2011 in Review

Here's a look back at this year.  As I browsed through all of my old blog posts, I realized how different our life seems since I combined the infertility blog and this blog.  Many months I blogged more on my private blog than I did here.  While many of you weren't privy to that information at the time, it would be quite shocking to yall to look back through the two blogs combined in chronological order.  I realize now how much of our life was centered around getting pregnant.  This year could probably be titled "Infertility and the Aftermath".

January - William was on temporary assignment with the Army in Arizona. We had a very fun visit to Bisbee, Arizona that I'll never forget. We also found out that I wasn't ovulating.  We had been trying to get pregnant for 6 months by then and were anxious for answers. Also, my cousin Meredith got married!

February - We spent yet another month apart, but not without more awesome trips to Arizona. We continued to "try" to conceive. I learned the fun of 21 day progesterone checks. 

March - I spent my Spring Break in Arizona with William.  He turned 24... his last birthday before becoming a daddy.  I got a second opinion on my fertility issues.  One of the best decisions I ever made...

April - In April I continued to train for my half marathon.  It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life... just training for it.  William also came home in April! I blogged to the world about my infertility, something I'm so glad that I did. We celebrated Easter with my favorite cousins!

May - We found out that William's swimmers weren't the problem in our baby making issues.  This was both a joy and burden (at least for me). We made yet another "new plan" for our fertility treatments. I ran my first half marathon! It wasn't glamorous, but I finished! In May my cousin Katie got married. I finished my first year as an SLP and officially became a CCC-SLP.

June (hold on tight... this was a busy month)- We got yet more news of failed clomid cycles. This time it was particularly devastating as my doctor announced he was sending me on to the Reproductive Endocrinologist. Little did we know... God had other plans. We went to Mike and Erin's wedding... such a special weekend for us in many ways.  We thought we had yet another failed cycle. I lost 15lbs between April and June.  We met with the RE for the first and last time.  We were definitely pregnant by now... but poor little Levi was too small to be seen by anyone. We put an offer on our house! And then... my favorite part... we found out we were PREGNANT!

July - We met Levi! I'm sure other things happened in July, but it seems like Levi was the center of everything. We closed on our house as well!

August - I helped with a baby shower for my cousin Lauren.  We moved into our new house and started to get settled. 

September - I took a photography workshop. Our sweet friends Chelsea and Troy got married. 

October - We found out we are having a boy! I worked on the nursery. 

November - Well clearly we were busy in November.  I barely blogged.  Work for the enitre fall semester basically consumed me.  We went to a really fun Bob the Builder party for Colin and spent the weekend with family! I also spent Thanksgiving in Houston with my dad and William's family.  He spent it in Arkansas working... boo.

December  - This month was similar to November.  William and I spent lots of time together when he wasn't working.  We managed to get the nursery all put together.  It looks awesome. We had our first baby shower at which Levi got his Pack N Play, car seat, a swing, and all sorts of other fun things! We also got to see his beautiful face again! 

 

We are very excited about 2012.  It's going to be one for the record books I'm sure.  We can't wait to become parents!

Posting from the car!!

We are on our way to Houston! I have had an amazing week with my husband. I hesitated to post anything to joyful before now because I didn't want to jinx the amazingness of him being home.

So here's what's been going on:

William got a pass to come home a little early last Wednesday. We had an ultrasound Friday morning and Thursday they weren't going to be doing much in Waco. Plus William worked his butt off for the time he was in Brownwood. He surprised me by showing up at the house unannounced. I was speechless. Ask my mom.

Then Thursday I had I work and had a Christmas party at my school. I made all the desserts for it.

Friday morning we got up and headed to what we thought would be our last ultrasound of Levi. Turns out that Levi is a bit large - 3lbs 11oz at 29 weeks. Needless to say we are having another growth scan February 3rd to determine just how big he is getting. I also had my gestational diabetes screening. I passed but the doctor asked me to watch my carbs. Which is of course near impossible for all humans during December.

We went to Houston last weekend to celebrate Christmas with my grandpas family and see Williams family. We also saw our friends Troy and Chelsea which is always fun!

This week has been about getting things done! We finished our shopping, got Levi's room ready and hung up some frames and things like that around the house. I feel really prepared for Levi. We have been blessed to have received almost all of the bigs things we need for him. We are down to needing bottles and dishes and littles things like that. I'll add some updated pictures of his room to this post.

We also opened our Christmas presents to each other already. We had fun buying for each other this year. I got William a nice toolbox, a power sander, a jig saw, and a nice pair of ear buds. William got me a new camera lens (50mm), the Vera Bradley diaper bag ive been wanting, a new Vera Bradley computer case, and a pair of sperrys! Very fun!

