Wow. Alright. There is just no way in heaven that I can update a whole year of life. So, I'll just begin with September... SCHOOL, HALLOWEEN, THANKSGIVING, CHRISTMAS, BIRTHDAY'S and TRAVELS.
FIRST, our little Griffin is a Kindergartener. Holy moly how did that happen so fast?! He has had a great couple of terms so far and is learning so darn much. I'm in awe daily at how much he's changing. I love it but also miss that younger, more innocent boy that used to be my sidekick, all by his lonesome. He's such a good kid. Love him more than life.
HALLOWEEN was superb as usual. Our pumpkin carvings were awesome and this year, after being gone for nearly five years, we were finally able to travel up to Utah for some good old door-to-door trick or treating... I'm so thankful they still do that somewhere! Church parking lot trunk or treats are great and we fully support and attend, but sometimes, it is so nice to take your kids to friendly neighbors homes and have them know who you are and goo and gah over your kids and their costumes. And it reminds us of how Halloween was for us growing up as kids.
THANKSGIVING was in St. George this year. Super fun with the Gardner crew. I'm sooo hoping we can do this again {like every year} and get together for delicious goodness. But also we TOTALLY missed our Redding family friends this year as well. I really do and will have a special place for all of them in my heart. We will be friends forever, whether they like it or not. haha.
BIRTHDAY NUMBER 1... December 5th, Mr. Griffin turned 6. WHAT?! Stop it this instant. Seriously, kids growing up is a love-hate thing. I love that he's getting older, more independent, more responsible, more knowledgable, such an amazing big brother and helper. But of course, all of us want our kids to stay small forever. This time of life is so much fun. I don't want them to grow and be stinkers from heck. Prayer. Lots of it. Griffin is interested in almost everything. He's so much like his daddy. He's so easy going and loving. He has a tender heart and is willing to do anything you ask. This year because of so many things happening within 30 days, we decided to forgo an actually "birthday party" and just celebrate our oldest boy and all of the things he wanted to do. A few traditions of course... wake up to your room filled with balloons, come down for some birthday sprinkle pancakes with whipped cream on top, go to school {darn it} but you get mom and little bro to bring chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and weird Christmas dollar store ring pops on top {per request}, and it's the BEST DAY EVER. The day did not end there... we took him to dinner at one of his faves "Canes" and then to see the "Big Hero 6"movie. I kept thinking wow, it's so strange that he was our only child for 5 years. Poor lonely kid... hey, we got a cute little brother now YAY! Alright on with the show... And of course, when your Birthday lands on a Friday, it is written and declared that the ENTIRE weekend is your Birthday. And so, on Saturday we decided to go ride some go-karts with our Bybee cousins. So much fun racing on the track. Griff loved every second. Chocolate cupcakes and peppermint ice cream at our house afterward. Best weekend ever. {and low-key for the party planner this year. Phew!}
BIRTHDAY NUMBER 2... December 13th, eight days later, Mr. Granger is O N E. This has been the fastest year of my entire life. Ever. Maybe it's because it felt like the whole year before with the process of getting this little cutie here and nine long months of pregnancy made it feel like the longest year of my entire life. Ever. Well that makes sense now. When Griffin turned one we had just moved to Redding literally a month before. We didn't really know anyone yet so a Birthday bash was out... Ice cream cupcakes from Baskin Robbins it was. We thought about carrying on the frozen cupcakes with Gray, but we actually have more family around now. No, nothing too fancy but we had our family over for cake, ice cream and gifts. Mostly just to celebrate this little cutie and the miracle that he is. Happiest First Birthday Gray! We love you to the moon and back!
