Dommie's New School!!

So I JUST realized that I never posted about Dom's first day of school!! OOPS!

So here's a recap. Dom's been in his school for exactly one month. And he loves it. He's already making a lot of friends and he's learning to spell and read already! He has homework every night which is an adjustment but in a good way. He also has a very set schedule which is different from his last school but I think that's good for him too.

Here are some pictures from his first day:

I seriously can't believe he's so big! But I love the school and I think this is a great place for him!

Routines

It's taking us awhile but I think we're finally getting into our routines. All of us. Life is a little crazy around this house most of the time but in a good way.

Dominick is in his new school and doing very well. It will be one month tomorrow. I'm so happy for him and love that he's learning so many things every day. I don't even mind doing homework with him because it means he's learning. He has friends and it seems like he's adjusting extremely well. My big boy is SO big!!

Annabelle has been in her school for about a month and a half. She's doing great too. When I drop her off now, she gives me a hug, then a kiss, then another kiss, then she waves goodbye and she's off. Breaks my heart a little but she's happy and that's all that matters. Her speech has improved but definitely still has room to improve so we're keeping an eye on it. We'll probably go to a place and get another evaluation done but I'm happy for her and happy that I'm understanding more every day.

Gretchen is ONE now!?! Holy cow this past year has flown. She's doing so many things. She can take about 3-4 steps at a time and I'm so proud of that big girl too! She's babbling all the time and for the most part a happy baby. She is definitely a mama's girl. More so than any of the other kids. If she can see me, and I'm not holding her, she's screaming for me. If she can't see me, she's fine. But I better not be in the same room. She goes to a sitter 1-2 days a week and to my mom's maybe one day a week and the rest of the time she's home with me. We're learning how to get things accomplished and still have fun at home. It's a work in progress.

Nick is pretty settled in at his new job. I think he's doing well. He's putting in a lot of time and effort so I hope he's doing well! He's been pretty stressed trying to make sure everything is perfect but I think he's settling in.

I am done with orientation!! I am officially an RN on my own! Yay!!! I go to work tonight and get to do everything on my own and I'm thrilled! I love what I do and I especially love getting to do it without a shadow, no offense to my preceptors!!

Nick's mom is helping us in our routine. When I work at night, I don't get home until 8 am the next day. Nick leaves for work at 6:20 so we have an hour and forty minute gap with no child care. She's been coming over in the morning and helping out. It's been amazing. I hope she doesn't get too tired of it!! Because we need her and love her and appreciate it a TON.

All in all, we are getting there. Just in time for fall. My second favorite time of year (after March madness, of course!).

Oh fall. That's another post all by itself.

But we're getting there. On another note, now that we're getting into a routine, I only have 4 more months on my 30 x 30...better get to work! :)

Happy Wednesday!!

Annabelle's First Day of School

TEAR!

I can't believe Annabelle is starting school! It's such a bittersweet moment. I'm thrilled to get to just have Gretchen at home. Being the youngest of three and the youngest by only 18 months, she doesn't get a lot of one on one time. So this is nice. But it's sad that my Belle-Belle is already in school.

This morning was her first day and she's joining in the middle of "spirit week". Today was pajama day. So her first day of school picture is pretty funny. She and Dom are in their PJ's and she looks so happy. Normally she doesn't want to leave in the morning, but this morning she was pulling me to the front store saying, "Go! Go! GO GO GO!".

When we got to school, Dom and I (and Gretchen) brought her to her room before going upstairs to Dom's classroom. She ran right in and made herself at home with the pretend house toys. She grabbed a baby and a highchair and literally couldn't have cared less that I was leaving. I tried to get a few kisses and I got NOTHING. But that's a good thing.

I then took Dom upstairs with one more glance at Annabelle and she was playing with another kid and having so much fun. I hope everyday goes this well.

Nick asked that I wait for him to pick her up today so he can come along so hopefully he doesn't work too late tonight (home past 7 two of the last 3 nights).

