Do we, or do we not??? and January's New Job

Warning....this is about as deep as January gets on the blog.....

So Mark and I have been talking....do we have more kids or do we not? We both have mixed feelings...The kids will be going to kindergarten next year and that leaves the question do I go back to teaching? The answer to that is no mostly because my cert expires on my birthday this year but also because I just don't want to be committed full time to a job where I will not be able to help in their classroom and be part of their education...I mean that IS my forte! But, I'll feel guilty staying home if the kids are in school (half day or full day will depend on the school we enroll them in and that's a completely different discussion) and what do I do with my time? Clean? Run errands? Become the room parent? Volunteer more?

I go through stages where I think we really would love to be blessed with another baby...probably another set of twins...but is that just because I loved being pregnant (other than the 1st trimester)? Because my good friend, Kelly, is 17 weeks along with her first little girl? I don't know. But then I go through stages where I like being able to do more "stuff" with the kids being older...babies really do keep you from doing a lot of things (all worth it, of course). What about cycling? When will we find time to do that? Plus I just worked SOOO hard at losing 28 lbs and getting below my pre-pregnancy weight! Ok, so really that's not a concern...I did it once and I can do it again! I'm just enjoying wearing size 6's!!! Then there are the issues that we are having with Andon...he's a VERY strong-willed child. Will he outgrow that? Will it get worse if a baby comes? By the way, both kids have already picked names for our new babies....Avery wants to name our baby girl Sarah and Andon wants to name our baby boy Malachai (we'll work on that one with him).

We are planning a big DisneyWorld trip in June with the Chicago Bibbey's so I would like to wait until after that (Disney is just not as fun when you are pregnant) but sometime's I just wish that God would give us a surprise pregnancy so we didn't have to decide the timing. It's His perfect timing anyways, right?
*********************************************

As mentioned above, I have been contemplating going back to work when the kids go to kindergarten. Our Children's Director at church has always said, "Before you go back to teaching, come talk to me because I want to hire you in Children's Ministry." Well, she contacted me two weeks ago and said that a mid week position opened up, effective ASAP, and she thought of me . We began to talk about the different needs right now and as it turns out, they are looking to make some changes..."all the people are on the right bus, just not in the right seat". The offer was made to come on as the N-2's Director as of January 1 and while it isn't the timeline we had anticipated, we decided that it was something to consider. A lot can be done from home, the kids can come with me when I need to go to "work" at church and the pay will help supplement our income allowing Mark to release a little stress about finances! The tough part is it's a weekend commitment for all 4 services (2 Sat night and 3 on Sun morning)...something that will take some adjusting for us all! I am also still the MOPS Coordinator, which was my first commitment, so that will be an additional balancing act! We will also have to stop fostering dogs once Charlie, our current foster, gets adopted because we just can't get them to events on weekends nor have patience to try and teach old dogs new tricks (like peeing outside)! Well, after much prayer and discussions with Mark, I accepted the position so I will be the new N-2's Director effective January 1...not full time, just a 15 hour part-time salary gig.

Please pray with me during this adjustment period...I feel that it's the right decision but everyone will need to be flexible as we get a routine set!

Well, that's enough from me this morning....