I’m Baaaaack!!! Check Out My Cute Baby! ;)

(That’s what they all say right?  We ALL have the cutest babies ever made! Haha….)

Seriously though, what a ride so far…. two+ weeks come and gone and I now have a brand new human being to take care of forever and ever (and ever)!  And I now know why they make them so adorable too – cuz they cry all over the place and constantly need your attention! Haha… but I wouldn’t change it for the world :)  I’m loving every single second I spend with the little booger and I swear he’s already grown about double in size.

Here were all the stats for those baby lovers out there:

  • Weight: 7 lbs 5 oz
  • Height: 21 inches
  • Mohawk: n/a
  • Number of days late: 8
  • Hours in labor: 27!

It was a wild experience to say the least :) I literally went to bed at 2 a.m. the night before it all started – thinking I’d get some work done “just in case” – and 15 minutes later the contractions started getting stronger and stronger and the whole adventure began from that point forward.  So not only was I delirious from the start due to the lack of sleep already, but my endorphins were incredibly high too which was super good considering I had no idea what we were about to get ourselves into!  9+ months of waiting around and then BAM!  Here comes the baby!!! It’s so funny…

Well, funny to me at least – 27 hours in labor wasn’t so fun for the Mrs ;)  Although I must admit she handled it all rather impressively. Especially towards the last rounds of pushing where she actually cracked a joke and had all the nurses laughing! Haha… I’d tell you what it was, but to be honest my eyes were too fixated on Baby $’s head half way popping out of his home! Not to get too graphic up in here, but it’s truly amazing to see how they can come out of such small areas :) I watched the entire thing from start to finish (despite the crazy amount of blood everywhere, *shiver*), and the second I saw his light brown hair on his head I had tears streaming down my face in complete awe.  It was at that moment when it all sunk in and I couldn’t believe our dreams had come true!

WE WERE HAVING A BABY!!!

Man… I’m tearing up just thinking about it again :)  But it’s so true – that moment when you first see your child is incredible, just like everyone always says but you never understand until you actually go through the entire thing.  I told my wife 2 minutes later that I want to hurry up and get another one and she just about divorced me, haha… probably too soon ;)

Here’s a handful of events that has happened in the weeks since:

  • He lost a little weight in the beginning, but fully regained it later when mom’s milk came in (TMI?)
  • We got him circumcised, and almost had a heart attack when we came home to a diaper full of blood! (all, of course, was fine in the end – his little member just got stuck to the diaper :()
  • Days later he had a shirt full of blood and we AGAIN almost had a heart attack (the leftover umbilical cord scraped the baby’s belly, and all was fine there too – it’s always something!)
  • Days after that it started smelling really bad and I freaked out and took him back (yet again) to the doctors. Who joked that I better not be in there because of his umbilical cord again, but of course I was cuz I could have sworn he got a flesh eating bacteria!  (he did not, and again was a-okay)
  • The wife and I tried to go on a date one night but it went horribly wrong when we got stuck inside a store due to massive thunder storms and Mrs. BudgetsAreSexy kept worrying that something was gonna happen to our baby and/or house! ;)  Which is a shame cuz out of allll the places to be stuck for a half  hour, an ice cream store is the place to be!  Normally pretty romantic, haha…

Baby J. Money chillinAll that to say that we pretty much freaked out every other day ;)  And celebrated weird milestones like his first poop and his fake smile, haha… we’re doing much better now though since we’ve had his 2 week checkup and everything seems to be going pretty well… I guess all new parents goes through this terrifying initiation?

Crap, hold on a sec I hear him crying….. [45 mins later] Okay, back :)  The bad thing about working from home?  You’re kinda sorta still on call! Haha… we’ll see how long that lasts, though…

Let’s move on to some of the financial aspects of it all now, that’s enough of the crazy baby stories. Here are a few tidbits:

  • We’ve spent over $25 on Vaseline which was weird, but also kinda important w/ circumcision stuff
  • We had to pick up a handful more of onesies and blankets cuz apparently 10 of each wasn’t enough! Haha… MAN they need to get changed all the time! :)
  • We’ve gotten a lot of free food from people which is awesome cuz we could barely tell up from down most times at night! (And days, for that matter)
  • We’ve started getting bills in the mail now, and so far the totals are hovering around $8,000!  And we expect there will be many more to come once they all get through the pipeline and hit our insurance/etc (LUCKILY we don’t have to pay that full $8k or whatever the grand total will be in the end, but still – pretty pricey!  Reminds me of a tweet someone sent me the other day, “You have to pay for babies in the US??” Yup!  No universal healthcare here, I’m afraid…)

And I’ll of course be updating our baby money tracker over time too, which will have a humongo jump this month and next I’m sure – esp if I end up opening up that 529 I’m thinking about still (I’m actually starting to question it, but we’ll leave that for another day’s post…).

