I am having one of those weeks where I have something going on everyday! I am actually looking forward to next week where the schedule is a little less intense!
This past weekend I held a baby shower for one of my friends here. It was such a great shower. She is doing a nautical theme for her son and inspiration just hit me so easily. Obviously, since I love nautical everything!
I even have a Pinterest board dedicated just to nautical stuff. Check is out here! The shower went well and my friend had her baby on Monday afternoon. The timing was perfect. (Okay so honestly we expected the baby to be at the shower- she was overdue. Guess he just wanted Mom to have her shower first.)
Monday I did household things while Avery was shooting guns for work. Such is the Navy life!
Tuesday I was back in the grind helping plan the Ombudsman Appreciation Dinner. I love the theme. We picked "Night at the Oscars/Old Hollywood," it is going to be so much fun! I hope everyone loves it.
Wednesday and today were doctor appointments. Today was my allergist/asthma doctor. She was running 45 mins late so I did an errand before hand and still ended up waiting a long time in her office. She's never been late like that before. I adore her though and we are both pleased with the plan. Allergy shots for me! Maybe I'll be able to live more comfortably here in the Pacific Northwest now.
Tomorrow I will be at the Command bright and early. I somehow got the 7:30am time slot to present to new sailors (INDOC for those who know what I do.) I am not looking forward to that time. I am more of a 9am person, not a 7am person. Haha!!
Avery and I are doing this challenge I read about on Facebook where you ditch all drinks with sugar and drink water instead. It's not been that bad. And we are both very competitive so I know we will make it. It's really for our health and while we weren't that bad about sugary drinks....I still wanted to make the change. Plus water is free-generally speaking.
Toodles my friends....that's all I've got today!
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
Embryo Adoption
I wrote this last fall and never posted it. I was scared to share it. I am sharing it now as it's been almost a year. I am better with our decision and happy we donated. I will always wonder about those embryos though. I hope they make someone's dream come true.
It's that time. I think I vaguely mentioned doing this a few months ago. After our IVF cycle with Matthew, we had 2 embryos left to freeze. They are perfect grade embryos. Our plan had been to use them around the time Little Dude was 2. God had other plans though. At our RE's office, you pay a yearly fee to keep embryos frozen. This year (2013) when the bill came we had a decision to make...do we keep them just in case or do we leave the possibility of a third child up to God? Let me say, this was a very hard decision. They aren't just frozen embryos to us. They are living beings. Ultimately after a lot of prayers on my end, we've decided to donate our embryos. It will be nearly anonymous. The process requires a lot of paperwork detailing medical history and they ask for pictures (because people want to have kids with similar features to their own obviously.)
I won't lie and say it's a perfect end. I'm grieving. I know we are so lucky that we were able to have our son with one successful IVF cycle and then have our daughter so easily, thus having to make this decision, but still it feels a little like how I'd imagine someone giving a baby up for adoption would feel. It's a loss. I talked extensively with our IVF coordinator & one of the doctor's in our RE's team. It's not just the loss of the babies, but also a loss that with the donation of the embryos we are effectively done with our RE's office. When you deal with infertility, you have to trust your team of doctor's so much. The connection I felt with our RE and his staff was a strong one. They were there during a very stressful & painful time in my life. I will always be so grateful.
I know we are doing the right thing though. There are many other couples out there dealing with infertility who deserve the chance at parenthood. If this can help them, then I have to do it. I feel like it's my way of giving back to the infertility community.
So please pray for us and for the people who will use our embryos.
It's that time. I think I vaguely mentioned doing this a few months ago. After our IVF cycle with Matthew, we had 2 embryos left to freeze. They are perfect grade embryos. Our plan had been to use them around the time Little Dude was 2. God had other plans though. At our RE's office, you pay a yearly fee to keep embryos frozen. This year (2013) when the bill came we had a decision to make...do we keep them just in case or do we leave the possibility of a third child up to God? Let me say, this was a very hard decision. They aren't just frozen embryos to us. They are living beings. Ultimately after a lot of prayers on my end, we've decided to donate our embryos. It will be nearly anonymous. The process requires a lot of paperwork detailing medical history and they ask for pictures (because people want to have kids with similar features to their own obviously.)