CHRISTMAS...I couldn't figure out for the life of me why it was Thanksgiving, and then suddenly Christmas. And then my intelligent sister pointed out that the Turkey holiday was in the last week of November this {last} year which made Christmas come sooner than most years. And did we choose a year to have the two holiday's be so close together, or what?! Thanksgiving, a 6 Year Old Birthday, a 1 Year Old Birthday, and then Christmas. Holy toledo. Kill me. Two December Birthday's, guys. We did IVF, we could have chosen better timing {obviously praying all worked out time wise}... but we were too excited and wanted to get the show on the road. So, two December Birthday's it is. Now I just have to figure out how to balance the two. Griffin of course is so sweet and would never give any mind to sharing his Birthday with his brother. In my mind I hear voices of those saying... "have half birthdays in the Summer... celebrate both on the same day... they won't notice... I felt ripped off having a birthday and Christmas so close..." Y.I.K.E.S. I'm a believer in a birth-DAY celebration. We celebrate that day no matter what. Our boys have two different dates (8 days apart), and I'm not sure I could muster having "half-birthday parties". So, I will work with what I was given. Any who....
Christmas was wonderful. It was so nice to be here celebrating with family and making new traditions. Most of all having Christmas morning in our own house with our own little family. It really was a Christmas miracle that I've been hoping and praying for since we moved away. My Redding friends know how much I love them, but they also know how much I wanted to go back home, like all the time. {I'm sorry I was such a complainer guys! And also thanks for being my friend. haha}. This year was celebrated with Tyler's side of the family. Christmas Eve dinner, the Nativity pageant, Christmas jammies, brunch, gifts, games, laughter. Just a good year. It was so fun to be here again and not think about having to travel 12-13 hours back to our house through the Shasta Forest. Although I do TERRIBLY miss the smell of those gigantic Redwood trees!! Oh that smell!!
And a HAPPY NEW YEAR {ya filthy animal}... can anyone else not say that without the later? Classic. We went up to the freezing cold Utah weather for New Year's. Of course, with us we brought our darn head colds that decided to hit the very day we left. Fortunately with dayquil and airborne, we made it through. It got worse before it got better for everyone actually. Nevertheless it was a fun trip with memories made, and a family picture finally taken which was 5 years overdue. {I'm not even sure how many spouses and kids have been added in that amount of time}.
Well, as always, we wish You all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We feel like this will be a good year for us all... despite the rising crime rate in Las Vegas.<---that bro="" for="" is="" josh.="" metro="" my="" nbsp="" p="">
Friday, January 23, 2015
Monday, July 8, 2013
Guess what we're having?!?!
This was taken in 4D at 16 weeks, 4 days. Incredible that I have a tiny fully functioning human growing inside my belly right now. As of today, I am 18 weeks 1 day. Everyone has asked if I can feel the baby yet, and I thought I could feel something different since week 15 but wasn't sure if it was baby or not... Last week I finally knew that's exactly what it was! It's in the same spot every time and yes, it's like everyone says, tiny little flutters and bumps. Nothing too harsh yet... We got these fun 4D photos taken at an ultra sound clinic an hour away from us. We were so eager to know if we were having a boy or a girl as soon as we possibly could. The ultra sound technician told me that the placenta is nearest to my body which means I will most likely be popping out with ALL baby and also feeling the baby kick A LOT. We have been asking Griffin what he thinks the baby is going to be and every time he answers, "A boy. Boys match me, girls don't." He is the funniest kid! We are just so excited that he is going to be a big brother. Tyler recorded the whole ultra sound on his phone and we just listened to it last night... When the ultra sound technician first put the wand on my belly, it was a CLEAR shot of the baby's gender! I yelled out what it was and Griffin said,
"See! I told you it was a B O Y! BOYS MATCH ME!"
Yes, we are excited to tell you all that we will have another boy join our family! We just can't wait to meet this little boy and share all the love and excitement we have, especially in awaiting his arrival. Griffin of course is over the moon, and Tyler and I are just so thankful that this little miracle is coming to us. What an amazing blessing in our lives!
Friday, May 31, 2013
If you are reading this, LUCKY YOU!
August...