If you can believe it, I also got into a bunch of other things too over vacation paternity leave.  Apparently I’m a LOT more productive when given windows of opportunities ;):

  • I cleaned out 75% of my basement making it as clutter-free as it’s ever been!
  • My mom and I built an entire garden from scratch (pics and costs coming soon!)
  • I scored all kinds of deals at thrift stores and estate sales
  • I sold one of my online properties for a good chunk of change! (Details coming soon on that too)
  • I watched about 100 hours of late night Pawn Stars and American Pickers while comforting baby… Learning all about the Civil War and other times of past with all their valuable antiques ;)
  • And I pretty much lived as close of a “retirement” life as I probably will whenever that day comes around. A little work action to keep the brain pumping, and a whole bunch of family and adventure time w/ the rest of the hours… Was a nice taste of the good life for sure :) Minus the lack of sleep.

And now, life gets back on track and we start a new “normal!” Lots to look forward to and learn still, but all good things to be excited about. It’s nice having our priorities be a beautiful little boy these days than a beautiful little dollar, haha… though of course money will always be a passion :)

And, like always, I’ll be back to blog about it all again tomorrow! Hope everyone’s well and staying motivated – Big Money and Baby Money loves you dearly!

J. Poppa Money signature
PS: We’ve decided to keep Baby $’s name anonymous just like his daddy’s, so feel free to call him whatever you want ;)  We’ll be sticking to Baby $ here on the blog though unless it starts getting confusing… which it may just get.

PPS: Remember when I JUST blogged about us getting pregnant??

cute baby feet

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87 Comments

  1. Valencia July 30, 2012 at 6:27 AM

    J, he is adorable!! You seem to have made it through the initiation process in one piece =) I hear it’s a killer! lol Keep us updated, the next few months are SO exciting! Congrats again!

    Reply
  2. Natalie A. July 30, 2012 at 6:46 AM

    OMG, I can hardly stand it. He is SO cute!! It looks and sounds like you can’t get enough of him. :-) Congratulation!! Now, if I could only stop laughing at you about those diapers…lol

    Reply
  3. elliott July 30, 2012 at 6:55 AM

    Congratulations! Tip from a dad who just finished year #1: the new “normal” is constant change. You may build some semblance of a routine, but frequent tweaks will keep you from getting bored.

    Reply
  4. Lance @ Money Life and More July 30, 2012 at 7:09 AM

    Congrats on the huge milestone! Definitely a few years off for me and the GF because I totally could not handle that at this point in my life! Glad you’re back and look forward to some posts from J$!

    Reply
  5. William @ Drop Dead Money July 30, 2012 at 7:20 AM

    Congratulations! Kinda puts a new perspective on budgets and stuff, huh? ;)

    Reply
  6. Mysti July 30, 2012 at 7:50 AM

    Congratulations to you all! He is precious. I had to giggle a little at your panics. As a mom who had babies in the hospital for 4 and 6 months, respectively, you nervous parents are entertaining! And for the record….my kids’ hospital bill was 1.5 MILLION. Take that!

    Reply
  7. RichUncle EL July 30, 2012 at 7:51 AM

    Congrats on the baby boy, Life is going to get pretty interesting now. Your single friends will stop calling you and you will soon find some new friends with kids. Only parents and families of the lil ones can stand all the crying. Best of luck.

    Reply
  8. Elle July 30, 2012 at 8:25 AM

    Baby $ is adorable! So happy that you guys are all doing well. LOL, it IS stressful becoming parents for the first couple of weeks, isn’t it? Fun times ahead though – the first year has been awesome for us. I can’t wait to see what adventures lay ahead for you. Congratulations again!

    Reply
  9. Michelle July 30, 2012 at 8:27 AM

    He is just such a CUTIE! Congrats!

    Reply
  10. Valerie July 30, 2012 at 8:32 AM

    Congratulations! Baby $ is adorable!

    Reply
  11. Brian July 30, 2012 at 8:44 AM

    That is one good looking kid! Enjoy every moment with him (even the meltdowns) because they are all worth it.

    PS. Aren’t baby feet the cutest things ever? I thought my wife was crazy for thinking this, but I am now all in on how cute they are

    Reply
  12. The Financial Blogger July 30, 2012 at 8:50 AM

    Congrats J!

    Reading this article reminded me how it was when I had my first one (man this was 7 years ago… I’m getting old! hahaha!). It is true that you discover a whole new set of *boring* tv shows late at night!

