Look What I Can Do!
Originally uploaded by Jenmomma
Friday, June 26, 2009
Look What I Can Do!
Look What I Can Do!
Originally uploaded by Jenmomma
Sunday, May 31, 2009
I Have An Announcement
While many of you that know me in real life, have already heard the news, I am ready to make my announcement on Blogger. We are expecting Baby #3, due January 8, 2010. As of today, I am 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant.
Even though I have not been writing about it here, I have so far been documenting all the details in a paper journal I keep by my bed. So I wanted to share a few of details so far here.
I had mentioned several months ago my desire to have a third baby, but that I was unsure about the timing due to school deadlines and Eric's employment situation. Eric and I spent more time discussing and praying and decided to continue to have faith that God will provide for us. I even had come to peace that when we did start trying I would stick to the window of needing to be pregnant by my August cycle or that if I wasn't, I would trust that the time was not right for us and focus on still starting school full time 2010 and deciding in the future if we would ever have a third child. But when to start?
I started charting my cycles again in January. I still had my IUD in,but mine is non-homonal (ParaGard rather than Merena), so I knew my cycles were not influenced. I was kind of thinking of maybe removing my IUD and starting to "try" in May or so, but after watching a couple months and having an anovulatory cycle and 2 cycles with only an 8 day lutal phase, I was beginning to get a little scared that my cycles weren't going to be regular enough to sustain a pregnancy. So, I talked to Eric in late March (3/23/09 according to my journal) and he agreed that I could make the appointment. They actually scheduled me really quickly for an April 1st removal. My cycle started on March 31st and on day 2, I had my IUD removed. Seemed a little fast and scary to me, because when we were chatting in March I never really thought we'd get everything done in time to make April a viable month to really start trying.
So, I charting in April. I also wanted to do a pregnancy test experiment this time, so I ordered some really cheap pregnancy tests online (seriously, I got 100 tests for $34 plus $6 shipping). I was getting kind of hyped up and decided to try using an OPK (Ovulation Predictor Kit) this month too. I started taking them on CD 14 and day 16 got an almost positive result, I couldn't tell about Day 17 and day 18 was negative again. My temperature rose on Day 19, so we estimated a Day 18 ovulation date. So, since I knew when I ovulated, I started taking HPT's at 1 DPO. I kept them all to see how early a pregnancy could possibly show up. I figured I had enough tests to last me until August if needed.
Of course nothing happened for a while, but on on April 22 at 5 DPO, I started spotting and cramping. Considering the last 2 months I only had 8 DPO before starting, I assumed this meant that I was again going to have a short cycle. The spotting and cramping lasted 3 days, stopping by Saturday when I was in Chicago for GWO. I had brought my tests with me and got up and tested each morning. Although, I couldn't let them sit the whole 10 minutes, since no one knew what I was doing, but i put them back in my ziplock to take home with me. So, Monday after GWO, 10 DPO, I was getting encouraged that my new cycle still hadn't started yet, and when I used my cheap test, I thought maybe I might see a hint of a line. I couldn't be sure though, so I used the same urine (the cheap tests require dipping in a cup) and used a digital test I had gotten on sale. I went to get some clothes from the basement while it was processing and when I got back upstairs it was staring at me saying "Pregnant." I have to say I was completely floored. Of course, I had hoped it would work, but honestly, I never thought it would happen on the first try again. Wow, we are so blessed.
So, at this point, we hadn't told anyone we had started trying except for Samara and I had told 2 of my coworkers that I chat with daily, so after telling them the news, we decided we wanted to keep it to ourselves for a little while.
I think Luke is waking up from his nap, so I will go tend to him, but I will write again soon about how we told our family and our symptoms to date. I have a new set in Flickr with pictures from this pregnancy, including now a "weekly" belly picture, which I was inspired to do by my friend Danialle. So far, believe it or not, I haven't missed one of those from 4 to 8 weeks. Please ignore my starting flab. :)
Even though I have not been writing about it here, I have so far been documenting all the details in a paper journal I keep by my bed. So I wanted to share a few of details so far here.
I had mentioned several months ago my desire to have a third baby, but that I was unsure about the timing due to school deadlines and Eric's employment situation. Eric and I spent more time discussing and praying and decided to continue to have faith that God will provide for us. I even had come to peace that when we did start trying I would stick to the window of needing to be pregnant by my August cycle or that if I wasn't, I would trust that the time was not right for us and focus on still starting school full time 2010 and deciding in the future if we would ever have a third child. But when to start?
I started charting my cycles again in January. I still had my IUD in,but mine is non-homonal (ParaGard rather than Merena), so I knew my cycles were not influenced. I was kind of thinking of maybe removing my IUD and starting to "try" in May or so, but after watching a couple months and having an anovulatory cycle and 2 cycles with only an 8 day lutal phase, I was beginning to get a little scared that my cycles weren't going to be regular enough to sustain a pregnancy. So, I talked to Eric in late March (3/23/09 according to my journal) and he agreed that I could make the appointment. They actually scheduled me really quickly for an April 1st removal. My cycle started on March 31st and on day 2, I had my IUD removed. Seemed a little fast and scary to me, because when we were chatting in March I never really thought we'd get everything done in time to make April a viable month to really start trying.
So, I charting in April. I also wanted to do a pregnancy test experiment this time, so I ordered some really cheap pregnancy tests online (seriously, I got 100 tests for $34 plus $6 shipping). I was getting kind of hyped up and decided to try using an OPK (Ovulation Predictor Kit) this month too. I started taking them on CD 14 and day 16 got an almost positive result, I couldn't tell about Day 17 and day 18 was negative again. My temperature rose on Day 19, so we estimated a Day 18 ovulation date. So, since I knew when I ovulated, I started taking HPT's at 1 DPO. I kept them all to see how early a pregnancy could possibly show up. I figured I had enough tests to last me until August if needed.
Of course nothing happened for a while, but on on April 22 at 5 DPO, I started spotting and cramping. Considering the last 2 months I only had 8 DPO before starting, I assumed this meant that I was again going to have a short cycle. The spotting and cramping lasted 3 days, stopping by Saturday when I was in Chicago for GWO. I had brought my tests with me and got up and tested each morning. Although, I couldn't let them sit the whole 10 minutes, since no one knew what I was doing, but i put them back in my ziplock to take home with me. So, Monday after GWO, 10 DPO, I was getting encouraged that my new cycle still hadn't started yet, and when I used my cheap test, I thought maybe I might see a hint of a line. I couldn't be sure though, so I used the same urine (the cheap tests require dipping in a cup) and used a digital test I had gotten on sale. I went to get some clothes from the basement while it was processing and when I got back upstairs it was staring at me saying "Pregnant." I have to say I was completely floored. Of course, I had hoped it would work, but honestly, I never thought it would happen on the first try again. Wow, we are so blessed.
So, at this point, we hadn't told anyone we had started trying except for Samara and I had told 2 of my coworkers that I chat with daily, so after telling them the news, we decided we wanted to keep it to ourselves for a little while.
I think Luke is waking up from his nap, so I will go tend to him, but I will write again soon about how we told our family and our symptoms to date. I have a new set in Flickr with pictures from this pregnancy, including now a "weekly" belly picture, which I was inspired to do by my friend Danialle. So far, believe it or not, I haven't missed one of those from 4 to 8 weeks. Please ignore my starting flab. :)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Happy Birthday Luke!
I can't believe I'm 3 weeks late on this, but wanted to be sure to mark the occassion. My baby is 1 year old!
His actual birthday was marked with very little fanfare, just a birthday shirt, birthday shots :(, and an extra sqeeze when dropping him off at the sitter. He did have his one year checkup on the day and weighs in at a healthy 26 pounds 12 ounces. Although, he's down to 93rd percentile for weight and about 80% for height.