We came back from Sacramento after having a visit with our LDSFS adoption case worker. We felt completely deflated. I think I was so hopeful that our 2.5 hour trip there just to meet with him would have ended in exciting news or hope that we'd hear some exciting news about another adoption soon. Two years. We'd been waiting for 2 years. We're all getting older, which put Tyler and I into the higher age bracket for birth mom's to search for (which is not the age group most search in) and Griffin of course is getting older as well--I was so hoping and praying that he'd have a sibling who was sort of close in age. I had no idea that moving away and not having any ties or knowing anyone in our situation in the city we now live in would be such a challenge for growing our family. I pulled out all of my tricks that we used before we adopted Griffin... sent out announcements, pass along cards, emails, facebooked, I even sent out cards to institute presidents who might come in contact with students who were seeking council on unplanned pregnancies. Nothing. Not one ounce of interest. Not one email. A lot of very supportive family and friends, but no leads on any interest in adoption. I never thought the second time around would be so difficult. Our first round with adoption was hard to decide upon, but this seemed more difficult than the first time. So, of course on my knees I fell. Every day asking my Heavenly Father to guide me to answers on how to help our family to grow, and mostly how to help Griffin have a sibling. Out of all of this, that has been the hardest part. Being away from all of our cute little cousins, of course he's got some cute fun little friends here, but it's just not the same when you don't actually have another extra little person running around your house keeping the other one company.
September...
After researching the internet for other adoption agencies, other options, other leads, I came across a fertility clinic in Tennessee. Yes, Tennessee. The website was full of information and something in particular was different types of infertility they've dealt with in the past almost 20 years. I was starting to feel hopeful again and a new answer was coming our way. I couldn't believe that I stumbled upon this information... well of course I could, I was led to it!
Infertility and adoption...
No, I've never talked about it before publicly. It's not really something that you just come out and talk about. So, everyone knows that we haven't been able to have children of our own, the usual, normal way. It just wasn't in the plan for us, and with a lot of prayer, we've come to realize that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us when it comes to building our family. All the tests we had done were conflicting. We'd get one answer from one Doctor and one answer from another. You can only go through getting poked and tested so much before you say, okay that's enough. Adoption was the right choice for us the first time and what a blessing Griffin has been to us. I know the Lord had a hand in that divine plan. It all came together without a bump in the road. It was a perfect experience. Because it was such a wonderful experience the first time, of course we'd do it again. It took 9 months, a move to a new city (12 hours from either family), another move to a different house (thanks to crappy landlords), for a total of 2 years before we were able to get our paperwork in again for adoption. And this time the closest center was over 2 hours away from us (not convenient, and very easily forgotten). Griffin was 2. I was so sure in my head that the second time would go so quickly that we waited for Griffin to get a little older before we adopted again. No such luck. We had so many people ask us all the time if we'd heard anything on another adoption. Frankly, I was tired of having to tell everyone, NO, nothing. Mostly because it was hard for me to hide my disappointment in having to answer the question. We also had so many tell us we were in Redding for a reason and that we should seriously look into foster care because that's what they do up here. --quick side note for that... Foster care is a wonderful opportunity for those who are able to do it. Our situation is different in the fact that we didn't know how long we'd be in Redding or the state of California, and having kids come in and out of our house when our goal is to build an eternal family, would rip my heart out. Bless all of you who have fostered and do foster care now. It takes certain people to take on that life and you literally have a golden seat waiting for you in heaven! Right now, I'm not cut out for that life, but I'm not discounting it. Maybe someday I will take on that mighty task. Right now, my mind just can't wrap itself around the idea. Seriously, bless you all.
October...
There was definitely a reason we moved to Redding. I will admit that I've kicked and screamed for practically the entire almost 4 years that we've been here. I've wondered almost every day why we moved away from our families. But it finally hit me. Gaining the wonderful job experience that Tyler is receiving here on heavy civil projects, and the amazing friends we've made that we practically call our other family members now, the frustration of not hearing one ounce of news on an adoption was why we were here as well as everything just mentioned. It had to lead us to have to find other answers on how to build our family. After reading the information on the infertility center's website, beginning to end at least one hundred times, I received a packet in the mail from them with all of the paperwork. Tyler and I had talked and prayed and talked and prayed some more about the decision to try IVF (in-vetro-fertilization). We finally came to the answer that it was right and this was the answer to our prayers. So, we filled out the paperwork, paid the fees and were hopeful that we'd have an actual transfer by January. Well, to our disappointment, we found out that appointments were already booked for the center through January. Our first visit (which should have been in December) and our actual transfer for January. We were bummed, but it didn't mean that things weren't going to happen, it would just be a few more months away.
November...