What a big girl I have. :)

Back to school??

Not yet obviously, but I started looking at some MSN programs (Masters of Science in Nursing) and there is a decently priced program at UMSL...It would be part time for 3 years and literally only cost me $2,000 total. TOTAL. (They offer tuition reimbursement where I work so that is clearly factored in).

So that definitely has me thinking...I'd love to have my masters. Maybe after working for a year I'll have to go back and get my masters. Then I'd have my Nurse Practitioner by the time I'm 33. Not too shabby for someone who went back to their BSN as their second degree...

But for now I suppose I'll just focus on passing boards and starting my RN job at BJH. :)

17 more days!

I know I keep saying that I'll be back and blogging but school and work keep dragging me down! :) Right now I'm officially done with classes (woohoo!) but at the hospital 56 hours a week (36 for my preceptorship and 20 for work) so I'm never home and when I am it's either sleeping, cleaning (rare) or just seeing my family. So I swear, eventually I will be blogging again.

But for the meantime, be excited that I passed all my tests and I'm graduating with a decent GPA! And just excited to be graduating in general. I have only 4 shifts left in my preceptorship. Two this weekend and two next weekend. I have an interview next week. And, again, I'm graduating! So things are finally looking up! And I get to see my kids and my husband again. So I'm thrilled.

17 more days. And they can't come fast enough!

Snow day!!

Today is a snow day!! I didn't even know that colleges got snow days but apparently they do! I will take it and start my spring break a day early! Woohoo!

My little GENIUS!

So let's be honest. We all KNEW Dom was a genius, but now it's been confirmed! Dominick is a genius. Straight up genius. ;-)

We're trying to get Dominick into the St. Louis Gifted program. He had to get tested to see what his IQ is. He had to score at least a 125. We took him to the testing center and went to the waiting room and he was being weird. He was acting like he didn't know how to do things. He was asking us for help with puzzles and I was thinking "this is not going to be good!". But when we got called and went back to the actual testing area, he was very talkative. The man doing the testing told us that it could take anywhere from 20-45 minutes. Nick and I were nervous. It took the whole 45 minutes. We weren't sure if that meant that Dom was SO smart that he was just seeing how smart he was or if Dom wasn't showing how smart he was and it took so long because he was giving him more chances. :)

At the end of the 45 minutes, the man came back with Dom. Dom ran up to me and said, "I did a really good job Mama!!". We went with the man back to the room and he confirmed it! Dom did great!

Most kids Dom's age test between 90-110. Dom scored a 123 on verbal skills, 132 on non-verbal and 133 on spacial or something like that. Then there was another test that I didn't understand. And the scores don't average. I didn't get that either, but his final score was a 133! WOOHOO! Go Dom!

So he's officially eligible for the program! Now he's in the lottery. Let's just say some prayers that his name gets drawn so he can actually go to one of the two schools we picked!

Congrats Dommie Salami!

Too long

It's been way too long, but again, there's no way to catch up tonight. I'll try tomorrow, but that will be tough since I'll be home with all three kiddos tomorrow.

So instead I'll just mention the most important thing right now, Gretchen rolled over for the first time yesterday!! Yay!! :) She's getting to be SO big!

I'll try to post within the next few days to catch up on everything.

Christmas
Cousins Holiday Party
Gretchen's Newest things
Dom's school Christmas show
My work
My school
My hospital stays, etc
Addie's Scare on Christmas

So much to discuss! I'll try tomorrow, I promise!!

SCHOOL!

My schedule for Spring has been posted! :)

I'm such a nerd but I can't wait to go back to school. Even though it's hard, even though it sucks, deep down I'm just a big nerd and love it. The best part about it, the sooner I go back, the sooner I'm done and GRADUATE!