    For my third one, I was working on my laptop at the same time I was babysitting :-)

    I wish you all the best with your newborn!

    Reply
  13. Holly July 30, 2012 at 9:06 AM

    Congrats!!! Ours is due January 10! Hubby and I are looking forward to it. I have been working as many side accounting jobs that I can manage on top of my regular job just to make sure we have enough in savings. Husband is self-employed so like you no paid time off. I won’t have enough PTO to get me through maternity leave… will see how this goes! Looking forward to more posts!

    Reply
  14. Jen July 30, 2012 at 9:12 AM

    Love, love, love, love, LOVE!! Baby Bank is precious! Glad to hear mommy and daddy are well, too! First babies are such a wonderful life-changing experience. Enjoy your time with the little guy. :)

    Reply
  15. MainlineMom aka Sarah July 30, 2012 at 9:19 AM

    Congratulations, he’s adorable! Yeah you’re experience with new parenting sounds very familiar. I don’t think we had quite as many freakouts, but there were a few.

    Here’s a tip…when and if he gets really fussy and can’t sleep…turn on the closed captioning on your TV. We would just sit there watching TV, taking turns holding and bouncing him while he screamed himself to sleep.

    Reply
  16. K @ Get Worth July 30, 2012 at 9:23 AM

    Congratulations! Hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for posting the baby money tracker. It should help me prepare, as much as it is possible, for a little one of my own when the time comes.

    Reply
  17. Jenna, Adaptu Community Manager July 30, 2012 at 9:46 AM

    AH! Congrats again! Can’t wait to hear a million more stories and see a million more photos at FinCon!

    Reply
  18. tom July 30, 2012 at 9:47 AM

    Dude, congratulations! He’s a great looking little man!

    How are you guys sleeping?

    Reply
  19. Bil July 30, 2012 at 10:02 AM

    Congratulations!

    Reply
  20. Andrea @ Take A Smart Step July 30, 2012 at 10:04 AM

    Congratulations, those first moments are so precious, just hard to remember from lack of sleep! My hubby wrote them all down during that time so we could remember!

    PS. If I could do it again, I would not have opened a 529. Lots of reasons why, but the quick run down – fees, investment choices, they don’t reinvest the dividends (not sure why, it is on my list of things to figure out). If you can qualify for ESA do that even though it is less money then max out retirement!

    Reply
  21. graduate.living July 30, 2012 at 10:32 AM

    Congrats! He’s adorable; hope Mom is recovering OK too! Will she head back to school this semester, or is she taking a leave of absence for the kiddo? (I’m also a grad student, so I’m interested to know how she’s handling baby+grad school).

    Reply
  22. Joe @ Retire By 40 July 30, 2012 at 10:39 AM

    Congratulation again J Papa! The first two weeks was the worse for us too. Our guy was pretty small to begin with and when he lost weight, it was pretty tough for us. You are doing so great with the little guy. Is he coming to Denver? Hahahah…

    Reply
  23. Emmy July 30, 2012 at 10:40 AM

    He’s so stinkin cute!!!!!!! But it’s so awesome how excited you are about being a daddy. I can almost hear your voice as I read this post. Congrats!

    Reply
  24. Glen Craig July 30, 2012 at 10:44 AM

    Cute little guy! Enjoy all the cliches of havin’ a baby.

    27 hrs must have felt nuts to you guys. When my son was born I had about an hour sleep before my wife told me it was time to go and he wasn’t born till late in the morning. I liken it to the end of Apocalypse Now.

    But it’s all wonderful and magical.

    Reply
  25. Miriam July 30, 2012 at 10:53 AM

    I can tell by the tone of your post that you are going to be a great daddy! Take lots of pictures but don’t get into the “take lots of pictures the first couple months then gradually taper off and forget about it entirely” trap that I did. I’m very curious to hear about your take on the 529 because I’ve been waffling on getting one for my youngest. I had thought about it because you can tie Upromise into it, and I thought that might be an easy way to put money into it without thinking.

    Reply
  26. L Bee @ Money Tree July 30, 2012 at 11:04 AM

    Agh amazeballs. Just reading your post made me tired. You two must be superheros. Congrats on the new baby!

    Reply
  27. DebtsnTaxes July 30, 2012 at 11:08 AM

    Congrats on a healthy Baby $. Sounds like you have been a busy man with all the freaking out and stuff. I have a feeling my wife is going to be like that also, she already does it with the pets. I’m sure it will take some getting used to and you will probably get good at taking power naps. Take lots of pictures and do one in the same spot every year to see how much/fast he grows.

    Reply
  28. Kelsey @ Crappy Kid Art July 30, 2012 at 11:20 AM

    Congrats!! He is so cute! Since I’m not a parent yet, it’s fun to see stories of a new parent.

