It’s been very quiet on the blogging front because my life has been full for a good while now. My writing has been more personal- more journaling and less typing out blog posts. And there’s been no time for regular blog posts. I was engaged in one of life’s busy seasons- with big changes and new responsibilities. But now I’m back and I can talk about the past many months.
I wrote several posts about our new-ish house. We had our first mishaps and a solid amount of work to do before moving in. Thankfully we had lots of help. And then we moved in. At this point we’re settled in and comfortable. The house feels like a home, especially after spending our first Christmas here. There is still plenty to be done here and we have a lot of plans. My biggest plan is to start a garden in the spring.
The "New" Car
In the lead up to buying our house, we paid off our Toyota Camry. For about 6 months, we had two paid off cars (my 2003 Honda Accord was bought with cash in 2015). Shortly after buying the house, we started our search for a minivan. With high interest rates and a limited car fund, we needed a solid van in a reasonable price range. After several such vans were rejected by our mechanic for various reasons, we found our van. I sold the 2003 Accord and upgraded to a 2013 Honda Odyssey with 65,000 miles. Unfortunately, we had to take out a loan for the car, but I have a plan to pay this off aggressively. But so far, the van has served us well and we’re loving the minivan life!
The Most Expensive Boy
There’s a reason we bought a house and a minivan. His name is Charles (aka Charlie aka Bubba). We jokingly call him our most expensive child because we bought a house and a new car for him. We found out about him just before Christmas of 2022 and he made his grand appearance, fashionably late, in the waning hours of August. Five months in, this guy is wiggly and active. And very happy. We’re very blessed to have this little guy.
Paternity Leave and Leaf Peeping
I get a very generous 12 weeks of paid paternity leave. For the first 8 weeks of this little boy’s life, I was home. Charlie was (is) a very chill boy and easy to take care of. The harder part was taking care of the twins while we were sleep deprived. Many mornings started with an early breakfast and a trip to the playground!
We also made a bold move and visited friends up in Maine. And after spending the weekend with them, we booked an Airbnb in North Conway to do some leaf peeping. I’m always surprised with what we’re able to do- taking a trip with just Marisa and the three boys felt a little scary! But it ended up being a great trip. The twins loved the North Conway train and all the outside time. And Marisa and I got to enjoy the leaf peeping.
The trip opened my eyes to the possibilities of travel in the near future. I see it as an opportunity to explore places in New England/the Northeast. It will be fun to become so familiar with my little corner of the world. And there’s enough variety in this little region (the ocean, mountains, lakes, etc) to have trips with very different vibes.
Charlie Nights
Charlie has been an easy baby and a good sleeper. The one thing he struggles with is going down for the night. Once he’s asleep in his crib, he’s good, but getting him there has been a challenge. Because of that, Marisa and I haven’t had much free time at night. One person has to be holding Charlie. We were definitely missing our relaxing evenings. But now that Charlie is 5 months old, we’re working on giving him a consistent bedtime. And he’s doing great. Plus we can actually do stuff in the evening without feeling bad that the other spouse has to just hold Charlie. We have our time back.
This was a mini-season of life. It was an opportunity to slow down and spend more time with the little boys. And it helped to clarify what we really missed doing now that our free time was greatly limited. Now that we have the time back, one of my priorities is to start really writing again. I missed it! We’ll see how consistent I can be as I ease my way back into blogging. But hopefully new posts will be more consistent than they’ve been since the summer.
Personal Finances Now
The stock market has swung around dramatically over the last few years. The bull market ended at the end of 2021 and a fierce bear market ensued for the entirety of 2022. Those of us who patiently invested as the market declined were rewarded last year. The stock market went back up almost 20%! Since we aren’t in a rush to use our investments, we’re just enjoying the ride.
Financially we’re in a steady state right now. After buying the house we beefed up our emergency fund. Our investing contributions have been steady. I have a pretty strong drive towards saving, so putting extra saving into investments is a small hurdle that I need to overcome. It’s another reason that I should just automate the process!
Life, in general, is good. Our boys are all healthy and growing. They drive us crazy sometimes, sure, but they bring us so much joy. I feel much more settled into the season of life that we’re in. It’s a nice place to be.
Your articles are extremely helpful to me. Please provide more information!
Howdy would you mind letting me know which web host you’re using?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and
I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you suggest a good web hosting
provider at a reasonable price? Thank you, I appreciate it!