babies, babies everywhere!

Hi guys and gals!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine has been eventful so far. I have been in and out of the hospital all weekend. I am covering for weekend duty this weekend because one of the childbirth coordinators had a family emergency. I was at the hospital Friday night and Saturday with just one, but I am on call at 7pm-7am tonight and I have already been notified that we have four girls at the hospital none of which are due yet! One is getting induced because of medical complications, so there will be a baby soon, but the others aren't due until December or later. This is going to be an interesting evening. I have never had to divide my time at the hospital before. I got my running shoes on so I should be good.

Scott has been at the house today working on the bathroom. I will put some pictures up soon of our work in progress. My parents are coming next weekend to help out. Henry and Daniel are coming too, so that should be fun. I hope we can get a lot done while they are here. I was going to go and clean over there this afternoon, but when I found out that it was going to be a long night, I decided to get a nap in instead. I have some time during the week that I can pop in and out. I am going to get the electric turned on this week so that we can work over there at night. Next weekend daylight savings ends. It will be getting dark at 6:00 in the evening and that won't help us out.

I started a new blog in replace of my lifestylesfornaturalhealing. It is http://belliesinbloom.blogspot.com. I think I will be better at posting to it since it is a bit narrower subject ideas.

Gotta get some dinner before I get on the job! I'll keep you posted.

needing a nap

I have missed a few days of blogging due to being extra busy. I have been subbing at Gladney a lot and Monday and Tuesday evening I had a prenatal class to sit in on with the ladies. Scott and I are having opposite schedules these days. He gets up and goes out the door by 5:30am most days and I leave around 8:30am on the days I have to be at the center. I am there until early afternoon while he is at practice and then when I get home he is off to work at the gym again in the evenings. We finally decided that Friday and Saturday nights are the best nights to see each other and plan things.

We are still waiting to hear on our house. If all goes like we hope, my parents will come down next weekend and help us do some work to it. I would like to get it all painted. I also would like to put a wood fence in the back yard instead of the chain link that is there.

I am leaving for Arkansas on November 2nd for my weeklong birth and postpartum doula training. I can't wait to see the kids! I won't have much time to spend with Heidi because my class is 8-6 every day.

I am ready for Thanksgiving! We get to go to Kansas. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Scott has a ball game in Moore, OK. I am going to the game and then we will head to KS from there. We won't get there until late in the evening, but we will be there until early Friday morning (I hope). Scott has a game the day after Thanksgiving at 7:30 in the evening. I hope that he won't have to be there early in the day on Friday. I sure don't want to eat a big meal and have to leave on a 7 hour journey back to TX.

crazy neighbors!

Seriously, do you have to involve the whole neighborhood in your 2:00am party?! So, last night I was waken by loud Mexican music and people yelling. In light of the fact that I had to work today, this wasn't gonna fly. I called the police after listening to that for about 20 minutes. They showed up about 20 minutes after that I am guessing because the party broke up, the music got quieter and I fell back to sleep.

Yesterday we put a contract on a house! My dad is helping us with the details since we are purchasing it from our landlord and bypassing a realtor in town. We met about the purchase proposal and after deciding on a few changes, Dad drew up the contract. We will probably be hearing something this weekend. Once the contract is accepted, we will take possession. If all goes as planned, we close on Dec. 1st. This will give us time to do some work to it. It needs a hug. I went over yesterday to access all of the needs....paint, knobs, blinds, ect. We went to Lowe's last night to get an idea of the cost of certain items. It was a bit overwhelming. We could end up spending a fortune if we aren't careful! As of right now we are planning on painting for sure. I also want to replace the chain link fence with a wooden fence. While I was there I noticed that the backyard is a short cut for kids in the neighborhood...even with a fence there they just walk right through. I would feel safer if we had a wooden fence especially with kids in our future. I think that once we paint and get our things in there that it will feel like a whole new house. I am very excited about it. I have before pictures and of course we will take pictures of our progress and share.

