay the day" enrollment fee and we can enroll on September 1st.

13. My brother is on his way to Iraq for the second time. He commemorates this by having his Google away message read "Leaving...on a jet plane." That is my brother for you. You can read updates of his adventure at www.kyleshipp.com. Please pray for him and his wife, Kristen, while he is away. Kyle- not that you read this, but be safe.

14. I made fabulous Blondies. Twice, now this week. Let me know if you want the recipe.

15. My new word is "Gravy".

16. If you make an online order with Children's Place, expect it to take NINE DAYS before they ship your order.

17. If you haven't noticed, I installed a Feedjit application in the bottom of the right column. This tool shows me that in the last 24 hours, aside from the friends and family in Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan we've had blog visitors from: Little Rock, Arkansas; New Orleans and Slidell, LA; Bangkok, Krung Thep; Surprise, AZ; Annandale, MN; Dallas, TX; and Mexico. Come on people, don't be shy, leave a comment and say "hi".

Cell Phone Capabilities

I received this as an email from Richard's mom the other day and was amazed at some of these things. I have not tried them, but thought I would pass them along. Let me know if you know that any of these work or don't work.

1.
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find Yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to Establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

2. Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot From your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock th e doors (or the trunk).
EDIT: See Natalie's comment.

3. Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys
* 3 370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and t he instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.


4. To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone: *#06#.
A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.

If your phone gets stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If every bo dy does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.


5. Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800)FREE411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.

(Or you could just dial 1-800-GOOG-411)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Not much went on today (Friday). I didn't have Kylie so I slept in while R got up with Lil. We laid low this morning, watched 21. I went to Target with Lil while R was at work and got a couple shirts for me, a couple pjs for her and some great finds in the dollar bins: lift the flap board books, great big puzzles and an educational placemat (thank you Kerstin's mom). Ask about the placemat thing if you don't know, its great.

I made chocolate cake today for tomorrow nights girls night at Kally's and blondies for Wednesday night Bible Study, if they last that long. They're SUPER fantastic.

Lil had lots of cheerios today and smushed bananas, twice. She didn't like the real bananas (as apposed to jarred stuff) yesterday, but today she gobbled them up.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Skwish

We just got this toy for Lillian at Babies R Us. (We had to go buy cheerios holders and sippy cups.) We love it and it was unmarked, so they gave it to us for $2.99!!!!!

6 Month Checkup

We had Lillian's six month checkup today and this is what we found out.

She is 13 pounds 6 ounces. (10%)
She is a whopping 26 inches long. (60%)
And her head is 50%.

She is doing all the milestones she's supposed to be doing and beyond except for getting teeth, which we're fine with.

The pedi said to start her on cheerios, a sippy cup, and table foods like potatoes, steamed carrots and green beans that she can pick up herself. I can't believe she's doing all this, she's so big!!

She only had to get two shots and one oral, less than before, so that was good. She hasn't had any reactions yet, but we're still on the lookout for that nasty fever.

The most exciting part is that, unless she gets sick, we don't have to take her in again until her 9 month well baby checkup!!! So far its been monthly or more, but she's finally at an ok weight, that they are going to let her go the full three months.

HABA Toys

These toys are amazing. I want each and every one for Lillian.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Guess what I found on e-bay today?!?!?! Not only a sheet set in this pattern, to make a duvet for Lillian's twin bed, but the actual duvet itself. I made it my afternoon/evening mission to win this auction (there was no buy it now option). I did okay up until going to Bible Study. I asked Tonya ahead of time if I could use her internet while there (the auction was ending while I was there) and she said yes but we didn't anticipate the storms knocking out all the internet/phones. So I whipped out my cell and called Dad Brill in a frenzy and he made a daring leap from a moving car to get out and run in the house and get online to save my auction. He ended up doing me a HUGE favor because if he had not gotten on, I would have missed it by $1.08 and I would have been SOOOOOOO annoyed. Anywho, I won it, thanks to him. And next week I will have the duvet of my dreams! No more searching.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

This is gorgeous.

