Construction!

We built a bedroom upstairs!
Bay window
It is such a cool room
Pretty sure our kids will fight over who gets to move up here! I'll have to pick my favorite, and that one can. I am sure it will be Paige.
We already had a bonus room up here, and we added these window seats.
And built an entertainment center
All the kids are going to want to hang over here. Plus Paige's mom is a MILF.
Paige loves to walk! Holding on to this that is : )
Cute girl!
Get out of my way!
My once lovely family room looks like a daycare center
Toys everywhere!
We added these wooden pannels above our cabinets. Pretty cool. They still need to be stained. If you look closely, you can see they actually carved the wood out to match the stone. Took them almost a week to finish this!
I think it looks pretty cool.

Paige is going to her first OKC Thunder (our NBA team) game tonight! It starts at 7 so we will be up past bedtime for sure. Our babysitters (my parents!) are out of town at their vacation house in Alaska. We are way to cheap to pay for a sitter, so she tags along with us every where we go now. I know she will like Rumble, so I hope he comes up to us. She loved the OU mascot at the last basketball game we went to.

I'll get plenty of pictures of Paige at her first NBA experience! Michelle and Ethan are coming too, so at least Paige will have a buddy : )

Happy Friday!

One foot in front of the other.

We got the news we were hoping to hear on Friday. Lupron was ordered and received (and for only $10 - thank you Blue Cross Blue Shield!), and blood work came back clean. Two major hurdles down! About a thousand more to go. But as my dad says...we will jump off those bridges when we get there. I think this is the last I am going to mention about this on here. IVF takes up so much of my mental energy...and I only have so much to give! Between a crazy busy 10 month old (how did that happen?!?), construction workers in our house every day, David being super busy with work and school and therefore is hardly ever home...you get the picture. I need to focus on the things I can control and let go of the things I can't.

That being said - I have plenty to blog about still! Paige is amazing. a.maz.ing. She is still loving to eat. Current favorites: mac n cheese (we have to shovel it in her mouth), nurtigrain bars, carrots, mashed potatoes, chicken, black beans, and yogurt. And water from her sippy-cup.

She is still in the crawling/cruising phase. She hasn't shown any interest in taking independent steps. She really doesn't even like to stand on her own. But what have learned from reading this blog: you can't compare your kid to other kids! Okay now repeat after me: you can't compare your kid to other kids!

Paige loves her daddy and gets excited when he gets home from work. She also loves her puppies. I am pretty sure 'puppy' is going to be her first word.

We have started teaching her body parts. Not the gross ones yet : ) We say, "Paige, where is your nose?" She smiles and crawls away. Ha! She will get it someday though : )

I have come to the following conclusion: footed jammies above size nine months live in some parallel universe. They don't live at Babies R' Us, Target, Macy's, Dillards, or JC Pennies. Therefore, these are our new jammies. Because she is in a sleep sack, I know she stays warm.

Bug with her date on Valentines Day. This was from my Iphone. Love those two.
I let Paige nap on me the other day. We stayed in our jammies all day, and I managed to get this picture of her sweet face. It is moments like this that make all the hard times worth it.

Have a wonderful week!!

IVF #2 update

You might be wondering why I haven't updated on IVF #2. Well to be honest, I haven't had many good things to report. Things - yes. Good things? No.

Well I'll back up...one good thing. My mock transfer went well. It was more painful than last time (I think - it has been almost two years!), but it went smoothly and everything looks good.

There have been some serious problems with my blood work. Some issues have since been resolved, some haven't. Problems that if aren't resolved, I can't go ahead with the cycle. I decided to not order all my meds. No sense in ordering thousands of dollars in drugs if I can't use them. I only ordered Lupron, because I am supposed to start that Sunday! Hopefully I will know by Monday at the latest if everything is okay. If so, then I can order my meds.

They do a mock IVF work-up on the male, just so they will know what they are dealing with on the actual day. This did not go well. We have to repeat this test next week.

Even the pharmacy I was using for my Lupron was giving me trouble. They were trying to charge me about $100 more than I knew I owed. I had to go to another pharmacy that was more friendly with Blue Cross Blue Shield. I spent all afternoon yesterday on the phone with doctors, reps from the Oklahoma Blood Institute, pharmacists, receptionists. Uggggh.

I ended up in tears on the phone with David (he is very used to this, don't worry!!). I just didn't feel good about the way this was going. I felt like it was a sign that I should wait and try again in a few months. He did not like that at all, and is pretty adamant that we continue. He is right. There are always going to be obstacles. Nothing having to do with IVF is easy and you always have to be prepared for the curve ball. Well I wasn't prepared. I was so naive. But all you can do is pick yourself up and keep going. I think, with some persistence and good luck, this is going to happen after all.

Blogger Award!

Thanks to Duke'sgirl for nominating me for this award! Rebekah pretty much defines perseverance in the infertility game. After a miscarriage after IVF #1, she kept on going with three (I believe that is right?) frozen transfers before she got her sticky baby. And what an adorable baby she got! Check out her blog to see what sticking with it through all the ups and downs can get you!

The RULES:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.

