Green Grass and Cherry Blossoms

What What?

Last week my brother told me that he, his wife and two lovely daughters were heading to the Vancouver area to visit family. So I decided to stowaway and visit DW's sister and her family. We drove from Blackfalds to Sicamous on friday night, then continued to Ladner on Saturday. Right into the heart of the Olympic games *sarcastic woohoo*

We went for a walk in 12 degree weather yesterday. Sun shining, green grass, trees budding, spring flowers blooming, and CHERRY BLOSSOMS! What the deuce?!? It totally creeps me out to see spring happening in February, yet I never left Canada! Seems weird, but I'm loving it!

I really have nothing to write about..just figured it has been freakin forever since I last bloggered.
Merry February 15th ya'll!

Breaking Dawn

Well, DW and I are officially on 'Breaking Dawn' now! How exciting eh? haha DW really enjoyed Eclipse, and we are both looking forward to seeing it in theater on June 30th!

Work is the same. I'm working crazy hours, pay is pathetic, but Emiko and Claire are well worth it! I heart those little monkeys! Claire is starting to walk now. She has taken 5 steps on her own a few times now. And rather than use furniture to get up to walk, she just stands right up! She even occasionally does the downward dog pose! Hilarious kid! Emiko and I have been working on her printing a little bit. She loves to play 'school' and is doing awesome with learning to print the alphabet. She even wrote on Nana's birthday card last week! (Ann wrote the words then Emiko wrote then onto Nana's card! She is such a stinkin smart kid!)

DW quite possibly will be switching to a new job, one that will actually help us get this ridonkulous debt out of the way once and for all! Plus, help us get out from under the car payment! It will be wonderful to own Sven, and not pay $700 a month for him! So prayer would be appreciated on that. DW would be working 20 and 8's, which for those of ya'll who aren't fluent in rig speak, that is 20 days straight working, then 8 off. Rinse and repeat until job is complete!

In other news, we are tentatively looking into a big big big change! Nothing baby related, although that is likely to happen also. More of a move, a big move, to a new country! Eeek! DW is feeling like God is pointing us in new direction, and I'm not freaking out yet! haha No details yet, because really, we have no idea if its just an idea or if we are being called away. So yeah, prayer for that would also be AWESOME!

Below are my two favorite songs of the moment. Feel free to take a listen! (you may want to pause the music playing at the very bottom of the blog first)

Beside You makes me cry. Frequently! Sure, it isn't a 'God' song, but so much of it speaks to me that way! When I first heard it, it was like Josh Ramsay was singing for me! Not a huge fan of the video, but anyhoo, here it be:

And Miss Miley, with yet another catchy ballad that somehow makes me cry too. I'm sure a shrink would have a field day with my head lately! Crappy crappy version, thanks Youtube! The track sounds WAY better I promise.

Another year...

Wow! 11 days into 2010 already! And today it is 7 degrees, Celsius!! What is going on? Global warming finally happening or something? So very bizarre! But I'll take it while it is here, and try not to think that this is spring already! Shall make the next -30 cold snap pretty unbearable though! Yikes!

So DW and I decided to do some little resolutions for 2010. Not huge ones, just ones we may actually succeed at within this year.

A few of my resolutions:

• Healthier lifestyle: eat better, move more
• Read through the Bible
• Paint spare room (future nursery, if we still live here with a baby!)
• Watch Stargate SG1 season 1-10
• Paint DW's dojo/trophy room

A few of DW's:

• Get his blue belt in Jiu Jitsu
• Attend a UFC live, either in Vegas or Vancouver

Mutual goals:

• Pay off debt load
• Budget!
  
• Leave Canada to anywhere outside of Canada! haha preferably somewhere tropical!
• Expand our family, which may include starting the adoption process (eek!)
• Finish reading Eclipse and Breaking Dawn together (I read out loud to DW, and surprisingly, he actually enjoys them, well now that we are past Twilight haha)

So far we have a budget on the go, which should drastically help the debt load issue. We also have started reading Eclipse. I really wanted to read it to DW before he saw the movie, because he saw Twilight and New Moon with me before we read them together. This is actually my third time reading the series. I still enjoy it, and am still 100% team Jacob! Not that I really want Jacob with Bella, but I just plain love Jacob Black! But I digress! I have picked the paint colors I want for the spare room/nursery. DW has a blue toned carpet in 'his' room, so I'm not sure what we will end up doing in there yet.

Anyhoo, that is in a nutshell what we want for 2010, Lord willing and the creek don't rise! Shall give an update on fertility stuff and junk when there is news. Currently CD26, and hoping for sticky baby dust! (haha how silly does that sound?)

Round 3

Here we go again! Today is CD6, and I have one last dose of Serophene tomorrow morning. Then we start trying all over again. Merry Christmas! (to DW anyhoo, I'm exhausted just thinking about it)

The previous cycle went really well. Planned intercourse for longer than deemed necessary, but in our case is, because I appear to be ovulating near cd21. I had high temps from cd22 to cd33, with cramping, tenderness, etc. Then Wednesday (dec. 16) my temps plummeted, I took a pregnancy test, (negative) and AF arrived shortly after lunch. I was a wreck that day. I know 11 days isn't long enough to know by temps and such but with the cramping, I thought this was finally it!

I think the worst part of it all, was feeling so hopeful. And then feeling so utterly crushed. Basically I cried if I let myself think of anything remotely close to fertility, or if I talked to anyone that day. It was a majorly shat-tastic day!