I feel that at only $20, I must have it. Yet I cannot figure a place for it that R would approve of.

Baby Cheapskate

Baby Cheapskate is giving away 12 free Bum Genius 3.0 cloth diapers. These are the diapers B&L use for Kylie. While I won't buy them, I would definitely use them if they were given to me. So this post is my entry for the contest.

Christmas in July

One of the blogs I read daily, Life as Mom, is having a special Christmas in July week. For me, Christmas being my favorite time of year, this is great fun. She has a Toolin up Tuesday post today asking for our favorite "tools" for Christmas time.

My favorite "tool" for the Christmas season is my Christmas music. It starts October 1st and doesn't end until January. Any genre, any group or single, any age. I love Christmas music. I'm guessing I have about 60+ Christmas CD's and that number grows each year. Only a couple months until October people, dust off those CD players.

Bible Study

I am hosting Bible Study next week and am in need of a great idea to make for dinner. There will be anywhere from 2-15 people attending. I am making cupcakes for dessert but that is all I know for sure. It needs to be something that can be at least partially made a day ahead of time. Comment and leave me your thoughts and/or recipes. I will pick the best idea and the winner will receive....
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my utmost gratitude!

Love Hate Tuesday

I am in a very bad mood today. Life is crappy. And to top it all off, I'm bored out of my mind and stuck at home cuz R took the Pacifica to work and won't be home til midnight. So I decided to write a list of the things I hate, hoping to get it all out and then list the things I love, to maybe put me in a better mood.

I hate:
Navy medical
Obstinate husbands
Cranky babies
Phone calls during naptime
Crying during naptime
Sick relatives
Vacations that are two whole weeks away
Being stuck at home
100 degree heat
Being fat
Not having an Office 2003 disk and having to pay $100 AND be forced to upgrade to 2007
Not knowing how to make DVDs from our video camera
R breaking the video program for the computer in the process of trying to figure it out
Laundry
Making bottles
Wrapping up the vacuum cord
That the Navy still isn't aware we have a daughter, despite her age of six months
We do not currently have wills, guardianship papers, or medical releases.
Getting the mail being the most exciting part of your day
Getting nothing but ads in the mail (and not even good ads at that)
Cleaning up from decorating cupcakes


I love:
The art for Lillian's room
My new coffee table
My sling
Diet Coke
Cheese-Its
Vacation being only two weeks away
Clean rugs
B&L picking K up early so I can (theoretically) get in an afternoon nap
That Big Brother is on again (3 hours a week I can be mindlessly entertained with stupid humans)
Army Wives-best show ever on TV
That Lillian can hold her own bottle
Decorating cupcakes

Monday, July 21, 2008

Navy Medical's "opinion"

Richard finally got in to see a doctor at the Naval Medical facility today. He took with him the written record from being at Chesapeake Hospital but they did not give him copies of the actual x-rays or EKG tests.

The doctor on base said that he definitely did not think it was pedicarditis. He did not think the heart was involved at all. He said R never needs to worry about having a heart attack. He said the EKG the hospital did showed no abnormality. He said the hospital is overusing this diagnosis. He did an x-ray of his own and showed R that there is currently no sign of pedicarditis.

He said it could take up to 9 months to figure it out totally. He did do bloodwork. But he thinks it is anxiety. He put R on Paxil for three months, but said he wants to see him again in one month. He did tell R to keep taking the medication the hospital prescribed him, saying they weren't only for inflammation, but also pain.

If you want my opinion and ranting, read on, if not, go ahead and stop now.

He did not have the x-rays and EKG reports from the hospital. He did his own x-ray today, four days after the pain started, when the pain has been gone for two complete days, and after R has been on medication for four days, the x-ray today showed no inflammation, not surprisingly.

It is odd to me that the two different places (hospital and base medical) have two completely different opinions. A third opinion is not an option, because the Navy is the Navy. Based upon this alone, I am more likely to believe the answer from the people who actually treated him while the pain was happening, not four days after the fact, without EKG results.

