I think I've decided what I want to be when I grow up!!

Ok, so I've aimlessly been walking around the past 19 years wondering what I want to be when I grow up. Basically all I ever wanted to be was a mom! I've achieved that and it's been wonderful...more rewarding than I ever expected! BUT, as much as I've truly enjoyed the past 3 years of being a SAHM, I'm getting bored to death sitting at home day in and day out. My life has resulted to endless days spent in p.j.'s and no make-up, doing laundry, running my vacuum daily and turning into a talk show junkie!! It's got to stop! Not only that, but Liam started kindergarten last year and is now ready to start 1st grade in one week, and it's very lonely!! VERY lonely!! So for weeks now I've been trying desperately to think of a reason to go back to school...to find that one thing that I will be passionate about!

...I've found it!

After lots of research on the internet, emails to various people getting information, and phone calls, I have found something that I believe will bring me years of joy and fulfillment! :) And the best part of all is that I won't have to look at the next 2-6 years of schooling.

So what is it, you ask?? I've decided I want to become a certified Doula. For those of you that may not know what that is (although I hope that most of you reading this will already know!), a doula is labor coach that basically offers physical and emotional support during her entire labor and even postpartum. There is definitely some training involved, some workshops to attend, childbirth classes to attend, a tour of a maternity ward (been there, done that!) and then you get certified. A good friend that I graduated with in Florida is now a certified Doula and just within a couple years, she has 3 Doulas working under her now! She loves it! She said it's so satisfying and rewarding to her. I just really love the whole birthing process, and as much as I think it would be awesome to be a labor and delivery nurse, I don't know if I could get through all the schooling. Even being a midwife is probably more than I'm ready for. But who knows, maybe I'll get into the whole Doula thing and discover I DO want to be an RN or midwife. ?? I just know I'm super excited about this, and for now it's something to get my mind off TTC until we can afford to go forward again. I have 3 books I need to read first and foremost. That will take a while, considering I hate to read. The next step would be to attend 12+ hours of childbirth classes and do a hospital tour, then I can register for my first workshop. I'm shooting for November or January for that. I think they skip December because of the whole holiday thing. I made a couple calls today (and just left messages) to some Doulas in our area to see what the demand is for that here. We live in a pretty small area and when I called my personal Ob/Gyn's office, they didn't know of ANY Doula's here!!!! So is that a good thing or a bad thing??? Hmmmm....

I just think this is it. This is what I've been looking for. Something to do with my life...and something I'm really interested in!!

...So what do you all think?? Go for it?? Crazy?? In the meantime, I want to start applying locally for a part time job after Liam starts school. We could use the extra money to start saving for TTC and Doula training. Maybe I'll check with all the banks in town. Oh and now would be a good time to send in that resume to the school system. We have 3 brand news schools opening soon. Hopefully that might mean more positions. Even the cafeteria would be ok for me!!! :)

Hope everyone's having a great week! Happy Hump Day! It's almost over....

I'm finally back!!!

Hey Everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't posted on here in AGES. I just seen today that I had some new comments from my last post, which was so long ago! Thank you so much for all the great comments on the pics from Lake Erie! We actually took another trip back at the end of July to Lake Michigan and Crystal Lake. OMG, words cannot even describe how beautiful it was there. Jay had grown up there over many summers when she was young, and finally wanted to share this special place with someone...me and Liam! :) We only stayed 4 days, but the weather was perfect and we had the BEST time ever!!!! Liam LOVED it there and cried when we had to leave! We took him on 2 different sand dune buggy rides, which was pretty cool, and he rode his first jet ski! Each night we watched the sunset over Lake Michigan and it's something I'll never forget. My whole life, I've always dreamed of watching the sunset over water with that "someone special" sitting with me...well, my dream came true up in Michigan. It couldn't have been more perfect. I have no doubts that Jay is my soul mate, but with everyday life as busy as it is, sometimes I think we take each other for granted and forget about those special feelings in the beginning of our relationship...well, Jay & I got all those feelings back, sitting on the beach at sunset in each other's arms. And watching her & Liam play in the sand together, it just made my heart melt. It also put into perspective how very lucky I am. So many of my TTC friends are still longing to be a mother, and even though I have Liam, wanting another child so badly has made me forget about the wonderful gift I already have right here with me. I know if it's His plan, God will bless us with another child when the time is right. It's just waiting that's so hard.

