Scaling down

Jay and I like to look for ways to cut down on our monthly expenses and feel that we do a pretty good job while still being quite comfortable.  The pellet stove was a huge step toward lower utility costs - we didn't use our gas heat all winter, prompting the gas company to contact us stating that the meter must be broken!  We recently stocked up with 2 tons of wood pellets for the coming winter, though with our new little addition coming in the fall we know that gas heat will be needed as a supplement to the pellet stove.   We try to be efficient with our electricity use and even keep our microwave on an outlet switch to turn on only when we need it which helps keep the bill low.  We made the decision upon relocating back to Oregon that we would cut out cable from our monthly bills and only have our internet costs, which aren't the cheapest (we couldn't happily survive without our high-speed!), but serve us well.  When we lived in Davis we had the full cable package with DVR and we were commercial-skipping zombies! 
  Our most recent effort to cut costs was to eliminate our garbage service.  We are hoping this is a long-term change for us.  We were already on a schedule for trash pickup every 2 weeks and there were plenty of times when our little can was mostly empty.  Along with the garbage was our yard waste container, which rarely gets used as well thanks to our leaf bin.  So we decided that we can bundle up our garbage once a month and take it in when we drop off all of our plastic film (plastic bags, plastic wrap from packages) at the recycle center.  The best part of this is that Corvallis provides free recycling pickup!  So we still get to keep our rolling recycle bin for cardboard, paper, plastic containers, etc., and have it picked up weekly at no cost.  What a deal! 

6 months, here we come!

  Next Tuesday will mark the start of our sixth month of pregnancy, Wellkin is growing and exercising, and there's still plenty to do!  We will be painting the nursery and moving the furniture in over the next month. We are on the lookout for a recliner that won't take up too much space (there was a kids Spiderman chair that caught my eye for a second!) and we will be rug shopping soon.  There are so many great craft projects out there to be done, it's hard to choose where to start!  And there are plans to make our own baby wipes, so that might get interesting. 
  In the meantime we have plenty of other house tasks on the list and our sad little garden plot has been a bit neglected. Hopefully some nicer days will give us the motivation we need!

Little Kicker

Last Tuesday we met with our OB, Dr. Card, and learned that Wellkin's measurements are all on target!  Due date is remaining the same and we are almost to the "exponential growth phase" as Jay likes to call it. 
On Saturday evening little Wellkin must have been feeling particularly feisty because that was the first  night Jay was able to feel a kick!  It was an exciting moment!  Jay has been antsy to get to feel some movement and here we are! 

On Sunday we went to the ATT store to get Jay a new phone.  After a few months of semi-threatening letters from ATT claiming that soon Jay would be without a working phone (he is on a super old plan from before ATT even became Cingular) and offering him a free new phone with no strings attached, he decided to give in.  Of the three free phone choices available Jay chose a Samsung slider model.  No stranger to technology and an avid user of his iPod touch, Jay was surprisingly (to me) captivated by the new phone!  I guess not having a new phone in over 5 years will do that to a guy.  Hooray for new things that are free!  Here's Jay excitedly showing off his new gadget.