Here's how my schedule will be next term:

Mondays:
8:00-12:30 Community Health Nursing
1:00-5:30 Community Health Nursing Clinical

Tuesdays:
10:00-12:15 Pediatric Nursing
1:00-4:00 Adult Health Care Nursing II

Wednesdays:
Possibly my Pediatric Clinical from 7:00-2:00
Definitely:
3:30-8:00 Leadership Role Development

Thursdays:
Again, possibly my Pediatric Clinical from 7:00-2:00

Fridays:
 10:00-12:15 Pediatric Nursing
1:00-4:00 Adult Health Care Nursing II

My classes are from January 7-March 22. My clinicals are from January 7-February 25. I have to complete 192 clinical preceptor hours from March 4-April 19. I have to take an elective in there somewhere (I'm hoping to take the HIV elective on Tuesdays from 5-8:30, but won't know if I got in for awhile still).

Oh and I have to find a way to work 18 hours a week still at the hospital to keep my job.

I can do it!!! Just four more months and I'm a nurse!!! Or at least I'll have my bachelor's. I'll still have to study for and pass boards, but I can do it! :)

Yay for school!

Pool Party!

I wanted to throw my classmates a pool party send off to Term #3 and a few of my classmates wanted to throw me a baby Sprinkle so we combined them and had a lovely day yesterday!

I am so lucky to have met so many amazing people these past 8 months at Goldfarb. I know you've heard me say it a million times already but Goldfarb Accelerated Nursing Program is an intense program. INTENSE. You are getting a second Bachelor's degree in essentially 10 months. It's hard. You are taking 20 credit hours a term and you are stressed all the time. These people in the program with you become your second family. And I'm so thankful for all of them. ALL OF THEM. I've heard stories about the classes ahead of us that don't study together or help each other or care about each other. Our class is completely different. We don't want anyone to fail. We will study as late as we can to help make sure everyone gets it. If someone finishes a study guide early, they email it to everyone. We just care about each other.

I got to see that a lot over these last 8 months. I was in danger of failing first term. You need a 78% to pass each class. Not a 77.99%, a 78%. Going into the final Pharmacology test I had an 80%. Going into the final Pathophysiology test, I had a 78%. I had to do great. And I had some amazing people to study with and I passed both classes. These people are amazing. And I'm so sad to not be moving on with them. I hope the class behind us (behind them I guess and it's now my class) is just as caring.

Some of these amazing people gave me some really sweet gifts for this baby. I told everyone not to get me anything. Hello! We're not working and we all just took out at least $25,000 in debt! But some of them got stuff for me anyway. Here are a few pics of the party yesterday and some of the gifts I've gotten.

Thank you to everyone who was able to come yesterday! If you couldn't come, I COMPLETELY understand!!! I'll be up to visit soon, I promise!

 Tony firing up the grill

 Machalla and Jen sittin' pool side

 Jess getting ready to wow us with her dive skills

 My momma hanging up some balloons

 Rachel and Jess having a beer and taking a break from the water

 Some folks lounging by the pool

 The onesies that my friends decorated! So cute!!

The other gifts I got (and 3 packages of diapers that I didn't bring up yet!)

 A close up of a really cute frame that a friend got me. Nick has already decided that 

Dom's pic will go in the giraffe, Annabelle's pic in the elephant, "new baby" in the top of the ark, 

and a family pic in the bottom of the ark. I can't wait to put it in the new nursery!

 A close up of the onesie by Rachel. Can you read it?? "Holy Unexpected Baby, Batman!" and there's

a batman logo she drew on the back!

 The one on the right is one of my faves (the back says, "You should See my MOM!")

This is adorable because it's SO true!! This baby has spent it's entire time cookin' at Goldfarb! :)

Machalla, me and Jen. The awesome girls who threw most of this party together. Thanks girls!!!

I'm going to miss everyone so much! I hope I can keep in touch with everyone. Thank you again to everyone who came, and if you couldn't come, I'm going to stalk you one of these days so we can hang out one more time!!!! :)

Time for a BREAK!

