Q&A #5 - motherhood...

Q #1: Why quit your baby sitting and become a full time stay at home mom?

We decided to quit baby sitting because we felt like it was the same as me working outside the home during the day. This is not the way we want to raise our children, and we have been blessed to be financially able to do it. My attention was on the other children all day and my kids were constantly being put on the back burner, because I could do it to them and not the others. Hunter was being sat in front of the TV or playing the Wii for several hours every day because I had too many babies to tend to. We felt as though Graysen was being forced to grow up too quickly because there were kids younger than her that needed me. The purpose of being a stay at home mom was to be able to educate my children. To take them into the world and let them experience life first hand rather than be cooped up in a home or daycare facility every day. With the number and age of children that we had we were not even able to run to the store when we ran out of milk in the middle of the day.

Another reason was that our home is not large enough to section off a portion of it to serve as the day care spot. The kids were in our living room and all three of our bedrooms every day. We had baby toys everywhere and no longer felt as if our house was our home anymore. It had simply turned into a day care facility. We needed a sanctuary as a family, and if your house can't be that, what can be?!

Q #2: Where did you see yourself in 10 years after high school?

Right where I am. Can you believe that?! It's true! I never really wanted to go to college...didn't think it necessary to waste that much money on a degree that I never wanted to use. I would've much rather gotten a job right out of HS, then went to college much later in life when I was ready to have a career. I would've been able to make a much more educated decision on what field I wanted to go into and what degree I would need to make that happen. I will have to go back to college when I'm ready to start a career (after our kids are all in school) because a Dance degree is not going to be me any good.

I expected myself to be married with a few children. I prayed that I would be a stay at home mom, possibly still doing something with dance. I wanted nothing more than to put my family first and raise my children to be happy, healthy, contributing citizens.

So...8 years out of HS, I am already living the dream! I did better than expected!

Q #3: How many more children do you want? Will they all be adopted?

We would really like 1-2 more children. We are greatly enjoying this adoption process so far, and therefore think that, yes, the rest of our children will probably be adopted. We would like to adopt from the same country again so that they have some common heritage, but are not sure that this going to be financially possible. Honestly, with the medical problems that I have during pregnancy adopting is not that much more expensive (except for the fact that there is no payment plan for adoption like there are medical bills).

Q #4: What do you see in the future for your children?

I think every parent dreams of their children's future, but I try to be realistic in knowing that it doesn't really matter what I dream, only what makes them happy! I would like to see each of my children grow up taking school seriously and have a desire to learn. I don't want them to be defined by their extra curricular activities, but by the way that they treat others. I pray that they will learn to love The Lord at an early age and will allow Him to walk by their sides the rest of their lives. Life is so much easier when you have Him to lean on during the tough times! I hope that they are family oriented people and make spending time with their family(ies) a priority after they get married. I hope that they are strong enough in their convictions that they will stand up for what they believe in even when it's not the easy or popular thing to do and are ridiculed for it. I hope that they each find a profession that they LOVE...whether that be motherhood or a brain surgeon. It honestly doesn't matter to me as long as they are calm, relaxed, and ready to spend the evening with their family when they get off! I would never expect them to stay around STJ just because we are here, because honestly after our kids are grown who knows where we'll end up. Maybe we'll move to where they are, maybe we'll have a great place to travel! I hope that they are afforded the opportunity to travel the world and experience a variety of cultures and people.