I'm not saying that anxiety is a real problem and that Paxil can help that. I'm not even necessarily saying that R doesn't have an anxiety problem. R does let himself get stressed out and that might have coupled with something else to cause this chest pain. But I don't think that with him never having had one before, having an anxiety attack out of the blue, when he is perfectly fine emotionally, is unlikely. I am saying that I think this dr. offered that without much basis and as an easy "solution".

It took 26 years for this to happen once, the likelyhood that it will happen again in the next month is slim. If it doesn't, this dr. can say "see, magic pill, take it forever, bye" and then when he has another one of these 1 or 5 years down the road, we will have no more information because no more testing will have been done.

I don't want R on the "magic pill" and then when it happens again, to say, "oh its just stress" and die from a heart attack.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Pericarditis

Richard was just (4pm Friday) discharged from Chesapeake General and diagnosed with Pericarditis, also called a "mini heart attack". He is to follow up with base medical on Monday for further testing including lung testing, as they feel there are possibly lung issues also. We are all glad to be home and have a few answers and not thrilled about more testing next week, on base no less.

Hospital

It is 1 am Friday and R is in the hospital. He had severe chest pains for 3 hours and decided to go into ER at 5pm (Thursday). They did a couple EKGs, took blood several times, did an exray, hooked him up to the heart monitor, used nitro on him, gave him asprin and torodol. They pretty much stopped about 11pm, but they are keeping him overnight to "monitor him for a heart attack". I have to go back up at 7am and take him stuff to do a stress test. They said everything they've done so far, checking the heart, is normal except for a "blip on the EKG", which they said is actually pretty normal. If the stress test is normal, he can come home tomorrow and follow up with base medical next week. They only checked for heart related things and if it is not that, then they will check for things related to the lung, the ribs, the muscle and reflux.

Thanks to Kallie, whose husband just deployed and was going to take me to a Kenny Chesney concert tonight but instead dropped me off at the hospital and turned right around and picked up the girls (mine and hers) from the sitter and took them home. I just called her (at midnight) and told her I needed her to watch her all day tomorrow and she said sure and is keeping her overnight. So at 1am, I just left her house, leaving her more clothes, formula and diapers. Thanks Kallie! You're literally a lifesaver!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Poll Time

EDIT: I've added pictures of the general style for each option. Pay no attention to the individual colors or things on the walls, or bedding specifically, just look at the style of the pictures as a whole. You don't have to have an account to leave a comment, just click on Name/URL and type your name in and leave your comment :-)

Okay people, its obvious I'm torn in two directions. I need your input. Leave a comment with your vote please.

Option 1-Garden/Cottage feel with more white than bright and flower bedding and rug. Think sheets pictured from Pottery Barn. A la...


Option 2-Bright Geometric (stripes, polka dots) feel with geometric bedding and rug. Think blanket with peacock. A la...




Leave a comment with your pick please, please, please.

Two more rugs

Two more rug possibilities from Anthropologie: Majestic Providence Rug and Dream Menagerie Rug. Again, this site wouldn't let me pull the pictures to put in the blog.

Here we go again...at 12:44am no less

More inspiration...

THE blanket
. I want it. Way more than the super expensive one even. Although I don't think this will lay across the foot of the bed. And as much as I do love it, I don't want it cluttering up the white walls. I do want it for each color in it. I love the peacock. I love the dotted pattern. I'm thinking maybe paint above the beadboard orange and do that pattern sporadically (upper left corner-ish).


Another blanket that would work okay:
Pink and Orange Dot

Rugs that might work:
Dot with pink border
PBTeen Bubbles
PBTeen Stripe
PBTeen Big Dot
Nod Floral Rug

Comforters that might work at the end of the bed:
PBTeen Big Dot
PBTeen Dottie

Sheets that would work under a plain white duvet:
Bubble
Big Dot
These are sheets that I would love to have (I received one crib sheet from my registry) however, of course, everything but a bed skirt is no longer available.

Apparently its a bad day for sheet shopping at PBKids because the next two sheet sets I liked were also no longer available. This is another option that I think I like better than the dotted options.