The following weekend we had his birthday party. Very low key. We just had a cookout and had Nana, Grandpa Gary and Grandma Christie, and Will, Samara, Ava, and Clara over for cake and presents. He loved the cake and was a great little host opening his presents. After opening he gave each gift his full attention and spent some time that day playing with each new toy! His favorite is still the drum from Nana. He's such a boy and loves to bang on things.
So now that he's one, we should probably discuss milestones! He had 4 teeth on his birthday (we've added one more since then). While he stands and cruises constantly, still no walking. Although last week (or maybe two...) he took his first 2 steps first at the sitters and then later that night for me. Since then, he will turn and let go alot, but then changes his mind and drops to his knees for quick crawling. He is getting very good at standing unsupported, so I have to believe eventually the walking will come. I know he isn't late yet, he's just taking his time. I think we were expecting it to be like Grace who was walking across rooms at 11 months old.
We have completely switched to table food now. Luke LOVES meat. So strange to me, but any kind of meat product he will eat right up, bacon, sausage, ham, hamburger, chicken, etc. He's not nearly as adventurous on the fruits and veggies, but will still eat applesauce if you spoon feed him and does like bananas. He also is a huge fan of yogurt. We also switched him to whole milk. He drinks it fine, but won't take it completely cold, so we have to warm it up a bit first. I'm going to try to start warming it less and less, so eventually he'll drink it cold too. We haven't taken away the bottle yet, but probably could because he'll use a sippy cup very well and self-feeds the bottle. Mostly just didn't have enough sippy cups, so when we run out, I grab a bottle. I need to probably fix that soon!
His personality is still very sweet. He's definately adventurous and wants to get his hands on everything, but he does still want an occassional cuddle from his Mommy. He is starting to voice his opinions more than before (must be learning something from his sissy) and will cry if you tell him "no" or take something away from him or stop him from getting to something he wants. He definately understands alot of what we say, but doesn't say much yet. We get a Mama or Dada (unfortunately usually if he's mad about something) and now I think he says "dog" alot when he's pointing at Zeus. We used to think he said "Grace" but I haven't heard that one lately.
I think the most interesting thing for me to watch is how different boys and girls are. Now I'm starting to pick out true gender differences other than just differences between my children. Luke really likes toys that make lots of noise or have wheels. He would push things across a table, so we bought him some toy cars and he loves to roll them back and forth. I never remember Grace doing that. He also makes a lot of non-verbal noises. He grunts, growls, and screechs. Grace's noises all seemed more predictive of language. He likes to make noise, just to hear the sound it makes.
It's been a great year. It went by so fast! He's still an amazing little guy and I have to say I'm kind of excited to see how he turns out as a toddler. I think I may have my hands full! He's going to be sweet, but full of mischief.
Click on the picture to go to Flickr and see the rest of the pictures from party day!
His actual birthday was marked with very little fanfare, just a birthday shirt, birthday shots :(, and an extra sqeeze when dropping him off at the sitter. He did have his one year checkup on the day and weighs in at a healthy 26 pounds 12 ounces. Although, he's down to 93rd percentile for weight and about 80% for height.
The following weekend we had his birthday party. Very low key. We just had a cookout and had Nana, Grandpa Gary and Grandma Christie, and Will, Samara, Ava, and Clara over for cake and presents. He loved the cake and was a great little host opening his presents. After opening he gave each gift his full attention and spent some time that day playing with each new toy! His favorite is still the drum from Nana. He's such a boy and loves to bang on things.
So now that he's one, we should probably discuss milestones! He had 4 teeth on his birthday (we've added one more since then). While he stands and cruises constantly, still no walking. Although last week (or maybe two...) he took his first 2 steps first at the sitters and then later that night for me. Since then, he will turn and let go alot, but then changes his mind and drops to his knees for quick crawling. He is getting very good at standing unsupported, so I have to believe eventually the walking will come. I know he isn't late yet, he's just taking his time. I think we were expecting it to be like Grace who was walking across rooms at 11 months old.
We have completely switched to table food now. Luke LOVES meat. So strange to me, but any kind of meat product he will eat right up, bacon, sausage, ham, hamburger, chicken, etc. He's not nearly as adventurous on the fruits and veggies, but will still eat applesauce if you spoon feed him and does like bananas. He also is a huge fan of yogurt. We also switched him to whole milk. He drinks it fine, but won't take it completely cold, so we have to warm it up a bit first. I'm going to try to start warming it less and less, so eventually he'll drink it cold too. We haven't taken away the bottle yet, but probably could because he'll use a sippy cup very well and self-feeds the bottle. Mostly just didn't have enough sippy cups, so when we run out, I grab a bottle. I need to probably fix that soon!
His personality is still very sweet. He's definately adventurous and wants to get his hands on everything, but he does still want an occassional cuddle from his Mommy. He is starting to voice his opinions more than before (must be learning something from his sissy) and will cry if you tell him "no" or take something away from him or stop him from getting to something he wants. He definately understands alot of what we say, but doesn't say much yet. We get a Mama or Dada (unfortunately usually if he's mad about something) and now I think he says "dog" alot when he's pointing at Zeus. We used to think he said "Grace" but I haven't heard that one lately.
I think the most interesting thing for me to watch is how different boys and girls are. Now I'm starting to pick out true gender differences other than just differences between my children. Luke really likes toys that make lots of noise or have wheels. He would push things across a table, so we bought him some toy cars and he loves to roll them back and forth. I never remember Grace doing that. He also makes a lot of non-verbal noises. He grunts, growls, and screechs. Grace's noises all seemed more predictive of language. He likes to make noise, just to hear the sound it makes.
It's been a great year. It went by so fast! He's still an amazing little guy and I have to say I'm kind of excited to see how he turns out as a toddler. I think I may have my hands full! He's going to be sweet, but full of mischief.
Click on the picture to go to Flickr and see the rest of the pictures from party day!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter. I hope yours was a great one. More pictures from our Easter on Flickr. Hope to get pictures from yesterday's egg hunt off Eric's camera eventually.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Luke at 11 Months
Luke Watches Monkeys at the Zoo
Originally uploaded by Jenmomma
So, my baby is 11 months old. I can hardly believe he's been here almost a year. Sometimes he still seems like my baby, but then again over the last couple of months he's been hitting so many milestones he seems like he'll be all grown up way too soon.
So what is Luke like as an 11 month old?
Physically
I have no idea his height or weight, but he seems tall to me. He can grab the top of the kitchen table when standing and his 12 month clothes are getting short in the legs. We have started buying 18 month clothes for spring and summer, but still are wearing some 12 month clothes for the warmer stuff. I just couldn't go buy 18 month winter clothes when it should start warming up anytime. We may be getting close to his first haircut, but I am not ready yet. He's still kind of thin in the front, but the back of his head is covered with the softest light brown hair that has just a touch of curl to it. His 3rd tooth broke skin on Sunday (4/5/09 - the top left) and I think #4 will be here anytime too.
His motor skills seem right on track for his age. He can get into sitting from his belly or standing. He pulls up on anything he can get his hands on and cruises effortlessly. Occasionally he will get busy with his hands and I'll catch him standing without holding on, but he doesn't know it. Yesterday I had him stand in the middle of the floor and he can stand alone for a few seconds before he gets scared and sits down. He doesn't really enjoy trying to "walk" if you hold his hands. He'd rather explore on his own. He is very coordinated though and can bend over and pick things up or reach for things while holding on and rarely falls.
Mentally
It's kind of hard to tell how smart he is yet, but he does at least understand the word "no" now. He has a thing for our broiler on the stove, so anytime he tries to play with the stove, he hears "no" alot. Luke is also extremely vocal. He babbles all the time and makes the strangest noises. I've heard that boys do that alot more than girls and so far it's true.