After all paperwork was in, health documents etc, I got a call from the nurse at the fertility center who said they had a cancellation in December and wondered if we'd like to take it! Of course! I booked our flights that day and we left to Tennessee the second week of December. It was the "trial transfer" and medical check-up for me. The Doctor said I was perfectly healthy and said that I was a perfect candidate for IVF. Unfortunately, this fertility center only does transfers every other month and since it was the middle of December and the next transfer month was January, I wouldn't be on all the medications for long enough, so they booked us for the next transfer month which was March. But how exciting to know that we had every hope of this working for us! We were more than excited, and nervous for what was to come in the months ahead of us.
Fast forward to March...
The boxes of meds, and long needles showed up at the end of January. First, bless all of you who have gone through the experience of IVF. It is not a fun journey. The needles and medications are not fun. What made me sad was not being able to run like I had been because of the bruises the progesterone shots were leaving on my rear end. I couldn't even sit through 3 hours of church I was in so much pain. I spent most of February laying on the couch on a heating pad and limping when ever I needed to get around the house. All for a good cause was what I kept reminding myself! After talking with the nurse the first time in October until March, I really thought the time would go so slowly. But it honestly came quite fast. It was already the week of our transfer and we found ourselves traveling to Utah to drop off Griffin for a week to be watched by my sister and then it was off to catch a plane to travel East and hopefully witness a miracle. I remember our flight there... 4 hours on a plane with a sore rear end from shots and other medications that I was taking just a few days before our transfer. I felt like I was in a daze. Like it wasn't really happening but of course it was. The day of the transfer was a good day. I was on some serious medications and felt like I was floating on a cloud. I couldn't believe we were there, and I remember feeling so thankful for all the nurses and the doctor who was about to do this procedure for us. After the procedure, yep, quick, literally took an hour from entering the building to leaving, we went back to the hotel. They told me to rest and not move around a lot. I however needed and craved a hamburger, STAT. Not sure if it was the medications but that's what I needed, a hamburger. Slept for about 45 min, even though they said I'd probably be knocked out for a few hours and when I woke up I wanted to get out and explore. Again, probably a weird reaction to the meds, not to mention the 3 hour time difference from Cali to TN. We were in TN for almost a week for the whole procedure and recovery time. We explored a little while we were there, but the day after the procedure was when the tiredness hit me. We went to a movie and I felt asleep in the theater. lol, never had that happen before. All in all, it was a great trip and we were very hopeful for a miracle happening!
April...
This month came more meds, lots of labwork and trips to Davis (Sacramento) for ultra-sounds. My arms have never had so much blood taken from them in my life. I was surprised each time I was jabbed that they could even get a vein to give them anything. My first labwork did not come back so well and they were about to change my medicine protocol when they got the results from the lab. I had to personally speak to the Doctor from the fertility center because he said he'd never seen that low of levels ever in his career of doing IVF. Well, hey, let me be the first. I refused to believe that the results were right and in my mind a thought kept coming over and over that said it was a lab error. I had been taking all of meds, had not missed one day of them, and I had the bruises to prove it. So, I went to another lab for a second opinion. The next day the fertility nurse called me and told me that my results were normal, fine and that the other lab had somehow made an error. SCARY! I could have been on progesterone overdose, hello! Thank you to those who were not doing their job right. Thankfully I listened to that voice telling me to get a second opinion. Everything else seemed to be going according to plan. All of the big-mac cravings, fast food and fry sauce were not so weird after all.... We finally found out in April that we were expecting! It worked!! I couldn't believe my eyeballs when I saw the positive test. And I wasn't convinced still until the 6 week ultra-sound which showed the little black dot with a white bean growing inside. WHAT?!? Is this really happening?? By 6 weeks I started feeling the nausea. I had to start eating every 2 hours on the dot and then I'd be fine, but I still felt yucky. In fact, so yucky that I stayed on the couch for most of April. Some things got done, but I mostly had to rely on my sweet husband. 9-10 hour work days then home to take care of me and Griff. Seriously, I have no idea what I'd do without him. He cleaned, cooked, did laundry... all of my duties went to him. He's amazing. I'm so grateful for him and all he's done for us. Next was the 9 week ultra-sound, this time looking more like a little seahorse and feeling even more real! Baby was measuring exactly to the day and growing like it should! By this time, I wasn't feeling as much nausea, just once in a while, but got a horrible cold, so that put me back down on the couch for 2+ more weeks.We've survived though and it really has been an amazing miracle for our little family!
