OFB Baby Update: Eight Months


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Baby Bucks

In the Baby Bucks series, we babble about babies and money and sleep deprivation and cuteness overload. In that order.

General Baby Thoughts

All I can say is “Where did the time go?” Last night Johnny and I were oohing and ahhing over our girl’s newborn pictures. On the one hand, I can barely remember our girl as a newborn. On the other hand, I can’t believe Johnny and I have been doing this parenting (or whatever you call what we’ve been doing) thing for eight months already! I was looking over our seven-month update and how easy I thought everything was. Well, that didn’t last. Our girl is now a crawler. And an eater of any and all itty-bitty things she can find. That combo has just about given me a heart attack. Just this past weekend, I had to fish a tiny plastic tag and a aluminum candy wrapper out of her mouth!

Our girl has what we like to call the chi-fecta: cheeks, chin, and chubs. Family, friends, and strangers like to comment on all three of these. “Those cheeks!” “Where did she get that dimple?” “Those thighs!” And my personal favorite: “Don’t worry about how heavy she is. She’ll grow out of it.” Well, I wasn’t worried — until you said something!

Financial Baby Updates

This month started to get a tad more pricey food-wise. Our girl eats three meals a day of solid food now. And since life has been a bit crazy with working and mothering and wife-ing, I’ve been cheating with baby food and just buying the pre-made stuff. I know, horrible. Well, yes, it is horrible because it’s cost close to $50 in the past month. But we’ve started making some of our own baby food now (special thanks to an awesome OFB reader), and we hope to really limit the amount of baby food bought in the upcoming months. Plus, our girl is getting better at chewing more solid food — even if she’s still all gums!

We’ve also got quite a large child on our hands — as if that needed to be said. And despite having a ton of second-hand 6–12 month clothes from family, she’s outgrowing everything. We spent $15 on two more pairs of PJs from Costco. But Baby Girl can’t wear PJs all the time (Johnny would beg to differ). So we’ve had to buy her other clothes, too. A few years back, Johnny designed and sold tee shirts with some friends and opened an American Apparel wholesale account. Thanks to said wholesale account (which he still has and costs nothing to maintain), we bought our girl a ton of baby clothes for super cheap — like $4 a shirt. We bought some clothes for both fall and winter and spent a total of $100. And we’ll have the most hipster baby on the block to boot.

Lastly, we spent about $40 on diapers and wipes for the month. So the grand total for month eight comes to $190. More than last month, but on par with the month before that. A-okay.

eightmonths1 eightmonths2

We’re keeping our fingers crossed that our new little mobile monkey doesn’t get her hands on too much destruction in the coming month. But all signs point to t-r-o-u-b-l-e. Either way, I think we’ll keep her!

For the been-there-done-that crowd, does this sound pretty typical? How do we relate and differ? 

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25 Comments

  • Reply Sabrina @WorkItMsJackson September 17, 2013 at 8:00 am

    I don’t know how many times I would come home from work, when I was working, and my daughter would still be in PJs. When I asked my husband what was up, he would say, “It’s a jammie day.” Apparently jammie days were required often when he was home with her. LOL!!!

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 12:20 am

      If it were up to us dads, Jammie Day would happen only on days ending in “day.” And it apply to everyone, regardless of age. 🙂

  • Reply Well Heeled Blog September 17, 2013 at 8:52 am

    Adorable! The way you guys put it, a baby seems so affordable. Haha. 😉

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 1:05 am

      “Affordable” and “baby” should never be used in the same sentence — unless “isn’t” and “what have we done?!” are also in that sentence. 🙂

  • Reply Halsy September 17, 2013 at 8:58 am

    We usually spend about $100-150 a month on our now 15 month old. It’s always towards the $150 if it’s a month that clothes are bought. Diapers and wipesare always $50-$60. However, I’ve been buying ahead and have about 400 size 4, which sadly is only 2 months worth. However, there have been a lot of good deals so instead of just not buying- I keep buying 🙁 Her food now is mostly just in our grocery budget. She does like to snack on pouches or we use them on the go so that still goes in baby budget. I can say the food only gets more expensive well if you decide to go the organic milk route…$5-6 a gallon!

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 1:07 am

      That’s some thrifty work, Halsy! Awesome job. We need to start being better at spotting the awesome diaper/wipe/etc. deals. I have no problem going over budget this month on extra diapers if it means I won’t be buying them next. It’s all about the big picture.