He LOVES his sister. She can make him laugh whenever she wants and he always wants to be involved in whatever Grace is up to. Thankfully, Grace eats it up and will talk and play with him to make him happy. She just gets a little mad if she's trying to color and he takes her paper, wads it up and eats it. She's learned that if she doesn't want him to bother her, she should play at the kitchen table.
He is still my happy smiley boy, but we're starting to get some tantrums thrown in there too. He definately has wants now and if you don't fulfill them or take something away, he lets you know he isn't happy about it. He seems to be a "Mama's Boy." He will let Eric hold or care for him, but if I'm in the room, I'm the one he wants.
Eating
Regarding food, we're trying to increase the kinds of "real" food we let Luke try. So far, he likes most things. I can't think of anything he won't eat. Sometimes he prefers you to still "feed" him instead of self-feeding, but he'll eat it. He especially loves Chipotle rice, just like his Mom and sister. He can hold his own bottle and many times feeds himself the bottle. I still like to hold him though because that's the only time he'll sit still for me. I've given him a few sippy cups and he does ok, but I just don't really think about it often enough to give it to him all the time. As of now, we'll plan to switch to whole milk at 12 months, so we'll see how that goes.
From What To Expect The First Year (11 Months):
By the end of this month, your baby
...should be able to:
- Get into a sitting position from stomach (yes)
- Pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger (yes, he loves tiny objects)
- Understand the word "no" (but not always obey it)
...will probably be able to:
- play patty-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye (He claps his hands together a lot and just started waving last week)
- walk holding onto furniture (cruise) (yes, definately)
...may possibly be able to:
- pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger (he loves this little bottle of Graces with a ribbon tied around it. He picks it up by the ribbon and carries it around)
- stand alone momentarily (yes)
- say dada or mama discriminately (I think so. He said mama the other day when I was changing him and tonight he was crawling towards Eric and I said, "say dada" and he did)
- say one word other than mama or dada (we think he says Grace, sounds more like "Geese"
...May even be able to
- Stand alone well (not quite yet)
- Indicate wants in ways other than crying (he reaches for things and makes other noises)
- "play ball" (roll ball back to you) (I don't play with enough balls, but he will hand you things and then take them back)
- Drink from a cup independently (only a sippy cup)
- use immature jargoning (gibberish) (Yes all the time)
- Say three or more words other than mama or dada (not that we can understand)
- respond to a one-step command without gestures (no)
- walk well (no)
I cannot believe in a month he'll be 1 Year Old. Must not forget that update!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
March Recap
So much for weekly posting, right? March has been busy for me. So, tonight I have some free time and am going to try to get caught back up. So, what do I have to talk about...
Dieting
I kind of fell off the bandwagon in March. I haven't been horrible, but I haven't been exercising or journaling my food intake. I think I'd lost about 3 pounds a month ago. I'm at about 6 right now. Only 1 pound from my pre-pregnancy weight. I keep saying I'm going to get serious again, but I really don't know. I'd like to lose about 10 more pounds still.
School
This is the major reason for falling behind on posting. Anatomy was tough. Not that the subject matter was overly difficult, but there was just so much of it! The lab part had usually a 2 to 3 page list of bones/markings (i.e. there was a whole page of terms for the skull/bone section)/muscles/organs(usually 2 or 3 columns per page). Our lab practicals consisted of about 70 identification items. Then the written exam went into more detail. Hard to explain exactly, but it was different information than the ID part, more like the function of different body parts or how they related to other areas of the body. Anyway, I had to study nearly every night just to get through the material to be prepared for the exams. My final was on 3/14 and 3/16 and I needed to get a 90% average on the final practical and exam to get an A in the class. I got a 93 on the practical, not sure on the exam, but did end up with an A for the quarter. Whew, I was sweating that one a bit. Next is Physiology which I also think I'll enjoy. I'm taking it on Friday nights for the Spring quarter and start this Friday. I've been slacking a bit about studying for the GRE, but eventually will get to it. I'd like to get serious on all the application stuff over the summer.
Babies
No, not me. Late February, Samara had a bit of a scare with preterm labor and had to do home bedrest for about a week. It was a bit scary, but she and baby behaved and they let her off restrictions. She's now 3/4 of the way through her pregnancy and I can hardly believe another friend is about to have her 3rd baby! Speaking of having babies, on Monday 3/23 Danialle after going almost 2 weeks past her due date had her daughter Addie! I wasn't able to travel to Chicago for the birth, but got frequent texts from Jamie (her sister) on the updates. She is a GORGEOUS baby and I can't wait to meet her in about a month. Yay for new babies!
Mini-Home Makeover
For at least a month, I planned to take Friday 3/20 and Monday 3/23 off of work to clean the house. I knew that weekend I'd be done with class and not have to study. I also knew, I'd have a really hard time getting done what I needed to get done with the family around, so I had Eric make a trip to Indiana to visit his Mom and take both kids. After getting so psyched about all the alone time with my house, we expanded our plans to include doing a little revamping too. We took some tax money and bought paint, new bedding for our room, some new rugs, curtains, a slip-cover, some throw pillows, a couple lamps, and new matching frames for the kid's milestone pictures to make the whole house look like new. I ended up painting 6 rooms in the house (family room, dining room, kitchen, 1/2 bath, master bedroom, and kid's bath) in addition I added the new stuff and CLEANED everything. I took before and after pictures for reference. You can view the set on Flickr if you follow this link.
My Family
My family is doing awesome. Sorry I didn't get Luke's 10 month update done. I'll do an 11 month one next week. Just a short re-cap, he's gotten really good at crawling. He now is 100% hands and knees rather than the belly crawl. He loves standing all the time and will pull up on anything. He's really coordinated at getting back down too and will even hold on with one hand and lean down to pick something up off the floor. He seems much more coordinated than Grace (unfortunately Grace inherited my clumbsiness). Still no walking, but I have caught him not holding on a couple times, but he hasn't noticed. This weekend at church I was holding him up by his hands and let go and he stood by himself for 3 or 4 seconds before freaking out and sitting down.
Grace is exceptionally smart and hilarious. She's getting really good at writing all her letters and while we haven't spent a ton of time working on "reading" I think she's picking up a little about how letters go together to make words. She seems to get simple math too, although we haven't formally worked on it. Although she still skips 15 and 17 everytime she counts to 20. She can't tell you what 2 plus 2 is, but can't count to 20, don't ask me! (Just tried out 5 minus 2 and she got that one right too). She is really good at reasoning. You can almost see her putting things together in her head. Eric and I have to really watch what we talk about in front of her, because she'll start asking questions or remember if for later. That explains why, it's likely that she'll make Eric help her plant flower seeds tomorrow. We got a seed packet in the mail a couple of weeks ago and I told her we had to wait until April when it was warmer to plant them. She keeps asking if it's April yet, and on Sunday, I told her 3 more days. This morning, she said, "Just one more day until April and we can plant our seeds!"
Eric is doing alright. He still doesn't have any really good leads on a job. He kind of prescreens them, because our financial situation at the moment including his unemployment, the extra money from his night job, and the money we're saving on childcare from keeping Grace at home, is pretty much exactly the same as what he was bringing home while working full time. He doesn't want to take a job at this point that pays less than he made before because we'd end up coming out further behind than we are at the moment. His first set of unemployment did run out, but he was approved for a 33 week extension. Considering he doesn't take the full benefit (because of the night job), I calculate that we have probably 9 to 10 more months of unemployment. I would hope that in that amount of time, he'll find something appropriate, or he'll have to accept something paying less than before. But, at least for now, we're in good shape. Also got a nice tax refund and some other money, so we're fully funded for my school for the year, Christmas, the annual trip to visit my parents, clothes for the kids for the year, plus have an emergency fund of about $4,000 that isn't allocated to anything and we haven't been using the credit cards at all since Eric's been getting his unemployment. We feel so lucky and blessed that God has provided over the last 8 months that we've been on "one" income.
