A season of change

It's been awhile since I have posted anything besides pictures of our rapidly-growing, unbelievably spirited and adorable boys :) But, we have had a few changes around the Anderson household that I'd like to share on the blog.

First...after 6.5 years of 'birthin' babies', I decided back in early March to leave my job as an L&D nurse in search of something new and different. I loved many aspects of my job, but also felt an overwhelming sense of burnout and stress almost everytime I worked. Nursing has way too many opportunities to stay in a job where I feel like that! I put in a 2 week notice and immediately went to work for an adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit. Long story short, that job lasted less than 2 shifts! I will spare most of the details, but it was an incredibly overwhelming environment that I was in no way prepared to handle! Although I left abruptly (in the middle of an orientation shift actually!), it really wasn't an easy decision to make, and I cried the whole way home. The things I saw and read about these kids in my short time there will stay with me forever, and my heart still breaks for each and every one of them. However, I feel like if that is an area of nursing where I am supposed to make an impact, I need to start with something a little less intense so that I can learn the right way to work with these kids. I was, for lack of a better phrase, "thrown to the wolves" on my 2nd night there, and could not offer these kids what they needed, especially in an enviroment that I felt was completely out of control, with little to no structure or discipline. So, I quit my job at 11 o'clock at night with no idea what I was gonna do next! VERY unlike me! (Unless you count the time I quit McDonald's after one day. Or the time I quit as a hotel maid after one day...but, hey, that was a long time ago ;)  ) Fortunately, I have an incredibly supportive husband who waited up for me to get home that night and let me cry in his arms, telling me I definetely did the right thing. Then he pulled out the iPad an started helping me find another job! :) I looked into a few different things, and briefly considered returning to my old job, but I really wanted a change. I decided to try something familiar but new - so I'm going to work in the NICU at a local women's hospital! I have worked with healthy babies for years and have some limited experience helping out in the NICU when I worked in Ft.Smith, so I think I will feel fairly comfortable going into that environment, which is why is decided to make the leap! However, I have lots to learn as this is a level III NICU caring for babies from 24 weeks on! I will have an extensive orientation between 8-12 weeks, so that makes me feel a lot better!

The biggest change for us is that it's going to be a full-time position- three 12 hour shifts a week. I have worked part-time 1 or 2 nights a week since Ayden was a baby. But my new manager wasn't sure how long it would take to have a part-time position open up, so I took the full-time position because I needed a job! I am planning to work Fri, Sat, and Sun nights so that I can have my days off in a row during the week, which will be nice, especially this summer when the boys don't have Mom's Day Out. I will say, they are taking their time getting me started, I was hired 2 weeks ago and still have 3 weeks before I start! With that in mind, we have decided its a bit of a blessing that I'll be working an extra shift a week and will have that additional income to fall back on. Also, I will be getting better health benefits than we have through Chris' work, which will come in handy since we plan to expand our family soon! :) Yes,we have decided that if it is God's will to bless us once again with another baby, we are ready for kiddo #3! We will be thrilled whether God chooses to give us another boy or a girl, although Ayden feels quite differently! He insists that he must have a sister, and that he will take another brother too, as long as a sister comes along at some point! We told him it wasn't up to us to decide, so he makes sure to throw in a "please give me a baby sister" into his nightly prayers. Oh, that boy! So, in the meantime during my "sabbatical" from work, I am planning to do lots of cleaning and organizing to gear up for the busy schedule ahead of us! Also, after a bad bout of pneumonia a couple weeks ago, I am placing more emphasis on my own health and eating better, taking my vitamins, and drinking more water and less caffiene (which is much easier to do when I'm not working 12 hour nights!)

But enough about me, my hubby has some exciting things going on in his life right now too! Last week he received a promotion to Senior Manager of Financial Planning for Sam's Club! I am super proud of him!! He has worked so hard the last 18 months since joining the Sam's team, and was able to acheive this goal even sooner than he had thought! Of course, with the promotion, comes more work and responsibililty, and unfortunately, some late nights at the office, which is another reason I'm going to work weekends so that our schedules don't intersect. I know this is a very important time in his career so I am doing my best to support the long hours, and have learned to really appreciate it when he gets to come home on time!

Also, in about 3 weeks, he is scheduled to have gastric bypass surgery! We are both so excited! It's been a long time coming for him to become open to the idea of weight loss surgery and I honestly never thought the day would come when he would want to do it! Before I had my surgery, he was 100% against it, and said more than once that he would never consider it. He was supportive when I had my surgery 3 years ago, but still said it "wasn't for him." However, he has continued to struggle with maintaining weight loss, and after losing close to 100 pounds on 3 occassions only to gain it all back, in addition to the worsening of his type II diabetes, he finally came to the conclusion that it was exactly what he needed to do! He has done all his research and of course from living with me knows much of what to expect and he is ready to go! Please keep him in your prayers for a safe surgery and quick recovery! We have read that diabetes can go into remission within just days of surgery! We are both ready to see that happen! We are very excited about being able to be a more active family for the boys. I remember having a burst of energy within a week of having surgery that continued to increase the entire time I was losing weight. I still feel like I'm pretty energetic and feel good most of the time, but with a tired, unmotivated husband, I have lost my desire to exercise. I feel confident that having a partner who feels good and wants to go walking will be all I need to get up and go!

So, anyway, that's about it with us, lots of big changes going on around here! We are so abundantly blessed and pray for God's wisdom and direction in our lives during this season of change.