Scott is working at LA Fitness now in addition to his coaching job. He has been there about 2 1/2 weeks now. He really likes it and has been getting a lot of clients. He is averaging about 4-5 clients a day. I am so proud of him. He is even calling the people that aren't showing up! That is huge for him because in the past he hasn't felt confident enough to do that.

Well my client is here so I gotta scoot!

plucking away

I started Chemistry last week and it is going well. I actually only have my final left to complete and I can turn in the class. What a relief! It actually hasn't been as horrible as I originally expected. Scott has been helping me with it tonight. Chapter five test was about chemistry as it relates to nutrition and he knows a lot about amino acids, vitamins, and all that jazz. As I was searching for an answer, he yanked my study guide and answered about four questions in 30 seconds...smarty pants! :) I just got my grade back for Elements of Holistic Nutrition.....an A!!! I officially have five A's and two B's in my studies. That is better than my high school and college days so I am happy.

I have house buying stuff to share, but that will have to wait for another post. Looks like we will be moving soon though. More later, I promise.

Love and Hugs Everyone!

what a night

Last night was eventful to say the least, one water breaking and one throwing up all night. I will tell you that it lead to a baby being born this morning at 9:00am and I was able to catch the last hour and a half of it after I was relieved of my HP duties this morning at about 7:30. I got about five hours of sleep last night. I am used to getting at least eight. Good practice for motherhood someday. ;)

I told Scott today that after being at two hospital births with women having epidurals, pain meds, continual fetal monitoring, no food or drink privileges, and cuts in places I wish I hadn't seen, I am totally on board to have a home birth myself. I had no idea how confined a hospital makes women feel. Of course, I have been dealing with teens who "just want the baby out" so I haven't gotten the experience of coaching a "natural birth" which I am very eager for. I have been talking to a lot of women lately. The second to last day I was at Veria I met a gal that was very much interested in having a doula at her birth someday. We bonded on the fact that we had both lost babies, me to an ectopic and her to a molar pregnancy. She is interested in natural health and was thinking about taking classes from Clayton College of Natual Health which is where I am getting my degree. She lives in Fort Worth so she would be close. I hope she gets pregnant someday. They have been trying for about 9 years. She has lost two babies. My heart ached for her.

In other fun news, my dad is helping Scott and I write a proposal for the house we are giong to purchase from our landlords...finally. I posted the pics of it back in July and then we have had so much on our plate since then, it has gotten put on hold. Now we are finally starting to get serious about it. I am going to meet with them on Wednesday to see if we can get something together for buying and moving soon. It would be fun to move before Christmas. It is looking like that will happen. I am going to have to beg my parents to come and help us clean and move in. We are proposing to buy it "as is" and it needs a tad bit of work to it, painting and such.

My 4:00 massage just called to reschedule. I am kind of glad, I need a nap, it was a long night. Time for some shut eye for a few minutes.

stop honking at me!

I am a self proclaimed "grandma" driver. I'll admit it. I got honked at twice this past week. Once was because I was at a red checking my daily planner and didn't see it turn green and the other was on the way back from taking two pregnant ladies to get sonograms and again I was at a red and didn't see the light turn. For goodness sakes I had precious cargo, give me a break people!!!

So, I have been at the Gladney dorm for nearly twelve hours. I am the weekend house parent this weekend. I will go home tomorrow morning at 8:00am. Luckily, there are only about eight girls here this weekend instead of all 15 or so, so not a lot is going on. I made dinner for all eight, but only three of us ate so there were a lot of left overs. I should have made a frozen lasagna that was in the fridge and that would have been a lot easier on me. Instead I made baked chicken, brown rice, and broccoli. Some of these girls eat a lot of carbs like cereal and banana for breakfast with no protein. It worries me. Anyway, I fixed a plate for Scott since there was so much left over. He will come and pick it up later. He isn't allowed inside the dorm. The rules here are a lot like the rules I had at Oklahoma Christian....no boys allowed in the dorm, curfew with an alarm, that kind of thing. So pretty much I have just been hanging out all day. I had every intention of working on Chemistry but....