April Plans
As previously mentioned, school starts again on Friday 4/3. We don't really have any plans for Easter, but I may see if my coworker and her fiance want to come have dinner on Sunday night, since they aren't traveling to visit family either (Will and Samara are going to NY and we're not going anywhere). Mom is coming to visit the weekend of 4/17, and I have my Chicago GWO to meet the new baby on 4/25. I think Samara can come this time too and we're considering flying over together. This month will fly by! May is busy too with Luke's 1st birthday, Ava's birthday party, a bachelorette party for my friend Tara, my 8th anniversary, Memorial Day, and possibly Samara's new baby (or early June).
That's all for now. Next week, I'll try to post some new Luke pictures and do a proper update on his 11 month milestones.
Dieting
I kind of fell off the bandwagon in March. I haven't been horrible, but I haven't been exercising or journaling my food intake. I think I'd lost about 3 pounds a month ago. I'm at about 6 right now. Only 1 pound from my pre-pregnancy weight. I keep saying I'm going to get serious again, but I really don't know. I'd like to lose about 10 more pounds still.
School
This is the major reason for falling behind on posting. Anatomy was tough. Not that the subject matter was overly difficult, but there was just so much of it! The lab part had usually a 2 to 3 page list of bones/markings (i.e. there was a whole page of terms for the skull/bone section)/muscles/organs(usually 2 or 3 columns per page). Our lab practicals consisted of about 70 identification items. Then the written exam went into more detail. Hard to explain exactly, but it was different information than the ID part, more like the function of different body parts or how they related to other areas of the body. Anyway, I had to study nearly every night just to get through the material to be prepared for the exams. My final was on 3/14 and 3/16 and I needed to get a 90% average on the final practical and exam to get an A in the class. I got a 93 on the practical, not sure on the exam, but did end up with an A for the quarter. Whew, I was sweating that one a bit. Next is Physiology which I also think I'll enjoy. I'm taking it on Friday nights for the Spring quarter and start this Friday. I've been slacking a bit about studying for the GRE, but eventually will get to it. I'd like to get serious on all the application stuff over the summer.
Babies
No, not me. Late February, Samara had a bit of a scare with preterm labor and had to do home bedrest for about a week. It was a bit scary, but she and baby behaved and they let her off restrictions. She's now 3/4 of the way through her pregnancy and I can hardly believe another friend is about to have her 3rd baby! Speaking of having babies, on Monday 3/23 Danialle after going almost 2 weeks past her due date had her daughter Addie! I wasn't able to travel to Chicago for the birth, but got frequent texts from Jamie (her sister) on the updates. She is a GORGEOUS baby and I can't wait to meet her in about a month. Yay for new babies!
Mini-Home Makeover
For at least a month, I planned to take Friday 3/20 and Monday 3/23 off of work to clean the house. I knew that weekend I'd be done with class and not have to study. I also knew, I'd have a really hard time getting done what I needed to get done with the family around, so I had Eric make a trip to Indiana to visit his Mom and take both kids. After getting so psyched about all the alone time with my house, we expanded our plans to include doing a little revamping too. We took some tax money and bought paint, new bedding for our room, some new rugs, curtains, a slip-cover, some throw pillows, a couple lamps, and new matching frames for the kid's milestone pictures to make the whole house look like new. I ended up painting 6 rooms in the house (family room, dining room, kitchen, 1/2 bath, master bedroom, and kid's bath) in addition I added the new stuff and CLEANED everything. I took before and after pictures for reference. You can view the set on Flickr if you follow this link.
My Family
My family is doing awesome. Sorry I didn't get Luke's 10 month update done. I'll do an 11 month one next week. Just a short re-cap, he's gotten really good at crawling. He now is 100% hands and knees rather than the belly crawl. He loves standing all the time and will pull up on anything. He's really coordinated at getting back down too and will even hold on with one hand and lean down to pick something up off the floor. He seems much more coordinated than Grace (unfortunately Grace inherited my clumbsiness). Still no walking, but I have caught him not holding on a couple times, but he hasn't noticed. This weekend at church I was holding him up by his hands and let go and he stood by himself for 3 or 4 seconds before freaking out and sitting down.
Grace is exceptionally smart and hilarious. She's getting really good at writing all her letters and while we haven't spent a ton of time working on "reading" I think she's picking up a little about how letters go together to make words. She seems to get simple math too, although we haven't formally worked on it. Although she still skips 15 and 17 everytime she counts to 20. She can't tell you what 2 plus 2 is, but can't count to 20, don't ask me! (Just tried out 5 minus 2 and she got that one right too). She is really good at reasoning. You can almost see her putting things together in her head. Eric and I have to really watch what we talk about in front of her, because she'll start asking questions or remember if for later. That explains why, it's likely that she'll make Eric help her plant flower seeds tomorrow. We got a seed packet in the mail a couple of weeks ago and I told her we had to wait until April when it was warmer to plant them. She keeps asking if it's April yet, and on Sunday, I told her 3 more days. This morning, she said, "Just one more day until April and we can plant our seeds!"
Eric is doing alright. He still doesn't have any really good leads on a job. He kind of prescreens them, because our financial situation at the moment including his unemployment, the extra money from his night job, and the money we're saving on childcare from keeping Grace at home, is pretty much exactly the same as what he was bringing home while working full time. He doesn't want to take a job at this point that pays less than he made before because we'd end up coming out further behind than we are at the moment. His first set of unemployment did run out, but he was approved for a 33 week extension. Considering he doesn't take the full benefit (because of the night job), I calculate that we have probably 9 to 10 more months of unemployment. I would hope that in that amount of time, he'll find something appropriate, or he'll have to accept something paying less than before. But, at least for now, we're in good shape. Also got a nice tax refund and some other money, so we're fully funded for my school for the year, Christmas, the annual trip to visit my parents, clothes for the kids for the year, plus have an emergency fund of about $4,000 that isn't allocated to anything and we haven't been using the credit cards at all since Eric's been getting his unemployment. We feel so lucky and blessed that God has provided over the last 8 months that we've been on "one" income.
April Plans
As previously mentioned, school starts again on Friday 4/3. We don't really have any plans for Easter, but I may see if my coworker and her fiance want to come have dinner on Sunday night, since they aren't traveling to visit family either (Will and Samara are going to NY and we're not going anywhere). Mom is coming to visit the weekend of 4/17, and I have my Chicago GWO to meet the new baby on 4/25. I think Samara can come this time too and we're considering flying over together. This month will fly by! May is busy too with Luke's 1st birthday, Ava's birthday party, a bachelorette party for my friend Tara, my 8th anniversary, Memorial Day, and possibly Samara's new baby (or early June).
That's all for now. Next week, I'll try to post some new Luke pictures and do a proper update on his 11 month milestones.
Monday, March 16, 2009
I Know I'm Behind
Yes, I realize my weekly posting has gone awry. I will try to correct soon, just not tonight. I will blame it on trying to finish this quarter of Anatomy (just took my final exam and final practical tonight), a new internet service provider and a couple of days of inability to access secure servers, and just plain business. I owe an update on Luke at 10 months and by next week I want to share some pictures of my Spring Clean/Mini Home Makeover project that will be taking place this weekend while I send my husband and kids away for the weekend to visit Nana. Tonight, however, I'm just brain dead and want to veg for a bit with no guilt about lack of studying.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday Update
Last week was pretty good. Made some progress on the diet. I lost 3 1/2 pounds. Was up to about 5 around Thursday, but weekends are a little tougher, so I'm still happy with the total outcome. I also managed to work out a bit too. I was on the treadmill 3 days, lifted weights 1 day, and did Pilates DVD's 3 days. Eric lost 6 1/2 pounds just by watching what he ate. Men are so lucky!
This week still trying and I found a really great website to track what you eat and activities. I just found it today, but it seems really cool and it's free!
