Day 2 of Giving Thanks-GO CUBS!

By Cathy Smith

Oh my goodness so much to be thankful for.  Where do I start?  I'll start with the current events for this week.  I was so thankful for yesterday's lovely weather.  It felt like a last chance opportunity for me to take a break from work and school work and just enjoy my kids.  We went to the park, went for a hike, and used up the last of summer's chalk on our driveway.

The other thing I am so thankful for is the Chicago Cubs winning their 3rd game last night in the World Series.  My husband, his family, and my whole family are die-hard Cubs fans.  Tonight's game should be a nail biter.  I am thankful to see another Chicago sports team on their way to victory.  Go Cubs Go!!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 1

Day 1:  Today I am thankful for my family and friends. 

I have recently become a single mom, and I knew that it was going to be a big leap of faith. 

These last few months, I've felt like I've been pulled and stretched in so many different directions. 

Yet, through it all, my family and friends have been there lifting me up and cheering me on.

From helping with my yardwork when I've been on the go for days, to watching my kids so that I can go to work, classes, consults, or do homework, to hugging me and telling me how happy they are for me, or telling me that I'm amazing.
I'm so very grateful for all of it, for all of you!

I know that I could do it on my own if I had to, but life would be a heck of a lot harder without the love and support of my family and friends.
So thank you all!

Warmly,
Andrea

Awareness Events & Other Upcoming Events

October is an important month for me.  Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness, as well as Domestic Violence Awareness are very personal to me.  Yesterday, October 15th, there were 2 big events that happened in remembrance of many, many babies that have gone too soon. 

My friend, mentor, and the founder of Stillbirthday, Heidi Faith, released hundreds of little floral seeded hearts (each had a beloved baby's name handwritten onto it), at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.  I am honored that my baby's name was included on one of those tiny hearts.  There was also the international Wave of light.  People around the world lit a candle in remembrance of their (or a friend's/loved one's) baby (or babies) that they lost too soon.  My Facebook newsfeed was filled with beautiful candles!

Today I was able to take my daughters to a 'Take Back The Night' event.  We heard an amazing speaker talk about sexual assault that she's personally experienced, and the lasting effects that it has had on her.  We made signs, marched, and raised awareness in our community. 

Tonight, I am so proud of my actual community, as well as my Facebook community.  I'm honored to know many caring, selfless people!  I'm looking forward to the upcoming months!

Additionally, A Joyful Journey will be hosting a number of classes from now through December in our community!  This is a great opportunity for anyone interested to get to know our doulas better!

Here's what we have scheduled so far!   Each class is $10/person.

In addition to this, I will be hosting a Breastfeeding Basics class, as well as a Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support group soon.  Keep checking back in for updates! 

Warmly,

Andrea

Fundraisers

It's been a wild, crazy couple months at A Joyful Journey.  We have been busy with school, fundraisers, clients, and of course lots of beautiful babies.  Andrea and I have been super busy at Joliet Junior College and Midwives College of Utah.   Andrea is working tirelessly full time and making excellent grades.  I too have been enjoying immersing myself into school.  I'm proud to say that halfway through my first trimester and I've got straight A's! We are enjoying our studies and have been getting quite a few new, amazing clients.

We recently hosted our 2nd Annual Parenting Fair in New Lenox.  We were able to raise $1000 for Guardian Angels in Joliet!!  The money will go to Groundworks programs to help women and children who are victims of domestic violence.  This program is near and dear to our heart. Andrea herself, has benefited from these programs as a child.  Sadly, it was a rainy day on the day of our event but the limited amount of people who came out, really surprised us with their generosity.  We are so grateful to all the volunteers and participants who helped make this fundraiser a success!  A special shout out to my Mom, Donna who has volunteered many hours both years to help us.