    Reply
  29. J. Money July 30, 2012 at 11:35 AM

    THANK YOU!!! Life is good!!! Though I have still yet to see our final insurance payments and future insurance costs too, haha… they won’t be pretty that’s for sure :) But hell – at least we get a baby out of it!

    @Valencia – Oh man, barely! ;)
    @elliott – Roger that, thx! And congrats to you too :)
    @Mysti – WOAHHHHH!!!! I can’t believe that!!! OMG I hope you guys had some killer insurance!
    @RichUncle EL – My friends have already left me alone since all I do is talk about business and blogging these days ;) Haha…
    @Brian – Right?? I touch his feet like once an hour! Haha… all of their body parts are super adorable :)
    @The Financial Blogger – Thanks bud! Soon enough all our kids will be off to college, eh? ;)
    @Holly – How awesome, congrats! You will LOVE IT!!
    @Jen – “Baby Bank” haha… good one ;)
    @MainlineMom aka Sarah – Oooh that’s not a bad idea, I forgot about closed captioning… I have no problems with reading tv! :)
    @K @ Get Worth – No problem, hope it helps :) The only thing missing from it so far is tons of clothing costs, but if you have lots of friends or family members that have had kids, hopefully you’ll get a ton for free too… we have yet to really buy many clothes except for some random things we keep running out of now.
    @tom – Sleep?? :)
    @Andrea @ Take A Smart Step – Interesting… keep your eyes open for my post on it here soon, but would love to see what you think after reading it. I’ve been going back and forth all week but the Mrs. just about has me convinced on what we’re gonna do. Whether it’s the right move or not, haha…
    @graduate.living – Well luckily she’s already finished with all her classes and exams and all that, BUT (and it’s a huge one), she still has her final thesis to start and complete ;) So the idea right now is for her to research and get her topic approved 100% by the end of this first sememster, and then over the next 2 years complete it all the way and officially be a PHD. Ofcourse, who knows what will happen as time goes on with baby and other work stuff if she decides to go back into the career path (And I’m pretty sure she will), but for now that’s the plan anyways… never know what kids do to you though ;)
    @Joe @ Retire By 40 – Toughest part of the whole process right? Esp as a new parent – I’m sure we’ll be a lot more sane for the next ones :) And there actually IS a chance he’ll be at FINCON! We’re still not sure 100%, but him and the wife just may come out with me :)
    @Glen Craig – Haha, indeed :)
    @Emmy – Thanks Emmy :) He’s my world!
    @Miriam – Haha… I’ve already started taking less pictures, but only cuz I want to enjoy more of the moments in “real life” and not be so caught up in picture taking ;) But I def. hear what you’re saying… and yup, that 529 post will come out soon!
    @DebtsnTaxes – HAH! Great idea!

    Reply
  30. Betsy July 30, 2012 at 11:38 AM

    Congratulations! My daughter just turned 13 months old, and I’m trying to get back to all of our money-saving ways. So, I thought a few minutes ago, “I wonder what J. Money is doing?…Is he ever going to have kids?” This is really true — so what a surprise to see your post today! Maybe it’s just me, but I have a hard time getting anything done with my daughter around. I work full-time outside of the home, so I like spending time with her — and she’s more and more fun every day now that she’s a toddler. I can barely find time to do the basics of maintaining a household. I’m so behind with everything at home…and it’s really bugging me about our money. I’m so out of control when I used to know what every penny was doing! My husband graciously offered to take our daughter to my parents’ house (3.5 hrs away) this coming weekend. If they are both out of the house, maybe I can focus on figuring out our budget…we’re hoping there’s room for another pink or blue line item soon!

    Reply
  31. Yana July 30, 2012 at 11:38 AM

    Congratulations and welcome to parenthood! This was a fun post. Glad to see Baby $ and read of your adventures with him so far :)

    Reply
  32. Betsy July 30, 2012 at 11:43 AM

    PS The one thing I did last year was add up all of the dollars on the Explaination of Benefits papers that came rolling in after the baby was born. It was over $18K just for the routine delivery (with epidural)…all of that and 9 months worth of OB appointments, and all I paid was one $30 copay! What a deal! (I work in DC and delivered at Fairfax (VA) Hospital.)

    Ah – I can believe I missed this news! I have to go back and see what else you posted about the baby/pregnancy. I can’t wait to read about your tips, etc. for life as three!

    Reply
  33. Investor Junkie July 30, 2012 at 12:19 PM

    Congrats! Though he should be named Baby Money Pit! :-) Get that 529 cranking!