Ok, back to studying and stuff, really big exam and practical this weekend coming up. More when things settle down a bit at work and school.
This week still trying and I found a really great website to track what you eat and activities. I just found it today, but it seems really cool and it's free!
Ok, back to studying and stuff, really big exam and practical this weekend coming up. More when things settle down a bit at work and school.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Getting Healthy
Not to eclipse my last post about Luke, but I wanted to make a note that I am officially dieting again. I think I have my motivation this time though. Eric is going to do it with me. Yay! He actually brought it up and we spent some time last night reviewing menus, he went grocery shopping with me today, and we cleaned out the garage today so that we can use the treadmill and weight bench. I'm so psyched because now we shouldn't have any temptation foods in the house and we're in it together. We actually made a deal that if one of us exercises on any given day, the other one has to too! I'm going to attempt to do at least 20 minutes on the treadmill and some sort of toning exercises every day, probably in between Luke and Grace's bedtimes, considering I still need to study (which I should be doing right now).
My goal is 17 pounds (would have been 15 if my start weight today were my "usual" weight). I don't really have a timeline, but I'm shooting for beginning of May. I kind of think the first 5-7 will come off super quickly. I have a really strong personal incentive and I think it will keep me on track every time I want to quit or cheat. Eric's goal is about 45 pounds (I think). He hasn't come up with an incentive yet (except that he doesn't want to die, which I suppose is a good one). I just hope doing it together will keep us on track. I would love to feel good in my body again.
We are also hoping this will help Grace out as she's on the heavy side for a 4-year old. We're not talking about losing weight, but about being healthy and talking about what kind of foods are good for us. On Sunday I got sucked into the shows about the World's Heaviest Man and Grace told me he was "enormous". Today, at the store she asked if she could get candy and I told her know that candy wasn't good for us. She said, "If we eat lots of candy that isn't healthy for us, we will get really big like that guy on TV and that isn't good for us." Yes, indeed. She didn't even through a fit afterwards. We're very careful not to say she's "heavy" or "fat" or anything negative. She has no idea we're concerned about her weight, and she's 100% self-confident about her body and looks. I want to keep that innocence as long as possible, while still trying to keep in under control.
Ok, enough about that. I'll give you an update in a couple weeks and let you know how we're doing on this project.
My goal is 17 pounds (would have been 15 if my start weight today were my "usual" weight). I don't really have a timeline, but I'm shooting for beginning of May. I kind of think the first 5-7 will come off super quickly. I have a really strong personal incentive and I think it will keep me on track every time I want to quit or cheat. Eric's goal is about 45 pounds (I think). He hasn't come up with an incentive yet (except that he doesn't want to die, which I suppose is a good one). I just hope doing it together will keep us on track. I would love to feel good in my body again.
We are also hoping this will help Grace out as she's on the heavy side for a 4-year old. We're not talking about losing weight, but about being healthy and talking about what kind of foods are good for us. On Sunday I got sucked into the shows about the World's Heaviest Man and Grace told me he was "enormous". Today, at the store she asked if she could get candy and I told her know that candy wasn't good for us. She said, "If we eat lots of candy that isn't healthy for us, we will get really big like that guy on TV and that isn't good for us." Yes, indeed. She didn't even through a fit afterwards. We're very careful not to say she's "heavy" or "fat" or anything negative. She has no idea we're concerned about her weight, and she's 100% self-confident about her body and looks. I want to keep that innocence as long as possible, while still trying to keep in under control.
Ok, enough about that. I'll give you an update in a couple weeks and let you know how we're doing on this project.
Luke - 9 Months
I'm a week late, but Luke is officially 9 months old. This picture was from this weekend, so you are seeing a new skill that he didn't quite have at 9 months. Phyical milestones include crawling on hands and knees now, although he's a bit faster on his belly, so he'll switch between hands and knees and army crawling depending on what he wants. He has also learned to pull himself up. At 9-months exactly he had only figured out how to get to his knees, but over this weekend he learned to get all the way to his feet, demonstrated first when we walked in to see him standing in his crib! Now he does it constantly and has even taken a couple of sideways steps (cruising!). Also, tonight, he transferred from the coffee table to the couch via my leg. His other new thing is splashing in the bathtub. He LOVES it. I actually took some video tonight that I'll have to upload later of both kids in the bath.
His personality is still great. He's extremely happy and smiley, although we are getting a taste of his frustration cries when he can't get to something fast enough or wants me when I'm making dinner, etc.
Still just have the two teeth. Not sure when the next ones will be in.
Other stats, at his 9-month check-up on the 9th, he weighed in at 24 1/2 pounds (down from 96 to 93rd percentile) and was 29 1/4 inches long (80th percentile). So still a big boy, but not quite off the charts anymore.
Here are the milestones he's met according to "What to Expect the First Year," The Ninth Month:
...should be able to:
- work to get a toy out of reach
- look for dropped object
...will probably be able to:
- pull up to a standing position from sitting
- get into a sitting position from stomach (I think he could if he tried, but I've never actually seen him do it)
- object if you try to take a toy away
- stand holding onto someone or something
- pick up tiny object with any part of thump and finger
- say mama or dada indiscriminately (he says dada, but not mama)
- play peekaboo (he doesn't initate it, but loves it when we do it)
...may possibly be able to:
- play patty-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye (clap hands only)
- walk holding onto furniture (cruise) - got this one at 9 months 1 week
- understand word "no" (but not always obey it) - Not sure, he will look at you when you say no, but not sure if he knows what it means, although if he paid enough attention to Grace, he should!
...may even be able to:
- "play ball" (roll ball back to you) - He LOVES balls
- pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefringer
His personality is still great. He's extremely happy and smiley, although we are getting a taste of his frustration cries when he can't get to something fast enough or wants me when I'm making dinner, etc.
Still just have the two teeth. Not sure when the next ones will be in.
Other stats, at his 9-month check-up on the 9th, he weighed in at 24 1/2 pounds (down from 96 to 93rd percentile) and was 29 1/4 inches long (80th percentile). So still a big boy, but not quite off the charts anymore.
Here are the milestones he's met according to "What to Expect the First Year," The Ninth Month:
...should be able to:
- work to get a toy out of reach
- look for dropped object
...will probably be able to:
- pull up to a standing position from sitting
- get into a sitting position from stomach (I think he could if he tried, but I've never actually seen him do it)
- object if you try to take a toy away
- stand holding onto someone or something
- pick up tiny object with any part of thump and finger
- say mama or dada indiscriminately (he says dada, but not mama)
- play peekaboo (he doesn't initate it, but loves it when we do it)
...may possibly be able to:
- play patty-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye (clap hands only)
- walk holding onto furniture (cruise) - got this one at 9 months 1 week
- understand word "no" (but not always obey it) - Not sure, he will look at you when you say no, but not sure if he knows what it means, although if he paid enough attention to Grace, he should!
...may even be able to:
- "play ball" (roll ball back to you) - He LOVES balls
- pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefringer
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
Good Week
I had a really good week this week. Although, my studying skills slacked on Monday (got caught up in The Bachelor) and Tuesday (actually had a long conversation with my husband), I did study enough on Wednesday and Friday to feel fairly confident going into my lab practical on Saturday. Although, I have to admit this one was much harder as out of the 70 questions, 21 were identification on a cadaver, which is much tougher than looking at drawings/pictures of bones/muscles/structures. I still think I did ok. Also got my first exam score back as a 75/80 (94%), but after reviewing in class I had two "scantron errors" so that will actually bump up to 77/80 (96%). Exam #2 is this Saturday.
In addition to class, on Saturday I got to go out with Samara for dinner and a chance for the two of us to catch up sans children. Will couldn't watch Samara's girls last minute, so Eric volunteered to watch all 4 of the kids so we could still go out. Yay! They all survived and seemed to have fun too, so that's good.
