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today…

 

 

This is really long as it includes events in the months leading up to her birth. I highlighted where the actual birth story starts.

pregnancy=40.2 weeks

labor 14.5 hours

pushing stage 11 minutes

I am really bad at writing my children’s birth journeys. I never know where to start. In my mind they start when I get the urge to have another baby. What it was that made me desire another child, why we chose to add on to our family. Then there is the pregnancy. I’m not the only one going through the pregnancy. The baby is too. As is the rest of my family.
I know I had felt the need for another baby about a year before. I remember sitting in the living room of our farm house with my husband in the opposite recliner and my two children playing on the floor. I felt an emptiness…something was missing or rather someone. I told my husband and he didn’t disagree. As time passed and my baby Levi became less of a baby and finally more like a toddler I started getting that yearning to snuggle a newborn, to feel the tug of an eager nursling upon my breast and to hear the song of baby squeaks and grunts.
I never denied that part of the desire was based on missing so much of Levi’s infancy. His first six weeks were spent with him in pain and screaming almost the whole time. Of course, we didn’t know he was in pain at the time but that doesn’t ease the guilt any. We were really frustrated after awhile and we just didn’t get to enjoy the snuggling and coos. They didn’t exist. Just screams and tears. Both his and at least, mine. I know I didn’t even feel the bond form until a year or more after his birth.
We’ve always used NFP (natural family planning). No chemicals or condoms. I learned how my body worked, when I ovulated, that type of stuff. It’s worked for 8 years now.
We’ve only gotten pregnant when we want to be.

Last February we decided we would see what happened. I figured it would take awhile. I had Valentines Dinner with my mother in law, sister in law and best friend. We discussed having more babies. Cindy and I would be on 3 and SIL would be on 2. Cindy had been trying for a couple of years but it hadn’t happened so far. My MIL was telling me I was too old. I was 30. ? Cindy was 36. Imagine my/our surprise when all 3 of us ended up pregnant and “due” the first couple of weeks of November! I was “due” November 10th, Cindy was the 9th and Steph the first week sometime. How exciting!!
It was a crazy time during this pregnancy. My husband and I had gotten it in our heads to move to Costa Rica. We knew if the baby was born in CR she’d be a citizen and a lot of red tape would be cleared. Sold our huge farmhouse and acreage. Moved back to town to our first house we’d bought years ago. Sold off most of our possessions keeping only necessities and important items.
I was so very eager to go to Costa Rica. After all I loved it there. When on vacation, it felt like home. Little did I know!! I knew it would be tough to be there without my husband but I thought with Livie I could do it. I did. For six weeks.
After searching and interviewing doctors and therapists I came to the realization I would not be able to find the proper care Levi needed. Plus reports from back home concerning his schooling and progress were absolutely glowing. DH and I both decided we would not…COULD not take him away from that. It would be irresponsible of us. We couldn’t risk his future for our wants. So the next step was, would I stay and give birth or go back to the States? I pondered that and cried for days. After more research I concluded that it would be months before the paperwork would all be in order before I’d be allowed to travel back home to the states. Being away from husband and son was already more than I could bear combined with worry about the upcoming birth and my daughter’s schooling and more importantly her emotional well being. She seemed to be adjusting well. She played with the neighbor kids most of the day, she ate and slept well. She sang along with her movies. She didn’t verbally say anything about “going home”. I could still tell that she was not adjusting as well as I hoped.
I did not want to disappoint my husband. I knew he was really wanting to at least have that baby born in Costa Rica. He really loved being in CR. But he wasn’t there full time, alone, pregnant with a five year old. I also did not want the rest of the family to look down at us. I knew they would view it as a failure even though Jason and I knew from the beginning that it wouldn’t necessarily work out. In fact, I think both of us knew it would not but knew we had to give it a try. To NOT try would be failure.

I was not gaining weight. I was about 35 or 36 weeks along (pregnancies average 40-41 weeks) and had only gained about 12 lbs. That wasn’t good. I also knew I was becoming severely depressed. I was working hard at keeping us preoccupied with going to town and Livie had different activities but it wasn’t enough. We needed our families.

