UPDATES :)

Well, it has been a year plus since I last posted. Guess I have been a little bit busy. Here is the quick version of what has been going on in our lives since the last post.

• I am a birth doula. I absolutely LOVE it. I have met some amazing families who have blessed me by allowing me to be present while they became a new family. I also realized that too much of anything is too much. So I am limiting myself to one client a month. It isn't that the births themselves are the hard work, that is what I LOVE. It is all the interviews, and meetings that need to be held on nights and weekends, which is MY family time. So limiting myself allows me to be fully present for those families and also for my family.
• I am now teaching Hypnbobabies Classes. Check out my website! I wanted to be able to really get to know the families I work with, and also really prepare them for what they going to encounter while bringing their new baby into this world. Deciding what class to teach I thought would be really easy but it wasn't. There were so many classes out there that seemed like not a great match for me, or were missing just a few elements that I deemed essential. However when I came across this class series it was a great fit. 
• I am still an Occupational Therapist. I found a great little community hospital where I could treat patients who really needed it, and not have my clinical decisions dictated by the all mighty dollar. I don't  know patients payer sources, I provide the treatments that my patients need. I wish I could be a stay at home mom. That just isn't in the cards now. But I know that my time away from the family is worthwhile.
• The boys are amazing. Mason is 3-- he is sensitive and detail oriented. He loves building things and following directions and really understanding stories. He is also getting adventurous and love running so fast, jumping, and loves his soccer classes. Wyatt is 19 months old now. He is our emotional, opinionated, and fiery one. He is funny and silly and the instigator of all kinds of mischief in our house. It is so funny how two children really require two totally different types of parenting!

We have been so so busy doing so many fun things lately. Hopefully I will be better about posting those things, and be on here in the next couple of days to show them!

Career Change?

Here is a photo of Mason reaching up to hold onto Wyatt during a walk. He pretty much always wants to hold his hand when they are both in their stroller

I have always wanted to stay at home with my kids to capture these kind of moments...but my salary and benefits have been safe and needed. When i was on maternity leave with Mason i loved hugging and holding him and couldn't imagine leaving him with someone else so i could work. But i did. And now that i am home with Wyatt and Mason i love the cuddling and hugging - but i love seeing mason interact with his world, i love having fun with him, and i love building a relationship with him that honestly i can't do in the same way on just the weekends. I can't make what I make working at a restaurant at night, or most other hourly jobs so I have felt a bit trapped for the past year of so doing what i do. Kurt could find a more stable job - but we both believe in Real Estate turning around - his earning power is limitless potentially, and giving that up for a temporary change doesn't seem to make sense.

For a number of reasons I am not going to be returning to my old job when i go back to work. That gives me some flexibility in timing about when i go back to work, it has also given me a chance to explore other options.

Since i gave birth to Mason I have wanted to be a doula (birth attendant or coach). For both of my birth experiences my doula Kari made my birth experience possible. She has become a friend, and member of my family as only someone who has gone through that with me can. I want to be able to provide that experience to other women. She let me push my body past what i was convinced were it's limits. She provided comfort, compassion - and i could trust her. But, this is not a sales pitch for her :)

So the question is do I return to what I was doing but for a different company - a job and industry that I have lost a passion for and have become a bit disillusioned with but that provides for my family, or take a leap for a change?

I think that answer is both. I will do the training to be a doula, and work "on call" in my previous field as much as i need to to pay the bills. With the hope that as the doula work increases that my on call status could decrease. Being a doula you only work a few nights/days a week depending on how many clients you take and how long their births take.

But a change is scary, and letting go of a career that I was very good at is a bit daunting. But to be able to spend time with my kids - that is so worth it!