(To see Part I with the first round of questions, click HERE.)

I wanted to find out where you used those plane tickets! You had the chance to go anywhere that airline flies, and I don’t think we ever heard where you picked or if you ever made it.  From Lisa

Lisa is talking about mine and Chris’ graduation presents from my aunt and uncle.  Airline tickets to anywhere in the world we wanted to go.  (Read about our top 5 list HERE)  We actually found out we were pregnant not long after we finally got our finances in order to take a trip.  I didn’t think it was a good time for us to go jetsetting off somewhere in my condition.  In hindsight, that was ridiculously stupid of me and I would go in a heartbeat if I had it to do over again.  But, it was my first pregnancy and I was worried that if I needed any kind of medical attention, it might be hard to find in the middle of the Italian countryside.  We had narrowed it down though and we were going to go to Machu Picchu.  Ahhh….

How do you keep your house clean with the working full time, blog, and baby? Do you and Chris split chores 50/50, do you have someone come clean your house? Any insight on how to handle baby/job/dirty house? From Betty

Oh, goodness.  Are you barkin’ up the wrong tree, missy.  I am terrrrrible with the house cleaning.  I really like things to be neat and tidy, but I could really care less if they are clean.  Chris, on the other hand, could live with piles of crap all around him, but if there was a spot of dirt, he would be totally beside himself.  We actually make a good pair.  Generally, the housework gets done on a daily basis.  We try (try being the important word here…) to at least pick up and straighten up the house at the end of the day after Bean has gone to bed.  And we actually do a pretty good job of that.  We get the actual cleaning done on the weekends.  Usually Sunday mornings/afternoons because Saturdays are spent running errands.  Our typical list of chores on the weekends includes vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, changing everyone’s sheets, and laundry.  Any other deep cleaning gets done on an as needed basis.

As for splitting our chores, I wouldn’t say we necessarily split them.  But we definitely have our specific roles.  Chris, for example, is the weekday cleaner for the most part.  Generally, once I put Bean down and we’ve eaten dinner, I sit down to blog for a couple hours.  And that’s when Chris picks up and does the dishes and things like that.  On the weekends, it is usually me that does the cleaning.  Though, Chris pitches in a fair amount by doing things like cleaning his bathroom (we have separate bathrooms…it has saved our marriage many times…).  I’m the vacuum and duster.  Bean mops.

I think the trick to managing a household when you have a young baby, a blog, and a full-time job, is routine.  Having a pretty set routine (especially during the week) helps us get things done and it also helps because we know typically who is doing what chores.  But the BEST way to balance everything is to cut yourself some slack.  If the laundry doesn’t get done until you’re out of clean underwear, well, it just doesn’t get done.  If the dogs need a bath but you just didn’t get to it (again…), just let that go.  Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day and beating yourself up to keep a perfect house on top of everything else will just drive you crazy!

How do you handle meal planning? From Amy

Meal planning is new to me.  I started doing it when Bean was born because we needed to save some money.  I did a big post about it a while ago, but here’s a refresher course in a nutshell:

On Sundays I sit down with my cookbooks and I plan what we are going to eat that week.  Usually I try to balance between simple meals (like a meat, a green veggie, and a starch) and meals that are a little more hearty (like a casserole or a stew).  I generally keep enough things in the house for a simple meal at all times, so I add anything that I need to restock for a simple meal to my grocery list and then I add the ingredients for our heartier meals, which usually have ingredients that I might not keep on hand.  Then, I take my grocery list and I go through my coupons and pull out any coupons I have for anything on my list.  I don’t take my coupon book to the grocery store with me because I usually end up buying things I don’t really need just because I have a coupon for them. I cut our grocery bill in half shopping this way and it actually makes me happy to meal plan.  It appeals to my list-making nature.  Makes me feel organized and in control.

There are a few things that we keep in the house at all times and those products we buy in bulk at BJ’s Wholesale (like a Sam’s Club).  The list of things we buy there is actually expanding because we tend to be creatures of habit for some things.  My BJ’s list includes pasta and spaghetti sauce, canned diced tomatoes, canned veggies, soft drinks, bread (I freeze what I don’t use right away), steamer bags of veggies (these are just easy to use in a pinch), Chris’ chewing gum (because he’s addicted), hot dogs (because I’m addicted), meat (which Chris repackages and we freeze in individual servings), Bean’s formula and diapers, trash bags, dish detergent, laundry detergent, bottled water, and batteries (for Bean’s toys and swing).  That trip usually costs us between $150 and $200 a month, depending on what products we need to replenish that month.  I don’t know that we save any money when we shop at BJ’s, but the convenience of having those staples in our house is a good trade off for me.