I won't lie and say it's a perfect end. I'm grieving. I know we are so lucky that we were able to have our son with one successful IVF cycle and then have our daughter so easily, thus having to make this decision, but still it feels a little like how I'd imagine someone giving a baby up for adoption would feel. It's a loss. I talked extensively with our IVF coordinator & one of the doctor's in our RE's team. It's not just the loss of the babies, but also a loss that with the donation of the embryos we are effectively done with our RE's office. When you deal with infertility, you have to trust your team of doctor's so much. The connection I felt with our RE and his staff was a strong one. They were there during a very stressful & painful time in my life. I will always be so grateful.
I know we are doing the right thing though. There are many other couples out there dealing with infertility who deserve the chance at parenthood. If this can help them, then I have to do it. I feel like it's my way of giving back to the infertility community.
So please pray for us and for the people who will use our embryos.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
52 WEEKS OF MEMORIES | 29 - FAMILY
In an effort to Blog more, I am doing this blog prompt today. This week's topic is...you guessed it: family.
Family is a broad term. Especially for me. Family to me isn't just my 2 children & my husband or my parents, cousins, aunts and uncles. Family are the people in my life who I lean on, support, grow with, and in general love. I call the friends we've met in our military life part of that family network. The Navy family is huge and never far away. I also call the close friends we have in our church community family. Family is a big word & a big deal.
So obviously I couldn't just post one big picture that encompasses my thoughts on family.
So obviously I couldn't just post one big picture that encompasses my thoughts on family.
Check back next week, where I might have a picture.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
I'm back to blogging....maybe....I hope
I don't even know where to start, except to say that blogging felt unnatural and even a little boring for awhile there. I read other blogs and they all just sound amazing and the people who write them sound amazing. I felt like I didn't know what my blogging voice was. I still am wondering what it is exactly. I know I've pondered this before. So who the heck knows....I am just going to ramble today and see what happens.
SOOO what's been going on since April??? Well....
Julia turned 1 and had a great birthday party. Matthew turned 2.5 and is such a big boy sometimes I want to cry. I have stayed as busy as possible. Oh and I had minor nasal surgery. Not a nose job for all your judgmental divas! The nasal turbinates needed some fixing. It went well, I survived and life continued. Then we went to Illinois, road tripped to Dallas for a wedding, and then spent more time in Illinois. Oh and my best friend up here in the PACNORWEST pcs'd and I ugly cried. A LOT! Oh a plus side...my favorite babysitter for my kids came back from National Guard boot camp, thank god! Since babysitters are hard to come by; I am very picky!
It seems like busy is just my middle name. I volunteer (which is really means I work unpaid for a Navy command), I am involved with Navy Wives Club of America, volunteer with MOPS and a million other things related to all those. I was asked recently how I do it all and honestly, I don't know. I just put stuff in my planner and go to town. With a little help from my friend caffeine.
On a good week I dutifully plan my grocery list based on recipes I find on pinterest, type my grocery list using the Safeway site and load my club card to go shopping. On a lazy week or a week where I feel tired and grumpy, I run to the commissary & pray I get enough stuff to make it through the week. <---currently having="" nbsp="" of="" one="" p="" those="" weeks.="">
I was just telling my neighbor what a nice quiet, not busy week I was having and then today I got a call to deal with a situation I can't discuss. Yeah, totally jinxed myself there.
That's it. Maybe I can get on the blogger bandwagon again. All the cool Moms seem to blog. Am I cool? ;)
SOOO what's been going on since April??? Well....
Julia turned 1 and had a great birthday party. Matthew turned 2.5 and is such a big boy sometimes I want to cry. I have stayed as busy as possible. Oh and I had minor nasal surgery. Not a nose job for all your judgmental divas! The nasal turbinates needed some fixing. It went well, I survived and life continued. Then we went to Illinois, road tripped to Dallas for a wedding, and then spent more time in Illinois. Oh and my best friend up here in the PACNORWEST pcs'd and I ugly cried. A LOT! Oh a plus side...my favorite babysitter for my kids came back from National Guard boot camp, thank god! Since babysitters are hard to come by; I am very picky!
It seems like busy is just my middle name. I volunteer (which is really means I work unpaid for a Navy command), I am involved with Navy Wives Club of America, volunteer with MOPS and a million other things related to all those. I was asked recently how I do it all and honestly, I don't know. I just put stuff in my planner and go to town. With a little help from my friend caffeine.
