Happy 2009!!

I cannot believe it's 2009 already! on this day 2 years ago DH and I had just gotten back together after a year long separation and I had a hard time believing it would last. here we are 2 years later and although DH does things sometimes that hurts my feelings and makes me mad he's matured SO MUCH and is such a wonderful loving husband and father and our marriage is so much stronger than ever! I have truly been blessed to end up in such a wonderful place after our relationships rocky beginning

I start my classes again on next Thursday, I'm so excited but anxious at the same time. I hope I can pass these classes and that next quarter (spring, April-June) I can take more than 2, maybe even a couple of online classes. I feel so far away from graduating, even though at most it is only 2 years from now. however according to my start date I should be graduating in September/December of this year. My priorities have gotten pretty skewed the past few months, all the working and school has made me lose my vision for our future. I am not looking forward to working full time but I know that it will be best for our family to have two incomes, especially where I have to pay back my student loans and DH is wanting to also go to school to be something more than a laborer someday.

The kids are doing really well these days, our routine is off from the holidays. Caleb has been having pee accidents when he gets too into doing something he doesn't want to leave. he still isn't night or nap trained unfortunately. he won't give up his bedtime sippy of water and one of the things that Roland was doing while I was working was giving them juice for bed so that's a habit I've had a tough time breaking them of. my current method is to give them water and if they don't want it they can have nothing. Katie is walking!! she's so good at it too. she's adorable. so happy. unfortunately we discovered that eating anything with rice in it (actual rice, not the rice cereal) gives her constipation she's doing a little better with solids but not a LOT. ah well!

Since it is a new year I figured I'd post my goals for the year here in prepration for TTC next February I can't believe it's so close already!

• use loan money wisely. pay up bills and set aside what is left for next month's bills. this is a toughie.
• use tax return wisely. in my efforts to save money in the long run we're switching to cloth diapers (I'm getting 32 for $300(ish)) I am also considering switching to cloth pads or a menstrual cup. I like the idea of a cup a lot better. I am also going to order Charlie's soap, in bulk for the year for laundry etc. that will cut down on running out of these things when we have little to no money.
• pay up as much debt as possible. Ideally I'll have had 75% of our total debt paid off by January 2010.
• Pass all classes and try to take more each quarter so that next year when I am pregnant I can take it easy if I need to. also depending on my EDD I may want to take online classes that quarter or take the entire quarter off.

So that is my goals for 2009! I am hoping to stick to it since in the long run that is all what is best for our family. also I'd like to have a new furnace and have someone out here to inspect/fix the heating ducts so we don't have to use space heaters next winter. they have been a source of constant anxiety and fear especially since the one in the living room got heated at the plug and started melting. It was so scary and also it costs a LOT more to use space heaters to heat our home than forced air would.

thanks for reading!