Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Baby #4 30 Weeks - Growing Pains

On Thursday the 19th I reached 30 weeks. If it follows the pattern of my other kids that means only 10-11 weeks to go!

Also on that day I was informed that some of the immediate stability we have enjoyed would be decreased.

As a preface let me explain that although Troy and I haven't been rich we have never felt any sort of financial distress or uncertainty in our 10 years of marriage. We still haven't felt financial distress, but that is a possibility as we face an uncertain financial future.

Troy has worked as an engineer for about 6 years. In that time he has spend 5 years with a great company that was very heavy on analysis and although he didn't thrive in that setting he still did ok. He started looking for another job when that employer kept doing lay-offs. He was able to find a job that was practically a dream job. It had perks, and an amazing work environment. His one complaint was that there weren't a ton of veteran mechanical engineers he could kick ideas around with.

On Thursday he was informed that the company was having some cash flow issues and as a result they were going to need to do some cuts.  Troy happened to be a main engineer on a project that was easy to cut so he was laid-off.

We live well below our means and don't buy things on credit so we should be fine even if his unemployment status isn't changed for a few months. We are hoping he finds something within the next few months and hopefully by the time the baby comes he at least have a job offer.

We were given 0 warning about the lay off so it practically blindsided us, but even in that I have felt things that let me know God is aware of us and our situation and he loves and cares for us. The morning of the lay off I actually started having feeling of what would it be like if Troy was laid off. I didn't really think much of it because his job was what we thought stable, but thinking back I know that was God preparing my mind for something that we wouldn't have control over.  Both Troy and I have been able to feel the comfort that the Holy Ghost can bring.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Co$t of Rai$ing Kid$

I often think those estimates on how much a kid costs while your are raising him/her is over exaggerated. And then I thought of all the things you have to replace because they ruin them.

For the last 5 years we had been watching TV on a 32" rear projection TV that had a broken power button and no remote. We would turn the TV on by getting a K'Nex piece and shoving it into the little hole where the power button used to be to activate the little button inside the TV.

We were really excited to recycle that TV when we got a new 42" LCD TV for Christmas. At about 20 weeks pregnant I even helped carry it up the stairs and put it into our van to get that thing out of our house. The TV made it possible for us to also set up a Blue Ray player and a sound system that we also bought.

After just a few weeks of using it Parker learned that if he dragged a toy along the screen it would make fun colors. However it also left scratches in the screen. The scratches although annoying to look at when the TV was off didn't effect the picture quality of the TV. I threatened Parker if he ever did that again that we wouldn't have the money to get a swing set. That was enough for him to not try it again.

Last night I heard Parker say from downstairs, "Mom, come down here Max just did something really bad." On my way down I was trying to figure out what in the world Max could have done and just figured it would be a small thing, and I would have a sit down with Parker about not tattling or something. Upon walking into our main room I looked over at the TV, which was on, to see the picture totally messed up, and upon closer inspection a crack at the top near the middle of the screen. and a toy cup laying close to the front of the TV that had apparently been thrown at the TV. I took a deep breath and then called Troy down advising him to also take a deep breath before coming into the room.

In the end the TV is a lost, and the other TV is gone. We do have a 20" rear projection TV with a working power button and a remote, but we are planning on waiting for a month or so before setting it up. We won't be able to set up the Blue Ray player and the sound system to that TV, but o-well for now.  For the most part the kids are the ones who usually use the TV so I'm hoping that this is hard on them. Maybe after a month we won't want to set the other TV up, but with a new baby on the way and general conference coming up in about a month I'm guessing we will set it up.  And maybe next Christmas we can try again for another nice TV.

I've seen couches, beds, walls, cabinets, doors, computers and more ruined by kids.  Is the replacement value of these items factored into the cost of kids?

There are worse things that could have broken.  About 8 or so years ago there was a family that lived by us that had just brought their newborn daughter home.  Their oldest daughter was holding the new baby and somehow dropped her.  The baby ended up with a cracked skull and bleeding on the brain. The baby ended up with significant brain damage and was never the same.  A TV IS NOTHING.