Medic Mama

Every now and then, we all do things we're not proud of. Things that really make you stop and ask, what was I thinking? Well, I fell victim to one of those moments last week. It took me 5 days to even share it with my husband because it was just so stupid. Small, but stupid. Thursdays are usually my big grocery shopping days . I usually meal plan for the next 7 days Wednesday night so I'm organized and ready to gather supplies on Thursday. I had found some good coupon offers online for some things I usually don't buy (snack stuff mostly). One such item was sour cream and onion Chex Mix. Thursday night after the baby was in bed (Mr C was at work and J was at his moms), I settled in for some Netflix and some Chex Mix. Friday morning, I threw all the stuff that needed to come downstairs in a laundry basket that was full of dirty clothes. Items like my water cup, cell phone, the mostly full bag of Chex Mix, a dirty diaper... you know... the usual mom smorgasbord. When I got do...

That's right... let's talk about: Budgeting. What were you thinking?? Not that B word... sickos... When Mr C and I decided that I would stay home and resign completely from my job, my hours had already been dramatically reduced for several months. This meant that we had already grown accustomed basically to one income. However, the couple hundred dollars I was bringing I  each month actually made a difference. Not a huge one, but it helped. Fast forward to today. September 2nd, 2018. A Sunday. Mr C has been at work for 4 days. This is his standard schedule assuming he doesn't get forced on. 3 days on one week, 4 days on the next (and when I say "on" I mean 24 hours a day on... 72 and 96 hour shifts). That's a long time to be away from home and from the family. Long hours, stressful calls... yet at the end of each month, we are broke. B-R-O-K-E. Rewind to last year... We had been in a rental home for almost 3 years when they told us they wouldn't know...

I've officially been a stay-at-home-mom for, like, a couple of months or something. All the days blend together so I'm honestly not quite sure. And I love it! Watching C grow this far as been amazing. However, with every job there will be aspects you don't love.... Spit up. Everywhere. All the time. I tried to wear something nice the other day. C spit up on it. She spits up often and at random. It will have been hours since her last bottle and she will still find something to her up. How she has continued to grow and gain weight, I don't know. It seems like she spits up entire bottles over the course of the day. Doctor tells me it's normal. Kthanks doc. It's a good thing I don't know how to accessorize with other things. Like, with actual accessories. Baby vomit is the latest craze. At my house, at least. I see another mom in Target with a wet mark on her shoulder, I feel you. 🙋‍♀️ I am getting REALLY good at getting stains out of all types ...

I have never been one who has been good at picking my battles. Every fight was worth it to me, even if it cost me my peace. I would argue the little things, the big things, things that don't matter in the long run, leaving little energy for the things that do. A gentle reminder I have been receiving the last several years is "let it go". I'm not talking Frozen (though you're welcome for that song being stuck in your head now). I'm talking really letting it go. Being a type A personality and a slight control freak (Mr C's opinion is invalid here), letting go is NOT my forte. Trust is not something that comes easily. I've walked through life for many, many years expecting to be let down, because that's just what happens. People let you down. So the thought of relinquishing control (even any semblance of control) is extraordinarily difficult. So imagine God, a seemingly invisible being, asking me to let Him take care of things. Hahaha, um, yeah righ...

My sweet, independent girl let me rock her tonight. She stopped wanting to be rocked to sleep around 3 or 4 months old. After several nights of her fighting us as we rocked, we simply put her down in her crib. She grabbed her lovey in her left hand, sucked the thumb on her right and went to sleep. That's how she has been ever since, save for a few nights here or there. Tonight she had been asleep for about 3 hours when she suddenly began to cry. Sometimes when she fusses in the night, I wait and see if she will go back to sleep and she usually does. But she got so upset so quickly that I went in right away. Sometimes you just know when they won't be able to calm themselves. Holding her and rocking, smelling her hair and feeling her little fingers on one hand play with my hair while she sucked her thumb on the other.  What a blessing that is! What a treasure these memories are. Midnight snuggles as you provide safety and security to this tiny person you created. It won't al...

I never wanted to be a paramedic when I was growing up. I had always wanted to be a teacher and a mom. But as I went through my schooling, I found that teaching wasn't my passion. So I kind of bounced back and forth a little bit as far as a major goes. I finally settled on kinesiology. I was at the end of my two years at Junior College and I needed a total of 12 units in order to stay insured under my mom's insurance. Looking through the course catalog, I saw that an EMT class was available and it would fulfill the exact number of minimum units I needed in addition to my chemistry class. I didn't know it then, but that was the beginning of the end. What they don't tell you in EMT class, is that if you love this job, you better not love money as well. You won't ever make a lot of money in this profession. What had started as just a class to fill the time became something I never knew I would love so much. I took multiple fire science classes and I ended up eventuall...