Baby Updates
In case you missed it in the emails from Douglas or the Newsletter (if you want to sign up for the monthly newsletter and get #FinLit, head over here), I had my baby! Benjamin George Weitzman was born on July 20th weighing 7 lbs. 7 oz., right on his due date. He must have known that mom and dad are planners and like to be organized and on time!
As any of you parents know, the first few weeks are the hardest. Luckily, we had some of my family members stay with us so that at 3am when both Andrew and I were exhausted and Ben wouldn’t go to sleep, we could pass him to someone else. We basically took shifts sleeping. Ben did not sleep well those first few weeks and he was eating about every 2-3 hours 24/7.
Since then, things have improved greatly. He now will eat around 10-11pm and sleep until 3-4am which lets us get a few hours of deep sleep before I’m up again to feed him in those early morning hours. Now if only he could stretch that to 6am, we would be golden. 3:00am is not my favorite time of day…
Baby Ben has also been smiling and cooing for a few weeks which is so wonderful! He is more than just the mushy baby lump- he will actually smile at me when I talk to him. That recognition of us as his parents is the best!
My father-in-law has also been coming out to our house one day during the week to help me out with errands or entertaining Ben and Jeter. The rest of Andrew’s family also comes out on the weekends to see all of us. We have had a blast and I think Jeter might have enjoyed their visits the most as they always come bearing gifts of dog toys or treats. He knows who brings the goods!
Jeter Updates
And not to be left out, Jeter also had some excitement over the summer. We brought Ben home from the hospital on a Sunday and on Wednesday Jeter had an accident. He was running around the backyard and somehow impaled himself by his shoulder with a stick. My mom, who was here at the time, and Andrew saw him limping a little after running around the yard and checked his lower legs and paws and didn’t see anything. It wasn’t until a little later that he rolled over and I saw blood by his shoulder.
So with a 5-day old baby in the house, Andrew had to take Jeter to the vet to be evaluated. Jeter had to have emergency surgery that day and be put under to get stitches to heal the cut. He also had to be in a cone for a week and given two different medicines. Now picture that: a newborn baby, me still recovering from delivery and a 55-pound golden retriever in a cone in the house. Needless to say, it added some drama and stress to our first week home.
The good news is we have pet insurance. The total bill was around $800 and we only paid $100. We are glad we paid for the insurance this year. Jeter has had various parasites from eating things off the ground so that is one financial step we took that is benefiting us greatly. And we just hope as he gets older that he stops eating things in the yard and doesn’t hurt himself again.
We celebrated his first birthday recently as well. He got a bath (which he doesn’t like but was much needed) and we took him to the pet store to pick out a treat. Andrew bought party hats and we put one on him to take a birthday picture. We thought it was hilarious…Jeter not so much. Sorry dog!
RELATED: How much money does it cost to own a dog? 7 times more than you would expect.
AD: Planners don’t typically trade, but when they do they use the right tools for the job. Investors Business Daily Can help.
Finances After Baby
Now that Ben is here, we are going to start looking at what expenses look like as a new family of 4 (yes, I’m including the dog because he is expensive). We are going to keep tracking our budget as we go through the rest of this year and early next to see how things shake out. We are a little behind so at some point Andrew and I will look back at our expenses and reconcile.
529 Plan
We also opened a 529 plan for Ben. We set up an automatic monthly contribution of $50 so that there is something going in there from us. That isn’t enough to fully fund it, but it is a start. We also wanted family to be able to make contributions as well as have a place for baby gifts and gifts as he grows. Education is very important to Andrew and me so we want Ben to be able to have a great education.
Health Insurance
We hit our health insurance plan maximums and have been paying off the remaining hospital bills. When Ben was born, my husband added him to our insurance and was able to increase his HSA (Health Savings Account) and FSA (Flexible Spending Account) funding since it was considered a life event. We would have done higher contribution rates had we know Ben was on the way, but enrollment was about a month too early!
By increasing his HSA and FSA Andrew effectively made less money this past month because so much was being taken out. But, we turned right around and used all the HSA funds for medical bills and will start using the FSA for day care. It feels a little strange in terms of cash flow but it is an added benefit. And we are reducing our taxable income number by thousands of dollars by taking out money for medical expenses and day care before taxes. It’s a great benefit to take advantage of if you have it.
What’s Next
We are coming to the point where we will need to become a two car family like most of America. We have only had one car since we moved to the suburbs over a year ago, but it is getting to the point where Andrew needs it for work things and I’m trying to juggle getting myself to work and Ben to daycare. Our time with one car is not working anymore.
We have started shopping around and are ideally looking for a larger SUV with three rows and plenty of space. This will be our family car for a number of years, so it needs to accommodate our lives including the baby and the dog.
All of my family lives in Virginia, so we drive down to see them at least once a year. Now that we have the dog and the baby, there is a lot that travels with us including the dog crate, bowl, bed and toys. And for the baby its his clothes, diapers, pack n’ play and stroller. It is a full car and that doesn’t even include stuff for Andrew and I. Before we are head down there for the holidays in December we will need the new car.
We are also going to do our estate planning before the end of the year. We started having some of the important conversations about who will become guardians for Ben and Jeter and will meet with the attorney this fall to get the documents in place. This is one of those must-do items that is not fun but needs to get checked off the list.
I think that is enough excitement for now. It was a busy summer and early fall, but so many wonderful things! We are already planning for Ben’s first Halloween and the holidays because they will be so much fun with a little one.
Ready to take the next step?