There Needs to be "Quick Takes" on a Monday!

 I just have some random unrelated things to say.


Babymoon?

Our soon-to-be godson was born earlier this month!  Tom and I are flying to Phoenix where his parents now live (unfortunately, because we really miss them) to be at the baptism.  Without the kids.  For FOUR DAYS.  Sly has been away from us for maybe...one night, when Stella was born.  But Stella has never been away from us before.  I'm not sure which of us this will be harder on!  My in-laws are bravely and generously agreeing to watch the kids for us all that time.

Since this is such a rare opportunity for Tom and I, though, I feel like we really need to try to make the most of it.  Also, we'll be away over Tom's birthday - a great additional reason to celebrate!  I've never really considered taking a "babymoon" - a special get-away for the parents before a new baby comes and makes life even more crazy - but Kendra discussed it recently, and it does sound appealing.  If we can hold this concept in mind while we're away, I think it could make for a really pleasant little trip.

Allergies

My eyes have been bothering me for several months now.  My contacts just felt really terrible most days, so throughout August and September, I was only wearing them about half the time.  The past couple months, I haven't even attempted to put them in at all.  Various times during the day, my eyes feel irritated (the way they feel when I have a contact in that gets dirty or ripped) or even sting a little. 

I finally saw the eye doctor about it, and he said I have a pretty significant allergic reaction going on.  I won't be able to wear contacts again until we clear it up, which will require medication.  I told him I was pregnant, though, and I think he was actually a little annoyed by that news.  He said he doesn't feel comfortable prescribing anything while I'm pregnant, so I'll just have to wait....four months!  Ugh.  I'm getting sick of my glasses.  The kids are constantly touching the lenses or knocking them around.

I tend to be somewhat skeptical about allergies, since it seems like everyone and their mother is "allergic" to something these days.  Seriously - how did people come this far being allergic to common things like grass and pollen??  But I've suspected for a while that I might be allergic to something.  For instance, every morning when I walk into my kitchen for the first time, I sneeze like crazy for about 10-15 minutes.  I have no idea why.  It doesn't happen for the rest of the day, but there must be something in there that's irritating me. 

The eye doctor said it wouldn't be a bad idea to have allergy testing at some point.  What's that involve, though?  Can they do that while I'm pregnant?


Tom's job

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that Tom and I had to consider the possibility of him totally changing career tracks.  He was given an offer to work for a Catholic radio station.  It would have been a significant boost in salary, as well as a much more pleasant work environment for Tom.  But then there was the hour commute each way to consider, and the fact that we were not willing to move very much closer to the job.  Also, the radio station has a very clear cap on how high (position-wise and salary-wise) Tom could potentially move.  Maybe it wouldn't actually  matter, but since we don't know what the future has in store for us, it was a little concerning.  Anyways, his current employer gave him a counter-offer that was good enough to make Tom decide to stay. 

Ultimately, Tom's decision was the result of prayer.  I won't go into all the personal details, but I really think this was one of the only times Tom has ever felt absolutely certain that he was being given a clear answer to a prayer, and it was a pretty beautiful thing to see how overwhelmed with emotion that made him.

Thank you for everyone who was praying for us.


Etsy

We're still keeping up with our Etsy shop.  The good news is, we haven't wasted any money on it.  Including the initial cost for all our merchandise as well as various packing supplies we've needed, we've still made a profit overall.  The bad news is, the profit is pretty small when you consider how many hours we've put into it.  This really is much more of a hobby than a business.  We're still enjoying it for now, so we aren't planning to stop.  But we'll see how much it starts to take over our free time (and our free closet space!  That's the one thing I think eBay sales really have on Etsy.  After the auction ends, you get to mail that stuff away!  No storing it for an indefinite period until someone decides to buy it!).


Doula

I found out that I can actually get a doula paid for by our insurance this time around.  That's a pretty great deal, because you usually need to pay out-of-pocket, and they run around $500-$700 (at least from the research I've done). 

I had scheduled with a doula from the specific doula group the insurance required me to use.  But I just didn't feel comfortable with it.  We had the same doula, Bethany, at the birth of both Sly and Stella, and we really loved her.  I already knew that she worked well with me and Tom, and I felt nervous taking a chance on someone new to be there at such a crucial and sensitive time as my baby's birth!  I knew Bethany would love to be there for our third birth, and hated to feel as if we were leaving her out (and keeping it a secret from her).  Tom and I discussed it, and decided that with his promised raise at the job, we should allow ourselves the "luxury" of paying to have Bethany again.  She very happily agreed to it, and I'm feeling a lot better about the birth now!