Today's the day

Today's the day we've been waiting for for over a year... We finally get to meet our nephew from South Africa!!! Zach's sister Lindsey and her family have been in the states visiting and fundraising for almost a month now and we have finally come to the day we've been anxiously awaiting.  The day they arrive in Wilmington.  They won't be getting here until late tonight but we are so excited to finally meet Ethan and spend some time with Isabelle.  With the internet we've been able to communicate with them but to actually see them and spend a day with them.. we haven't had that opportunity in over a year.. We can't wait to be able to hold Ethan and see how big Isabelle has gotten.  To be able and spend an entire day off work with family is exciting in itself!! We are hoping to take them to the Aquarium in Kure Beach and maybe just show them around Wilmington.  It is going to a fun time to be a tourist in Wilmington!  Watch Out I may start driving like one...

Exhausted

Lately I've been feeling extremely tired and drained... I couldn't figure out why until I stepped back from my life and realized how many things I have going on right now.. I am constantly thinking about trying to get pregnant.. Don't eat this or don't drink wine.  Cutting back on the caffeine is defiantly taking its toll.  Then I have to think about my life itself, caring for myself, making sure I'm getting the right nutrients, taking my vitamins, getting exersise not eating things I shouldn't be,  keeping up my home, making sure laundry gets done each week and theres food in the house, caring for our 5 four legged children making sure they go out regularly and get fed, keeping track of our families finances and making sure our bills get paid and Chi Fashionista.  I'm have been working very hard to get Chi Fashionista a strong support and following so that once baby Saulter arrives I will be able to stay home and work instead of leaving the baby with someone else.  Some days I feel like my work is never done..and really it never is! There is always something else I SHOULD be doing.. I just am feeling so overwhelmed and my mental space is running low.  I have no more space up there for To Dos or NOT TO DOs... I need a life jacket... I'm drowning in my life's obligations!!  Oh and did I mention I have a full time job??

Am I ready for this?

So now that Zach and I have officially decided we are ready to become a family of 3 I have been thinking more and more about the changes that will become when we have a child.  I've been around a lot of young children and I absolutely love being with them but I've always had the luxury of giving them back to their parents at the end of the day.  But once the child is mine I will no longer have that.. I will have to be the person to hire a sitter to have some free time!

Then to think of having to constantly be aware of what the child is doing and where you place things and how safe everything is will be a whole new problem... especially with our dogs! I became extremely aware of some of these problems yesterday when I was sitting for the two young boys Conner(1 yr) and Aiden (3yrs).  As I was getting Conner ready for bed he was upset by the changing process so I was distracting him with a bunny then I hear Aiden playing the bookshelf.. So I asked him not to pull all the books down but naturally thats what he does.. and I can't stop him because I'm changing Conner so I just let Aiden do his destruction so when I finish with Conner I started to clean up the books Aiden had pulled off the bookshelf when I noticed that Conner had left the room.  When I caught up with him he was playing in the toilet!! After I had just got him into clean pajamas! I was just so frustrated! I was so glad when it was finally time to put them to bed and I could stop worrying about what of each of them was getting into!  The worst part was I was only there for 4 hours one of which they were sleeping!!!!

I only hope we are as ready for this as we think we are! I know there will be so many changes we will have to make but I also know it will be worth it!

Social Life

Some weeks are filled with events and things to do and it seems that those weeks always fall on the days/weeks where I would just rather sit home and watch movies.  This week is one of those weeks.  We had game night on Monday, the Wilmington Apartment Association Social last night, I have a friends Birthday dinner tonight, a photoshoot for Chi Fashionista tomorrow and I am seriously hoping I can rest friday!! I know I should be taking full advantage of these events and spending as much time out and with my friends as possible since we are hoping to concieve soon.  I know that once we concieve and have our child our social lives will be basically non existant but I can't help but wish on weeks like this that I could just stay home in my PJs!

Everyday is Learning Process

Today I made one of those big adult moves and called someone with interest in getting a mortgage... and I was surprised at all the different factors that come in to play when you are getting a mortgage.  I mean you know about the obvious ones such as credit score, income, debits, etc.  But they also take into account the amount of time you've been employed with a certain company and how you are being taxed.  For example: Zach and I aren't capable of getting a mortgage loan because Zach is taxed as though he is self employed and has only been "self-employed" for one year and they require 2 years worth of tax records.  I would have never thought that would be the reason for us not to be able to get a mortgage.  But I did learn many interesting things such as the range of house we could  most likely get approved for which was higher than I was expecting as well as the possible payments we would pay with this range.  I found the whole phone call very informative! The guy I spoke with was very nice and helpful! I had been so worried about all the bad news this guy was going to have for me and how he would look at us so awful but he was so helpful and it was just the opposite of what I was expecting.  Just another reminder not to judge a book by it's cover!

Surgery/Recovery

The Surgery was a success as far as we can tell the mass was a blood cyst and was not cancer! HURRAY! And they were able to remove just the mass so both of my ovaries are still in tact. Also while they were inside me they discovered my fallopian tubes were doing something funny and they were able to move them to make it easier for me to get pregnant. All that being said.. I am now in full recovery... I even went back to work today. I am still in some pain but it is tolerable and I feel much better knowing the mass is removed, everything is going well inside my abdomen and that I am back to being a mostly healthy 23 year old!

With all that being said I am glad to being back to normal and Now I can resume my house hunt and planning for baby Saulter :D

Time for Updates...

I know it has been awhile since I blogged and really speaking not a whole lot has happened. Zach and I made it through our first year of Marriage. I am now employed full time as an Office Manager at Avalon Apartments. We still have our babies... with the exception of our male Kitty Mozart who passed away in December. We still live in our apartment in Wilmington and things are just the same. I have decided though that it is time to begin blogging again because Zach and I are working on a few changes in our lives and I find alot of days my mind filled with questions and no answers or direct people to ask... So I have decided to continue our blog as a way for me to get some of these things out there and seek advice from others.

Today is the day for my surgery. I am having a mass removed from my left ovary. They are uncertain about what the mass is or why it is there. Since the mass is rather large they may also be removing my left ovary. While I'm still under they plan to biopsy the mass to determine more about its make up. Depending on what they find during the biopsy they may have to cut me open (they plan to do the procedure laproscopcaily) if they do this I will be in recovery for over 30 days and out of work. We are really hoping everything is fine and the pre-testing and the doctors are pretty sure it will all be fine. But with this scare Zach and I have decided it is time to try and conceive a child as soon as recovery and things are over.

Zach and I are very excited about the possibilities of bringing in a new life into the world and are concerned at the same time. We are worried about the financial strain a baby will cause on our already struggling situation and we know we will have to make a lot of changes to our current life style. Not to mention that I won't be able to work for at least 3 months and I would prefer to stay home with our children for at least a year! I am currently working on getting Chi Fashionista to become a successful business so that we could hopefully bring in some income the supplement Zach's income. There are many things that go into the idea to bringing a baby into this world and many questions and changes to be made. Any advice for conceiving and adjusting to the idea of a child would be welcome.