Nursing school is done for the semester!!!!! I'm 2/3 of the way done with this program and in desperate need of a break! And now I get one! 4 beautiful months until I go back. Then 4 hellish months until I finish. I can do it!

Today was my last final of the semester. I have to say this was a MUCH better semester than last term. Last term and I was fighting to get a 78% and just PASS the classes and I ended up with a B, a C+ and 2 C's. This semester I was doing pretty well going into my HESI's (computerized state finals) and my lowest HESI grade was a 92.36% (and my highest was a 99.99% not to brag but heck yeah!). I finished this semester with 2 A's, a B+ and a B. WAY better than last term!

And now I can focus on work, the house and the baby. Well and my other kids. And Nick. And you know, LIFE, but no more school for awhile. Thank goodness.

A quick thank you to the best husband EVER who made this last semester go almost flawlessly. He's amazing who takes care of so much and I'm so incredibly lucky to have him in my life. He's amazing no matter what, school or not. But he's been super supportive while in school (and even right now he's making dinner for the kids while I post this and then take a shower and go to work until midnight). Yeah, he's awesome. :)

Oh and if anyone wants to hang out since I've abandoned everyone this year, just call or text me now. :) I have a break until January 7th!

School Days

Today was my first day of finals and Dommie's first day as a "doodlebug". It was a crazy morning.

I was so eager to get to school and study for a few more minutes that I totally forgot to take a picture at home with the good camera. Don't worry, I took a picture with my phone, but it's not the same. Tomorrow I have a little more time so we'll really talk about school tonight and see how his first day went.

I honestly can't believe he's that big that he's in a new class. He's growing up. I'm going to LOSE it when he starts kindergarten. Just saying.

But when I dropped him off, he ran right in and started playing. Hopefully he had a great day.

I had a pretty great day. I got a 97.39% on my OB HESI (computerized state test) so that was pretty awesome. That gave me my second A in nursing school. I thought I was a good student. I got A's in the college the first time around. Then I started nursing school and it's tough! I got a C, a B, and 2 C+s last term. And was thrilled to get those! So this A is hard earned and a proud moment for me. It makes for a great day. Now I get to hit the books and shoot for a C+ in my next two classes!!

Anyway, back to reality. I'm back off to study or clean or something.

Here's Dom's picture on his first day of school as grown up doodlebug and not my little lamb anymore!

The end is in sight!!!

I only have 4 more tests and I'm done with the semester!!!! No more lectures, nothing else to learn! The end is in sight!

I have a test in Med Surg tomorrow over Cardiac material.

Final State exam on Monday in OB and Maternal Health.
Final state exam on Wednesday in Medical/Surgical.
Final state exam on Thursday in Psychiatric Nursing (my worst grade, FYI).

And then I'm done until January 7th!!!!!

THE END IS ALMOST HERE!!!!!

30 weeks with Baby #3!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

How your life's changing:

You may be feeling a little tired these days, especially if you're having trouble sleeping. You might also feel clumsier than normal, which is perfectly understandable. Not only are you heavier, but the concentration of weight in your pregnant belly causes a shift in your center of gravity. Plus, thanks to hormonal changes, your ligaments are more lax, so your joints are looser, which may also contribute to your balance being a bit off.

 Also, this relaxation of your ligaments can actually cause your feet to spread permanently, so you may have to invest in some new shoes in a bigger size. Remember those mood swings you had earlier in pregnancy? The combination of uncomfortable symptoms and hormonal changes can result in a return of those emotional ups and downs. It's normal to worry about what your labor will be like or whether you'll be a good parent. But if you can't shake the blues or feel increasingly irritable or agitated, talk to your doctor or midwife. You may be among the 1 in 10 expectant women who battle depression during pregnancy. Also let your caregiver know if you're frequently nervous or anxious.


I can't believe I am 30 weeks already. Where does time go?? 