One morning I started frantically calling home to my husband. I was bawling. He wasn’t answering. I was starting to panic. I had to get home. Airlines won’t let you fly usually at a certain point in pregnancy and I was already at that point. I was just beside myself. I had to get home before Lucy was born. I just couldn’t risk being here several more months away from my son and husband.
Finally, my husband answered his phone. I blurted out “I want to come home.” He said, “Okay.” Then told me he had been planning on surprising me on October 20th, his birthday, by coming down for the weekend. I told him we would fly home with him. Two days later I was checking my email and had a confirmation from the airline for flights out for Livie and I for the 14th!! He knew how scared I was that they wouldn’t let me fly so he got us set up for even sooner.
I flew home at 37 weeks pregnant. Just a mere 3 weeks before my due date. I was also flying with a small dog and a five year old and tons of luggage. That’s a whole ‘nother story!
My sister in law had already had her baby boy, Garrett. He came at approximately 34/35 weeks. He weighed around five lbs. It was a bit scary in the beginning with his lungs not completely formed but he was sent home within a few days and is doing well.
We got home safely. We bought a house in another town. It is just a house away from my father in law and his wife, Mama Dee Dee. That is where my son had been staying all this time and was going to school in this town. We enrolled Livie in the same school right away in preparation for buying the house. We couldn’t keep her out any longer. I had been homeschooling her in CR but she needed to be in school.
ACTUAL BIRTH STORY STARTS HERE:

November 4th, Cindy calls me late morning to tell me she had given birth that morning in her Jacuzzi outside. ? Griffin Liam was born in the 6 o’clock hour after several days of labor. He weighed 8 lbs 11 oz.
November 8th we bought the house.
November 10th I was feeling really darn crappy. I had been in a lot of pain for a couple of weeks. Lucy had been riding low forever and every movement she made caused me so much pain. I was also always short of breath and just over all not feeling well. I was so bored and my children were gone. My husband had driven to Ltown to do house stuff. I decided I was going to go walk around Kmart. We have no malls and it was too cold to do much outdoors. I stopped at an antique store I had never been in. My husband called and said he was going to Peoria (big city near by). I told him I wanted to go. After all I was walking a home improvement store when I went into labor with Levi maybe it would work this time too! We ended up at an auction then my mother’s.

My mother almost the whole pregnancy had really never mentioned the baby to come. Never showed any interest so I was pretty convinced she didn’t care. I get to her house and my step father said that Lucy was all she could talk about. I asked his opinion on whether I should call her when I was in labor and have her come over or wait. He recommended calling her early. That lifted my spirits. She was very kind to me that day and I really needed that. I was feeling so down and with my hubby all wrapped up in house stuff was feeling a little neglected.
Went home. Slept really awful Saturday night. Sunday, the 11th, woke up still feeling really crappy. We went to Peoria to look at flooring options. I warned my husband that I would be absolutely worthless at decision making and probably pretty bitchy. To just humor me and not take it personal. I just was not feeling well but I didn’t want to be home or alone. I wanted to be out walking around to try encourage labor and to keep busy.
After we looked at flooring I asked if we could do what I wanted to do. He said “Yup!” We headed over to Target where we ooh’ed and aah’ed over adorable pink baby booties and items. I love watching my 6 ft 200 lb man getting all weepy over baby stuff. He insisted on buying some itty bitty pink socks. We picked up a couple of other items and came back home.
He had to work 3rd shift. After he left I decided to go for a walk. I couldn’t sleep and nothing on tv and sitting hurt anyway. That was one of the things bothering me so much. I couldn’t sit and knit or play on the computer or even watch a movie. Sitting was unbearable and laying down pretty much was too. Walking is all I wanted to do.
I bundled up but thank God it wasn’t too bad out. Freaky (the cat) and I walked around a few blocks and came back home. By this time the Braxton hicks I had having for weeks seemed to be stronger and taking my breath away even more so than usual. By 1 am I was pretty certain labor was in my near future. But wait!! It was my daughter’s 6th birthday now!! My daughter, my first beloved child, had been been 6 years ago on the 12th! What were the odds this 3rd beloved child would be born on her birthday? Also, considering Cindy’s first two were born on the same birthday 8 years apart that would make the odds even harder to beat for both of us to get pregnant at the same time then have children with shared birthdays.
I went to sleep, sort of, expecting to either NOT be in true labor or to have a very long labor lasting until the next day because just surely Lucy would not be born on Livie’s birthday. About 4 I gave up on sleep and called my husband at work. He was suppose to work onto first shift. I told him he might want to come home after 3rd.