Wednesday was a snow day, so it was fun to get to spend a day in the middle of the week with the family. Friday, I was supposed to go to "open lab" after work for some practice with the cadavers, but apparently they decided not to do it on Friday's anymore, so no practice for me.
Saturday morning Samara came over again with the girls. I'm trying to do a little research on the Bradley Method of childbirth as Danialle is planning on attempting an all natural delivery in March and Samara in June. So, I'm trying to learn a little so if I get to be in the delivery rooms I will know what to say or not to say to help them both experience the birth's they want. Anyway, Samara is taking a class and had a video she brought over for us to watch together. She also lent me a book that I'll be taking with me on my business trip to Texas later this week to read up.
Eric's been sick which isn't so good, but he did take off a day and a half of his night job, so I feel his more well-rested and I didn't have to worry about him driving home on Wednesday morning.
Today was weird. This morning I told my boss about wanting to attend Danialle's birth and that if I got the call in a few weeks, I'd want to leave as long as work permitted. She was cool with that and then an hour later Danialle calls to tell me she was heading to the hospital! Turns out it was a false alarm, but I did some flight checking and was ready to go if it turned out to be the real thing. Hoping the real thing holds off a bit longer so baby can get bigger and healthier. Also, work clears up alot after Feb 17, so that would be much nicer. :) So then later this afternoon Mom calls and tells me that my brother is in the hospital. He's got some nasty infection in his foot and needs a big dose of antibiotics and rest so hopefully it will clear up and not require surgery. Yuck!
Planning to study tonight after I get off here and put Grace in bed. Tomorrow I have a half day vacation and am going to an Overview at Ohio State on the Nursing program. Don't really know what questions I have except for how I can pay for school/living expenses and how to find the right people for recommendation letters. I'm really pumped up about this! If I get some good info, maybe I'll post again tomorrow.
As an update to my last post, I'm feeling a bit more peaceful. None of those decisions need to be made at this point, so I'm putting them aside and working on the things that need to be done now. I still trust God will show me the right path when the time is right.
Ok, better get Grace washed and in bed, so I can start studying before 9 p.m.
In addition to class, on Saturday I got to go out with Samara for dinner and a chance for the two of us to catch up sans children. Will couldn't watch Samara's girls last minute, so Eric volunteered to watch all 4 of the kids so we could still go out. Yay! They all survived and seemed to have fun too, so that's good.
Wednesday was a snow day, so it was fun to get to spend a day in the middle of the week with the family. Friday, I was supposed to go to "open lab" after work for some practice with the cadavers, but apparently they decided not to do it on Friday's anymore, so no practice for me.
Saturday morning Samara came over again with the girls. I'm trying to do a little research on the Bradley Method of childbirth as Danialle is planning on attempting an all natural delivery in March and Samara in June. So, I'm trying to learn a little so if I get to be in the delivery rooms I will know what to say or not to say to help them both experience the birth's they want. Anyway, Samara is taking a class and had a video she brought over for us to watch together. She also lent me a book that I'll be taking with me on my business trip to Texas later this week to read up.
Eric's been sick which isn't so good, but he did take off a day and a half of his night job, so I feel his more well-rested and I didn't have to worry about him driving home on Wednesday morning.
Today was weird. This morning I told my boss about wanting to attend Danialle's birth and that if I got the call in a few weeks, I'd want to leave as long as work permitted. She was cool with that and then an hour later Danialle calls to tell me she was heading to the hospital! Turns out it was a false alarm, but I did some flight checking and was ready to go if it turned out to be the real thing. Hoping the real thing holds off a bit longer so baby can get bigger and healthier. Also, work clears up alot after Feb 17, so that would be much nicer. :) So then later this afternoon Mom calls and tells me that my brother is in the hospital. He's got some nasty infection in his foot and needs a big dose of antibiotics and rest so hopefully it will clear up and not require surgery. Yuck!
Planning to study tonight after I get off here and put Grace in bed. Tomorrow I have a half day vacation and am going to an Overview at Ohio State on the Nursing program. Don't really know what questions I have except for how I can pay for school/living expenses and how to find the right people for recommendation letters. I'm really pumped up about this! If I get some good info, maybe I'll post again tomorrow.
As an update to my last post, I'm feeling a bit more peaceful. None of those decisions need to be made at this point, so I'm putting them aside and working on the things that need to be done now. I still trust God will show me the right path when the time is right.
Ok, better get Grace washed and in bed, so I can start studying before 9 p.m.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Devil is in the Details
Literally. I've spent a lot of time thinking about details this week and I think it has not necessarily been a good thing. When I started the process of going back to school in 2006, I was initally completely freaked out and terrified. Then after significant prayer and reflection, I decided to take it one step at a time and trust that if God called me to go back to school, that he would provide the means to do so. Since then, I've plodded along step by step. Now I feel like the pace is picking up and I am nearing the finish line of the preparation stage of this process.
I could be really freaked out right now. I am still working full time and going to school. I have two young children. The economy is horrible. My husband has been unemployed for 6 months. But, I haven't been stressed. I still believe that the right job opportunity will come along and until then with the combination of unemployment, the part-time funds, and saving child-care expenses for Grace, we are in the same financial situation we were before Eric lost his job. We still have about 6 weeks of the initial unemployment and then are eligible for an additional 26 week extension, so we are ok financially for a while.
Regarding what will happen when I get to go to school full time, I honestly haven't focused on the financial part of it. I have been just having faith that God will provide. Last week, however, Eric made me focus on it just a little bit more. We started discussing the possibility of having more children and he shared with me his anxiety of how we are going to afford for me to go to school with only one income (regardless of how many children we have at the time). Considering I'll be going full time, we'll still need at least part-time childcare and unless Eric's new salary is significantly (at least 50%) higher than what my salary is now, we won't have enough money to pay our bills, not to mention pay for childcare or any extras. That is one detail I haven't been concentrating on. I guess I just assume that somehow we'll figure out how to pay the bills and I'll get scholarships or loans to cover the actual school costs. Add to the financial strain, my desire to have a third child at some point, and now, I'm starting to freak out a little. The timing of the next baby is hard for me. I don't really want 5 years between Luke and the next one, but I also don't want to put off full-time school until 2011. The only other option would be to get things started in the next 6 months or so, but that is so questionable because of the employment situation and if we'd be able to afford 3 kids after I quit my job.
I have alot of unresolved issues that are keeping me unsettled. So, I'm trying to get back to that place where I put one foot in front of another and trust that I'm not walking off the edge of a cliff.
I'd like to share with you the prayer I've been praying and will be praying all week.
"I pray for faith. Give me faith that you will find a way to provide the desires of my heart. If the desires of my heart do not align with your will for my life, I pray that you will change the desires of my heart to fit your will and give me peace. I pray for faith that you will supply all our needs and give me the wisdom to see the doors you open before me and take what you are giving me. I pray for faith to trust that your will is perfect and you will bless me and my family."
If any of you out there are also the praying type, I wouldn't mind a little extra prayer for the following:
- Eric's permanent employment options
- Continued success in classes and other preparations in order to apply to school this fall
- A clear path to be revealed regarding the future of our family planning
Well about that success, I should get back to studying as I have Lab Practical #2 this Saturday and want to keep that 95% grade in tact. (Have I mentioned that I love my Anatomy class!)
-
I could be really freaked out right now. I am still working full time and going to school. I have two young children. The economy is horrible. My husband has been unemployed for 6 months. But, I haven't been stressed. I still believe that the right job opportunity will come along and until then with the combination of unemployment, the part-time funds, and saving child-care expenses for Grace, we are in the same financial situation we were before Eric lost his job. We still have about 6 weeks of the initial unemployment and then are eligible for an additional 26 week extension, so we are ok financially for a while.