Acessories:
This would be adorable.
This would be fun.
This or this would also be cute.


I finally found some pics of almost what I want to do with the shelf, like these, just higher up on the wall. I tried to past the pictures right here but the website wouldn't let me. Sorry! So here and here they are. Okay, nevermind those even, this is even better, its higher and there is more contrast between the walls and above the shelf.

Okay people, if you didn't know I'm neurotic by the household management binder then you surely do now. However, if you've travelled with me on this journey you can see that I love the damask wallpaper, the peacock blanket and the flowery sheets. Yes, this is why I have issues. I really think I do want the "cottagey, almost old fashioned in a modern way" look, but I can't seem to let go of the "modern, obnoxious geometric shapes and patterns". Thoughts..... tell me what you like, what you hate, and what would suck if it were in the same room together.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Lillian's Room

Yes, I've been a bit obsessive about this lately.

I feel I MUST HAVE this wallpaper.




And totally unlike me, I am loving this rug, even though it does not go with anything else other than the color pink.



If this quilt wasn't so retardedly expensive, I would want it for the foot of the bed, on top of a huge fluffy down comforter with a plain white duvet cover and some poppy pillows up top.



Unfortunately when you google 3/4 height shelf, you get shelves that are 3/4 inch thick or 3/4 foot long, etc. When you google beadboard or wainscotting and shelf you get small wall shelves made of wainscotting. This is as close as I could get to what I want, there is no shelf, but it is white beadboard on the bottom and a color on top. We're thinking beadboard 2/3 to 3/4 way up and then something up top with color, but not too much color to overshadow the cool stuff we plan on putting up there.




In the next week or so I hope to have all my art and frames done and I will photograph them

Links

The links are all corrected, organized, and added to. Careful, you can get off on tangents for hours!!!

Fantastic Fabric and Fanciful Finds

Whew, that took a lot of brain power.

Anywho, as you can tell, I've been spending a lot of time on the internet lately. I found this great site for fabric and other fun stuff. Their fabric is amazing and right up my alley.

Insanely adorable

These are perfectly impractical, horribly overpiced, yet insanely adorable shoes.

Design for Lillian's Room


NOTE: THE PURPLE TEXT ARE LINKS THAT YOU CAN CLICK ON.


I have been toying with the design for Lillian's new room (once we move and the guestbed is out) for a while. I want it to be fun and bright, but not obnoxious and childlike, but not baby.

I was doing some research online and came across a blog by Christine. She stated that you could email in your detailed questions with pictures and she would tell you her opinions. I did so, honestly not expecting anything, or at least in the next century. How surprised was I to get an email this morning telling me she answered my question on her blog this morning?

I think alot of her ideas are marvelous. My plan (as of now, without having any idea what type of room she will be in) is to:
Paint the walls white 3/4 of the way up
Put a shelf all the way around the room at that level (white)
Paint/wallpaper/something above the shelf in bright pink and/or orange
Place all the knick knacks on the shelf around the room
Paint the furniture (pictured above) hot pink
Yes, I said paint the furniture hot pink, isn't that just PERFECT?!?!
Get matching bedding for the twin bed and the crib as long as the crib is in her room
Get a nice bright rug, shag I'm thinking


Let me know your thoughts and ideas!!!!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Links

If any of you have tried the links on the right side, you will notice they are all messed up. I will fix this someday. Just wanted you to know I do know.

Great things

Great things...

1. Lillian is holding her own bottle.
2. Lillian is holding her own bottle.
3. Lillian is holding her own bottle. (Yes it is exciting enough to merit three spots.)
4. The new header on the blog, although its a little larger than I planned, but oh well, don't know how to change it.
5. My Binder!!!! I've already used it 8 or more times. I'd say it was definitely time I made one.
6. I put my wedding ring back on!! Its been off for about a year (not by choice) and it finally fit back on. Now it will be on forevermore, because I can't really get it off :-) But at least its on.
7. Diet coke. Nuff said.
8. We're starting the Five Love Languages study in Sunday School and I couldn't be more excited. Well maybe that my wedding ring fits, and maybe that Lil is holding her own bottle, but you get what I mean.
9. I have a gift purchased, wrapped and ready to go already for a bridal shower this next weekend.
10. I am going to a bridal shower next weekend and R is watching the monster.
11. I am going to a Kenny Chesney concert on Thursday (weather and babysitter-for the friend, permitting)
12. I got a nap today.
13. This...http://www.madebygirl.com/product.php?product=PR-13
14. And this...http://bp0.blogger.com/_XFiPrCMl6Sk/SE8A5wQEw7I/AAAAAAAAANg/7sRwOsesqDE/s1600-h/A-+Z+flowers.jpg