On a good week I dutifully plan my grocery list based on recipes I find on pinterest, type my grocery list using the Safeway site and load my club card to go shopping. On a lazy week or a week where I feel tired and grumpy, I run to the commissary & pray I get enough stuff to make it through the week. <---currently having="" nbsp="" of="" one="" p="" those="" weeks.="">
I was just telling my neighbor what a nice quiet, not busy week I was having and then today I got a call to deal with a situation I can't discuss. Yeah, totally jinxed myself there.
That's it. Maybe I can get on the blogger bandwagon again. All the cool Moms seem to blog. Am I cool? ;)
Monday, April 21, 2014
Just Julia!
Wow....I super stink at blogging this year. I guess I need to put it on the calendar to actually accomplish it. Except I'm pretty sure I did that a few months ago and it didn't work either...so...yeah...about that...
I haven't done any monthly updates or news about Miss Julia in like forever, so I thought I'd focus on my baby girl today.
Julia is the BIG 11 months old today. I am soooo not ready for her to turn 1 years old. I'm pretty sure I will have to have another baby someday, somehow so I can experience this just once more. [Catch me in like 5 years though...because I'm not ready for sleepless nights again for awhile.]
At 11 months old, Julia is:
Weight: Somewhere between 14 & 15 pounds
Height: About 27 inches
Clothes: 3-6 & 6 month clothes. (She still fits the 3 month stuff, but I was super bored of it so I moved her up.)
Shoes: baby size 2
Diapers: Size 2 (again big, but the others were leaking at night, so I moved her up.)
Teeth: 6 (2 of which just broke thru last week. She's a miserable teether, but great at tolerating teeth brushing.)
Julia loves fruits & veggies. She has pretty much nixed baby food purees unless it's apple sauce or I just get lucky. She loves yogurt though. And she'll steal her brothers rice or almond milk if he leaves the cup around where she can reach. I am thinking weaning at a year will not be difficult, thankfully. She has a hard time with sippy cups and only tolerates 1 or 2 kinds, one kind I can't find anywhere anymore so they better last.
She's a very busy girl. Crawling all over the place and pulls herself up, but isn't that interested in walking yet. I'm wondering if she'll be a "late" walker compared to her brother who was raring to go as soon as he could. I'm okay with that though.
She loves cuddling stuffed animals and playing with little toys. Julia is just a doll and has the sweetest personality.
I'm so glad that despite my fears of having kids so close together that it worked out the way it did. I can't imagine my sweet angel not being with us.
Now to finish planning her birthday party. She's having a Minnie Mouse party at a local cupcake place. :-)
I haven't done any monthly updates or news about Miss Julia in like forever, so I thought I'd focus on my baby girl today.
Julia is the BIG 11 months old today. I am soooo not ready for her to turn 1 years old. I'm pretty sure I will have to have another baby someday, somehow so I can experience this just once more. [Catch me in like 5 years though...because I'm not ready for sleepless nights again for awhile.]
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| 8 months old |
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| 9 months old |
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| 10 months old |
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| Today: 11 months old |
Weight: Somewhere between 14 & 15 pounds
Height: About 27 inches
Clothes: 3-6 & 6 month clothes. (She still fits the 3 month stuff, but I was super bored of it so I moved her up.)
Shoes: baby size 2
Diapers: Size 2 (again big, but the others were leaking at night, so I moved her up.)
Teeth: 6 (2 of which just broke thru last week. She's a miserable teether, but great at tolerating teeth brushing.)
Julia loves fruits & veggies. She has pretty much nixed baby food purees unless it's apple sauce or I just get lucky. She loves yogurt though. And she'll steal her brothers rice or almond milk if he leaves the cup around where she can reach. I am thinking weaning at a year will not be difficult, thankfully. She has a hard time with sippy cups and only tolerates 1 or 2 kinds, one kind I can't find anywhere anymore so they better last.
She's a very busy girl. Crawling all over the place and pulls herself up, but isn't that interested in walking yet. I'm wondering if she'll be a "late" walker compared to her brother who was raring to go as soon as he could. I'm okay with that though.
She loves cuddling stuffed animals and playing with little toys. Julia is just a doll and has the sweetest personality.
I'm so glad that despite my fears of having kids so close together that it worked out the way it did. I can't imagine my sweet angel not being with us.