My last night at Veria was fairly uneventful last night. I am glad I am done there. I am ready for the next stage in my life. They got me cupcakes and a desert cookbook as a going away gift. I had to wait and read the card until I got home because I knew I might cry. I made some good friends there. I will stay in touch with then though. Plus, I like the food they make so I have to go back.

Hope you have a great week ya'll! I may have a birth to report about in the next couple of days. A lot of braxton hix in this place today. Night!

my other blog

I have decided to keep up with my professional blog a bit better. I have challenged myself to try and post every Monday. I revamped the format and added some fun side bar info to jazz it up. I hope it will be fun to read and fun to post on. I have so much to post to that blog and I just don't have the time. It requires more thought than this one :)

Check it out at http://lifestylesfornaturalhealing.blogspot.com

birthing on my mind

Tuesday evening I went to the hospital with a one of the girls who was to be induced on Wednesday morning. She was a very sweet girl BTW! They were giving her meds to prepare her for the delivery so she was going to be staying the night at the hospital. I stayed with her for about 4 hours and her mom was going to be staying the night with her, so I was able to leave. I wasn't able to be at the birth yesterday because I had a training in Plano.

My training yesterday was a childbirth education class called Supporting the Teen During the Childbearing Year. Lots of great info and training tools to use when I begin teaching classes myself. We learned many laboring techniques as well as tools to use in classes to help teens, or anyone for that matter, to understand what to expect. So far I only work with young women that are putting up for adoption, but there is such a need for support for teens that are keeping their babies. It is a big life changing event!

Today I took one of the girls to GED class this morning. I had only met her one time. We had about a 15 minute drive so her class so we got to chat. I told her I think that it was a great thing that she was going to get her GED. She will have so many opportunities now. She is a very sweet girl. This afternoon I am taking two girls to get sonograms. Tonight I will stay the night at the center to get training on being a house parent. House parents stay at the dorm with the girls and help them with cooking, chores, etc. The HP calls the child birth coordinator (CBC) at any time girls need to go to the hospital. I am a CBC. Anyway, I am training to be an HP so I can substitute for this weekend. I will have to stay at the dorm overnight on Saturday until Sunday evening. I will know more about what an HP does after tonight.

I have a massage appointment in the morning (I think he'll be a regular), then onto Veria in the afternoon. Only Friday and Saturday and then I am done there.

Well, I better go. I have to pick the girl back up from her GED and then on to sonograms this afternoon. I will keep you updated.

Thanks again for reading my blog! I know, my life is crazy, but I am glad it interests you :).....

deep breaths

It is my last week at Veria! (big sigh) I am ready to move on to the next stage in my life. I start being on call this week at the adoption agency. Most of my training is complete. Tomorrow I go to the hospital with a girl who is getting induced on Wednesday. She will stay the night on Tuesday night. I will be there with her for the evening. I have to miss the birth on Wednesday because I am going to Plano for a Lamaze training and labor support for the teenager. That should be interesting.

Last night our LifeGroup went to see Fireproof....good movie. We all cried.

I am sleepy, but have to head to work. Catch up later folks! Have a great week.

my first delivery

Today I got to be at a birth for the first time. It was truly amazing. I coached her through the birth and got up close and personal. I had never seen a live birth in person until today. Wow! I think that I did pretty good. I stayed calm through it all. I even watched her get stitched and didn't squirm. This is what I am meant to do I know it and I love it!

what next?

First off, Scott got a personal training job at LA fitness today. We are so excited!! He has been searching for a month with countless applications and doors closing everywhere he looks. This position will be in addition to his basketball coaching schedule and the bootcamp and personal training he will do on the side. Yah!!!

I have kind of a neat story that may inspire some of you. I have been waiting for the right time to share and I think this is it. It is a long one so if you don't have a chunk of time, you may want to wait.