    Reply
  34. Ashley July 30, 2012 at 12:21 PM

    Awwwww, he is so adorable! Congratulations!!! And I’m wondering the same thing as Donna Freedman. Will Baby $ be making an appearance at FinCon12? :)

    Reply
  35. m1nts July 30, 2012 at 12:37 PM

    Beautiful!
    welcome and welcome back :)

    Reply
  36. jolie July 30, 2012 at 12:46 PM

    OH congratulations!!! absolutely adorable and so tiny compared to my tanks :-)

    There is absolutely nothing like new baby smell ….so intoxicating. Cherish each moment as it goes so very very fast. I would give anything to go back in time and rocking my babies just once more.

    So happy for the three of you.

    Reply
  37. brooklyn money July 30, 2012 at 12:51 PM

    Congrats on your new tax deduction!

    Reply
  38. Jessica July 30, 2012 at 12:54 PM

    Congrats! I like Baby $ as the online persona for the little guy. You did lock up that site, twitter handle, gmail account, etc right?

    For the onesie & blanket mess. Do a load of laundry daily to keep up and not have to buy more stuff. Or if you do buy, check out child consignment stores. Onesies and blankets are one thing that always seem to stick around in those stores.

    Reply
  39. Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy July 30, 2012 at 1:27 PM

    Awww!! Baby $ is sooo precious, congratulations, Daddy.

    They are little time devourers (I go through my day feeling soo busy and yet wondering what the heck it is I’m doing all day!) But ironically I can’t even remember my life before my little butter bean arrived.

    Enjoy every second with your angelic boy. They grow so, so fast. That feeling like your heart is going to bust right out of your chest because you’re filled with so much love / wonder/ awe … ITS THE BEST :D

    Reply
  40. Kris @ simple island living July 30, 2012 at 1:40 PM

    Congrats! My 2nd just turned 3 weeks old…crazy times. So funny on the 2am thing – my husband came home from work at 2am and then we realized I was in labor. Same thing happened with our first. Both times he pulled an all-nighter, going straight from work to the hospital!
    Congrats again. He’s adorable!

    Reply
  41. LB July 30, 2012 at 1:51 PM

    Congrats on the baby! I can’t believe everything you are handling.

    I thought I wanted kids and I thought I could handle it, but after reading this I don’t think there is any way in hell I would birth a child in my current situation. Totally freaks me out and I love kids and all their crying madness. Wow what a wake up for me. Guess I will just focus on school and probably end up skipping the whole child thing. (Will be older, lots of debt, totally freaking me out right now.)

    Reply
  42. bogofdebt July 30, 2012 at 2:07 PM

    Congrats! He is a beautiful baby! I’m one of those who holds the baby, declares he/she to be the cutest baby ever and then 5 minutes later, holds a different baby and declares he/she to be the cutest baby ever. I’m hoping to have one of my own in a few years time!

    Reply
  43. Monica C. July 30, 2012 at 2:24 PM

    Heartfelt congratulations! He is quite a handsome boy, and he will bring you incredible joy (and sometimes frustration) through the years :) Its true that once you have a child, you feel like a member of some society that discusses poop, pee, nap schedules, etc., but its totally worth every minute! Continued blessings to your family.

    Reply
  44. Cassie July 30, 2012 at 2:40 PM

    OMG J$ he’s absolutely adorable!!! Congratulations, I’m so happy for you :D

    Reply
  45. Serena @ Thrift Diving July 30, 2012 at 3:06 PM

    Can I just say YOU ROCK for responding to everyone’s comments??? Now that’s a dedicated blogger :) Anyhow, you made ME tear up a little reading your birth story! I’ve got 3 sons of my own (ages 6, 2, and 8 months), and so I know the feeling. It’s a wild ride. And one that is soooo worth it (despite their sucking you dry financially). Take TONS of pictures. They grow up fast! Glad to have you back!

    Serena
    Thrift Diving

    Reply
  46. Kaye July 30, 2012 at 4:46 PM

    I’ve been waiting for the day that you posted these pics. He’s beautiful. Congratulations to you and the Mrs! They are amazing little people…more and more amazing as you realize that they are such PEOPLE with personalities and quirks and moods. Love them!

    Reply
  47. B. (Below Her Means) July 30, 2012 at 5:16 PM

    He looks awesome! Congratulations. Glad you’re back too!

    Reply
  48. DC @ Young Adult Money July 30, 2012 at 6:02 PM

    Glad to have you back! Congrats again on the baby!

    Also nice job on the online site sell. It’s a motivator to continue pushing on with my own blog.

    Reply
  49. Shannon-ReadyForZero July 30, 2012 at 6:45 PM

    What a cutie! I’m excited to read all about the journey you guys are on now and learn vicariously what it really does take (financially and more) to raise a baby. Congratulations!