I remember after I had Annabelle a lot of people asked me if we were done having kids. They said, "You already have one boy and one girl so you can be done!", and I remember thinking, 'No way...that wasn't the last time I will ever be pregnant because I love being pregnant and I have to do it one more time'. Well this time around I haven't enjoyed hardly any of it. Not because it hasn't been enjoyable but because I've been so busy!! So I guess that means we have to have 4 kids!! ;-) We'll see...

Anyway, school is going well and almost done, thank goodness. I'm ready for a nice break. This past week it's really hit me that I'm exhausted. I've been trying to be so strong with work, school, kids, house, pregnancy, all of it and I'm done. I can't hardly take it anymore. I'm just flat out exhausted. 

I have 3 weeks of school left and 1 week of finals. All 4 of these weeks will be crazy. I'll be busy and stressed, but it's one more month...less than that actually since my last day is August 24th. 

I'm really looking forward to JUST working full time! And then being off for a few months with my new little baby!! 

And speaking of my new little baby, I think we have baby names narrowed down to 2 boy names and 2 girl names. So that's exciting. It will be a lot easier deciding from 2 than starting from scratch. 

I know that I've been the one who's wanted to wait and not find out, and up to this point it's been fine. But now that I'm digging through the baby clothes and trying to get stuff ready, it would be a LOT easier if i knew what we were having!! I'm still looking forward to that one special moment when we find out and get to meet him/her at the same time, but I realize why people do want to find out early!

That's all I got for now. More next week I hope!  

Oops!

I disappeared again! Darn it! : )

Life is busier than ever. It seems like every day it's a struggle to keep my head above water. I know lots of people are like this, so I'm not trying to complain, but I can't wait for life to slow down!

I survived my first round of tests this semester. They went a lot better than the first round last term. One test wasn't great but for the most part, I'm doing well. Thank goodness.

I'm loving my clinicals right now. Every Tuesday I'm on a cardiac floor and get to learn about different heart problems, tests, and treatments. Every Wednesday I'm on a Women and Infants unit and get to take care of new moms and their babies, as well as see some babies being delivered. I'm very lucky to have already seen 1 vaginal delivery and 3 c-sections. I really want to be a labor and delivery nurse so this is great experience.

I'm already almost done with the 5th week of school so that means only about 8 weeks to go! Well 9, but one of those weeks is a Summer Break so that totally doesn't count.

Work is still going good. I love where I work and who I work with but sometimes it's hard when I know I have to get up early for school the next day. But it's a great opportunity and I definitely want to stick with it.

Kids are amazing. Dominick is starting to push our buttons a LOT but he's so great it's hard to stay mad at him...He's so smart. Too smart actually. And the kid is a sponge. He remembers everything. EVERYTHING. It's kind of a pain sometimes, but mostly I'm happy he's so smart.

Annabelle is also amazing. She's no longer just walking, she's RUNNING everywhere. She can climb upstairs but not down so we definitely have to keep an eye on that one. :) She actually has her 15 month appointment today. She's getting a few shots, so hopefully she's ok tonight. I don't want her to be sick.

Nick is awesome. Just awesome. I've been doing so much with school, work, doc appointments, etc. and he just does what he needs to do. He hardly vocalizes how hard it is that he's almost always on his own with the kids. He does laundry. He does bath time. He sweeps and vacuums. He's an amazing husband. Truly amazing. I'm one lucky girl!!

I'm really going to try and keep up with life on here. I really want to be able to look back and read all of these posts but it's so hard right now. Hopefully soon I can be done with all this and look back and just smile about all this.

Not too much longer until I'm done and I graduate! :) Let's pray time flies!

School

Since I'm almost done with week 1, I thought I'd just do a quick post to say that I still love it!! I'm really nervous about clinicals this semester though. Last semester I was taking care of patients on just 3 days the whole semester. This semester is two days a week!! And I'll be passing meds to them!! And starting all IVs!!! And drawing all their labs!!! I'm terrified and elated at the same time. I'm sure it will be awesome but I'm a little nervous.

