Easter

We had a great Easter just relaxing and spending time with family.

Valentine's Day

We have made it a tradition to have a Valentine's Dinner as a family. We all dress up and the boys pick up the girls for dinner. We love having a "fancy" dinner with our kids and being able to share the holiday with other families.

Late Birthday Post

Sydney and Cory's birthday was a couple months ago. After our laptop was stolen, I slacked seriously on blogging and facebook. But, trying to play a little catch up today. So, here we go :)






We had a fun day! Our family and life would truly be so much more boring if it were not for Sydney as part of it! We love her zest for life and everything else!!

My First Training Doula Experience

Well, I have completed my first birth experience that counts toward my training. About 11 days ago, I received a call from one of my clients that she was officially in labor. It was about 11 p.m. on Saturday night and I headed out the door to meet the couple at the hospital.

When I arrived, they were just checking into triage and she was having very regular contractions. Once she was checked by a doctor, they gave the report that she was 5 cm and transferred her to a labor/delivery room. I met them at the room and we got everything set up for the long night. The couple worked beautifully together and allowed me to get some "hands on" experience by massaging mom's back during contractions.

This continued until about 3:30 a.m. when mom asked the nurse for the epidural. After receiving the epidural, mom (and dad) got a chance to rest. They slept off and on and after several hours, mom was checked by the nurse to see her progression. Unfortunately she was still at 6-7cm and they suggested pitocin. After weighing the pros/cons she agreed. By 10:30 a.m. she was ready to push.

She had a WONDERFUL nurse that helped her try several different positions and did everything possible to help that baby move down. It took lots of hard work and over 2 hours of pushing, but she delivered a healthy baby boy.

It was another amazing experience and I LOVED being a part of it! It reminded me why I am doing what I am doing. I cannot wait for my next client to go into labor and to have the privilege again to welcome one of God's greatest miracles into this world!

A Couple Updates

Well, school decisions have been made and my kids are officially registered for next with the same school that they have been with. I am very relieved to have this one piece of "unsureness" settled.

My pastor's last Sunday was this past week. It was sad to him end his 20 year ministry at my church. It is difficult to imagine what our congregation will be without him. I am excited and happy for this new adventure in his life and I am slightly anxious about the new adventure in our church. I am excited to see how God will take this hard time and bring something beautiful from it.

House stuff... Well, still waiting. I have gone back and forth with this mortgage company for about 2 years now and it's always the same... waiting. I hate waiting. I really do. I am ready for this to be finalized and done and to know what our life will look like.

I am currently overrun with cookies, yes, cookies. I am a girl scout leader to 27 girls and it is cookie time around here. By the end of it all, our troop will have sold approximately 3500 boxes of cookies!! And, by the way, they all started at my house before being distributed out. What does that mean? O, just that I have not had a living room for a couple weeks :) It's fun, it's crazy, it's cookie time!!

Still plugging away at Doula stuff. I am looking forward to my first official appt. this Saturday. I am also scheduled to attend a training seminar the 1st weekend of March! Looking forward to have the training behind the passion.

Step 1 of Doula Training Down

Wednesday night, I spent about 4 hours online completing my breastfeeding training class. I am still waiting to find out about the Doula training in March. Hopefully that works out. Now, I just need to start reading some books!

I am also working on scheduling my first Doula appt. with my first client that will go towards my certification :)

Doula, Doula, Doula

Ok, NOW I am actually pursuing this. If you have been a reader of my blog, you might remember this post talking about me pursuing my dream of becoming a Doula. Well, as for most things in my life, my timing was not exactly on. So, now almost 2 years later, I am going for it. I am hoping to attend my DONA training in March (3 days long) and attend 3 births of friends by October. During that time I will also need to read 5 books about Doulas, labor, delivery and postpartum care. I will need to attend a childbirth and breastfeeding class. On top of all that, I am required to write a 500-1000 word essay on the value and purpose of labor support. It feels a little overwhelming to take on, but I am planning for most of the work to take place during the Summer when I won't have to worry about school or Girl Scouts.

I am so excited and I cannot wait to have this opportunity to be a part of one of God's greatest miracles.