    Reply
  50. Jacob @ iheartbudgets July 30, 2012 at 7:43 PM

    Isn’t it seriously the greatest. our boy is 7 months tomorrow, and I remember his birth like it was yesterday. And those first few weeks are always nuts, but fun to look back on. At least twice a month my wife and I scrll through our pictures on our phones while in bed and just look at the transformation from birth until now. It’s crazy!

    Congrats on the little guya dn welcome to fatherhood. Best. Thing. Ever.

    Reply
  51. Paul @ The Frugal Toad July 30, 2012 at 7:43 PM

    Congrats on the new arrival J! I remember coming home from the hospital with our first child. Driving home, at the first stop light my wife and I looked in the back seat at our son and couldn’t believe we were now responsible for this tiny person. I think it took an hour to drive the 5 miles home from the hospital. How about that first diaper change? Freak you out?

    Reply
  52. Edward Antrobus July 30, 2012 at 8:28 PM

    When his hair starts growing, you going to put it in a little mohawk?

    Reply
  53. Melissa@LittleHouseInTheValley July 30, 2012 at 8:36 PM

    He is sooo cute! It really makes me miss the baby stage, but I sure am enjoying getting a full night of sleep every night. (Now if we can just survive the terribe two’s!) Can’t wait to read more about him.

    Reply
  54. StackingCash July 30, 2012 at 10:58 PM

    Awesome! Congrats! :)

    Reply
  55. Maternity Dresses July 31, 2012 at 12:20 AM

    Glad to see you back and very cute baby

    Reply
  56. Call Me What You Want Even Cheap July 31, 2012 at 5:28 AM

    Welcome back, we missed you. Baby $ is adorable. I am happy everything went went well. Your poor wife for having to go through 27 hours of labor. Ouch!

    Reply
  57. Mrs. Frugalista July 31, 2012 at 8:10 AM

    Welcome to the world Money Bean!!!!!

    Reply
  58. Skint in the City July 31, 2012 at 9:38 AM

    Ooh, adorable! What a cute little guy – may he bring you lots of joy and get into the habit of very long naps! That’s what you need when you’re working at home – the three hour afternoon nap! Baby Skint is doing just that at the moment, though I reckon I’m on borrowed time! Congratulations again, your baby is just beautiful. x

    Reply
  59. Evan July 31, 2012 at 4:19 PM

    Congrats J! Super excited for you two.

    “I’d tell you what it was, but to be honest my eyes were too fixated on Baby $’s head half way popping out of his home! Not to get too graphic up in here, but it’s truly amazing to see how they can come out of such small areas :) I watched the entire thing from start to finish (despite the crazy amount of blood everywhere, *shiver*),”
    – Tougher guy than me…I kept my eyes on that back wall for fear of passing the F out

    Reply
  60. Topher July 31, 2012 at 4:47 PM

    Congrats J!!!! He’s adorable

    Reply
  61. Kate July 31, 2012 at 7:27 PM

    He’s absolutely adorable! I hope you and your wife are enjoying every moment.

    Reply
  62. Cassi July 31, 2012 at 7:30 PM

    He is so cute! I know when I was born, I was 10lbs 23 inches and my brother was 10.5lb 23 inches! Big babies!

    And, oh my goodness. Babies are expensive! I didn’t realize it cost that much! Well, he is so cute it is worth it. Congrats!

    Reply
  63. Zach August 1, 2012 at 10:47 AM

    Congratulations! Hearing the things you were freaking out about made me freak a little bit. I’m nowhere close to having a kid yet but it’s always in my mind and I feel grossly unprepared. :P

    Reply
  64. J. Money August 1, 2012 at 12:29 PM

    Thanks everyone!!! You sure know how to make a blogger smile!! :)

