Naps and Walks

The last two weeks we have been putting Levi on a sleeping schedule - it was really hard at first but by the second week we were seeing wonderful results. Prior to his schedule Levi started to only take his naps if he was in his stroller and moving. This was fine if we were home and I could take him for his hour or two walk twice a day. It was great getting outside for both of us but it wasn't great when I couldn't walk him.

It was at my last MOPS group that I decided I needed to change this routine - Levi cried just about the whole time from 9:00 am to 11:20 am. It was hard on both of us. So nap times are now nap times, in his bed, and walks are just walks. Levi now stays awake during his walk and loves to check out the passing cars and people.

Here are a couple videos of the little guy that I think are pretty cute.

30 Day Challenge

I'm going to take the 30 day challenge. It's been something I've needed to do for a while and I'm hoping the 30 day challenge will help me get it done. Anyone want to join me? Or at least just keep me accountable?

The 30 day challenge is something Dave Ramsey promotes. It's a challenge to get your Love Drawer organized and in place in the next 30 days. What is a Love Drawer? It's a draw (filing cabinet, box, folder, etc.) where you have all your important financial and legal documents - organized in such a way that your spouse or loved ones could easily manage any financial/legal issues without you. If something happened to you, would your spouse know where all that info was? This is especially important for the person that does the majority of the bill paying, etc. If something was to happen to me, would Sonja know where the info was on the mortgage? Or, more importantly, my life insurance policy? What about what bank account(s) are used for what and what bills are auto-drafted from where and how to log into each one online? In the midst of dealing with a tragic event, the last thing someone should worry about is "does the utilities payment get auto-drafted or do I need to pay it?" In fact, it's pretty negligent and irresponsible of me to not have this in place already.

Hence the 30 day challenge. I got started on it last night (so 4/13 is my deadline for completion) - just looking at what I need to do and where stuff currently is. I could not find a single scrap of paper in our file drawer about my life insurance policy. No idea where the mortgage docs are, either. So, it's time to get it all organized.

There is some info about it here. If you're a My Total Money Makeover member ($10/month or free while in an FPU class), then there are even more documents/resources available (primarily a nice, editable PDF that has a bunch of fill-in-the-blanks for listing all the info - that you can save and edit/change as needed and print off).

Things I need to do to get started:

• Organize file drawer with all important documents
• Make an index or table of contents for the important documents for easy access
• Get some wills put together - Dave recommends getting forms from US Legal Forms - I ordered ours last night
• Fill out and print off the Love Drawer PDF from MTMMO - give copies to family members for safe keeping
• Go over it all with Sonja and plan on updating it and reviewing it at least once a year

Sob sob, boo hoo - yes it's really sad and depressing to think about the "what ifs" and have to talk about and make decisions about powers of attorney and funeral arrangements - but it will be such a relief when it's all over to know that if something happens to either one (or both) of us, all of that is DONE. Taken care of. And in the midst of all of the tragedy, no one will have to try to figure out where to send the mortgage payment.

Let me know if you're interested in doing the 30 day challenge, too - we can share resources and ideas. If you've already put something like that together, share some tips in the comments. Also, feel free to ask me over the next 30 days - "how's that drawer coming along". Sonja and I will (try to) post an update at the end of the 30 days to let you know how it went.

I'm down to just 29 days now - I need to get moving!

Better Than the Original

There are three things I don't like (well, there's a lot more, but I'm just going to note three for the purpose of this discussion):

1. Songs that are overplayed.
2. Country singers that throw a religiously themed song in an album now and then (especially when surrounding songs are the usual cheatin' and drinkin' country songs).
3. Christian radio stations that play country music.

Unfortunately, our local Christian radio station is somehow able to combine all three things quite often.

So, it was with much joy and glee that I watched the video below (emailed to me by Michael).

Banks Now Do Payday Loans???

I was checking my US Bank account balance this morning and saw this little button that said "Request Checking Account Advance". That piqued my curiosity, so I clicked on it and got the screen below.



Take note of a couple of things:

• 120% APR!!!
• $1 for every $10 borrowed - that's a 10% cut (which is the same as 120% APR on a monthly basis).
• 120% APR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  

I certainly hope this isn't a trend that other banks will fall in to. I am seriously considering closing our account at US Bank. Can you imagine the temptation this will cause? Payday loans right from the comfort of your home (or your in-law's spare camp trailer if you get sucked into this mess).

Levi's Favorite Time of Day

Levi's favorite time of day is when daddy walks into the door. It is the sweetest thing ever - Levi can be doing anything; be in the swing, playing on the floor, hanging out with mom...etc the result is the same. When Levi sees his daddy walk through the door he starts giggling. It is also one of mommy and daddy's favorite time of day too.