I've been toying with Lil's new room (when we move this fall or next summer) and I can't get one specific theme I like, but I'm playing around with Art right now and liking lots of what I find. I even made some here at home this weekend and even R said it turned out really well. Now all we have to do is move and PAINT!!!

15. We're moving!!! This fall or next summer, depending on what orders he gets and if we stay here, how soon we find a house or admit we cannot afford one and move into a three bedroom apartment or rented house. Finally, Lil will have a room of her own and I CAN DECORATE!
16. Dark chocolate.
17. Our new ottoman. I really should post pictures, but I haven't taken any yet.
18. The print about furniture that I have on a breakfast tray on my new ottoman.
19. Lillian is holding her own bottle!
20. I have my wedding ring on!!!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Home Management Binder

I reasearched and researched online and found tons of different bloggers who described their binders. I took ideas from each one and this is the outline I came up with that works for our family. (Edited to add: UGGGHHHH Blogger won't show my tabs in the post so I've color coded the list. Orange is the Categories/Dividers. Blue are the sections within that category. Purple are things within the blue sections.

Emergency Contact Info
Calendars
Birthday & Anniversary Calendar
Monthly/Yearly to do calendar
Cleaning
Stain Removal Guide
Monthly Cleaning Chores
Contact Info
People
Places
Emergency
Emergency Contact Info
Evacuation Checklist
Safe Box
Inventory
Contents
R Wallet
Inventory
Contents
S Wallet
Inventory
Contents
R Will
S Will
L Guardianship
Financial
Bank Accounts
Stocks, IRAs
Bills
Credit Cards
Food
Meal Options List
Freezer Recipes List
Angel Food Ministries Info
Health
R Medical History
S Medical History
Doctor and Hospital Information
L Medical History
L Immunization Record
L Measurement Chart
L Medical Authorization Form
Holiday
Christmas Card List
Christmas Traditions List
Birthday Traditions List
Other Traditions List
Gift Ideas List
Wish Lists
Home
Warranty Info & Big Purchases
Tax Information
Projects to do
Favorite Internet Sites
Lillian
Babysitter Info Sheet
Age Appropriate Chores
First Year Book
Travel
Summer Packing Checklist
Winter Packing Checklist
Upcoming Travel Tickets & Reservations
Vacation Wishlist
Vehicle
Truck
License & VIN
Purchase Info
Maintenance History
Military Base Sticker Info
Pacifica
License & VIN
Purchase Info
Maintenance History
Military Base Sticker Info
Inspection Info
Insurance Info

Now that is my Table Of Contents, I'll list it again and describe what each section/page is...