Regarding what will happen when I get to go to school full time, I honestly haven't focused on the financial part of it. I have been just having faith that God will provide. Last week, however, Eric made me focus on it just a little bit more. We started discussing the possibility of having more children and he shared with me his anxiety of how we are going to afford for me to go to school with only one income (regardless of how many children we have at the time). Considering I'll be going full time, we'll still need at least part-time childcare and unless Eric's new salary is significantly (at least 50%) higher than what my salary is now, we won't have enough money to pay our bills, not to mention pay for childcare or any extras. That is one detail I haven't been concentrating on. I guess I just assume that somehow we'll figure out how to pay the bills and I'll get scholarships or loans to cover the actual school costs. Add to the financial strain, my desire to have a third child at some point, and now, I'm starting to freak out a little. The timing of the next baby is hard for me. I don't really want 5 years between Luke and the next one, but I also don't want to put off full-time school until 2011. The only other option would be to get things started in the next 6 months or so, but that is so questionable because of the employment situation and if we'd be able to afford 3 kids after I quit my job.
I have alot of unresolved issues that are keeping me unsettled. So, I'm trying to get back to that place where I put one foot in front of another and trust that I'm not walking off the edge of a cliff.
I'd like to share with you the prayer I've been praying and will be praying all week.
"I pray for faith. Give me faith that you will find a way to provide the desires of my heart. If the desires of my heart do not align with your will for my life, I pray that you will change the desires of my heart to fit your will and give me peace. I pray for faith that you will supply all our needs and give me the wisdom to see the doors you open before me and take what you are giving me. I pray for faith to trust that your will is perfect and you will bless me and my family."
If any of you out there are also the praying type, I wouldn't mind a little extra prayer for the following:
- Eric's permanent employment options
- Continued success in classes and other preparations in order to apply to school this fall
- A clear path to be revealed regarding the future of our family planning
Well about that success, I should get back to studying as I have Lab Practical #2 this Saturday and want to keep that 95% grade in tact. (Have I mentioned that I love my Anatomy class!)
-
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Twinkle, Twinkle
Twinkle, Twinkle
Originally uploaded by Jenmomma
I'll try to be a bit more interesting next week.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Second Tooth
Just a quick update because Luke's baby book only has a spot to record his first tooth, rather than an update when each of them came in. Tonight I noticed his second tooth has broken through the skin. It is the bottom front right (his right) tooth.
It's almost exactly the same as Graces. Her first tooth was at 8 months exactly with #2 following 15 days later. We noticed Luke's first tooth on Jan 1 or 2 (5 or 6 days before he turned 8 months) and #2 is 12 to 13 days later.
Fun! Speaking of fun, better get to studying! I'm kind of hoping for a snow day tomorrow where I can catch up on TV and do some things around the house. Thursday's are my day off of studying.
It's almost exactly the same as Graces. Her first tooth was at 8 months exactly with #2 following 15 days later. We noticed Luke's first tooth on Jan 1 or 2 (5 or 6 days before he turned 8 months) and #2 is 12 to 13 days later.
Fun! Speaking of fun, better get to studying! I'm kind of hoping for a snow day tomorrow where I can catch up on TV and do some things around the house. Thursday's are my day off of studying.
Monday, January 12, 2009
School Plans
So, it's Monday and I'm updating as promised. Will have to be quick as I'm about to start studying. On Saturday I started my first class since last January-March. I'm taking Anatomy and it promises to be very memorization oriented class and supposedly requires 18 hours of studying per week outside of class (yeah, right). I already have a written exam and lab practical (exam) this Saturday.
I'm sure I didn't explain here, but after Eric lost his job and I postponed returning to school this fall, I started re-thinking my med school plans. My pre-req schedule was tight, so by skipping the fall quarter, it would have delayed my school plans by another year, so the earliest I could start med-school would have been fall of 2011. Add 4 years of school and 3 years of residency, I would finally get to practice in 2018 or 10 years from now. We've been blessed to not be hurting too bad financially considering Eric's situation (after 2 months of fighting, he was awarded unemployment, plus he works retail overnights 3 days a week). But the 2 months on one salary gave me a hint of how tough it will be to live "poor" while I'm in school. Add to the fact that I'll be in school during the prime years of my kids life (Grace would be almost 14 by the time I finished residency and Luke would be 10) and the fact that I am pretty sure our family isn't yet complete (yes, I think I want another one), I started thinking that med-school would be quite a sacrifice.
So, short story, after some research and praying, I think I found a compromise. I'm going to apply (and hopefully attend) a Masters in Nursing program at Ohio State. They have a Graduate Entry program for people with undergrad degrees in non-nursing majors and after a 3 year full time program, you graduate as a Nurse Practioner. However, after 2 years you are eligible to become an RN and can work part-time during your 3rd year of school. When you enter the program, you pick a specialty and I am going to choose Nurse Midwifery. So, I'll still get to deliver babies and provide pre-natal care, just not the high-risk stuff or c-sections. The program has 5 required pre-requisites (of course none of which I've taken yet). Four of the pre-reqs are offered at the Community College I've been attending. The fifth class is offered during the summers at Ohio State. So, the plan is for me to start the 4 pre-reqs now (Winter 09, Spring 09, Summer 09, and Fall 09). Sometime this spring I'll take the GRE exam and work on the other application requirements. I'll have to apply by December 1, 2009 and will be notified by March 2010 if I'm accepted into the fall 2010 class. If yes, I'll be quitting my job in the summer of 2010 (unless my work surprises me by being flexible) and I'll take the final pre-requisite class before starting full time in the fall of 2010. By 2013, I'll be a practicing Midwife.
This is so exciting to me, that in just under 5 years I could be in a brand new career that I will love and really be helping women and delivering babies! Well, first I have to pass Anatomy (who am I kidding I want an A!), so I better quit for tonight and start studying. Later!
I'm sure I didn't explain here, but after Eric lost his job and I postponed returning to school this fall, I started re-thinking my med school plans. My pre-req schedule was tight, so by skipping the fall quarter, it would have delayed my school plans by another year, so the earliest I could start med-school would have been fall of 2011. Add 4 years of school and 3 years of residency, I would finally get to practice in 2018 or 10 years from now. We've been blessed to not be hurting too bad financially considering Eric's situation (after 2 months of fighting, he was awarded unemployment, plus he works retail overnights 3 days a week). But the 2 months on one salary gave me a hint of how tough it will be to live "poor" while I'm in school. Add to the fact that I'll be in school during the prime years of my kids life (Grace would be almost 14 by the time I finished residency and Luke would be 10) and the fact that I am pretty sure our family isn't yet complete (yes, I think I want another one), I started thinking that med-school would be quite a sacrifice.
So, short story, after some research and praying, I think I found a compromise. I'm going to apply (and hopefully attend) a Masters in Nursing program at Ohio State. They have a Graduate Entry program for people with undergrad degrees in non-nursing majors and after a 3 year full time program, you graduate as a Nurse Practioner. However, after 2 years you are eligible to become an RN and can work part-time during your 3rd year of school. When you enter the program, you pick a specialty and I am going to choose Nurse Midwifery. So, I'll still get to deliver babies and provide pre-natal care, just not the high-risk stuff or c-sections. The program has 5 required pre-requisites (of course none of which I've taken yet). Four of the pre-reqs are offered at the Community College I've been attending. The fifth class is offered during the summers at Ohio State. So, the plan is for me to start the 4 pre-reqs now (Winter 09, Spring 09, Summer 09, and Fall 09). Sometime this spring I'll take the GRE exam and work on the other application requirements. I'll have to apply by December 1, 2009 and will be notified by March 2010 if I'm accepted into the fall 2010 class. If yes, I'll be quitting my job in the summer of 2010 (unless my work surprises me by being flexible) and I'll take the final pre-requisite class before starting full time in the fall of 2010. By 2013, I'll be a practicing Midwife.
