We are Rich

   I haven't been stressed about money since we did our taxes, but with it being that only $23 extra is being taken out out of his paychecks now (nowhere near the $200 I was dramatically estimating last month!), everything will be perfectly fine. I think a lot about how "rich" we are -it helps me be thankful- by being able to do things like getting a massage, going out to eat or stopping to get fast food, living in a beautiful four bedroom house. Obviously there are very many times that we do not have to stress or be worried about money. Michael and I are a lot alike when it comes to money. Last week he was stressed about spending on products (pants, boots, leather) for the Star Wars costume, but a couple days later asked if I wanted to go out to dinner. I think I have been in charge of our budget since summer 2013 when we needed the rest of our savings to last more efficiently during our remaining months living in California. (It's still pretty cool to say we lived "in" LA!) It makes me feel good when he says I'm good about budgeting, but he still has access to the credit card so I have to tell him when to pay that or tell me how much is on it. There is a Christian song quote by Francesca Battestelli that I really like, but don't think about it enough~ "In the middle of my little mess I forget how big I'm blessed." I need to paint that on a canvas. 

   Reasons to be GRATEFUL every second of every day~ we dont have cancer, full use of functional limbs, two working cars, a fancy new house, great full time jobs, can afford (a lot of) unnecessary stuff, go out to eat a lot, sponsor three poor kids/ families, we have our sight and hearing, two savings accounts..

   On Monday I sent Michael a text letting him know that Sasha is giving us too much baby practice. (First being how I have had to get up most nights since November to take her out.) After she had been outside for a little bit, I cupped my hands around her neck so she would give me a kiss. When she walked away I saw I had something on my hands- it was poop! Groooooss! I used at least six dog wipes and got it off of her neck and around her ears, then washed my hands a bunch and later gave her a bath after I found what was in the grass. Michael thinks it was probably from a possum? 

   Later that day while driving to pick up the enrollment package for daycare, I got emotional, mainly because the song "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman came on the radio. That's the song that I danced to with my dad at my wedding, and although Michael doesn't want us having to pay for Emma's wedding, he'll get to dance with her. Maybe it was a "growing up too fast" thing, or hormones, but I usually tear up every time I hear that song, and that's why I picked it as "our song" a year before the wedding. I ran a couple more errands because Sasha needed more flea medicine and then Michael needed me to pick up some FX products at Reynold's. When I got home I made a mini scrapbook to put Polaroid pictures in that we will take during the baby shower in a few weeks. Exciting times with a bunch of fun plans in April! 

   When we got home we had two big packages waiting for us that were sent off the registry from Michael's parents: Emma's stroller with car seat and high chair. We also bought the filtering baby tub at Buy Buy Baby on Wednesday. Michael put those items together while I "fed the baby" (AKA ate dinner). A few great things he has said lately is how lucky he is to have "his three girls" and how it was such a great a idea for "him" to decide that we should have a baby. He also watched our wedding rehearsal video at work- the one with baby pictures of us growing up with videos together while at Full Sail. He said one of the students had asked to see some of our wedding pictures but he only had the video on his laptop. 

   After a bunch of us at work got a free ten minute chair massage on our breaks by a therapist from a hospital last month, I booked a prenatal massage at Aveda and got that service done yesterday. It was soooo wonderful! (90 minutes for $45.) The student therapist, Shelby, told me she had not given a prenatal massage before, but had learned how to do one and I think she did a phenomenal job! Sadly at the end she told me that she graduates in two weeks. I stayed very comfortable with the two soft pillows they gave me as I laid on my left side most of the time in the "flamingo" position; how I have been sleeping the past month when I'm not on my back. She did a great job massaging my neck and shoulders while I was on my side and my favorite was probably the scalp massage (oh my goodness) while I was mostly on my back with a pillow to prop up my side and a roller bolster under my knees. A couple times Shelby's instructor peeked in and I heard her whispering things at the beginning about not touching my ankles because it could be a trigger point for early onset labor, and then something about my ovaries. Another time when I opened my eyes a second girl was sitting along the wall, shadowing so she could watch a prenatal massage and how I was supposed to be adjusted. It was a great experience and one I had put on my "pregnancy bucket list" since I worked at Massage Envy in 2014, but next time I get a regular massage I'd prefer the full force on my back and not have her worry about pressure points.