Emergency Contact Info - Anything anyone would need to get any one of us to the doctor or hosptial, or direct them to our house. Directions to our house, local hospitals, doctors offices, family contact info, local friends contact info, pharmacy and insurance info.
Calendars - I opted not to do a regular calendar in the binder at this time, I might add it later, but for now, our wall calendar works just fine. Another thing some put in here is a daily to do list but I prefer my white board for that.
Birthday & Anniversary Calendar -Birthdays and Anniversaries (with years) of anyone we want to send a card or gift to arranged by month. Addresses not included.
Monthly/Yearly to do calendar - Broken up into 12 lists of monthly to dos with one list at the bottom for things in upcoming years. Lists a couple specific large cleaning jobs a month, that only need to be done once or twice a year, as well as yearly doctors appointments, dentist, optical, car maintenance, tag and registration renewal, passport expiration, etc.
Cleaning - Several people mentioned that they put a weekly chart in here, with tasks to do each day. I find that I clean when I have time, sometimes all in one day, sometimes a little each day, so I opted not to add this section.
Stain Removal Guide -Becoming more and more necessary.
Monthly Cleaning Chores - A list of cleaning chores that need to be done once a month. I printed off several and labeled what month they were for so we could mark off what had been done already in that month.
Contact Info
People - A list arranged alphabetically, by last name, of anyone we correspond with or need to have information for. Lists: names, childrens' names, addresses, house phone number, wife cell phone number, husband cell phone number. Thought about adding email addresses, but didn't take the time.
Places - Doctor's offices, insurance companies, take out restaurants, car repair places, etc, anywhere that you would have to look up on Google more than once every two months. Mostly this is just name and phone number, but some listed working hours or a specific person to talk to.
Emergency
Emergency Contact Info - Same sheet as above, in both places for easiest reference in an emergency.
Evacuation Checklist - A list of everything we need to do and take with us in the event of an evacuation. The location of everything is also listed so there is no hunting for stuff.
Safe Box
Inventory - A list of everything that is in our fire/water safe box. Also tells where it is located, where the keys are located and what number the keys are in the event we need to get them re-cut.
Contents - A color copy of everything in the safe box.
R Wallet
Inventory -A list of everything in R's wallet
Contents - A color copy of everything in R's wallet, front and back of each card.
S Wallet
Inventory
Contents
R Will
S Will
L Guardianship - Legal document of who we want to take care of Lillian in the event we are both uncapable.
Financial Some people put a budget and their checkbook register in the binder. We don't use a budget per say and my checkbook register and savings account info is all stored on the computer and changes daily so I chose not to include that.
Bank Accounts - A list of the banks we have accounts at, and whether they are joint or single, savings or checking. The balances of the accounts that do not change daily. Account numbers for all accounts. User IDs and passwords for all online accounts. Phone numbers for each bank. Numbers of any cards issued by that bank: debit or credit.
Stocks, IRAs - A list of the different accounts we have, the account type and number, and balance as of today. The name and contact information of our financial planner.
Bills A list of the bills we pay monthly with the typical amount, website (id's & passwords also), phone number, account number, etc.
Credit Cards - A list of the credit cards we have, the phone number, website (ids and passwords), credit limit, balance. Thankfully for us, the balance is ZERO!!!
Food
Meal Options List A list of any meal we've made and liked, so we have options to choose from when we don't know what's for dinner. Helpful to look ahead when you're shopping and pick 5 meals for that week to shop for too.
Freezer Recipes List A list of recipes that can be made ahead of time and frozen.
Angel Food Ministries Info - Information on a ministry that provides food. Includes menu, distribution dates, contact info, etc.
Health
R Medical History
S Medical History
Doctor and Hospital Information
L Medical History
L Immunization Record
L Measurement Chart A chart of Height, Weight, & Head circumfrence any time they measure it. Percentages are also listed.
L Medical Authorization Form - An authorization form for someone other than R or S to authorize medical care for L.
Holiday
Christmas Card List A spreadsheet of our christmas card list. With checkboxes for the next five years of if we sent a card to them and if we received a card from them. Includes addresses for easy reference.
Christmas Traditions List - A list of Christmas Traditions our family has.
Birthday Traditions List - Ditto
Other Traditions List - All other traditions our family has.
Gift Ideas List - I am always listening for people to mention things they collect, like or want. When I hear something, it goes in this list and almost always, come Christmas or Birthdays, I have a ready made shopping list.
Wish Lists - Anything each of the three of us want, small things we've been wanting, large things we want "someday", as well as places we like gift cards to.
Home
Warranty Info & Big Purchases - List of Item, Purchse date, where we purchased it from (store, city, state and salesperson if known), price of purchase, type of warranty (if available), length of warranty, who to call for warranty repair or replacement.
Tax Information For us this is a folder which has three envelopes which house receipts: 1. uniform expenses, 2. health expenses, 3. donations
Projects to do - Any projects we want to do but haven't done yet. Obviously this list will grow immensely as soon as we move into a house.
Favorite Internet Sites - Addresses, login information and passwords.
Lillian
Babysitter Info Sheet - All the information any babysitter will ever need to know (and much more I'm sure)
Age Appropriate Chores - An amazing resource I found that lists age appropriate chores from 9m to 15 years.
First Year Book - I am doing a book for Lillian of her first year week by week. The book is online with a few paragraphs and a few pictures for each week. I have all the weeks of text printed out here for double safekeeping. And if I'm away from the computer, I can add a week in and type it later.
Travel
Summer Packing Checklist - A list of the typical things our family needs to travel in the summer. Columns for: Carry on, things L needs in a suitcase, things I need in a suitcase, things r needs in a suitcase, things we collectively need in a suitcase, things other people are bringing, things we will purchase there. If R is not going, we just delete his column and everything I need is still in my column or the collective column.
Winter Packing Checklist
Upcoming Travel Tickets & Reservations - Another folder to hold information about upcoming trips (tourist info, etc), reservation info, and tickets.
Vacation Wishlist - A list of places we wish to go on vacation.
Vehicle
Truck
License & VIN License plate #, VIN #, Registration renewal date and contact information (since its in Florida)
Purchase Info - Purchase information including dealer contact info, date, price, mileage and tax information.
Maintenance History - A history of all repairs. Listed with: date, repair or maintenance, place work was done at, cost, mileage.
Military Base Sticker Info -When our stickers expire
Pacifica
License & VIN
Purchase Info
Maintenance History
Military Base Sticker Info
Inspection Info - Virginia requires yearly state inspections. Expiration info.
Insurance Info - All car insurance information.