Most parents picture their kids becoming doctors, lawyers, even astronauts. If you and Chris could pick an ideal career for the Bean, what would it be?  From Rachel

Oh, man.  I don’t know.  (Chris is sitting next to me right now chanting, “as-tro-naut…as-tro-naut…”)  I really don’t care what a person’s day job is, so long as they are loyal to it, happy with it, and better because of it.  Otherwise, he can be anything he wants to be.

Except a pimp.  I’d have issues with that.

I wondered how your socializing has changed now that you have the Bean?  You seem so busy how do friends fit in to it all? Have you met many new parents like yourself since Bean was born?  From Another Rachel

Our socializing has changed since we have had Bean, but I think it was in the process of changing when we found out we were pregnant anyways so its hard to say if we are just in a different place now or if it has been Bean.  Whatever the reason, our social lives have become more family oriented.  We have always been a little on the homebody side, but we now go out and do things with just our family that we might normally had included lots of people in before.  I can’t speak for Chris, but I know that I just enjoy Chris and Bean more now.  I think that is one of the unexpected parts of being a parent and becoming parents.  Bean changes so fast and learns so much that every day is new at our house.  Even things like going out to a restaurant are different every time we go, and that keeps it exciting for Chris and I.  So, while we do still see our friends on a normal basis, we are definitely enjoying the time with our family.

Plus, with busy schedules like we have at our house, our down time is even more valuable now.  Having a Saturday night or a Sunday afternoon to do anything we want is priceless and we sometimes spend that downtime with friends, we would rather take the time to connect with each other.  Working all week, we really only get a couple hours in the evening with Bean so weekends we get to soak him up.

Is the iphone easy to type on? Do you eventually get used to the touch screen?  From HeJo

It is really different than a normal keypad.  But I’ve had it for about a week now and I actually am getting used to it.  It isn’t as much of a problem as I thought it would be.

I was  just wondering how you made that decision to get engaged so young? Did you discuss this before he proposed?  From Caitlin

I don’t think there was an actual decision to get married, really.  I think we both just assumed that was where we were headed.  But our sophomore year in college we started talking about it more practically.  Not so much about when we’d get engaged, but when we’d get married, where we’d live, how many kids we wanted.  Chris really surprised me when he proposed.  I wanted to get engaged soon, but Chris seemed like he wanted to wait a while.  And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he proposed!  It shocked me, but at the same time I had been waiting for it.  The whole ordeal just felt very organic for us.  Not forced or planned.  It just seemed like that was where we wanted to go next.

When is your sister getting married? We haven’t heard about her in a while, and I don’t think she updates her blog(haven’t checked in a while)? Are you the MOH?  From Jordan

My sister is getting married on April 24 and I am her matron of honor.  MATRON.  What an awful word!!!  But, sooner than the wedding is the bachelorette party in New York in a few weeks that I am planning.  For the record, I am the WORST person to plan this weekend!  I am such a homebody and for all the jokes I make, I really am not a drinker at all.  And I am responsible for entertaining a group of sorority girls who can party till the cows come home.  I AM NOT QUALIFIED FOR THIS!!  But I’ve got a pretty good schedule for the weekend:

Friday afternoon/evening – Broadway show, dinner at a pizza and beer place, then out on the town

Saturday – Breakfast, lingerie shower at an undisclosed location (it’ll be so great!), dinner at a tapas bar, then out to this crazy fun bar (I can’t tell you much about it because its a secret and Ginny reads this blog, but I’ll tell you about it afterward)

Sunday – Big send off brunch!

So, yeah.  That’s all coming up soon and I am really excited about it.  YAY GINNY AND JOHN MICHAEL!!!!!

We’re about halfway through all of your questions from the Q&A post last week.  Check back over the next couple weeks for Parts III and IV (…and maybe V and VI..!!).

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