As for the TTC front, we are still on a break. Taking this vacation was a decision we made together...put TTC on the backburner once again or forget the vacation and do another cycle. We both agreed that we needed to get away. Glad we did! I'm not sure yet when we'll get to do our next cycle. We were shooting for Aug or Sept, which would be in roughly a week or 5 weeks! I'm hoping September. Just glancing at the calender, IF we did get to do a cycle in September, we would be testing right around my birthday!!!! Whoa, wouldn't that be the BEST birthday ever??? :) Could I get that lucky???

That's about all that's been going on for us lately. Liam is getting all geared up to start first grade in about 2 weeks. He's excited, but nervous too. He has done so great over the summer reading. He reads signs everywhere we go, labels, anything!! It's so exciting!! He just lost his second tooth Tuesday. :) So the Tooth Fairy made a pit stop by our house that night. ;)

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and having fun with family & friends. Like most of the country, we've had some very excessive heat and I'm not liking it AT ALL! I'm a winter girl myself, and am soooooo looking forward to Fall and Winter. You won't hear me complain when it's 10* with 8" of snow!! I'm adding just a few of our pictures from our trip to Michigan and also a link to our new myspace page for everyone to check out. Thanks for reading and for being patient on the update. I love hearing from all of you and appreciate your friendship more than you can imagine!!!

www.myspace.com/chicagirl70

How many days til snow???

Ok, so I've never been a big "fan" of summer anyway, but especially so this year!! We've had some pretty hot days already and it's not even August yet!!! With no central air, life sucks for us at the moment!!! I will just be so happy when the snow is flying again!! I'm definitely a winter girl!!

I haven't posted much lately because there's really been nothing to post! Hope everyone had a nice 4th. Ours was ok. Nothing exciting. I actually was a bit under the weather last week. I started out running a fever of 103*, neck pain, migraine, and chills. I ended up in the E.R. and was diagnosed with a severe sinus infection. Go figure!! I'm all better now though! :)

We did go on a couple of fun day trips lately. Last Thursday since Jay was off, we headed to a place called Malabar Farm. Took some pics with the animals, walked around and just had a fun day. Saturday we took Liam to this place up by Lake Erie called Mystery Hill and Prehistoric Forest. He LOVED it!! Then we stopped off at Marblehead Lighthouse and spent a couple hours there. I'll post some pics! It was breathtaking! The pics don't do it justice! Now if only we could LIVE on the water!! That would be our dream. Jay and I both are big time water buffs! Now if she would just get off her toosh and get a great paying job so we could move!!! (**kidding, my love!!) ;)

On the TTC front, we're basically just hanging low for the moment. Honestly, if I hear of one more person pregnant I think I will have to GAG myself!!! No idea yet when we'll start trying again, but we're HOPING (being the magical word!) to try by September! That would give us a beautiful little bundle by this time next year! :) We'll see...if only God would grant me patience!

Kenny was AWESOME!!!!!

Ok, how do I even begin to sum up the magnitude of how great this concert was?? First of all, we had perfect weather! It couldn't have been better. Just the day before, temps reached 90* and the humidity was so thick you could cut it with a knife, but thanks to a nice thunderstorm that passed through Friday night, we had much cooler and sunny weather for Saturday!! Our friends that live there took us downtown around 12:30, because they knew what traffic would be like. Not only were they anticipating over 17,000 people for Kenny's concert, but the US Open (Golf) was also in town! We took a beautiful ferry ride across the Aleghany River down to Heinz Stadium. Jay, being the MAJOR Steelers fan she is, was in complete awe as we pulled up right in front of the stadium!! She was in Steelers Heaven!! :) The parking lot was filled with thousands of people that had been there since 10 a.m. tailgating! The buzz in the air was something only the truest KC fan can appreciate!!

The show was starting at 4:30, so they opened the stadium at 2:30. We had AWESOME seats down on the floor, 18th row back!!! Right on time the show started and Pat Green performed first. I wasn't too familiar with him, but after hearing a few of his songs, I knew who he was. He was pretty good. Got everyone pumped up for the best yet to come! Then next Sugarland performed and they really put on a great show! Jennifer Nettles is a great artist and really knows how to entertain. She wow'd the crowd when she put on her Big Ben (Roethlisberger) jersey!! Next was the sweet and beautiful Sara Evans! She has one powerhouse voice, just like you hear on the radio. She was great also.

...And then...it was time...this big banner came down over the stage, the lights dimmed with only the stars above and the luminescense of the camera flashes and light up flip flop necklaces throughout the crowd...the music started ("Beer in Mexico") and here pops KC from under this little mini stage out in the center of the stadium!!!! The crowd went WILD!!!!!! He was nothing short of FANTASTIC!!! I've been to a lot of concerts over the years, including Garth 5 times, but no one puts on a show quite like Kenny!!! We got some pretty good shots, which I've posted! The concert lasted 6 1/2 hours....well worth the money, travel and aggrivation of getting out of stadium filled with 17,000 people!!! :) Go, Kenny!!!!!!!!!