Claire Bear laughed at me when I cried in front of her. (guess 1 year olds don't get grief very well) Emi gave me a hug, a kiss, said 'I love you' then sang me twinkle twinkle little star (while 'playing' a small drum). Emi sings to Claire to help keep her calm in the van and such. It works wonders on Claire... but on me, it just about did me in. That little lady has the most amazing heart! She is also hilarious! While trying to put her to bed for her nap the other day, she was laying very still, with the blanket over her face (its how she closes her eyes), and all of the sudden started singing the Pinky and the Brain theme song. (Up until the first chorus!) As I laughed into her stuffy! Then I said 'Okay Emi, it is time to sleep now' and she replied 'But that was a very nice song.' Freakin hilarious kid! Oh and she just got her first official hair cut! Pictures to come soon!

So now we try again. Thankfully the trying doesn't officially start til after Christmas, so right now I am focusing on a wonderful couple of days with all 10 of us, and how fun it will be with Emi and Claire this year! Trying not to focus on the fact that we only have one cycle after this one left before new more invasive things start happening. IUI won't be so bad, but a royal pain in the apple. But, I'm trying to keep my faith and trust in the right place, and focus on the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope its a wonderful time with family and friends!

Because its fun

a meme!

A list of 5 guys whose laps I would rather sit on than Santa's.

#1 - Roger Huerta, UFC fighter

Look at that freakin dimple! So delish!

#2 - Ryan Reynolds...and he is Canadian!

#3 - Gerard Butler, naughty but nice? (Yeah, DW's puns are rubbing off on me!)

#4 - Jason Segel, Cute & hilarious

#5, Taylor Lautner, But not until February 11, 2010 when he officially becomes legal! (Because married 26 year old women, shouldn't sit on 17 year old boys laps!)

*ahem*

Where to start? Where to start? The very beginning is a little extreme, so hows about I just cover the high lights of the last couple ah months. Yikes! It has indeed been way to long.

~ October ~

I blogged about starting my new drug treatment of Serophene. I took 5 doses of 50 mg on CD 3-7, did the whole timed intercourse thing.

~ November ~

Then had blood test 1 done on CD21 (November 6th). I also was fighting some nasty bug that my brother had, the munchkin had, and Boo Bear was fighting off. Sitting in a waiting room for almost an hour with a stanky (seriously, I'm talking pure feces coupled with moth balls.. I almost ralphed, more than once) sick lady coughing on me non-stop, put my immune system over the edge, and by the end of the day, I was sick. I'm talking seriously ill. Not H1N1, just a stupid bug that kept me sick for majority of November. So, timed intercourse ended, and on CD28, I had my second blood test done. (November 13).

TMI Alert

I had been feeling so emo the last week, temperatures were a bust because of me being sickly, sore nipples, etc.. I was so hopefully sure that this was it! FINALLY! Then, what would have been cd29 became CD1 as AF descended with vengeance.. in Wal-Mart!! The emotions I went through that day were not fun at all. I was so sure this was it, so sure that I almost bawled in Dollarama while wasting time while DW was weighing in at his tournament. I went from surprise and awe that I had actually had a 28 day cycle! (first in half a decade), to thinking that I had miscarried (that is how sure I felt), I was an emotional wreck, who was still super sick and had no voice. DW was entirely to preoccupied with his tournament to focus on my melt dow, so being me, I buried it, calmed down, and decided that regardless of what happened, God was in control!

On CD3, I called the fertility clinic to get a prescription of Serophene faxed because I had to start it that day, or go through the gong show of taking prometrium again. So, I drove into Red Deer to get my prescription that night and started cycle 2 on Serophene. On CD7 (November 20th) I took my final pill, as well as met with Dr. O'Keane. My tests had come back showing that I had indeed ovulated, (and missed it...) and I am not diabetic. He gave me two more prescriptions, just incase, and told us to continue using the old fashioned method of timed intercourse.

~ December ~

CD27 today.... Timed intercourse from CD10 to CD24 is entirely to much intercourse! Ugh! I'm thankfully not sick anymore. Both girls are back to healthy too. Bear turned 1 on the 8th! Holy moly! We are having a family party tomorrow night to celebrate a wonderful year getting to know one of the happiest little ones I've ever met!

Drew is finally working full time hours! Hooray! We aren't going to have to sell my car after all! There have been some tough times in the past month, financially, emotionally, hormonally, etc... We used the food bank for the first time in my life. (DW had used it in his previous 'life'), we fell behind on all payments except the mortgage and my car. (but just barely)

I am so stressed, so tired, and so sick of this part of our journey. I honestly don't know if I can start 2010 knowing I'm on the same horrid path. Unfortunately, it is not my decision to make. So I guess I will continue one step at a time, trying to trust, trying to lay it down, succeeding at times, and failing miserably most times. I'm tired. I'm scared because this time of the month where we find out if there is a miracle growing, or if I failed again, we have to try again next cycle.

On the upside, Christmas is only 15 days away! HOORAY! I'm still praying that I will have a Christmas miracle this year. It would be the best gift I could possibly give my husband and my parents!

Welp, I'm off to bed! I have to adorable little girls expecting me bright and early. Tomorrow we bake! Huzzah!

jillanna

Yummmmy!

Today I decided to try out a recipe I found on a friend's blog. It was for a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte! Hello! She had discovered a lovely website that had a recipe for a homemade syrup. (as well as many other fabulous looking foods that I must try my hand at!) Click here for the recipe if you want to try it yourself. So I decided today was a good day to try it, because I definitely needed the caffeine boost after yet another night of not sleeping. So here it is, the delicious, homemade, extremely affordable Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Tomorrow I shall attempt to remember to blog, and update everyone on all of the going on's in my life these days!