    @Betsy – Wowwww crazy timing indeed, huh? That’s awesome :) I’m still here figuring out money and now being a parent too! Congrats on your little girl and hopefully future girl/boy too! I hear it gets tough once they start moving around and not letting you do tasks at the same time ;) I guess you trade one set of pros and cons for another, eh? As far as your budgeting and money stuff is concerned though, I’d take a big look at what’s truly important now that your situation has changed and your time has been limited, and see if there’s a more streamlined approach you can take to managing it all? I know for us we’re about to condense a TON more account together and cut out worthless reviews of other areas just so we can have a better (and faster) picture of things now that we don’t have as much time and/or need for it all. In your case, maybe it’s more about “rough” numbers and accounting than down to the penny? If you’re struggling financially ofcourse you may still need to do that, but if money is overall good and you’re just having trouble staying on top of everything, that small adjustment may be enough to continue giving you peace of mind without pouring in too many hours into it all – ya know? Maybe you can get rid of straggler accounts and condense more stuff too? Or set up more autotmatic payments/etc? There’s always *something* you can do :) (And also, $19k in total??? And you only paid $30 at the end? CRAZY!!)
    @Donna Freedman, Ashley – Right now that’s the plan! We’ll all be at FINCON!
    @Investor Junkie – HAH! I like it :)
    @brooklyn money – I like the way you think ;)
    @Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy – Give a hug to your little butter bean from Uncle J$!
    @Kris @ simple island living – HAH! Tell your husband he’s a pimp for getting through it all in one piece ;) Oh, and you too! Haha…
    @LB – Awwww well it’s a lot different reading about having kids than it is actually HAVING them. Yeah it’s crazy and scary and you want to scream at the top of your lungs sometimes (to beat out that baby doing the same in front of you!) but when it’s YOUR kid and you’re also enjoying all of the WONDERFUL times of it all, everything else goes out the window :) That’s the thing with a lot of stuff out there in this world actually, you hear different sides of things – both good and bad – but being IN it is completely different. Having kids is def. not for everyone, but more often than not I don’t hear anyone saying they wish they could go back in time and *not* have their kid ;)
    @bogofdebt – Haha… I hope you do too then in that case ;) No one will be cuter than your own!
    @Serena @ Thrift Diving – I do my best!! As you know blogging is all kinds of time consuming, but at the end of the day it’s what I love :) And without you guys there would BE no blog!
    @Kaye – Hehe yup! They are cute little quirky mini-people :)
    @DC @ Young Adult Money – You especially will think my online site sell will be interesting – I’ll have to email you about it on the side :)
    @Jacob @ iheartbudgets – HAH! I scrolled through my pics on my iPhone last night and was amazed! He’s HUGE compared to 3 weeks ago :)
    @Paul @ The Frugal Toad – Haha… indeed my friend, indeed ;) I feel like a PRO at it now though and can do it half-asleep no matter what the mess is in there!
    @Edward Antrobus – Come on now, what kind of question is that? :)
    @Melissa@LittleHouseInTheValley – Oh geez, I heard that was a handful!
    @Call Me What You Want Even Cheap – I missed you and everyone too!
    @Mrs. Frugalista – Haha… Money Bean! That’s a good one!
    @Skint in the City – Thanks!!! And I know – the wife is currently enjoying one of those 3 hours naps for the first time in days! It’s almost 1pm and she’s out like a light! Tell Baby Skint I say hi :)
    @Evan – HAH! I was ready to step aside at any time, but it never got to that point fortunately :) I’ll bet you a beer the next time around you’ll be fine too!
    @Cassi – Wow you guys were nice and healthy! Haha… that’s pretty impressive :)
    @Zach – Luckily after a while you get used to freaking out all the time and when a day goes by where you don’t you feel like a champ ;) I figure if people have been fine raising babies for millions of years, I can’t really mess up too bad, right?

    Reply
  65. Dee N August 2, 2012 at 12:06 AM

    Such a cutie! So very happy for all of you!! :)

    Reply
  66. Nicole August 2, 2012 at 1:18 PM

    So cute! We have gone thru alot of the same the last 3 1/2 weeks. Funny what a new baby and lack of sleep will do to your ability for rational thought!
    Patrick Jeffrey arrived July 10…2 weeks early. 21 inches, 7 lbs 6oz. 35 hours of labor (33 of which I was told was false labor when I called the doctors office and was even sent home from hospital. Wasnt until I returned to the hospital a few hours later and was 7 centimeters that they decided to take me seriously!)
    It is such an emotional, awesome experience. I have gotten peed on several times, but I guess I just need to be quicker on the draw!
    Now, we try again for our girl!
    Congrats! So neat our boys are the same age! My older son is 6, and it blows my mind that he was once so small! I am savoring it all! Oh, and I did tweet a photo of Patricks mohawk under my twitter name Scouk!

    Reply
  67. J. Money August 2, 2012 at 4:37 PM

    Congrats!! That’s very cool our boys are around the same age like that :) Especially weird since yours was two weeks early and ours was over a week late! Haha… boys will be boys?

    (We’re gonna try for a girl too one day in the near future – I’m not stopping until I get one!)

    Reply
  68. Jason August 2, 2012 at 9:11 PM

    Congrats! My wife and I just had our first – a girl – at the end of February. She was a week early and if she wasn’t probably would have trumped my own birthday! Get ready for the bills. We (wife would like the plural pronoun) were in labor for 25 hours and she delivered her naturally too. When all was said and done, our bill was just over $30k. Be prepared to have a heart attack when everything comes in! We only paid like $3500, but still, it shouldn’t be that much for a vaginal birth!