  • Reply Mary September 17, 2013 at 10:05 am

    We received the Baby Bullet from one of the guests at our baby shower. I can only say good things about it! Its a little pricey (I’m sort of glad we didn’t have to buy this thing ourselves) but its worth the investment. It comes with a cookbook and suggestions for new foods to introduce based on how old the baby is. The book ends with more solid recipes such as petite pancakes, mac & cheese and a veggie soup. We made all of our baby’s meals (and gave her the occasional Plum Organics snack pouch). We had a lot of fun making her food. I can understand why some people rather not, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a breeze!

    One thing our daughter loved was oatmeal. Cook it in water (or cow’s milk once she gets a little older), let it cool for a few. Grab a few spoonfuls of the oatmeal, throw it into your Baby Bullet with diced apples or pears, add a dash of cinnamon (once you think she’s okay to handle spices) and you’re done! Baby girl had this for breakfast almost every morning and never got tired of it. Any leftover oatmeal, pop in the fridge for the next morning or serve it for yourself 🙂

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 1:09 am

      That oatmeal meal sounds 100x better than my soggy Fruit Loops. I might have to start whipping that up for myself. And if our girl’s lucky, there will be some leftovers from dad. I kid. Sorta.

      Thanks for the tips!

  • Reply Anesha September 17, 2013 at 10:14 am

    Yay!! Glad to hear that “your freaking baby maker” is working. lol. I was wondering if it was worth a darn. 😉

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 1:14 am

      That thing is worth 10 darns. That freaking thing rocks! Super, super nice of you. Thanks again.

  • Reply Erin @ Red Debted Stepchild September 17, 2013 at 11:19 am

    So much freaking cuteness :). I love your baby updates!

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 1:47 am

      Thanks, Erin. Means a lot coming from your red-debted awesomeness.

  • Reply Rob September 17, 2013 at 3:35 pm

    Yep, all sounds 100% pretty typical, guys. Brings back lots of fond memories.

    “So the grand total for month eight comes to $190.”
    Holey Moley, better send dat kiddo out to work pronto before youze all go broke! 🙂

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 2:05 am

      The only reason we’re tracking her expenses is so we know what to bill her when she turns 18. 🙂

  • Reply sarah @makingitmyhome.blogspot.com September 17, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    i havent been there or done that with the parenting an infant thing, but my goodness she is adorable!

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 2:06 am

      Thanks, sarah! That little chubster makes the steep pricetag of parenting totally worth it.

  • Reply moneystepper September 17, 2013 at 5:58 pm

    “Either way, I think we’ll keep her!”. Haha. Cute photos!!

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 2:07 am

      We haven’t changed our minds — yet.

  • Reply carlotta September 18, 2013 at 3:46 am

    she is so adorable! I have no babies and also have no debt ( yeah! actually never had it so it wasn’t that hard) but somehow I relate to you guys and love your blog!

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 1:58 am

      I think the “no debt” and “no baby” are more closely correlated than you think. 😉 Thanks for your comment and dropping by our blog!

  • Reply Tiffany September 19, 2013 at 4:14 am

    I think it’s a sign that while browsing to find a budget blog to read and help me get motivated about getting our finances on track I come across your page. My daughter turned 8 months on the 11th and is also crawling and finding every little thing to put in her mouth. I am working on making more food, we have started doing more finger foods than purees now which helps. Also scrolling through some previous posts there i see her again in the exact pink Costco pjs that my daughter who is laying here on my lap is also wearing. I am excited to read through your posts and continue to follow you guys.

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 2:02 am

      Woahhh! That’s some voodoo Google magic stuff right there! We have a blast trading stories with other parents in a similar boat, so we’re glad you stumbled upon our virtual abode. Best of luck with your little crawler, and hope you stick around.

  • Reply Emily September 19, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    Have you ever heard of the Just Between Friends sale? We have them here in WI and they may be near you. It is basically and enormous indoor rummage sale. We have scored some great finds there. They have baby and kids items, toys, clothes, shoes, books, puzzles, strollers, high chairs, etc. If they have one in your area scope it out some time! It is a great way to make some money when you want to sell all your gear too.

    • Reply Johnny September 23, 2013 at 2:03 am

      Wasn’t on our radar, but glad it is now. Definitely sounds like our kind of thing. Thanks for the heads up.

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