I Am Official!

I am a certified and registered Nurse Assistant in the state of Illinois!
I don't have my certificate to show off yet so you will have to settle for a screen shot from the IL Healthcare Worker Registry!


It feels awesome to be done and ready to move on in my career! I am applying to jobs now and can't wait to get started! I am going to take an elder care course to get a certificate for that to add to my CNA and then once I can, I am going get certified in phlebotomy as well. That program is a little longer. I did send in my readmission materials to Elmhurst, so looks like if accepted back in (which I am sure in a non-issue since they are hounding me for my stuff) I will be taking the capstone class once a week to finish my masters degree...eh I am sure it will be useful later on in my career, but so not my passion anymore so it's going to be a drag.

BNAT Graduation!!

Last Thursday I finally took my state competency exam to become a Certified Nurse Assistant, I think it went well, there was a lot of random stuff on their that we never went over, but they were more common sense type questions so I should be good! We have to wait two weeks to find out if we passed, they mail something I guess, but we can check in the registry to see if are name is on their also...torture!

Later that night was the BNAT graduation. It was a really nice graduation just for the CNA's graduating from the day, night and weekend programs, a very personal graduation ceremony. Each class had a class speaker and a slide show for their class. Our class became very close, and within our clinical groups very, very close, it is going to be weird not seeing each other all the time now. We have been keeping in touch though and have some meet ups planned! I will miss them for sure, it's not like any other school class you take, it's such an experience and you go through it with these fellow classmates and it just bonds you for life.

It's a life changer for sure!




Getting pinned with her CNA pin!

Mom and I with our pins (she is a CNA and a CST (Certified Surgical Tech) LOL!)









Some pictures from lab at school!


The whole class on our last day of clinical!

My clinical group and instructor who was the best and I am so thankful for her!

6 Years

Matt and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on Saturday. We just hung around the house during the day and then went out to the Melting Pot for dinner, it was our first fondue restaurant experience and it was SO yummy! Next weekend my mom is taking the kids overnight for us so we can go out which will also be nice, we both need it big time!

It has been a wonderful, crazy and stressful 6 years together. A wonderful honeymoon in Maui, pregnant 7 months after our wedding, uneventful pregnancy until the last month, bed rest, unplanned and complicated c-section, NICU, heart murmur, developmental and speech delays, moving, financial stress from the Logan's birth and NICU stay, job changes (3 now), more bed rest, miscarriage, fertility issues, threatened miscarriage and bed rest with Ava, lots of fun family trips, new career path for both of us really and most importantly our two beautiful children and through it all we always grow together and not apart. We have been together for 12 wonderful years all together and I love him so much, the first 6 years were not what either of us would call easy, but together we can get through whatever life throws at us.

My wonderful husband arranged to have 6 red roses at our table when we arrived, such a sweetie

Matt with our cheese fondue...yum!


We both had the seafood trio for main course, at first I was worried about cooking it our selves, but it went fine and tasted so good.

And dessert was out of this world...LOVE!


We had a great night together!

Catch Up Time!

I have been enjoying my time off after school ended, and now it's time to start working on my state test that is only 10 days away now! So I have been busy since school ended with Logan's end of school activities and family in visiting and oh yeah two really sick kids and a night in the ER with Logan and his 104.3 degree temp. Sometimes I really do think two is enough for us and then they get better and do something sweet and then I want another two LOL!

SO anyway I am going to catch you all up using my posts from our family blog, which I do a lot, but a lot of the time there is "extra" parts on my personal blog if you have never noticed, although that won't be the case with these.

So first up:

Logan's Spring Show

Logan had his Spring music show at preschool last week. Of course Logan didn't do any singing, he had missed the show the day before because he was sick which I think had a lot to do with it as he did all the body movements when he had his Mom's night show, but it was still cute!








Next Up:

Logan had his last day of preschool for the year yesterday!?! I dropped him off at his normal time and then came back at 10am for the 3/4 year old sunflower tea party. It was so cute! The teachers had pictures of the kids in front of the ruler on the wall, one from September and one from May so we could see how much they have grown. Logan got a lot taller and his face changed a lot. Matt and I are so proud of him, he did so well this year and is excited about being in the 4/5 year old classroom next year. He will be going 3 days a week next year and staying for lunch bunch on Friday's which he is very excited about doing (Ava starts MDO on Friday's next year, yes that's right, I will have Friday mornings all to MYSELF!) At the end his teacher's gave him a certificate and he gave them a big hug an said goodbye. It's going to be kindergarten time before we know it!

My Invitation To Tea!

Coloring a sunflower with Mommy!

Sunflower Boy!

Sunflower Song!


And Then:

A Picture Post:

Some picture of the happenings around here!

Logan with his field day ribbons from preschool!

The kids love their new swing set!

Ava is a pro at the climbing wall already!

Mrs. Pots got a new hairdo for the summer!

Sandbox fun!



Hopscotch to 100!


With all the rain we have been getting the kids got some new rain boots!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Pable came up for a visit and grandma brought a box of old costume jewelry that Brandi use to play with when she was little. Ava knew what to do with it right away and had fun putting on and taking off the pretties!