Last June I can recall sitting on our couch in our house in Fort Worth longing to move closer to my family in Arkansas. There were nights we would sit on the front porch or visit over dinner about "our" plans to move. The day finally came that we said to one another that we would consider it. We took a trip to Arkansas to visit gyms and look for jobs. Heidi had clients that she had lined up for me to work with when I got there. The gym I would work from was right next door to the Pilates studio she works at. Scott ended up visiting with the owner of the gym and getting a personal training position there as well. That position was going to be based on commission, but we were up for it and really wanted to make the move. The rental house fell into place and it seemed as though we would have steady work when we arrived. We got home from that trip and started planning our move. We moved to Arkansas on our first anniversary in August.

We really enjoyed being in Arkansas near Heidi and her family. We lived about 5 blocks from them. Andrew became our best friend. We loved watching him on the days and nights that Heidi and Jacob worked. Scott and I formed a bond with the little guy. To this day when Andrew calls and leaves messages for me on my phone, Scott gets a little teary. We love that kid. But, as it turned out, Scott's position as a trainer at the gym wasn't bringing him the clients he had hoped for. He applied for a job at another gym that paid hourly and we finally felt as though we were making some headway. That was around the first part of September of last year.

On Sunday September 30, 2007 Scott and I were at church. During the worship part of the service a lady came from across the room over to me a Scott. Scott was standing at the end of the pew and I was next to him. She motioned for me and Scott let her by. I didn't know this woman and hadn't seen her before. She told me that she felt God speaking to her to come to me. She spoke a prophetic word to me and told me that I should be ready and that something big was about to happen in my life. I wasn't quite sure what to say, but as she walked away I quickly scribbled down those words in my journal that I take with me to church. Of course in the days to come I was seeking out what that would be. Would I get some amazing job? Would I have a baby? Would Scott get an incredible job offer? What would it be? I know that God was preparing my heart for something and I didn't know what. It wouldn't be until December 11th that I would find out what that would be. That was the day Scott was laid off from his job. This was the job that had been promising more hours to him after the new year, the job that "was never going away" or so we thought. Ha! Ok God, that wasn't what I was thinking was about to happen. That was a hard day for me, a hard day for us. As we tried to figure out our next steps, Christmas was approaching. We knew we wouldn't be able to make it long without a job for Scott. We were desparate and praying and searching. It came down to getting in touch with his old boss at The Vitamin Shoppe in Fort Worth to see if there was anything available. It turns out that the week prior, the assistant manager had left The Vitamin Shoppe and he was seeking a new manager. Scott decided to interview after Christmas. What did we have to lose at this point? Well, as you know, the story ends in Scott getting the job and us moving back to Texas after our sixth month stay in Arkansas. And, back into the same house we had moved out of when we moved to Arkansas. What a blessing! And we got a break on rent for painting. (The house story is another cool story that I will save for another day.) I am so glad we had that time in Arkansas because it made us closer to Heidi and her family and we formed a wonderful bond with Andrew. Well, I cried and cried and cried when we left and moved back. So much crying that Scott wasn't sure what he was going to do, he felt helpless. I had a hard time getting out of bed for about three weeks after being back. I was so depressed. Scott was working his new job and really enjoying it. I finally realized that I had to suck it up and get on with it. My life was going to go on and it was going to go on in Texas.

