Friday, May 13, 2011

My ever changing normal

Almost 2 years ago, I started working part time at a kids resale store. I remember so vividly how the impact of the idea of working outside the home hit me. I cried and cried. I could no longer call my self a "stay at home mom" like I had for 10 years. I had no idea what this would look like in our home or how we would pull it off.

For 5 months, I worked during the day and Cory did the homeschooling. When Cory started working as well, we had to adjust again. I went to nights 4 nights a week and he was working all day. Figuring out child care was an ongoing challenge. We started giving our kids more responsibility and freedoms.

The adjusting and depending on others to help so much was very difficult but we finally got into a rhythm. We figured out (most of the time) how to make this new life work.
We waited and waited and waited for our mortgage company to offer us a modification. We started the process over countless times. I spent entire days on the phone being transferred from one dept to another and being told something different each time. I was frustrated and at my wits end. I knew in my heart that God's timing is far better than mine but my head did not always listen.

Well, after much back and forth, we did receive an offer and with our new payment amount, I am able to quit my job and return home.

I am so thankful for the job God provided for me and the great boss and co-workers I had the opportunity to work with. But now I am excited to come home to my kids.
I also am looking forward to building my doula business and pursuing a long time passion and dream of mine. I love that the doula work will still allow me to be home most of the time and to get paid doing something I love.

It has been a hard and stressful couple of years for our family. I am so thankful that our bumpy road is coming to some smooth pavement. I know there will be potholes in the future and we may even have some off road experiences. But, for right now, I am enjoying the ride.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Easter





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

Saturday, May 7, 2011

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.

Friday, May 6, 2011

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!!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

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!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

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.

Friday, February 4, 2011

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 :)