At 6:15 am I called my midwife but couldn’t get hold of her. I called a doula friend of mine, Penny, to let her know in case she wanted to come over for the birth. I hadn’t really made arrangements for a doula has my husband was pretty seasoned at this point and I knew the midwife and her assistant would help me stay focused and comfortable. Plus my sisterfriend Trinity would be there as would Mama Dee Dee and my mom to help with the children. It was really important to me to have my children with me. I knew Olivia would never forgive me if she wasn’t witness to the birth. The last few days I had decided I needed Levi there too.
Finally got a hold of the midwife 6:30-7 am and told her my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and had been since 1 am but they weren’t strong and were only lasting 40 seconds or so. I laid down for about an hour from 8-9 or so. My husband moved the birthing pool to the living room for me. It had been in the bedroom but I decided it was too crowded. He even had filled it halfway which actually turned out to be a good thing. It stayed nice and hot for hours! He set up candles and even lit them. My husband was ready!! Too bad Lucy wasn’t. When I woke up from my nap I blew out the candles and put the bottled water back in the fridge.

Early on I got pissy with my husband because he was “ignoring” me when I was having cx. He had only “helped” me through one and the rest of the time he just kind of kept setting up. So finally I just flat out said “When I have a contraction I want your complete and total attention no matter what.” That’s all it took. He was perfect the rest of the time! So speak up mamas! He was doing what he thought needed done, setting up the pool, checking supplies, etc. He also didn’t realize I had moved into more intense phase of labor and needed his strength more than I needed things ready. In early labor I don’t want anyone messing with me as I’m still moving through the cx and walking around. When I have to stop and concentrate that is when I want hands on attention. I was like that with Levi’s birth too.

I called Penny and begged her to come over as I feared the baby would be here before the MW! I decided to get in the pool hoping it would slow the cx down to give the MW travel time. It worked. For about 20 minutes. Then they were just as good and strong as before! Trinity arrived and timed contractions and kept me distracted. She would help me stay relaxed when Jason was busy doing other things. I had called Mama DD and told her she might want to get here if she didn’t want to miss the birth. She arrived about 4 with the kids and my mother showed up soon after. Penny arrived between 4 and 4:30. I was singing pretty good during the cx and the children would stop and come to me then return to fighting when the cx was over. I had been preparing Livie for months that I would get noisy and such but Levi had no prepping. All in all they handled it really well. Levi understood that “Wootie” was coming out! “Wootie out?” She’s trying we’d tell him! “Mommy ouch?” Yes but she’s working hard and she’s ok.The midwife arrived about 5:15. I was really close. In fact, Penny had been going through the birth supplies to see what we needed (and probably praying we had it). So J (the mw) and her assistant L got set up and settled in.
At this point my husband was a fixture on his knees at the pool’s side. With each cx I would lean on the edge of the pool with my head on his shoulder my hands grabbing his arms or holding his hands. He would talk to me in a voice just overflowing with emotion. I love his voice when it sounds like that. Unfortunately it only sounds that way when I’m giving birth. He would whisper the hypnobabies cues to me and I would immediately sink down a bit and relax a little. He said he also noticed that I would be more relaxed with the next cx after he said a cue.
I hadn’t planned for hypnobabies to work the way it’s intended because I had already given birth 2x before and witnessed a few more and I knew there was no convincing my mind that I would have a painless birth. I wanted it to help me relax and stay focused and it most definitely did. I wanted to be more aware of the baby’s passage through the birth canal. And I was!
Wasn’t long after J and L arrived that my cx started spacing out indicating transition. Transition comes after the cx have dilated the cervix completely and then the body starts pushing the baby down and out. Transition is the body’s way of giving mom and baby a rest. I had been nauseated earlier in the labor before the mw had arrived and had worried that was transition but obviously it wasn’t.
I was just getting ready to say “I’m going to be pushing” when the undeniable, uncontrollable urge to bear down hit. I have a real mind block with the pushing stage. I feared it and knew I had to deal with that. So I focused on what Lucy was doing. I had read birth stories about feeling the cervix dilating, feeling the baby move down and turning. I was befuddled because I had definitely not felt that with Livie’s birth and had been too out of mind with Levi’s.I had already been aware of my cervix stretching. This time I did feel Lucy moving down lower and even knew her head was turning and KNEW that’s what was happening. I kept putting my hand down to feel the bulge of her head during the cx. I said at one point that the burning (ring of fire) was starting. During one contraction I was cupping her head in my hand and playing with her hair. Feeling the squishy “gross” stuff over her head (probably the vernix) at the same time feeling her hair. I was so sure that her head would be out with that cx. Just as soon as I thought that the cx ended and I felt with my body and hand her head suck back up inside me. That is a heartbreaking feeling!! But I also knew she’d be out very quickly.
Another cx hit and I pushed and howled for all that I had. I felt the release of pressure when her head slid out. It was such a relief emotionally and physically. I announced to the room that her head was out. I knew we were almost done and the hardest part was over. I don’t recall touching her head then but I think I must have. I know one time my husband tried to keep me from putting my hand down under, I don’t know why he did that, but I just kind of yanked away and did it anyway. He probably had no idea what I was doing lol. Maybe pushing her back up?
Another wave hit and she was born! The shoulders are bigger and harder to push out but having just pushed her head out it doesn’t take as many tries to get the shoulders through. I relaxed against my husband in relief and joy and I hear “She’s in front of you!”
I had assumed she would come out behind as my son had and that they were picking her up out of the water for me. So I quickly sat back and reached down. I don’t think I even looked I just reached down and pulled her to me. Luckily I pulled her to me in an upright position and not feet up!
She was covered in vernix. It was everywhere! I lifted my shirt because I wanted to nurse her immediately but the vernix caked my nipple immediately and I couldn’t get it wiped off! In fact, when I handed her to daddy my inner arm from crook of elbow to finger tips was covered in vernix.
She was very quiet and just looked around. When her daddy leaned in to see her face she even turned her eyes towards the movement. I looked at her nose and mouth to make sure they were clear then leaned her forward a little bit to rub her back and stimulate her. She gave a little cry so I was content!I tried to turn her to the other breast but the cord was too short.
I needed to birth the placenta but with the cord being short I was concerned I would drown her while concentrating on that. When the mw said the cord had stopped pulsating I requested she go ahead and cut it so I could hand her over to daddy and birth the placenta. She put the clamps on and asked if anyone wanted to cut it. Jason refused. He has never cut the cord and never will. It’s a thing with us. I had remarked in my first pregnancy that the cutting of the cord was the first real separation between mother and child and he never wants to be the one to cause that. I have no idea who cut Livie’s cord, my mother cut Levi’s and Trinity got to cut Lucy’s.

