Alli's mother = DORK

I've decided that I am officially a dork. haha Here's why. I've been doing some research lately on how to save money with a baby. I want to keep our budget as small as possible to help keep Ben from having to work because "we need $" and instead letting him work because he wants to keep his skills up...anyway. One of the things I've found is making your own baby food. When I found some cost comparisons I was sold! One site showed the following comparison:

1 jar of baby food veggies at 2.5oz = $0.59 : price per oz $0.23
1 bag of frozen veggies at 24 oz = $0.89 (not sure if you can really get them that cheap) : price per oz $0.04

Another perk is how simple it really is. Yes there is a great convenience to having baby food in a jar but I'm willing to give this cost savings experiment a shot because of how much food it will make and how much we'd be saving. The idea is that you take some fresh veggies for example: cut them into small chunks and steam them until soft. Place in a processor (finally a use for a 4 year old wedding gift) and puree. Add water if necessary to achieve proper smooth consistency for baby and walah! You can serve it then fresh or freeze for later use. Take an ice cube tray and fill each section to the top. Each section = roughly 1 oz. Place plastic wrap over tray and freeze. Once frozen, remove and place in freezer bag. Label and date. Veggies and fruit are good in freezer for up to 6-8 months!!! HELLO cheap food storage for kids! Once your child is ready to mix and match food you can have pureed meat, veggies and fruit.

Now obviously there would be instances where it is just simpler to have a jar of baby food so you don't have to worry about transporting frozen food. So I wouldn't keep Alli from being used to the taste of jar food as well. But I just thought this was an awesome money saving idea and I'm going to give it a shot...so I now = dork! haha

On another note, all is looking good for July 1...my official start date of maternity leave. Everyone is on the same page at work and my last night of work will officially be June 30. Sorry Caitlin..I hate that it's on your birthday! Then when I am cleared for work again (whenever that will be) I will come back and work 1 or 2 nights. Paul said he doesn't care if it is even just one night. If I am breast feeding...which I hope I am, then I will only want to come back one night. Even if Ben is home to be with Alli, I know it will be hard for me to sleep through all her feeding times. So I figure we'll work 1 night, 2 at the most, just to satisfy the "full time" status and then write my official letter of resignation and go PRN! I can't wait! As the day looms near, I get more and more excited. As nervous as I am, I am so excited to be a stay at home mom and I can't wait to bring Alli into the world.