I got in touch with my old massage clients and got a few back, but it just wasn't as easy as it had been. In March I began searching for a stable job. We needed some income to pay our bills. We had acquired some debt with our moves and I knew what I had to do. I searched and sent resumes and just was not getting anywhere. Door after door was closing on me. Finally after three months of searching for a job, I found Veria. It was a natural wellness center (perfect), with a yoga studio (perfect), a spa (even more perfect), and a natural cafe (what more could I ask for?). It was a retail position, but come to find out, it provided insurance benefits and paid well. I was glad to have a steady job and thought benefits "would be nice" since we hadn't had any since being married. We weren't going to use them, but, you know, just in case. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was a bit uncomfortable working for someone again. I was used to having my own business with my own hours and no micromanaging. Again, I started searching and again doors were closing. I wasn't very happy and it had only been about three or four weeks. One day I noticed that I didn't really feel like the job was so bad and I put my job seeking on hold. Around this time we were blessed with a car that was given to us upon Scott's memaw passing and were able to sell Scott's car in one, yes one, day. We used that money to pay off two credit cards. I had also been working enough to pay our third credit card and our income taxes off. We were in a great place! We were starting to get ahead. This was about mid July. We had always talked that if A,B, and C happened that it would be the time to start a family. Well, A,B, and C happened. So, we decided it would be the time. Some of you know that we practice the Fertility Awareness Method of birth control (sorry if that is TMI) it is pertinant to the story. So, having said that, I am very aware of my body and keep mental charts in my head. I didn't know if I would be able to get pregnant right away. My parents tried for years, my sister...well, we love Andrew :) So, I just wasn't sure. Well, low and behold, I can get pregnant and on the first try at that. So, as you all know, I lost that pregnancy, but here is where my story comes full circle....I had health insurance!!!!! Praise God, I didn't have $25,000 of medical bills to pay on my own. I firmly believe that God directed that entire plan for me to be at Veria. I was meant to have carried and lost a baby to get me to the next phase in my life. Now, in a week and a half I will close the door to the Veria phase in my life. It was a blessing, but I have my passion to follow. In the days leading up to the surgery, I had been talking to my mother about becoming a doula (childbirthing coach). In the past I had contimplated the idea, but it just never seemed to be the right time. Well, it gets better.

So, of course I lost the baby and it became immediately apparent that I was to become a doula. About two weeks after surgery I had done all the research on the routes to take to become certified. As of today, I am right on track to getting trained and certified. But, I need to back up. In the meantime I was visiting with my friend Marissa about volunteer opportunities. I have really been feeling the tug to work with women. Marissa told me about The Gladney Center for Adoption. She was a volunteer there before her precious baby girl was born. I got onto the website to search for volunteer positions and came upon a paid position as a Childbirth Coordinator. As I read the job description I was in awe. I could see the path that had lead me to that very moment. That Saturday night I got home from work and submitted my resume. Well, two weeks later, now, I have started the training. And the story is still unfolding.

I have one more bit to the story and then I will close for tonight. I have to begin by tellling you what my goals and dreams for the future were before I got married. I wanted to be just like my mother, I don't really have to say more than that for people who know my mom. But, if you don't know her, she is amazing and you are missing out. She stayed at home while I was growing up. I was used to having her around and loved the idea of being a mom that is there for my children at all times. I had the idea that I would be just like that. I have had the opportunites to marry guys who ended up becoming doctors, engineers, pilots, you know....My life would probably be very different if I had married one of them. Well, it hasn't turned out that way. My husband was in school when we got married and at thirty years old, is just now coming into his career. It is a lot different than what I had dreamed of as a younger girl. But, this is what makes the story so cool. I have known for a while now that I will not be the stay at home wife and mother. That dream has been divinely changed for me and I am so grateful. Had I married someone who would had been able to provide for me financially from the get go, I do not believe that I would be able to come into the women I was meant to be. Or, I may have, only God knows that one. But, the discoveries I have had about myself and about my life are so awesome. I want to share about this past weekend when I was at the ladies retreat. Again, I received another prophetic word spoken to me. It was, again, from a women in the church that I don't know. She spoke to me that I am an impowered woman and that I am to use that power to help other women. After the session that morning she prayed with me. She doesn't know anything about me, but her prayer was that I was going to use these hands to help other women. WOW! Ok, God, I hear you. At that moment I knew that I have a big mission to fulfill. My ears and eyes are wide open and my heart is ready for whatever comes this way. God has always provided for us in the past. I have come to realize that my children will be taken care of when the time comes. I cannot become anxious or worried about that when I am not even close to needing to find childcare! :)

So, the last year has been a growing time and a listening time. And, to come full circle, I think I would cry and cry and cry if we left Fort Worth! Thank you Lord for my friends, church, clients, jobs, husband and everything else that has come our way. We are so blessed.