I'm a Birth Doula....

I have neglected to blog about something that is very important to me and is part of who I am. I am a Birth Doula. A doula is a professionally trained labor and delivery support person. I help women have babies! I started working on my certification the summer of 2005 and I finally got everything finished up last fall. Since I started doula-ing in '05, I have attended 10 births and have a client in the hopsital this morning.

University Medical Center here in Lubbock actually has a hospital based doula program, so the hospital pays me to help moms! It just can't get any better than that in my opinion. I do have a private practice and my friends and co-workers have been so kind to hire me. It is truly a blessing to help a friend and then continue to see the baby as he/she grows up.

I have several people I want to thank who supported my efforts to get certified. I had to attend a 5 day training session in San Antonio. Joyce (MIL) kept the kids for me. My mother paid for more than half of my class fees and Robert (FIL) provided me with a very nice hotel in San Antonio. He travels a lot and accumulates tons of reward points at the Marriott and it was so kind of him to let me use his points. Saved us quite a bit of cash!

I especially want to thank Marc for being so supportive. Babies are born at all hours of the day and night, so we have lots of Plan A's and Plan B's in place. My two best friends have also been very helpful and are ready a moments notice to help with Taylor and Andrew.

I attended one birth that was particularly long (three days) and Joyce took the kids to Lovington for the weekend. She and my mom took care of them and mom brought them back. Having a supportive, loving family is something I do not take for granted.

So, if you know a pregnant woman or have friends or family who are expecting or who will have babies in the future, suggest they hire a doula! I have doula-ed for couples (mostly) and dads especially appreciate having someone there who can help them help their wives. The website www.dona.org is the very helpful in explaining what doulas do.

Summer...where are you?

We are ready for summer at our house! We've had enough schoolin', enough getting up early, and enough homework. We have lots of plans this summer and we are ready to started.

First, an Oklahoma wedding for Marc's cousin's son the last weekend of May. Then two weeks later, a Peterson Family Reunion in Las Cruces, NM. Next, a Caudle Family Reunion the second weekend in July. And the grand finale.....a 7 day trip to Cancun the first week of August. Woo, hoo!

The kids got their passports during the last month. Now I just have to make the reservations. We are planning on staying at the Moon Palace Resort. You can go to www.palaceresorts.com and click on "Resorts" to look at the Moon Palace. Andrew still insists he is not getting the water because of sharks. I think once he's there he won't be able to resist the ocean.

We are also renewing our pool membership to a skating rink/pool club here in town. Most afternoons will find us there keeping cool. Taylor is a really good swimmer and Andrew was doing well when the season ended last year. It will be great to get back in the water.

I will continue my Mon/Wed schedule at the hospital until school starts and then, if everything works out, I will only work every other weekend. This way I can pick both kids up from school every day. No one will have to ride the bus or go to after school care.

My only sadness with the summer is that at the end of it, my baby boy will go to Kindergarten. I am already very emotional about it and I hope I can get it under control so I don't embarrass myself or upset Andrew on the first day of school! Marc is planning on taking off from work that day (it's kind of a tradition for us to all begin and end the first day of school together) and you know what they say....misery loves company!

Five Things....

Vanessa tagged me...

Here is my list of 5 things most people don't know about me:

1) If I could pick a job, I'd be a nightclub/restaurant singer. Work from about 9pm -2am (my prime time) doing something I love...singing other people's song! Marc and I went to the Tonga Room in San Francisco. It was expensive, but well worth it and they had a lady singing all types of songs. It was great and the only reason I'd ever want to go back to San Fran.

2) I do not like going to church. I love my Lord and Savior with all my heart and know that we as Christians are called to assemble together. In the past I've had some bad experiences with church people and they scare me! We are currently looking for a church home and for me it is an extremely difficult process.

3) I have a very poor self-image. It's gotten better over the last year but I stuggle almost daily.

4) I love donuts! I rarely eat them because I can't stop once I start. Give me a big cup of coffee and there's not stoppin' me. I've often wondered how many I could eat at one time.

5) I like watching "Scott Baio is 46 & Pregnant" I don't know why. I just find it amusing.

Vitamin Water

My new drink obsession is Vitamin Water. I love it. Balance is my favorite flavor. I usually don't like flavored water because it's too sweet or leaves a weird taste in my mouth. But this stuff is great. No artificial sweeteners. It has about 125 calories per 20 oz bottle. So that's where I have to be careful. At 125 cal and about $1.00/bottle, one a day should be my limit. I love it enough to fore go the afternoon trip to Sonic and to skip an afternoon snack to afford ($ and calorie-wise) my new drink.

Side note: You might notice a new look to my blog! Our cousin, Shelley, is a blog specialist and redecorated my blog! I love the new look! Thanks Shelley!

Hoopin' It Up

The goal can adjust for pint-sized dunkin'!

Taylor showing off some of her moves!

Marc was on vacation the second week of January. It was great having him around all week! He was a lot of help....he fixed the kids' bikes, put up a basketball goal and helped me organized the playroom and AJ's room. I'm not sure who was more excited about the goal....Marc or the kids. Taylor has been learning the basics of basketball in pre-athletics and Andrew just loves to shot the ball. It was fun to see all three of my sweeties hoopin' it up!

You are always on my mind.....

No, I'm not talking about my sweet hubby. I'm talking about the ocean!! I can't wait to get back to the ocean. I dream about it at least once a week. Is it an obsession? My hope is that someday we will be able to go twice a year....once just us and once with the kids. It is just so beautiful. I love the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. I love that I can look and look without seeing the end. I think it is truly one of God's most magnificent creations.

The picture is of the sunrise from our hotel. My sister-in-law Nicki took this from their room which was just three doors down from ours.

Hope all of ya'll are having a great Monday!

Popcorn

Andrew and I were eating lunch at the coffee table. I took a Cheeto off his plate and he said "Why are you taking my Cheetos?" I told him I didn't have any more. He said "Yeah, ya do...right there." I said "It fell on the floor and I don't want to eat it." He says to me "Just eat it, it won't make you sick, I promise. I've eaten popcorn off the floor a million times and it's never made me sick!" Good to know!