Jobs and Children

Today is a cloudy and lazy day in our house. I didn't set an alarm this morning which is rare. I woke up at 7:30am with no obligations. What a treat :D

We've stayed busy continuing to invite friends over. YAY. We had friends over this past weekend who have been in my life for years. It was really fun. This coming Saturday, we are inviting 6 more people and their children. I'm excited. I have really enjoyed having our friends over each weekend.

This Friday night though, I am serving dinner for a couple I clean for. I am stoked about this. They called to see if I would be interested in making $100. Hello??? YES!!!! They told me what they were wanting and I was just shocked once again at how God is providing. They are having 2 couples over for supper and want me to come to their house from 5pm-10pm (that would be the latest) and serve the dinner they will have prepared. I will keep drinks full, remove empty plates, and replace with the next course. I will also load the dishwasher and wash the dishes that won't fit. This is exactly what I love to do. NO joke. I would love to see this turn into another part time job for me. Maybe serve at people's home every other weekend in the month and make a minimum of $100 each time. Heck yeah! God is good to provide for us yet again. The couple that hired me is hoping that the couples they invite to dinner might hire me to serve for dinner parties or to clean their house. I am praying :D

I am continuing to prepare for my doula certification. I am reading books and really enjoying all the information in there. I know this is what I am supposed to do with my life. I have wondered time to time, if I will get to do this right when I complete the certification. You know, like if we might end up pregnant before then and NO we are not trying right now. My hubby is unemployed. LOL. I just would not be willing to leave my newborn (that would be nursing every 2 hours or so--- and I consider newborn to about 1 yr. I don't like leaving my babies!!!) and be gone for an indefinite period of time. It would not be fair to the baby, my boobs (MASTITIS), or the person babysitting. So, this has been in the back of my mind. Even though we are not trying, we didn't try for Dane and Webb. Everyone becoming pregnant has caused Brent and I to seriously talk about when we want our next one. I originally had planned to have all my kids no further apart than 3 years. I love the age difference between Dane and Webb (27 months). They are close but not so close I don't get to enjoy the baby stage of the older one. However, Brent is unemployed. We would never choose to bring another baby into such a tight situation. Not to mention, I am REALLY sick when pregnant and with cleaning houses, I get no sick days, paid time off, maternity leave, etc. Brent will graduate from the EMT program in July of this year. He has a few classes to get in the Fall semester and then the paramedic program starts up in January 2013. He will complete the paramedic program in January of 2014. We will not attempt to have a baby while he is in school. Who knows when we will decide to get pregnant, but we will not want to have the baby while he is in school. That puts Webb and the next baby at least 3-1/2 years apart, but if we don't get pregnant until he graduates, they will be 4 years apart. I NEVER imagined it being that way. When we were discussing our next baby and all that, at first I was sort of upset because this was not how I planned it, but it made the most sense. We will be financially secure then. What a wonderful thing to be! We will be better than good. There should be no financial stress when that time comes. What a perfect time for another baby. I did talk Brent into 2 more (DON'T TELL HIM I SAID SO!!!! LOL. We only agreed on 3 when we got married even though my heart has always been to have 4 kids. With this age gap though, we both see why 2 kids 4 years later would be better than just 1.) because I can't stand the idea of Dane and Webb being so close and the next one being 4 years later and being "alone". So, hopefully our next 2 will be about 27 months apart like Dane and Webb. Now that we have agreed on this, I feel so good about our decision and excited. It seems like such a good idea-- we will be older (which has to mean wiser!), we will have some money, I will be able to have practiced being a doula for about 2 years or so, I will be able to take off work if I am sick, and Brent will no longer be in school! It should help financially too--- maybe private Christian school will work into our budget better, and it won't be cars, college, weddings, etc all back to back. Not to mention, all my children won't up and leave at the same time (which is seriously something I think about!), they will be spread out and maybe make it easier on this momma.

So, now that you probably got more information than you cared for, what helps you determine the age gap between your children? How do you decide on what that perfect number of kids is for you? I'd love to know!