I couldn’t push the placenta out. I just couldn’t get my body to push hard. I finally decided to get out and see if gravity helped. I had to have help on both sides as I was really light headed and had been in a squatting position for hours so my legs were cramped.
I stepped out onto a chux pad. My son was a few feet away facing me. As I stepped out the placenta fell out between my feet on the pad. OHHH the look on Levi’s face was priceless! He was totally grossed out and couldn’t believe that mom just “did that” in the middle of the living room floor!!
Both children were very interested in the placenta and watched as the midwife explained to Trinity (who is going to be a mw) how to examine it.
Lucy was born with a head full of dark hair just like her now blonde siblings; she was 21 inches long and 8 lbs 10 oz. She was born at 6:11 pm. Or maybe it was 6:12 lol. She is 6 years and 3 hours younger than Olivia.
Olivia told me she was the best birthday present ever. I agree.

She is very content and mellow. She’s a breastfeeding champ. She rarely cries but that could be because daddy rarely lets go of her.
Giving birth to Livie was everything I didn’t want. Giving birth to Levi was an amazing experience but still lacking in the mental department as I was too unfocused and relied too much on others to get me through that final stage of labor. However, with Levi I was ready to go again!!
Lucy’s birth was simply the most amazing. Maybe because it’s the latest one and possibly the last one.
I do know that I have never caught my baby, I have never been the first to touch my baby. The emotion and memory of feeling her leave my body and then pulling her newborn body to my chest and being the first to see her and kiss her is something I will never forget. Knowing what was going on, recognizing what was going on and consciously making decisions to help her into this cold world is something every woman should experience.
I know it probably seemed to the bystanders that all I did was howl and carry on but that was on the outside. On the inside I was completely aware of every movement and moment of Lucy’s final minutes in my body and her first moments out. I was very vocal during Lucy’s birth. Probably even more so with hers than with Levi’s but that’s just something I do and something out of my control. I remember saying several times I didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to go through this and at the same time as vocalizing those thoughts I was internally giving myself permission to say that because I knew it meant I was close to giving birth. So by saying that I was bringing myself closer to being done.
So there you have it!