Now we are on our way to Houston! Can't wait to see friends and family. It's a bit bittersweet. Not everyone may realize, but this will probably be our last Houston Christmas. At least Christmas day. My parents made it a priority to be home for Christmas so that we could always be at our own house to open gifts from Santa and participate in the festivities at our home church. This is something that William and I have also decided to do. It may mean things will be different. But we want Levi to love our family traditions and identify them as ours.

Crazy to believe that this time next year I'll have a 10 month old. I can't believe how blessed we have been. Things have been hard, but when I look back I know that we did what was best and followed our hearts and Gods paths for us. I sometimes question Levi's timing, but I know that God created him at the perfect moment in our lives.

I might post again soon... But if not... Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Life is hard

I am NEVER gonna get caught up at work.  I'm just going to have to walk away and go on maternity leave and leave my poor long term sub to drown in the pile of stuff that is never ending.

Bullying in schools is real.  And when the bullying involves a child with social or cognitive impairments or developmental delays it becomes even more confusing and difficult to deal with. Sometimes the kiddo with the impairments is the bully and sometimes they are the one being bullied. I wish I had all the answers. It keeps me up at night.

Our brand new auto insurance policy was canceled. Because our cars aren't titled to us.  I mean we have planned on getting them titled in our names instead of our parents.  But we just haven't yet. So basically now we have 10 days to try and get it switched over before we have no car insurance. Awesome.

We are trying to get life insurance. We already had blood work done.  And now they want me to have an exam.  The exam includes 8 to 10 hours of fasting.  So either I make the appointment for like 8 am and have to take MORE time off work.  Or, I have to fast during the day at 30 weeks pregnant. Remind me why life insurance is so important?

William has been gone for going on two weeks. I cry almost every time I talk to him (which has been for like 5 minutes every 3 days).  I can't help it.  He talks about coming home on Thursday and all I can think is that he is just going to leave again on Monday. And then I will be left to deal with all of the above mentioned stuff alone.

Seriously, where are the jobs? WHY doesn't anyone want William? He is SUCH a hard worker. He is SO smart. I seriously don't know what to do anymore.  There are so many cliches I could say to myself right now... "Everything happens for a reason", "Good things come to those who wait", "Patience is a virtue", "God always provides" but the truth is... I'm angry. When has all our sacrificing been enough? William has given his time to the Army and would gladly give his LIFE. I married him full well knowing that.  He works hard at the job he has, busting his butt to impress people and move up the line... to what end? We give back to our community, love our friends well, spend time with our families. I work with kids with cognitive/developmental/language impairments. I would do it for free if I didn't have to eat. We saved our money, bought a house, have no credit card debt (don't even have a credit card), are quickly paying off my student loans, consult with financial advisors...

So... LIFE, GOD, WHO EVER IS LISTENING.... when do we get our break? WHEN?

Edited to add:
I know that many people have it so much worse.  This is not meant to be a complaint, just a plea. Because sometimes life is just too overwhelming.
Also, I just spoke with William (about 20 minutes after posting this) and he is amazing.  God blessed me with an amazing man. He loves Levi and I so much.

28 weeks 1 day: Where have I been?

Sorry I've been MIA... I just haven't really felt like blogging.
I'm not sick anymore... so that's good.

I did have to go to Labor and Delivery a few weeks ago.  It was sort of anti climactic.  Basically I probably had some sort of stomach virus that was making me be in excruciating pain.  It also made me lose my appetite and will to drink anything... therefore I got super dehydrated.  Soooo I ended up getting a  bag of IV fluids with dextrose.  Levi thought the whole thing was a hoot.  He got to be the center of attention with the nurse chasing him around my uterus.  He kicked the monitor off every three minutes.  I think William fully realized how much he is moving after that day.

William has been so sweet over the past few months.  Our job/living situation has always been tough on us, although I sometimes suspected it was mostly just tough on me.  But I can tell that it is really tough on him now.  I try so hard not to make him feel responsible for us being apart, but I know he takes it personally.  My back has been really hurting recently and it's amazing how him rubbing my back can make everything seem so much better.  He has been gone since Friday and it's been a pretty rough few days. Only nine days to go.

I did have a nice distraction this weekend in the way of my first baby shower.  I'm going to do a separate post on the shower itself.... but the aftermath has kept me busy.  I've been nesting ever since.

Here's a look back at Levi growing...

   

25 week ramblings

• I'm sick-- I'm currently living on Mucinex and Kleenex. 
• My back hurts a lot... three cheers for a real pregnancy symptom
• Levi seems to be fine... 24 week appointment says he's measuring normal... good to know
• At my next appointment I have to do my glucose screening... but I'll be rewarded with an ultrasound as well.  It's on Dec 16th.
• Levi's first shower is on December 3rd and I'm so excited. 
• We bought some baby furniture... can't wait for it to get here!

 The ottoman and the chair are going to be light blue...

And we also got this changing table.  The top comes off so it becomes a dresser as well!