Almost 1 whole week down and just 13 to go in this semester!!! WOAH!!!

School's Out!

For two weeks... :)

Not quite the summer, but I'll take it. I had to work all weekend so this is my first day of break essentially. I've spent it so far sleeping. :)

Now that I'm up, I'll spend it cleaning, but I'm thankful for getting some me time, even if it's only for a few hours and just to catch up on sleep!!

I really am looking forward to going back though in the summer. This semester I'm going to focus a little better so I don't have to stress so much at the end!! But as I type that I'm already thinking of the MILLION things I'll have going on and how that will probably change. But I'm really going to try and have ALL A's going into my final Hesi's!!!

PASSED!

I passed my first semester of nursing school!!! It wasn't pretty and it wasn't the best grades I've ever gotten. But as hard as this is (Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, Health Assessment and Fundamentals of Nursing) and doing it while working part time, with two young kids, and being pregnant, I'd have taken ALL C's!! (Which I wasn't far off from doing!! Yikes!).

I'm so excited that I'm done with this semester. I was terrified of not passing, which was a HUGE possibility. Unfortunately a few of my classmates didn't pass and have to take a few classes over again. I'm very sad for them but I know they will succeed this summer and be amazing nurses.

We get two beautiful weeks off and then we're back to the grind for another 14 weeks. I will be very thankful when this whole process is over and I can be a nurse and not neglect my family so much!

Less than a year until I'm done!! Keep saying prayers, we need as many as we can get!

Obviously...

I've been gone for FOREVER! I feel so stressed and overwhelmed and have FINALLY had a chance to come up for air. It's short lived as I have 5 tests in 4 days next week but I'm off for a bit today and thought I would catch up.

First things first: School is hard. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I'm always stressed and overwhelmed and always feeling like a failure. I've questioned whether or not I thought I would be a good nurse because I'm struggling with some of the information. Luckily I work at a hospital and my co-workers have assured me that while school is important, I can still be a fantastic nurse without a 4.0 GPA. Thank goodness.

Secondly: Probably everyone who reads this knows already since I've posted on facebook, but if not, I'M PREGNANT. And slightly terrified...

I don't know how it happened! (Ok, I get the whole physiology of how it happened) but seriously we had so much trouble with the first two and were told we wouldn't have any on our own without fertility treatment. Well, there goes that! I'm 16 weeks and 1 day along and things are going fine. The first trimester was AWFUL. I threw up a lot. But now I've actually gained one whole pound and I'm on the right track! (I had lost a ton of weight from being so sick, so being up 1 pound is awesome and I wish it was more actually!). I started checking my blood sugar just to see if my sugars get too high and right now they are ok. Close, but ok.

Here is actually my babycenter update for the week:

Your pregnancy: 16 weeks

 

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.
See what your baby looks like this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)
Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

The top of your uterus is about halfway between your pubic bone and your navel, and the round ligaments that support it are thickening and stretching as it grows. You're probably feeling a whole lot better as you settle into pregnancy, too. Less nausea, fewer mood swings, and "glowing" skin contribute to an overall sense of well-being.
Soon you'll experience one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy — feeling your baby move. While some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, many don't feel their baby move until about 18 weeks or more. (And if this is your first baby, don't be too impatient — you may not be aware of your baby's movements until 20 weeks or so.) The earliest movements may feel like little flutters, gas bubbles, or even like popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll grow stronger and you'll be able to feel them much more frequently.


So that's pretty cool stuff.

Obviously I have a lot of changes on my 30x30 to do. We won't be doing as many trips as we were hoping with three kids (3 and under, YIKES!) but I'm hoping to do some fun things before I'm thirty still. I'll get to changing that soon. Any ideas?? Send them my way!

That's all I got for now. Back to studying!!

I'll try to do weekly updates again, if I can.