Not much to say…well alot to say. Too much for an internet cafe. Dh will be back in 3 weeks with my computer so I will definitely be updating alot then. We are missing hubby greatly and that is the hard part. He has an interview with an oil rig company so cross your fingers. I think my daughter is bored with being here so signing off. Any ideas on stuff to do in the afternoons while it rains?

We arrived all in one piece. My laptop crashed yesterday so sent it back to the States with hubby who flew back today since it´s still under warranty. I´m in an internet cafe on a spanish keyboard. Fun fun. My daughter is bored so keeping this short. More later.

We’re heading out the door to drive up to Chicago. We catch the plane. Have to be at the airport at 5 am. I’m surprised I slept at all last night. Hopefully we’ll get to bed early tonight and sleep well.

I said my goodbyes to Levi last night. That was super hard. He was cranky so that was easier than if he was cuddly and hugging on me. Driving home I just wanted to turn around and grab him up. All morning I’ve been wanting to call his Grandma and tell her to bring him here for one last good bye but I know that would just make things so much harder.

Thankfully, hubby surprised me and the other night that he is planning to come down again for a week at the end of September. My first thought was “Is Levi coming?” but then silly me I know the answer. Can’t pull him from school that soon in the school year and his passport probably won’t be here yet.

Ok we’re about done packing up the van so have to sign off. Wish us luck that all goes well and we do indeed have allllll the stinking paperwork we need. As far as I know we do. Well, except for the hotel’s permission for our dog tonight but oh well. She’s 8 lbs. She’s sneakable.

Ok we’re all good to go. Dog is completely legal from the USDA’s stamp of approval to the 30 day rabies certificate all dated within 2 weeks of arrival.

My daughters passport arrived today!!!

Found another big suitcase at the goodwill. Still have one empty so we might not even bring all 6. Just 5 plus our carry ons.

Trying to research what banks are in Grecia. Of course, just when I started my search my internet went down for no reason. Sound familiar?

My best friend came over with her children and we had lunch together and hung out. It was sad to say goodbye.

I think that’s it for today’s update. Rolling with the punches and going with the flow. I can’t believe tomorrow is Thursday.

I just noticed my dates were off by a day. I’ve corrected it, I think, but the old blogs are still dated wrong. LOL oh well.

Talked to Jeffeny of CR Land Office today and that really got me all excited again. I tell ya it’s an emotional roller coaster these last few days! I was excited because all passports and dog paper stuff was taken care of then I was tired so not so excited but then all excited again! I’ve got help lined up for getting our bank acct set up and a vehicle purchased. I even got the phone number and “address” of our rental house. You know me, it’s in the details. Doesn’t do me any good at the moment to know these things but it makes me happy.

Kids are done in the tub time for bed. Levi starts school in the morning. Sniff sniff. My little big boy.

PEEK!!!

ABOO!!!

Started to type this in the comment section in reply to someone’s comment and realized it was getting too long.

I guess I shouldn’t assume all the friendly people who have emailed me are gringos. Maybe some are Ticos! Maybe I should edit that to say thank you to the CRL’ers who have sent me their phone numbers. I would probably know more than 2 Ticos if they hung out on expat groups but somehow I doubt many would hang out on an expat group just as I don’t quite fit in on the Tico email groups. Moving to CR doesn’t automatically come with built in Tico contacts. Would be nice though wouldn’t it? I hope to not rely on anyone but myself but I also know there are times when people need help. I’m certainly not going to isolate us from everyone out of fear of showing weakness.

As for being tense…well I think for most people the last few days before a move is a little stressful even if it’s just right down the road. Actually I was feeling really good this morning. Really optimistic and good about everything and the first email I read was full of negative energy. So it brought me down a bit and I needed to blog it. If that person is reading I do apologize for my curt response. As for the post mainly I was feeling really grateful and just thinking back over the obstacles my husband and I have overcome. At first when I was venting (hey it is MY blog) but then I got to thinking about all our achievements that friends, family members (and doctors) have told us we wouldn’t be able to do and we DID made me feel really strong again and back in “We can do this” mode. Yesterday was a rough day for me with back to back issues and maybe I shouldn’t have shown my weakness publicly on here but I told myself when I started this blog I wanted to share the ups and DOWNS with everyone. Not just the happy go lucky stuff.

