and my little peanut of a boy (18.5 lbs at one year) ate five of them tonight. Usually he can't wait to get down from the table after two bites, but tonight he ate all the fish sticks, some yogurt, and a ton of broccoli. Maybe he's planning to start growing soon! Anyway, I figured he'd eat two, maybe three, and then I could steal the rest (not exactly South Beach friendly, but I don't count the leftovers I eat off my kid's plates!) - but I got nothing!
Speaking of eating off my kids plates... I decided tonight to stop doing this. I will tend to clean up their plates after they are done (dry foods, nothing they've slobbered over) whether I want it or not (if it's not enough to save for lunch tomorrow). I feel like I am wasting money if I just throw it away. But really, what's the difference between eating something I don't want and throwing it away? Added calories, that's all - and I don't need them. So no more guilt. I have to realize that sometimes, it's okay to let things go.

Please don't anyone take this as a knock - because we have probably all been there - but I am so glad for my emergency fund. I was reading someone else's blog about having to set aside bills as there was not enough money left to pay them, and I just had to think about how far DH and I have come since those days. I might hold on to a bill for a week or two so I can pay it out of my checking account instead of my savings, but there are no bills I receive that I could not pay out of my emergency savings account if I needed to. And it feels so nice. Plus there are the other benefits of being able to pay bills in full rather than pay installment charges (saving $5 a month for my car insurance, or a $100 discount for payment in full with another company I checked out). So to everyone out there struggling to make it paycheck to paycheck - these semmingly little changes DO add up and DO make a difference - if you really want to make it work. Just think ahead to the future and push on. That's my speech for the night