This is so exciting to me, that in just under 5 years I could be in a brand new career that I will love and really be helping women and delivering babies! Well, first I have to pass Anatomy (who am I kidding I want an A!), so I better quit for tonight and start studying. Later!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Luke 8 Months
Luke Crawling
Originally uploaded by Jenmomma
Other big milestone was his first tooth has broke the skin. Still not completely in yet, but you can see it if he'll let you get his mouth open and tounge out of the way.
We also are officially done breastfeeding. I hadn't nursed at all since before Christmas, but once last week, Luke had a rough patch overnight and I went to his room and held him in the rocker. I decided to offer the breast and he latched on for a few seconds then stopped and looked at me and gave me a big smile. Then he tried again for a few more seconds and then stopped and decided to suck his thumb instead. So, I guess that's the end. Amazingly, I haven't been uncomfortable at all. I think I dropped feedings/pumping slowly enough and supplemented even when my supply was dropping, so I never got engorged. A little sad, but hopefully someday there will be another baby and we'll get to do it again.
Another skill I've noticed is that he is picking up items using his thumb and forefinger. He loves to eat "puffs" and can feed them to himself off of his highchair tray.
That's about all that's different from the midmonth update I did a couple weeks ago.
Also, as an FYI, I just figured out how to take video on my digital camera and I may be purchasing a digital camcorder soon, so stay tuned for more videos!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Christmas Morning
Christmas Morning
Originally uploaded by Jenmomma
Stay tuned tomorrow for a clip of Luke crawling as part of his 8 month old update!
Monday, January 05, 2009
Monday
So, I promised to post today, so I am. Not much to say though, just spent a good 2 hours tweaking the blog format. I know it doesn't look much different to you, but now it's much easier for me to change any of the sidebar stuff. Now I need to watch a little football, so I'm not the only one in Ohio tonight that has no idea of the score of the OSU/Texas game.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Happy 2009!
Didn't get to post on the 1st. My parents came in on the 31st and left this morning for our Christmas visit. As always, it was really nice to have them here, but unfortunately this time, we passed around a yucky stomach bug. I think it started with my niece Ashton who was sick on Christmas Day. We went to their house on the 26th for the weekend. When we got back, Grace was sick on Monday morning (vomitted twice and diarreah). She seemed better by the afternoon, but on Wednesday (31st) I felt really icky. I spent the morning nauseous and in the bathroom with other stomach issues. I was zapped of all energy, but still picked up my parents and hung out during the evening (Eric was sleeping all morning and early afternoon after working Tuesday night). New Years Eve we ended up skipping the fondue dinner I planned to make and ordering pizza for everyone else (I couldn't eat). By Thursday, I was feeling better, but we still decided to just hang out at home and we made our fondue dinner. On Friday, we noticed Luke was getting his first tooth! Yay! And we also went to the mall in the morning to get Grace's 4 year pictures taken, then after naps, Grace, Grandma, Grandpa and I, took her to her first movie in the theater (Bolt!). Friday evening Grandpa started feeling a bit sickly. By Saturday morning, Grandpa and Eric were fighting over the bathroom with both kinds of stomach issues. Grandma, me and the kids went to the library in the morning and hung out in the evening. The guys started feeling better towards the end of Saturday night. This morning, I had a headache and was again nauseous and other things, so I had Eric drive my parents back to the airport and when he got back, I spent a couple more hours in bed. Feeling mostly better now, and everyone else is asleep. So, that was our New Year's weekend.
So, onto 2009. I just wanted to post on the 2008 goals and set up 2009.
2009 Goals for the Year
1. Diet - My 2008 goal was to be at 155 at the end of the year (5 pounds above pre-Luke weight). I regularly weigh-in between 154 and 156, so I'd say close enough. So, for 2009. I would like to lose the last 6 pounds, by my 30th birthday (March 1). If I lose 10 by then, I will allow myself a special treat of a facial before going out for my birthday. If I lose 15, I think I deserve a new outfit too! Nothing too crazy, just want to get the rest of the baby weight off.
2. Finances - 2007 we did great and reduced debt by $15,000. 2008 was a bit tougher considering we had another baby and Eric lost his job at the end of July, but in 2008 we still reduced our total debt by $4,245 which is better than an increase. We need Eric to get re-employed full time, but even then, I want to set our 2009 reduction goal at $10,000. Although, pretty much as soon as he's working full time again, we need to get rid of his car and get a more reliable one, so that will increase our debt. Hopefully though, he'll get paid enough that we can hit the reduction HARD and still have a decrease even if we get a new (to us, probably will be buying used) car.
3. Classes - I wanted to take 2 classes after maternity leave. That didn't happen. I haven't taken any since Luke. The main reason was to save money and make sure I was available if Eric took an evening job (after he lost his). However, I've regrouped, changed my plans and decided to go for a Nursing Masters program where after only 3 years I'll be a Nurse Practioner (specializing as a Certified Nurse Midwife). So, the 2009 plan will be to do everything needed to start that program in 2010. Including 4 pre-req classes at Columbus State (first one starts this Saturday), the GRE, applications, transcripts, letters of recommendation, all due by the December 1, 2009 application deadline.
4. Blogging. I really slacked this year. I feel like I missed alot. I am going to make a goal to update once a week. The weekend is too hard, so I'm going to shoot for Monday nights. Eric has to work, so I have the house to myself. I will try to update after I put Grace to bed. Either about the week, about the kids or whatever. I miss keeping a journal of my life. Maybe some of you (if anyone still checks in) miss it to.
Ok, that's all for now, I'll try to be back tomorrow for my first Monday post. Right now I need to do another load of laundry while the house is sleeping and maybe try to start paying the bills for this week.
So, onto 2009. I just wanted to post on the 2008 goals and set up 2009.
2009 Goals for the Year
1. Diet - My 2008 goal was to be at 155 at the end of the year (5 pounds above pre-Luke weight). I regularly weigh-in between 154 and 156, so I'd say close enough. So, for 2009. I would like to lose the last 6 pounds, by my 30th birthday (March 1). If I lose 10 by then, I will allow myself a special treat of a facial before going out for my birthday. If I lose 15, I think I deserve a new outfit too! Nothing too crazy, just want to get the rest of the baby weight off.
2. Finances - 2007 we did great and reduced debt by $15,000. 2008 was a bit tougher considering we had another baby and Eric lost his job at the end of July, but in 2008 we still reduced our total debt by $4,245 which is better than an increase. We need Eric to get re-employed full time, but even then, I want to set our 2009 reduction goal at $10,000. Although, pretty much as soon as he's working full time again, we need to get rid of his car and get a more reliable one, so that will increase our debt. Hopefully though, he'll get paid enough that we can hit the reduction HARD and still have a decrease even if we get a new (to us, probably will be buying used) car.
3. Classes - I wanted to take 2 classes after maternity leave. That didn't happen. I haven't taken any since Luke. The main reason was to save money and make sure I was available if Eric took an evening job (after he lost his). However, I've regrouped, changed my plans and decided to go for a Nursing Masters program where after only 3 years I'll be a Nurse Practioner (specializing as a Certified Nurse Midwife). So, the 2009 plan will be to do everything needed to start that program in 2010. Including 4 pre-req classes at Columbus State (first one starts this Saturday), the GRE, applications, transcripts, letters of recommendation, all due by the December 1, 2009 application deadline.
4. Blogging. I really slacked this year. I feel like I missed alot. I am going to make a goal to update once a week. The weekend is too hard, so I'm going to shoot for Monday nights. Eric has to work, so I have the house to myself. I will try to update after I put Grace to bed. Either about the week, about the kids or whatever. I miss keeping a journal of my life. Maybe some of you (if anyone still checks in) miss it to.
Ok, that's all for now, I'll try to be back tomorrow for my first Monday post. Right now I need to do another load of laundry while the house is sleeping and maybe try to start paying the bills for this week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
