Switching my profile to Google + today. Joyful Dreamer was the name I chose when I was deciding to start a journey to discover where I wanted to go in my life. I have achieved that goal, to pursue a career in nursing. And in the last 2 months I have begun the work of my chosen profession. I am really loving nursing. I work in a non-profit clinic, helping people who are the most in need of preventative healthcare. We keep them out of the ER and try to give them the tools they need to be active participants in their health care. I spend a lot of my time doing Blood Pressure Checks, Immunizations, Diabetes Education and just listening to my patients. I have a lot to learn but it feels like I made the right choice. I am not sure if I will move on in the future to complete my MSN, and become a CNM- Certified Nurse Midwife or not. I am leaving all options on the table and we will see what calls to me.

I am feeling very blessed these days. My children are thriving. Ben celebrated his first birthday. He is almost a toddler, cruising along the furniture and getting into everything he can get his hands on. He's pointing and talking and such a fun little person. My older children are all doing well in school. All of us have handled the transition from student to professional working mom smoothly. I owe a lot of that to my husband Lane, who has spent the last 2 months being a stay at home dad. He's currently looking for work and Ben started daycare last week half days 3 days a week so he can do that while Ben learns to be with other kids and caretakers. It's going very well so far and I am not stressed at all about being away from him while I'm at work. It has been everything I could have hoped for and I am so very thankful for that!

Hold on to this moment!

So often when I am with my children I think I want to capture this moment and remember it forever. But it is hard to hang on to the nuances of the memory. You lose the details even as you capture the big picture. Flash frozen a child is eating their first birthday cake, or discovering the magic of Santa. Today I had one of those moments. Cassie was watching Ben for me in the living room while I peeled apples for pie. I could hear him giggling as she tickled him and it was the sweetest thing ever. I wish I could have videotaped it, but the audio memory will have to do. The sound of Ben laughing and Cassie laughing back was so heartwarming. My children are all healthy,still living under my roof, we have food and a roof over our head, a nice warm house, trees decorated, cookies and other delights ready for the big day. I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Not the least is the sound of my baby's laughter. I am so grateful!

Well it's been awhile. Ben is now 8 months and still sweet as sugar. He started saying Mama on Saturday, first one of my kids to say that before dada. No teeth yet but he's getting mobile by rolling around. He won't stay on his tummy long enough to figure out the crawling but he can sit by himself. He is eating banana, applesauce, pears, sweet potato and yogurt now.

We are all ready for Christmas. Trees up and stockings hung and the kids are looking forward to a visit from their aunt and new cousin. My SIL is getting married a few days before Christmas and decided to pop down to see us for a quick visit. I am so happy for her and so excited to see her. Last time I was so wrapped up in school and NICU visits that I barely got to visit. I can't wait to meet her new husband and stepson as well.

Changing wardrobe

Company girl coffee time! http://www.homesanctuary.com/ So I realized the other day that I've been walking around the last few months in clothing that is much too big for me. It's been funny realizing this because I should have been able to see it. I lost 15 lbs right before I got pregnant, then ended up delivering at my pre-pregnancy weight. Now I'm 14 lbs below that. So I am a full size or more smaller than I was before Ben was born. And still wearing the clothing from before I lost the first 15lbs. There was one pair of slacks in particular that I was able to button up the entire pregnancy. So this week I tackled my closet and was thrilled to discover in the back an entire fall wardrobe that fits! Out the door went the sloppy baggy clothing and I feel so much better about myself wearing clothing that fits. I still need to lose more weight but I don't have to look frumpy until I get there. I passed them on to someone else through freecycle and it felt really good to help someone else while letting go of things that don't work for me anymore. Plus I have a much neater closet and room in the back to spare. The shelf above the rod now even has room for all my sweaters so they are organized and won't get the shoulders messed up from trying to hang them. Next up under the bed. I don't think there is much there but I can get rid of any lingering objects and dust bunnies. One room at a time I will let go. I also sorted the books in the master bedroom and let go of half of mine. I still need to move them out of the room but I was able to put the ones I'm keeping on one bookshelf. Any one that knows me knows how much progress that shows. Just one box of papers to file and then that room will be completely de-cluttered for my part. My husband is still going through his things but he is also making strides in letting go.

