27 Sep
Money Week
I’m declaring it “Money Week” on That Wife, the week before we leave to Europe and spend a lot of money. 
If all goes as planned, Tuesday you’ll see a post on what my grocery bill was for a three week period while buying (almost) everything organic at the farmer’s market. Wednesday will be a post on our attitudes regarding debt (hopefully with a contribution from TH!), in response to the craziness on Formspring last week. Thursday will be a few polls to learn a little bit more about your attitudes toward money and debt (and I’m anticipating some interesting discussion in the comment section.) I reserve the right to not put up any of these posts based on the crabiness of said cutie-pie below.
For today, there is no money discussion. Just an overload of pictures of T1, most of them looking exactly the same, but in typical mom fashion I think they are all so cute they must be shared. There were taken on Friday so they are the most recent pictures I have of him. And because I think people will ask, his hair was growing back, but unevenly so we buzzed it once again. Someday he will have hair!
This picture makes me laugh. That Husband wasn’t interested in being in front of the camera and so he hid behind T1.
I decided I wanted to get another picture with T1 (remember my goal to be in more pictures with him?), crazy hair and all.
I’m looking forward to when we get a new cover for this futon, but for now it’s a great place to take pictures of T1 because it’s so wide and flat.
I can’t think of anything that makes him happier than when he is standing. His dream life: I sit around all day, supporting him so he can stand.
Not gonna happen.
This is usually how he falls:
The whole picture.
My favorite shots are always those when he has his head up and he is on his belly. The light shines right into his eyes and he looks so cute!
Curious droopy eyes.
And my favorite from the day! THAT SHOT, if you will.
I don’t usually like dressing him in blue, and I used to say I don’t like stripes, but maybe that’s all in the past because this is one of my favorite outfits of all time on him. The onesie was a gift from Julie, and the leg warmers were made by my grandma. I really love putting together outfits for him, especially since 90% of what he wears consists of gifts from other people. This little boy is so loved!
P.S.-All of these were taken with the Canon 35mm 1.4. Dreamiest lens ever.
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
I hope this comes across as I intend…
I think T1 is SO cute (and has the prettiest blue eyes- I’m so glad you got your blue-eyed baby!) but every time you post pictures, his big head makes me even more impressed with your natural birth! Ha- that’s what I think about every time!
I think his big head is adorable, fyi, in case that wasn’t clear!
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1He is soooo cute. I love the navy and the socks!
I read a little bit of the formspring stuff, due to the rain in Croatia, and I was kind of shocked at how people were asking about your money situation and the debt situation. It’s totally possible to live debt free. We aren’t debt free but we have no commercial debt….a very big BUT, we both come from families that help with big things and I think that makes a very big difference when you are starting out. It is easier when you don’t have to start in the red.
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R Reply:
September 27th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Totally agree. At the moment, we’re taking a financial hit because because we’re both in grad school and in a long distance relationship that involves spending a lot of money on plane tickets. He’s working full time and I have a scholarship plus a few part time jobs. I’m not going to have student loan debt but he will have about $5K or so, which could be a lot worse but isn’t because he has been working full time. I don’t really count his $5K in student loan debt as real debt because a) he keeps putting $ towards it and will pay it off as quickly as possible and b) his degree translates into a gigantic pay raise in his field once he’s finished (which enables paying it off ASAP). I also don’t count mortgage loans as debt (though we paid off the mortgage on my condo and he rents) because we only took a mortgage under terms where even with interest included, we did better than renting until we saved enough to buy outright. If we aren’t going to end up paying more in interest charges, I’d rather buy with a mortgage than rent until the money was saved. When I was renting, I felt like I was throwing money down the drain, but that’s a personal preference. In spite of all of this (particularly the two residence/tons of airline tickets/two sets of utilities, etc.) we don’t have credit card debt, we both live comfortably, and we take nice vacations that make us happy. But even though it’s not hard to say we just spend less than we make, we’ve been lucky in that we haven’t had major medical issues, we have good insurance, we have top quality educations and multiple degrees thanks to parents who valued education, we were raised upper-middle class and were given every opportunity we could have wanted. I’d say we have white privilege but we’re not both white - we definitely have class privilege. It’s a lot easier to have a life like this if it’s been made easy for you. To many people have the attitude that they have what they have because they work hard - and yes, they do work hard. But there are plenty of people who work hard but don’t have what others do. In fact, I know that there are many people in the world who work so much harder than I do and yet only have a very small fraction of what I have.