Now to finish planning her birthday party. She's having a Minnie Mouse party at a local cupcake place. :-)
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
That time Matthew turned 2!
In celebration of the fact that my big boy is not napping today and has decided he'll just play in his crib, I figured it was about time I blogged about him turning 2 years old.
On January 23rd, Matthew turned 2 years old! He had a low key day at home with presents and a pie after dinner. He loved blowing out the candle and asked us to do it again over & over again. It was so sweet! The following Sunday we had his birthday party at the community center.
Matthew had his 2 year well baby exam a day after his birthday party. I guess I can't call these exams well baby exams anymore. He's not a baby. *sniff sniff* I'd call these the toddler years, but Pampers who emails me updates calls him a preschooler. Not sure I am ready for that.....
His stats at 2 years:
Height: 35 inches tall
Weight: 27 pounds
Head Circumference: 50 cm
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| His presents from family on his birthday. He woke up to find these. |
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| Opening gifts. |
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| His "cake" was a chocolate chip cookie pie. He loved it! |
For some reason I can't find all the birthday party pictures, but his theme was a Fire truck/fire fighting theme. There was a bean bag toss, dress up and coloring sheets. Plus good snacks! He had a blast with his friends at his birthday party. If I find the good party pictures I'd love to show everything I did for that...maybe someday.
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| 2 year well baby appointment. |
His stats at 2 years:
Height: 35 inches tall
Weight: 27 pounds
Head Circumference: 50 cm
Wearing: size 3 & 4 diapers, 18 month clothes and some bigger & smaller stuff depending on what it is.
He is really doing great. His speech and vocabulary are above average for his age. They were impressed and yes I know this is bragging, but compared to a time where we were so concerned about his development, it really makes me feel good. He has all his baby teeth except for those pesky 2 year molars. I keep watching for them to come in. He loves most foods, though sometimes isn't a fan of meat or noodles. He loves reading books & singing songs. Mickey Mouse is a huge hit with him!
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
March...in like a lion....
Is it March already?? Should I give a sigh of relief? I kind of feel like I ought to. Since I last posted in mid-January we've dealt with some sort of illness or injury or teething every other week I swear. I don't know if I even have had time to breath this winter. Speaking of winter....I AM OVER IT!!!! Bring on Spring please!! Today the PACNORWEST blessed me with the most gorgeous morning. 61 degrees and sunny. That totally made up for waiting over an hour at the Naval hospital pharmacy to get 4 things for my Matthew's fragile skin.
So....what have you missed....or what did I neglect to share with you since I was away dealing with winter illnesses (can you tell I'm bitter?!?)
-My Mom came to visit
-Matthew turned the big 2 years old.
-Julia turned 8 months old, then she turned 9 months old....I swear this kid keeps aging on me and I'm certain I didn't agree to that plan for my baby girl. ;-)
-I've been super busy doing my volunteer job. Can we say dramatic people?!? But I love it...seriously love every moment.
I've got several blog posts planned. Hopefully I can finish them and get them posted. That is if I survive the skin issues Matthew is currently having....
Oh and today is Ash Wednesday, in case you aren't religious and aware. I still haven't formally decided what to give up for Lent. I'm tired of giving up foods...with my current can't-stop-losing-weight issue going down...it seems like a negative on that anyway. I am not even following the Catholic Church's fasting obligation for this Holy Day. I need the calories.
Hope you all are doing well and hopefully I'll be back soon. Toodles!
So....what have you missed....or what did I neglect to share with you since I was away dealing with winter illnesses (can you tell I'm bitter?!?)
-My Mom came to visit
-Matthew turned the big 2 years old.
-Julia turned 8 months old, then she turned 9 months old....I swear this kid keeps aging on me and I'm certain I didn't agree to that plan for my baby girl. ;-)
-I've been super busy doing my volunteer job. Can we say dramatic people?!? But I love it...seriously love every moment.
I've got several blog posts planned. Hopefully I can finish them and get them posted. That is if I survive the skin issues Matthew is currently having....
Oh and today is Ash Wednesday, in case you aren't religious and aware. I still haven't formally decided what to give up for Lent. I'm tired of giving up foods...with my current can't-stop-losing-weight issue going down...it seems like a negative on that anyway. I am not even following the Catholic Church's fasting obligation for this Holy Day. I need the calories.
Hope you all are doing well and hopefully I'll be back soon. Toodles!
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