Autumn has arrived

Another Friday and time for Company Girl Coffee! Here's the link to RachelAnne's blog. I can't seem to get the blog button to work http://www.homesanctuary.com/

This week Ben learned to blow raspberries and he took his first trip to the park. It has cooled off and it is starting to feel like fall! Some of the trees have even started to change colors. This makes me happy because Autumn is my favorite season.

We have settled into a nice morning routine. One thing that I find extremely helpful is to set up a launchpad where we each put the items we need for the next day. I mounted hooks on the back of the entry closet door where the kids can hang their backpacks. They are each responsible for putting their homework back in their bags after I check it and sign whatever papers need to be signed, and washing and refiling their water bottles. They each pick out their clothing for the next day. This speeds up the morning and there are no more forgotten permission slips, missing shoes or keys when we need to get out the door.  I need to work on our after school routine a bit since they are still staying up a bit a later than I'd like and I am distracted more than I should be and not following my own afternoon/evening routine as well as I'd like.

Creating a Clean Space

The kids are back to school, and I have started my annual big declutter/clean up fest with the HGP. So far I've managed to clean the front porch, the entry closet and prune 2 of my 6 overgrown rosebushes. It's slower going with a baby but I am trying to do a few minutes every day. This week the focus is on the LR. We have a very small LR, filled with a lot of furniture.My main goal in here is to evaluate every item stored on the shelves, and in the cabinets. They are full and we don't use the items in there much so obviously a lot of these things should go. I managed to give away 4 pairs of snow pants and some other winter items we had too many of or that had been outgrown. I've decided not to store items for Ben, since it will be 10 yrs before he's big enough to wear them and space is at a premium in this house. Sometimes it seems tempting to try to do the whole house "Clean House" style and remove everything and only put those things back into the space that are attractive. But I know it would be an exhausting way to do it with a baby so I'm eating this elephant one bite at a time. It's really not that bad, just that we have lived here 7 yrs and things tend to accumulate when you're busy doing other things like college. But now I'm not a student anymore and it feels really good to take the time when I have it and re-evaluate our belongings and where we are in life! If we stay this space will be more workable and inviting, if we end up having to move it will be easier with a lighter load.

Back to school!

This week was the kick off of the Holiday Grand Plan! I've been doing this Christmas Prep plan for 10 yrs and it's such fun. You can join in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HolidayGrandPlan/?yguid=320842432 to join the group and do the emails, or just go to the website and do it alone http://christmas.organizedhome.com/holiday-grand-plan
Every year my home is more organized and it's easier to get ready for the holidays. This week is list week and I've gotten a head start on my front porch. It's cleared off and the kids helped me scrub it and now it's ready to decorate for autumn. I seem to have gotten rid of my reusable pumpkins, so I'll use real ones and pick out some pretty mums to put on the porch along with my fall berry wreath. Pics to follow once it's done. I'll likely wait on the pumpkins until it cools off so they don't spoil.

Tuesday my older boys go back to school. Max will be a junior in HS, Jake is in 8th grade, and Nick will be in 4th. Cassie gets to wait until the end of September before her second year of college starts. It feels kind of strange to think that this year I won't be going back with her. Instead I'll be looking for my first "real" job. Ben will be happy to hang out here with me at home and cuddle with me as much as he can. He is such a lovey boy. He learned how to roll over one week ago and he's suddenly grabbing toys and has decided I'm not allowed to put him down at all unless I"m playing with him. But I wouldn't have it any other way. When else in life do you get to be the center of someone's universe? I've been blessed to get to do this five times and it's just as amazing this time around.