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Sophia Reply:
September 27th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
R, this, exactly-
“To many people have the attitude that they have what they have because they work hard – and yes, they do work hard. But there are plenty of people who work hard but don’t have what others do. In fact, I know that there are many people in the world who work so much harder than I do and yet only have a very small fraction of what I have.”
I couldn’t agree more with this insight. Yes, many people do work hard for the things they have, and that shouldn’t be taken away from them. The problem comes when people say “Since *I* worked hard and received X,Y,Z, the people that didn’t receive X,Y,Z, just didn’t work hard enough for it”.
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Stefanie Reply:
September 27th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
I completely agree with all of the above statements. It is all too easy to just assume that because you (figurative “you”, not anyone specifically) are able to live your life a certain way, e.g. debt-free, that other people who are not living their lives that way must be lacking in some area such as work ethic, self-control, etc. It is dangerous to think this way.
Of course, there are many people who live debt-filled lives due to frivolous spending…but obviously that’s not who I am referring to.
And for reference, I am someone who only has student loan debt. However, I fully acknowledge that I am very fortunate to be paid to go to grad school and to have family who are willing and able to assist me with various needs I may have (with things like hand-me down furniture).
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Sophia Reply:
September 27th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
I think, at least in America, it has a lot to do with the “self made-man” and “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” stories, and individualistic culture we have. People are proud of doing something on their own, especially something really good/successful, and for some reason to admit *any help at all* is seen as taking away from the legitimate hard work the person may have done. I wish more people could proudly say “yes, I worked hard- damned hard even!- but I had help here. And here. And also here.”
I basically adore Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers” for this very reason. It’s story after story of hard work, determination… but yes, lots of being lucky by being in the right place/right time, knowing the right people, having opportunities others didn’t. The Bill Gates story is especially interesting to me. I recommend that book highly for how well it gently illustrates the privileges hidden in some of our most popular “self made man” stories.
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R Reply:
September 28th, 2010 at 6:52 am
I agree with both of you. I’m not sure how many people really think about the hidden privileges that enable success. Coming from a family of doctors and lawyers, I think it was much easier for me to achieve what I wanted because there were a lot of expectations about education and careers, not to mention my parents just being able to make my life easier. I’m not trying to denigrate what I’ve done but I admire friends and colleagues who have done what they want to do without similar support or opportunities because they had to overcome some pretty serious barriers. I think there’s a tendency, in the US at least, to think that it’s a straight up meritocracy - if you work hard, you will achieve some measure of success (professional, monetary) but the idea of a meritocracy is undermined by the fact that many people work hard just to make ends meet. Also there’s a tendency to say, “Well, look at so-and-so who was successful in spite of challenges - obviously it’s possible.” Yes, it is possible, but that doesn’t mean that everyone who didn’t get there didn’t work hard.
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I’m not on Formspring, so I’m really interested to read what you have to say about these topics. Plus, I wrote a post recently called “Buying Happiness” http://fiscallychic.blogspot.com/2010/09/buying-happiness.html
It talked about spending money on objects vs. experiences and the happiness derived from those purchases.
And T1 is adorable
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3He’s adorable, Jenna.
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4So many cute, funny shots of that boy! He seems so happy when he’s standing - once they get a taste of life as a big boy, they just refuse to stay little.
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5t1 is ridiculously adorable. i can’t decide which picture is my favorite.
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6Very pretty eyes.
I was thinking the other day of the idea that some of our children (meaning blogging moms) may meet/see each other one day in school, daily life, at an event, or something totally random and may never know that. How awesome is that? Perhaps one day our children may meet at some point and they may never know it! So weird!
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7You guys are funny.. J is EXACTLY like TH when he’s not in the mood for pictures (read: all the time!) but substitute cute baby for cute cat.
Work the crazy hair!
Love your futon, looks so comfy.
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8Cute shots, he’s growing so fast.
I look forward to the money talks, I haven’t been following formspring but it sounds interesting and we work hard on our finances at home so I’m curious.
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9What a great topic! Also, I’m so excited for you to go to Europe. And quite jealous as well.
T1 is so stinkin’ adorable. His little nose and lips get me every time. If I were his mommy, I’d want to give him kisses there too!
Haha. I’m glad you said something about his hair because I was just thinking about asking you about it. I am curious though. What if his hair keeps growing unevenly? I imagine you’ll eventually just let it grow, but thought I’d go ahead and ask.
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10I get that you don’t like to dress him in blue, but a kid with eyes THAT blue should DEFINITELY wear shades of blue and take advantage of optimum cuteness.