2. Copy the award and paste it to your blog.

3. Tell us 7 interesting facts about yourself.

4. Nominate fellow bloggers that you love and link up to their blog:

7 Facts about me:

1. I lived in Alaska for a year while my dad was working there. I liked it, but I hated moving in the middle of high school

2. I write with my right hand, but do everything else with my left hand.

3. I did competitive gymnastics all the way up to level 10 (second highest). I can still do the splits ; )

4. I love re-runs. I could watch the same TV show over and over again and not get bored with it. My favorites are: The Office, Grey's Anatomy, Beverly Hills, 90210, FRIENDS, Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls. I literally have seen every episode shown several times.

5. When I put deodorant on, I count how many strokes I do on each arm. I do 5 per arm.

6. I like to dip my cheeze-its in ketchup or bbq sauce. It really grosses my husband out.

7. Right now, I am taking 7 pills a day to get my body ready for IVF. 3 metformins, 1 birth control pill, 1 norethindrone (extra progesterone for suppression), 1 prenatal vitamin, 1 DHEA for egg quality.

I nominate Allison , Callie , Michelle , and Jamie

Valentines Day pictures done right

I am so thankful to Allison for taking these pictures for us. In addition to being obviously talented, she is such a sweet girl and a pleasure to have in your company! I must say - the subject matter here was pretty adorable ; )

I love this one! I have to admit, when she started snapping pictures with me in them, I was nervous. I am not photogenic at all, and I looked horrible that day! Paige and I had been out running errands and I looked like it! But I really love this picture.
We tried to get Paige to sit in her rocking chair...but this is what we got.
No words. I just love this picture.


Embracing the pink and brown!!
Sooner behind!! Love it!
And finallly...the DAD. Allison did a slightly better job that I did ; )


David ended up loving his present! Yes - we did VDay presents the day before the actual day. David got me PJ Salvage cupcake jammies, a Mackenzie Childs ice scooper (David is very random!), and a cute photo board for Paige's room. Such a keeper this guy is. I got him the DAD photo frame and two nice ties.

We use any excuse to exchange gifts!!!

Happy Valentines Day, again!! And thanks again, Allison!!

Helpful bug, and photo shoot fail!

Random picture first. My cute bug loves to look out the window at her puppies.
So here is the photo shoot fail. Here is my idea: Take three pictures of Paige - one of her holding a D, one an A, and the last another D. Then give it to David for Valentines Day in a three-frame picture frame. Cute, huh? I went to Hobby Lobby and got the letters, painted them red, and got my bug in her red tutu. All set, right? WRONG! Getting a 9 month old to hold letters, sit still, and look at the camera just wasn't happening. Plus - my photography skills...well they just aren't there ; )

Thank goodness for nice people like Allison (See The Hess Household on the right) who are awesome at photography and offer to come over and help. So hopefully next week I will show some successful pictures!
Paige...LOOK AT MOMMA!!
She escaped and started crawling around and climbing on everything.
Finally got her to sit still and hold the letter. Now look at me!
Stop playing with your tutu! As you can see, we tried a variety of locations in the house. Ugggh.
A funny sidenote...I love to take baths. I take one every night. Well the other day, David gave me some time to myself, so I went to the gym, the mall, got a pedicure, and went to lunch. Heaven! Anyway, while he was watching her, he said she got fussy, crawled to the bathroom, and climbed on the tub looking for momma! Ha!
Sweet girl! Coming over to help me do the laundry.
She likes Hanky Pankys. Yikes!

Crawling away with them! Paige - that is not how folding laundry works!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful V-Day with the one that you love!!

Paige the trouble maker!

Looking all sweet and innocent...
But I love to rip the pages out of mommy's magazine that she hasn't read yet. And I love to try and eat the pages and almost choke on them.
Mom tried to do a cute, fun photo session with me in my new ladybug outfit, but I did not want to. I did not want to let go of my bath toy.
I would rather climb on the couch.
I'll smile...just as long as you don't take away my toy!

Are we done yet?

I love climbing on this plant because I know I'm not supposed to. I also like to rip up the faux grass in it causing a myriad of problems: ruining the plant, making a huge mess, letting the dogs take the grass and run it all over the house, and then I eat the grass and almost choke. Again.
But I sure am cute!

Sweet memories.

Big girl who loves the swings! This was the day before the huge ice and snow storm we had. We were stuck inside Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning. We braved the roads and went to the mall on Saturday afternoon because I was just done with being inside. It wasn't too bad out. I felt like a fatty because all I did was lay around and eat. It felt so good to go to the gym this morning!

I went to get Paige from her crib this morning and she was talking (babababa mamamama dadadada yayayayaya) and standing in her crib and it just hit me how much she is growing up. I am so happy to see her growing and changing like she is supposed to, but a part of me is so sad that Paige will never be a baby again. I know we will have more babies and I will get to have that again...but it won't be my tiny baby bug Paige. She was the most precious newborn. So sweet, all curled up in a ball. She loved to coo. She was a pretty serious baby. She didn't smile just all the time and would stare at an object for long periods of time. She LOVED (and actually still loves!) to be rocked and cuddled. Oh how precious babies are!
Melt my heart!
Paige on her first date! Look how tiny those babies are!
I have tears in my eyes just looking at these pictures.
I was in a hurry, I feel like, with Paige, when she was a newborn. I was so anxious about everything and ready for her to be bigger "so I wouldn't worry so much." Well the worry is still here but my baby isn't : ( All I can say is enjoy those first few months. They are taxing, I know. Sleep deprivation is horrible, feeding every three hours is draining, and the constant worry about SIDS...I remember all these things. But the sweet smell of a sleeping baby on your chest - well it certainly makes it all worth it.