    Reply
  69. Pauline August 3, 2012 at 1:08 PM

    Congratulations and welcome Baby $!! (Thought you were going for J.Penny, but Baby $ is adorable too :) ). As a French girl I can’t get over the costs of giving birth. Almost everything is free for us, seems like our country is so happy to welcome those future little taxpayers into the world!

    Reply
  70. J. Money August 4, 2012 at 3:51 PM

    Haha yeah, at least we get *some* tax benefits for having a wee one ;)

    @Jason – Oh great, you trying to scare me? :) It does add up pretty quickly though, our bills keep on coming and each one is pretty much a surprise… just waiting to see how much we actually OWE still though, so I’ll keep ya posted!

    Reply
  71. Nick August 8, 2012 at 11:48 AM

    WOW! I’ve been a bit MIA lately for a whole host of reasons, but searched and searched and finally found this! Congratulations! Hope you’re all doing really well and sleeping at least a little…

    Reply
  72. J. Money August 8, 2012 at 6:20 PM

    Well thanks for searching! We’re all nice and healthy over here, just enjoying time spent with each other :) Hope things are well on your end, sir!

    Reply
  73. Bargain Babe August 14, 2012 at 10:34 AM

    CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

    As a new parent myself (Lucy, aka the OTHER cutest baby in the world, is 6.5 months) I am so happy for you!!! Having babies is the best thing in the world. Enjoy your little guy as much as possible. Lucy is already about to crawl and laughing and interacting, which is all wonderful. But I miss having a helpless little baby in my arms that just wants to sleep all the time.

    Big hug to the new fam!

    Reply
  74. Suzanne Cramer August 22, 2012 at 11:30 AM

    Congrats J$!!! That little guy could not be any more handsome :)
    Don’t worry the hair will grow in soon and you can give him the babyhawk!!!

    Reply
  75. J. Money August 22, 2012 at 6:46 PM

    @Bargain Babe – YAY!!!! We have beautiful families! Give Lucy a high five from Uncle J$ and tell her when she’s old enough perhaps she can date Baby $ ;) Haha…
    @Suzanne Cramer – Aww, thank you friend :) See you soon I hope at FINCON!

    Reply
  76. debtgirl September 12, 2012 at 7:36 PM

    OMGosh, beautiful !!!!

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  77. J. Money September 14, 2012 at 12:01 PM

    Thank you!! :)

    Reply
  78. Dani @ okdani.com November 7, 2012 at 8:55 PM

    Oh man!!! I have not been keeping up here. I feel terrible I didn’t get to give you an earlier note of congrats. You crossed my mind today and I zoomed over to see if you had Baby Money up and you do.
    HE IS PRECIOUS!!!!
    Congrats a million times.
    Our little guy was born in June and we’re just so in love. It’s amazing how they just change you, isn’t it? Craaazy. I know you and Mrs. Money are just as smitten as can be with your cute little bundle.
    Congrats again!!!

    xo
    Dani

    Reply
  79. J. Money November 9, 2012 at 6:47 AM

    Hi friend!! CONGRATS to you too – how lucky are we?? :) Going over to your blog now to check out the pictures – Thanks for stopping by!

    Reply
  80. Lena @ WhatMommyDoes December 30, 2012 at 10:18 PM

    Congrats to the Money Family! I remember too well all the freakouts we had over our first little one. I remember thinking, “Are they really gonna let us take her home and nobody is going to check in on us to make sure she’s okay every day?!?!” Right when I was about to leave the hospital is when it hit home for me.

    This time next year I bet we’ll be seeing another “we’re expecting!” post. That’s about the time I predict your wife will get the baby fever again. I did. After #2, I was ready after 12 months! :-0

    Reply
  81. J. Money December 31, 2012 at 8:02 PM

    Haha, that would be a-okay with me! I’m ready ;) But the Mrs. is quite far from it as of now, haha… we shall see if your prediction holds true though! Come back in 12 months!

    Reply
  82. John @ Building Financial Freedom November 7, 2014 at 10:19 AM

    Congrats on the baby! As a young father of a beautiful 7 year old girl, I can tell you that it will be wildly interesting, but a beautiful experience at the same time.

    If you ever need help with anything, feel free to reach out! I’m pretty experienced in the children department with a daughter and a zillion nieces and nephews. Good luck to you and take care of that handsome boy!

    Reply
    1. J. Money November 10, 2014 at 3:00 PM

      Hey, thx!

      He’s now actually 2 years old and we have a 6 m/o too :) You found an oldie but goodie post here!

      Reply

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