Just sayin’
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11He is so freaking cute. Those eyes! They kill me, and his little leg warmers! I wanted to get my nephew a pair, but my brother-in-law thought leg warmers on a boy was feminine. Sheesh.
Also, I think the shaved head has managed to avoid that 6month-9month shag that lots of babies have, giving them an awkward look.
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12have you considered getting him a walker? i know nothing about kids but imagine that is an easy way to let him stand? he is a little cutie!!!
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13Hey Jenna, just a comment coming from a personal experience: if you keep bussing T1′s head, his hair will never grow evenly. I know from experience it’s hard to resist the temptation of sparing your baby from a scraggly ‘do, but it will eventually grow in evenly if you just let it do its thing. Buzzing doesn’t actually promote even hair growth. I think he looks adorable with his buzzed head, but just as an FYI to you if you continue to be concerned with his uneven growth!
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14Oh, and I’m excited for the finances posts. I’ve mentioned before, one of my favorite things about my husband - one reason while I will do everything to keep us together - is his excellent financial sense. The man just has great number and money sense!
I just love our financial life - we are careful about the things we purchase, esp. the large things, but aren’t overly uptight. We mesh very well in this area and because of his great skills, we are secure and comfortable. Not living high on the hog or anything, but can sleep at night knowing we aren’t over extending ourselves and have some money tucked away for emergencies.
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15Oh gosh, T1 is so adorable! I think he just keeps getting cuter every day, and those eyes are so beautiful
I look forward to your posts on money this week.
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16Adorable!!
I’m looking forward to your post on debt. I read your Formspring regularly, and I was baffled by how up in arms people seemed to get over your anti-debt comments!
Can’t wait to see how you address it.
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17Did you intentionally focus on your baby’s drool in the first one? Such a cool effect.
Also, how did you get him to stand on the couch…?
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18You’ve got one cute kid!!
I can’t wait to read money week. As a girl who’s ferociously trying to get out of debt, I’m always interested in money talk.
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19T1 is absolutely adorable, and the pictures you take of him are amazing!!! I’m looking forward to your money posts, the Formspring stuff about it was absolutely ridiculous!
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20Looking forward to your budget posts! I’m so private about my money… even to myself!
P.S. I like the photos! T1 is getting SO big!
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21I love that he likes to stand so much- I laughed out loud at the line about his perfect life being you holding him up while he stands all day
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22Hi Jenna! T1 is getting cuter everyday! I’m really looking forward to your posts this week regarding money. My husband and I worked really hard to put together an action plan and budget to get us out of debt. We are starting on Oct 1 and I’m both excited/nervous about instating our new plan!
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23Ah! I love him!! SO adorable. I’m glad I got you obsessed with that lens
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24Oh my goodness, T1 is just TOO CUTE! I love his bald head! I’m very excited to read the finances posts - I’m always interested in hearing what other couples’ philosophies on finance are!
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25so…very…CUTE!!!
and as someone who is always thinking about MONEY (well, blogging about it at least!) I am very excited for money week! can’t wait to see what you have to say
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26Oh he is SO cute! I love his blue eyes & all of his expressions!
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27T1 is adorable! I’m looking forward to the finance posts this week!
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28I’m really looking forward to your finance posts! Personal finance really interests me.
Love the pictures of T1! Also, can I just thank you for your photography tutorials? We got our first DSLR this weekend (Canon EOS Rebel T1i) and your posts have really helped me to learn
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29Bluest baby eyes! What a sweetie.
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30I love the idea of talking about money! When I met my husband I made more than him but was in overdraft debt (he wasn’t in any kind of debt) He taught me a lot about budgeting, and in a way need vs want. I also realised where my fear of money (and looking at my account balance) came from.
At the moment I’m not working (studying) and we are living on one salary (a good one though) we rent, don’t own a car, and have one credit card that gets paid off every month. It will be interesting to see what position other couples are in and how they handle money together (or apart as a few couples we know do) Especially in the US and not here in Australia (where house prices give us heart attacks)
I’m loving watching T1 grow!
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31Great post subject (of course beautiful photos go without saying!)and I admit part of my fascination with this blog is how you manage your lifestyle which looks and sounds so fantastic while husband is in school and your are currently at home with the baby. None of my business but part of me is a little curious and I admit a little envious. OK I said it
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32What a cute little guy! I love the pictures!
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33I don’t think I have ever seen a cuter baby boy.
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