Oh, update on Alex: I went to see him Monday, as he had his 7th and final surgery!! They finished sewing up his 18" incision, he came through with flying colors, and they are hoping to send him home by Friday!! He will still have 4 weeks of strenuous therapy before he'll be able to go up/down stairs, drive and basic stuff like that, and he'll be on blood thinners for at least 6 months, and then probably 3-4 months of physical therapy beyond that. But most importantly, he's going to be ok and he made it through the worst!!! Thanks so much, everyone, for all your warm wishes, positive thoughts and prayers. They were much appreciated!

Kenny...Here We Come!!!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, comments and prayers for my cousin Alex. He had his fifth surgery yesterday to sew up more of his incision in his leg. He came through the surgery great, has now been released by the cardiologist, has one more surgery scheduled for Monday, and hopefully if all goes well, he may be home at this time next week. He will have to have three to four months of physical therapy but they're expecting a full recovery. He now has another baby on the way which will now make them a family of 8! Eight is enough!!!

Jay and I are in Pittsburgh this weekend for our BIG BIG Kenny Chesney concert tonight! Last year we went to Grand Rapids, MI to see him...but were in the very last row in the nose bleed section!! Tonight we will be in the 18th row YEAH!!! You can just feel the hype in the city! :) I hope we can get some good shots and I will post some tomorrow!

Last night we got to meet a special friend whom I've been talking to through NW. Ironically she's 13 weeks pregnant with the same doner we're using! We're hoping more than ever to be pregnant soon right along with her! So far Pittsburgh RockS!!

Update on Alex

Thanks so much, Everyone, for all your well wishes and prayers for my cousin. He is doing better today. Yesterday there was a rather serious scare, as his temp went way up and they discovered he had an infection. They weren't sure where it was stemming from, but they put him on very strong antibiotics. Today, his temp is down, his heart rate is down and thank God his BP is down also! Looks like his body is fighting off the infection. :) He's having surgery tomorrow (Wed) to sew up more of his incision. They don't want to keep him under for very long, so they'll only do a portion of it. His incision from Friday night is about 17". They've only closed about 4" of it so far. I may have already noted that. ?? If tomorrow goes well, they are hoping to do a final surgery Friday and continue sewing up or they may end up doing skin graphs. Looks like he's on the mend, but they are being careful not to say he's completely out of the woods yet. So thank you and please continue to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. We all really appreciate it.

Weekend from HE**!!!

What a weekend! Friday night turned out to be quite eventful and we've had a major family crisis the past few days. My cousin Alex, who's 5 yrs younger than me, and whom I consider more of a brother, is in critical care as I type. About 11 weeks ago he was pulling 4 of his 5 kids in a wagon and felt something "pop" in his knee. Over the coarse of the past 3 months, he's been going through vigorous physical therapy and to different specialists. This lead to him having orthoscopic surgery last Wednesday. Nothing big...outpatient surgery. (So we thought!) By Friday morning he was in so much pain that he had his wife take him to the ER. After many tests and as the day went on, they discovered he had 3 blood clots in his leg!!! Friday night around 10 pm Jay and I were driving my aunt (his mom) down to Columbus as they were taking him in surgery to go in and hopefully drain these clots. The surgery went ok, but they were concerned about his vitals when he came out. He was at stroke level with BP and heart rate. Luckily that went down and yesterday seemed to be a good day. Well, this morning at church my aunt got a call from his wife that they were taking him into emergency surgery because he was losing too much blood!!! She had his 4 girls with her, so immediately after church she brought them to us and her and DH headed down there. The prayer chain was long and wide today...he has so many people pulling for him! :) The kiddos just got picked up and thank God he's doing MUCH better. They were about to sew up about 4" of his 17" incision, and are planning to take him back into surgery Tuesday for some skin graphs to sew up the rest. He's had a couple close calls, and for being an otherwise "healthy" 31 year old, this has been a big scare to all of us. I would appreciate if any of you would keep him in your prayers. Alex is like a brother to me and we grew up together. I would simply be heart broken if anything happened to him. He has 4 beautiful girls: Jasmine (7), Alex (5), Tasja (4) and Jillian (3). Those kids mean the WORLD to me!! He has a new wife and a 4 yr old step-son. SO much to live for. He isn't out of the woods yet, but he's holding his own tonight. I would just really appreciate any extra prayers we can get for him right now. Thanks Everyone!! :)