In addition to our Guardian Angels fundraiser, I hosted an online fundraiser for the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery.  We had our "party" on Facebook and it was a HUGE success. I never realized how much fun an online party could be!  You can play hostess in your jammies, ooh and aah over fun clothes with friends, and raise a lot of money and awareness! We sold $2700 worth of LuLaRoe and our fun party was able to donate about $500.  I am so proud of this.  I could not have done it without all my wonderful friends and fellow birth professionals who shared the event, and bought some adorable leggings.  I even got my sister-in-law from Singapore to donate. (Love you Becky) In case you were wondering about how to donate or for more information:  The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery is an umbrella organization.  This includes the Illinois Friends of Midwives consumer group and the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives. We are trying to raise funds/awareness for a Bill to be passed that would legalize Certified Professional Midwives in Illinois.

Check back on A Joyful Journey's blog in a couple days for more information about our Fall/Winter classes we will be offering!

New Seasons

There is a chill in the air, the newly fallen leaves crunch under my feet, and it smells like "fall" outside.  I used to hate fall.  The start of fall was always a reminder that a freezing cold Chicago winter was just a few shot months away (if the cold held out that long).  Shorter colder days, less sunshine... not a recipe for happiness in my eyes.


Fall was always my moms favorite season.  She loved the changing colors of the trees, the falling leaves, the chilly sweater weather, all of it.  After she passed away, fall always brought her back to me a little.  Her memory seems more alive during this season.  So as the years pass (this is the 6th fall without my momma) I look forward to and embrace the season that I once hated.

It seems so fitting that Domestic Violence Awareness month is in October.  I feel like it was made especially for her.  If only she were the only victim of domestic violence.  Unlike so many other women who have died at the hands of their abusers, my mom escaped my dads grasp, she survived.  At least physically, she survived.  The trauma that years of abuse caused my mom, stayed with her until she died of a drug and alcohol overdose in February 2010, just 2.5 years after my dad passed away.

It is our honor to be hosting our 2nd annual Parenting Fair to kick off Domestic Violence Awareness Month. All proceeds from the parenting fair will be donated to this program, to help families in Joliet and surrounding areas get out of abusive situations, overcome, and not just survive, but thrive!  I hope that many of you reading this can come out and help us support this amazing, life changing program!

Warmly,
Andrea

Cathy's Reality Check/ Counting My Blessings

I really can't believe it's that time of year again.  Truly...didn't summer just start?  I'm writing this blog not as your doula, or business acquintance, but as a busy Mom.  I had such great aspirations for this summer.  Tons of reading, family time, and relaxation. I was going to step back a bit from the business world and enjoy my last summer, not being a student.  Babies have another plan.  We had tremendous business growth this summer. (Yay!!)  I also had tons of playtime with my kiddos. We enjoyed crafting, forts, swimming pools, and potty trained my youngest.  Pretty fantastic summer if you ask me!

I took a lot of time to relect on what I want to accomplish this year.  I am both nervous and excited about my kids starting school, and daycare for the first time. A part of me is jumping up and down that they will be back in school.  The other part wants to squeeze them to my side, and never let them leave.  This year I will be starting my midwifery program, juggling after school activities,running our business, and of course my household.

I am a type A personality.  I want everything to run smoothly and stay organized.  I want homecooked meals, a clean house, our business to grow, and straight A's.  I know this will not happen.  But a girl can hope. ;-)

We as women and moms, continually fill up our plates.  We want to succeed at everything.  I am afraid of overloading my proverbial plate and failing from the weight of all I have taken on.  Does anyone else feel like this or is it just me?!

In order to combat this, I am stating the allowances I will make myself.

1. I will try to continue to put God first.  This means church once a week, daily devotions and prayers and  leading a table of fine women at my local MOPS.  It's amazing how spiritually refreshed I feel when I take time to serve and learn about God.

2. I will spend quality time with my kids, even if I can no longer spend the quantity of time I want. This will include reading, crafts, and my least favorite...playing pretend.  When taking quality time with my kiddos, I will not check my phone (although if I'm on call, I'll still answer).  I will give them my undivided attention and not think about all the tasks I need to accomplish for the day.

3. Homecooked meals may have to include: sandwiches, cereal, and gasp...the occasional fast food banquet. I love cooking.  It pleases me to no end to give my family nourishing food that is free of processing.  Cooking is an outlet for me and about as creative as I get. Maybe I can spruce up chicken nuggets. ha ha ( I'm really not a crafty person.)