I know we aren’t the first people to have last minute issues. I’ve read enough stories to know better than that. I don’t know why some people seem to be surprised that we’re having issues. I wasn’t surprised. I was hoping it would be smooth sailing…um flying but I know life is full of issues. If we gave up at the first sign of trouble we’d never get anywhere in life. Most issues are small and easily work themselves out. But sometimes even the best laid plans go awry. And one has to scramble to grab the flapping loose ends and tie them back together.

The dog issue has been totally resolved. Phew. That’s what we did today. The USDA kept insisting on 30 day proof of rabies (we were waiting on a fax from our previous vet in another county and come to find out the fax never went through). We already knew it is NOT mandatory. The USDA told us that themselves this morning. They seemed to have forgotten that and tried to use scare tactics. Then tried to tell me that CR would insist on it. I showed her the info I printed off of the CR embassy’s website and pointed it out to her that it says absolutely NOTHING about 30 days rabies certificate. Just proof of the vax. So then she finally backpedaled and said “I just mean it would be better if you had the proof and carried it on you.” @@ That I agree with and as of TOMORROW I will have the paperwork. I just didn’t have it TODAY at the USDA’s office despite trying to get it today just to make them happy.

I had so many thoughts today on my long drive alone to the USDA’s office but now I’m so exhausted I can’t think of a single one. I do know I’ll be glad to have chronicled all this for the future. It will probably make for some mighty interesting reading 20 years down the road!

Passport update from Fed Ex website

See that?? It says PICKED UP WOOHOO!!

I received a supportive email. Someone felt they needed to clue me in that it’s hard to move to another country and we seem to be having “many problems”. Well, let us see, yeah the car rental agency decided they couldn’t provide room enough in a vehicle for our luggage, you mean in a year (when this person suggested we try to move) that might change?? Or the vets around here might learn what to do for a family moving international? And “calm, healthy
curiosity and effective problem solving will be helpful.” Or better yet, the government will actually become honest, efficient and trustworthy! Well, funny thing is the issues are resolved. One thing my husband and I seem to be able to do well as a team is problem solve. However, pardon me for not remaining calm when I find out the government has been lying to me about my 5 year old’s passport. My children are my main priority and so that’s a little upsetting. Now I better knock on wood because the passport isn’t due to arrive until tomorrow so until it’s in my hands I’m not betting on anything. So I take that back about issues are resolved….they are in the process of being resolved.

I am keeping this blog for those who follow so they can also be ready. All the blogs, sites, books and conversations I’ve read and have had for the past couple of years have enabled us to do as much as we have with little issue or at least surprise. The things I’ve learned have been invaluable and I hope the lessons I’ve learned will be invaluable to those in the future. For instance, don’t believe your vet when they say they know what you need for your dog to enter a foreign country. And apply for those passports no later than a year before you plan on leaving!

I want to thank all the people who have given us information and help and offers of help. Thank you to CRLand offices for the airport pickup, the rental house and you are quickly earning my trust. Thank you to all the gringos currently in CR who have sent me their phone numbers…I have them in triplicate so I don’t lose the list! I don’t expect this to be easy but I expect it to be fun and an adventure.

Being told to wait makes me think of the decision to get married, buy a house, have kids. Everybody says “wait til you are ready.” How can you ever be ready for something you’ve only read about or came in casual contact with? No matter how many books I read I’ll never know all there is to know about parenting. But we’ve survived almost 6 years, 2 kids and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors so far. Everybody thought we were nuts when we eloped 2 months after we met. November we will celebrate 10 years of being together.

Has any of it been easy? Not really. The marriage on it’s own has been great but the battles we have fought as a couple then a family….we survived. And now they are in the past. Now we’re glimpsing our future with our children we know in a year we’ll look back and think “Thank you God for getting us through that. Thank you for giving us strength and courage to keep going and not give up.”

No we’re not rich. Far far from it. We’re middle middle class and we accrued way too much debt in our 20’s. But, unlike many who keep on doing the same things, we’re learning and making changes. So, because we don’t have extra money we have to do this in stepping stones. Baby steps. But we’re getting there. Several years ago it was a dream that we assumed would never happen because well, our family is “here”. None of them every left this area. Not really. Maybe a few hours a way but not much more than that. And we were told we couldn’t. Well we have been told that over many things the past few years and we found out we could!

Aw my hubby is home from solving the problem with my puppy flying out. Problem solved.