There you have it, my brain in a book. If you have comments, please leave them. If any of this spurred thoughts of other things that could/should be included, by all means, please share.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Home Management Binder

I have read lots recently about Home Management Binders. Lots of places sell kits you can either on CD to type and print off or paper that you fill in. However, none of these kits fit my (extremely anal) personality, so I decided to take ideas from all over and make my own. This is my project for this weekend, including Thursday and Friday when I don't have Kylie. I'm planning on typing it all on the computer and then printing it off for my binder and also keeping a copy on DVD in our fire box.

I went to Target and bought a pretty 3 ring binder and dividers. I'm starting by listing categories I want to include and pages I want to include within each category. So far, my categories are:
Emergency
Grocerys, Menus, and Meals
Financial
Health
Vehicle
Travel
Holiday
Cleaning

I'm sure I will have more when I am done, but that is my starting point. I had to stop myself to even come write this entry because I'm just itching to get to it. Now if only Lil would actually take a nap, it would help tremendously.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Long weekend

R had class on Wednesday, during the day, so he was able to be home in time for Bible Study here Wednesday night, and he doesn't have to go back to work until Monday night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoo hooo!!!!! We've been loving the time off and time together.

Thursday we did some errands and got Lilly some new toys, we also got her a sign language DVD that's supposed to miraculously teach her sign language....we'll see. We also purchased a new "coffee table" its actually a Leather Storage Ottoman. Its still rectangle but the corners are covered with padding and leather. Should be much better for a meeting with Lillian's forehead.

Yesterday Richard helped a friend move a hot tub in the morning and I stayed back with Lillian because she hadn't slept at all the night before and was cranky and I wasn't feeling the best. It cleared up a little by the afternoon and we had dinner with Brandon and Lindsey (and amazing food) and then tried to see the fireworks. However, they cancelled them because of weather. And then it took us an hour and a half to get the 6 miles home. NICE.

This morning we had a pleasant surprise in that, Lillian slept 12 hours straight last night, not waking up once, which has become a problem lately. Lindsey gave us a different kind of mummy blanket last night that we tried so I don't know if that was it or if it was just a qwinky-dinky. Only future nights will tell I guess. Anywho, whatever the reason, we were thrilled to get a full nights' sleep!!

Today and tomorrow bring........NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't it glorious????????