4. The house will no longer be able to be as clean as I want it to be.  Who am I kidding; it's never as clean as I want it to be.  I have 3 kids, 2 cats, 1 Labrador retriever, 2 goldfish, 6 chickens, and 1 chameleon.  This maybe harder for me to let go than anything else.  Lord, bring me peace on this.

4. While straight A's may not be achievable, I will strive to do the best I can do.  More importantly than straight A's, I really want to enjoy my studies.  On the days my kids are in daycare or in bed, I want to revel in my textbooks, write papers without focusing on how fast I can get it done. MCU is going to be amazing!

5. Lastly but just as importantly,  I will not forget about my husband.  He is my greatest cheerleader.  Being a Mom, student, business woman takes a great deal of time.  But none of those will be achievable if I don't take time to be a partner/wife to my beloved. Sometimes it's hard to change back into that role.  At the end of the day, and in a few years when my kids are living their own life.  It goes back to Kiel and I.  Taking the time to nurture our relationship is beyond priceless.

So this blog isn't about business at all.  It doesn't mean I'm not focused on business or that our clients arent' important to us. I wanted all you fabulous, lovely ladies to know a bit more about me.  I am a mom. I am a wife.  I am a doula.  I will be a student again.  I am going to nail this.  Even if it's not perfect, I will do it to the best of my ability.  I am blessed.

Peace,

Cathy

Amazing Things!!!

I'm so excited to be in the line of work that I'm in!  Being a birth and postpartum doula is an amazing job.  I may be biased, but I think we get the best clients EVER!  As Cathy begins midwifery school this fall, I'll be taking classes at my junior college to get the credits that I need to add IBCLC to the end of my name.  All the while, our main focus is to provide the best support possible to our pregnant, birthing, and postpartum clients.  As a CLS, who is not working under an IBCLC or in a hospital setting, my assistance to our breastfeeding clients can only go so far.  So, it only makes sense for me to continue my education to better serve our amazing clients!

In other news, 2 weekends ago I spent 3 days in beautiful Kearney, MO., with some of the most amazing women (and a few men) that I had ever met.  I'll spare you all the details here, but you can read about my experience on my personal blog, here: Andrea's Short Stories 

Being a birth & bereavement doula, I get tagged in Facebook posts semi-regularly, about a mom in the area, looking for support after suffering a loss.  I have several friends who have had losses, and I myself lost my very first baby, almost 14 years ago. It's something that happens all too often, more often than people think, because we don't talk about it.  But we don't forget, and it never goes away.  I feel this strong calling to start a loss support group that's not in a hospital setting.  A safe place for mothers and fathers to come to, to grieve, to share, to hope.  I truly hope to get a group up and running within the next few months.

Cathy also was able to spend a weekend recently, with some amazing midwives, learning all about midwifery type things. ;)  You'll have to ask her about.  I have no clue.  All I know is that she loved it.

Now, for the event of the year.....
Cathy and I are working hard to create a fundraiser event that is BIGGER AND BETTER than last year!  Last year we hosted a vendor fair and the proceeds were donated to Groudwork Domestic Violence Program.  We raised almost $800.  It was a ton of fun.  We had face painting and a bouncy house for the kids!  We had shopping!  We had food!  We had guest speakers!  However, we didn't get a ton of traffic.

How awesome would it be if we could double... or maybe even triple the amount that we raised last year!  Think about it.  This program is providing shelter to women escaping abusive relationships.  It's providing counseling, advocacy, legal resources, even basic necessities like food and toiletries. How amazing would it be to be a part of changing helping victims of domestic violence to become survivors!  But we can't do it on our own.  We need help.  We need vendors!  We need attendants!  We need volunteers!  We would like our vendor event to be focused on parenting resources this year, but we're having trouble finding vendors to fulfill those rolls.  We're thinking car seat safety techs, swim safety, speech therapy, family counseling, children's clubs, children's toys or clothing, and the likes.  We would love to hear any ideas!  For further info please email me at myers.andrea79@yahoo.com  Thanks for your help!

Warmly,
Andrea