I haven't always been a regular coffee drinker. I've liked coffee for as long as I can remember, but I preferred to drink it at night. Recently I decided to try making coffee a part of my morning routine. Boy has it made a difference! I seem to stay focused and on task much easier, not to mention that I seem to feel generally happier. I realized a couple of weeks into this routine that things were getting done that I had always wanted to get to. Our little apartment is slowly being decluttered and various things are getting cleaned off and cleaned up and it's becoming a much easier place to live in. Is the coffee the culprit? I think so.
But not only is the apartment coming together- I'm also spending more time with the kids. Before, I would sit down to play with them or teach them something and I would find myself in another room doing something else and realize that I really hadn't spent any time with them. So not only am I getting more accomplished, I'm spending more time with my family at the same time. Who knew that was possible?
All because of what many would call an "unhealthy" habit. Maybe it is unhealthy for some, but if it can increase my quality of life and that of my family's THIS much, I'll take the potential health risks!
Beyond that, I've also been buckling down financially. I've been dreaming of what is to come for our family. More than dreaming, actually. I've been planning. And paying.
I finally signed up for the doula workshop that will be held in Nashville this June. I'm so excited! And a little nervous. Who wouldn't be? I imagine it as some grand weekend summit with a ton of information thrown at me... and then... then I need to attend three births (but I may have to attend as many as 12) in order to get certified. I'm equally excited and nervous about this prospect.
Why excited? Because this is my passion! Because I love pregnancy, birth, and newborns!
Why nervous? First, it is a little intimidating to do much of anything the first time or 10 (depending on what it is). Second, every birth is different, so I necessarily go into it with only a vague sense of what to expect. Third, I only have 2 years to attend the three births I need and there are rules on those 3 births that make them slightly difficult to get (this is the reason I say that I may have to attend as many as 12... the odds are that out of 12 births at least 3 will qualify). Fourth, because there is that little part of me that dreads the potential day I'm supporting a family as it is discovered that their child has a serious birth defect. And the potential day that I'm supporting a family as their child is stillborn. Or that I'm supporting a family when serious complications threaten a mother's life.
These things are rare. I'm not overly concerned about them, but I am aware that these are potential things that I could witness and support families through... and they are things that I wish NO family (not few families) ever had to go through.
I'm praying that this certification process goes smoothly and quickly, that I'm able to find plenty of clients both before and after certification and that I will be the best doula I can be!
Much thanks to friends and family who believe in me... even when I sometimes don't believe in myself.
I found my first ever four leaf clover- and within two weeks after that I have found 6 more four leaf clovers and a 7 leaf clover.
Playing at their favorite indoor play area... Chick-fil-a.
We dyed eggs for Easter. It was interesting with a 2 and three year old and a table with wheels on it, but we didn't have any major disasters... and I learned a better way to hard boil an egg! (More on that later!)
Playing at the playground! The school next door has a playground that we usually only get access to in the evenings and in the summer, but last week was Spring Break so we spent a lot of time at the playground.
