It's a ................

John and I are so excited to finally announce that we are having a baby GIRL and BOY!

We are so thrilled that we have this opportunity to be parents.  

It will be very challenging but worth every minute.

 I am so happy to be pregnant and am ready for everything that comes with it.  So bring on the restless nights, difficulty breathing and stretch marks!!! I'm going to be a mommy

I had to post these cute photos of my little Rolie Polie Olie!  

He really has no idea what he's in for come the end of the year.  I love the photo on the right because I only see Olie's ears make that funny shape every now and again.  They make me laugh every time.  

HAPPY NEWS!!!

I am excited to announce that John and I are expecting twins this December!  They are both healthy and seem to be happy as I have just recently been able to feel their little kicks and movements.  We are so blessed to have this opportunity to have a family!

I also just want to say that I LOVE being pregnant.  It has been a beautiful experience so far.

The next step......

Well........Needless to say I have not written in my blog for a LONG time!!!

I want to follow up for those that do not know the final results of my IVF adventure.  I waited a long time to say anything about it frankly because I wasn't 100% sure that it would be successful.

John and I followed the rigorous schedule required for the IVF cycle which resulted in 7 healthy embryos.  The day that we went into the doctors office for the embryo transfer the doctor asked how many embryos we wanted to have put inside of me (my options were 1 or 2).  I really was worried about how I was to carry two babies, however, I didn't want this to fail either.  John had see me cry too many tears in the past few months and he wanted to make sure we got at least one baby.

John spoke up loud and clear that we wanted 2 embryos; of course hoping we would be able to keep at least one of them, and hopefully both.  It was a really cool experience because the embryologist went back into the lab to retrieve the embryos we were able to watch him work on a video screen.  There was a tiny camera attached to the microscope where he was working and we were able to see our tiny embryos picked up with a catheter and then brought into the room where they inserted the catheter into my uterus guided by ultrasound.  I was awake for this embryo-transfer and it really was a neat experience.  A hope of having a family was at hand.....where it was lost for so long.

We were so excited for the next step.

We anxiously waited for the blood test scheduled 10 days later to see if I was pregnant or not.  When that day finally came I was so excited!!!  The nurse told me that my HCG levels were quite high and because of that - the possibility of multiple babies was very high.  I was told to wait for 2 more weeks when my doctor would perform a viability ultrasound to make sure the embryos were alive.

When we went in at (6 weeks pregnant).  My doctor started the ultrasound and told me....." I hope that you wanted two babies because that is what you have"  It was incredible!  Although those little babies were only the size of rice we were able to clearly see that their little hearts beating strongly.  He even put a doppler over their hearts so that we could hear the beats.  We were so excited.

I can't express the gratitude that I have for modern technology and science because without those advancements a) my husband would have cancer and may not have long to live and b) I wouldn't have this opportunity to be a mother.

I am so blessed I know that God has been there for me through all of this.  When you go through trials it's hard to understand why things turned out the way that they do but I know God has a bigger plan for all of us and we just need to have faith in his plan.

The Self-Inflicted Pain has started......AGAIN!!!

So...some big news for me is that I have started a series of hormone injections to prepare my body to have a baby!

Since John had his incident with cancer and subsequent surgery - our only option for having children is the dreaded In-vitro Fertilization (IVF).

It's crazy to me because as a young girl I used to imagine how many embryos I would let a doctor put inside of me if I ever had to go through that process - NEVER thinking I really would.  By the way the answer to that question is two (I'm hoping to get the biggest bang for my buck!)

Let me tell you this...it definitely takes the romance out of trying to conceive a child!  I can't tell you how nice it would be to have a romantic evening with my husband and then as a result getting pregnant.

Unfortunately this will never happen for me.

However, I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to live in such a time where there is still hope for me to have my own children.  I am also grateful that my husband is healthy and with me.  He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  I hope that we are successful in this process because I want nothing more than to have his children. Prayers sent our way would be wonderful!

I hope to report good news in the next few months of our progress in this process.  It has been and I'm afraid will continue to be an emotional roller-coster for me but I am continually trying to be positive and hopeful that this time around this process will work.

Until my next update on this process .................... I get to inject myself with hormones every night!!

Bring on the needles baby!

See I told you it wasn't romantic!!!!

Wow the things this "soon-to-be-mother" will do for her "future" children!!!!!!

   

New Year's Eve 2011

This year for New Year's and John and my birthday celebration we decided to hold a Masquerade Ball!

  

My brother's band played for us for a few hour and then we turned on the dance music and lights and danced the night away.  It is so much fun to dress up.   I just love it. 

 My cute husband!!!

We sang Karaoke until the early hours of the morning............... It was great!

 Jordan liked singing too...............

Brett and Jordan then sang a duet to a Frank Sinatra Song....So precious!

Bryce and Brenden singing "I want to be Billionaire" by Bruno Mars

My dad and Kim singing "My Way".............

They definitely sang it "THEIR WAY!!!"

Here are four of my cute brothers singing!

John lost his voice from singing so much!

 Hailey was a rockstar!!!

Miss Snow Pictures

 My Brother Brett was one of the judges for the pageant.
I was so grateful for his help!

The music for the modeling was provided by a Jazz Trio from the Jazz program at Snow.  They did a fabulous job!  I truly appreciate good musicians.  On top of doing everything I asked of them they were delighted to have a paying gig!  You can see the Sax player in the background.  When the show was over the guys played for about 30 minutes longer while people were cleaning up and hanging out.  It was great, I just love live music.

 This is Hannah Christensen, Miss Snow 2011.  She is not only beautiful but she's a hard worker and very organized.  I think she's great!  I'm so happy to have the opportunity to work with her this year. 

 These are the top three girls hugging after they were crowned.

Ariel in purple, Lexi in Red and Hannah in turquoise.

 Here are the 14 beautiful and talented girls that I had the opportunity to work with.  These young women are fantastic and will do great things in their lives!

October 2011

Throughout October I volunteered to be the director of the Miss Snow pageant.  I guess the reason I did was because when I was at Snow College many years ago I was Miss Snow and this was a way for me to give back.  I had about 4 weeks to put the show together and with the help of TONS of people the show turned out to be beautiful.  I had the opportunity to work with and meet 13 talented college students that loved their school and wanted to serve.  I think that is one of the reasons that I enjoy helping out with pageants because the young ladies that participate in them are very goal-oriented and truly love to serve their communities.

The interesting thing is that two of the winners of their year's pageant were from Sanpete County.  I thought that was great!  Those two girls also happened to be previous Miss Sanpete Counties and had experience at Miss Utah and I think that helped a great deal in their success.  Hannah Christensen, Miss Snow 2011 is the 4th runner up to Miss Utah this year so she is a busy girl.

I really enjoyed the experience that I had helping with that pageant.  I however, don't think I will do another pageant with so little time to do it.  I think that was craziness!