May...
Of course our families know by now that we are expecting, and a few friends who have helped us out with watching Griffin during all the doctor visits. We wanted to wait till we got past the first trimester before we made the announcement, and honestly I've gained weight from having to eat all the time to suppress the nausea that I can't really hide this belly anymore! So, it is with great excitement that we tell you all that we are officially expecting! We are due December 8th (yes, both our kids will now have December birthdays, love it!) I'm healthy, baby is healthy and growing like it should. I can't believe after 10 years of being married that we are actually expecting. To be able to tell people that is like I'm dreaming. I just never thought it would be me. Like, ever. I was okay with that. I had talked myself into the fact that pregnancy just wasn't in the cards for me and I had fully accepted it. It has definitely been a game changer, and I've had to re-train my mind and thought process once again. But we truly feel so blessed. We can't wait to find out what we are having and prepare for our next little one to join our family. It is a miracle that we thank our Father in Heaven every day for!!
Here is the most recent shot of our little one... I can't believe I'm growing this little person!! Amazing!!
Something I neglected to mention was all the help we've had with Griffin from our awesome friends here in Redding. They have all been so supportive and willing to help us out with long trips to Sacramento and Doctor appointments. You all know who you are and you have no idea how much we have appreciated your love and support!! xoxox
We came back from Sacramento after having a visit with our LDSFS adoption case worker. We felt completely deflated. I think I was so hopeful that our 2.5 hour trip there just to meet with him would have ended in exciting news or hope that we'd hear some exciting news about another adoption soon. Two years. We'd been waiting for 2 years. We're all getting older, which put Tyler and I into the higher age bracket for birth mom's to search for (which is not the age group most search in) and Griffin of course is getting older as well--I was so hoping and praying that he'd have a sibling who was sort of close in age. I had no idea that moving away and not having any ties or knowing anyone in our situation in the city we now live in would be such a challenge for growing our family. I pulled out all of my tricks that we used before we adopted Griffin... sent out announcements, pass along cards, emails, facebooked, I even sent out cards to institute presidents who might come in contact with students who were seeking council on unplanned pregnancies. Nothing. Not one ounce of interest. Not one email. A lot of very supportive family and friends, but no leads on any interest in adoption. I never thought the second time around would be so difficult. Our first round with adoption was hard to decide upon, but this seemed more difficult than the first time. So, of course on my knees I fell. Every day asking my Heavenly Father to guide me to answers on how to help our family to grow, and mostly how to help Griffin have a sibling. Out of all of this, that has been the hardest part. Being away from all of our cute little cousins, of course he's got some cute fun little friends here, but it's just not the same when you don't actually have another extra little person running around your house keeping the other one company.
September...
After researching the internet for other adoption agencies, other options, other leads, I came across a fertility clinic in Tennessee. Yes, Tennessee. The website was full of information and something in particular was different types of infertility they've dealt with in the past almost 20 years. I was starting to feel hopeful again and a new answer was coming our way. I couldn't believe that I stumbled upon this information... well of course I could, I was led to it!
Infertility and adoption...
No, I've never talked about it before publicly. It's not really something that you just come out and talk about. So, everyone knows that we haven't been able to have children of our own, the usual, normal way. It just wasn't in the plan for us, and with a lot of prayer, we've come to realize that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us when it comes to building our family. All the tests we had done were conflicting. We'd get one answer from one Doctor and one answer from another. You can only go through getting poked and tested so much before you say, okay that's enough. Adoption was the right choice for us the first time and what a blessing Griffin has been to us. I know the Lord had a hand in that divine plan. It all came together without a bump in the road. It was a perfect experience. Because it was such a wonderful experience the first time, of course we'd do it again. It took 9 months, a move to a new city (12 hours from either family), another move to a different house (thanks to crappy landlords), for a total of 2 years before we were able to get our paperwork in again for adoption. And this time the closest center was over 2 hours away from us (not convenient, and very easily forgotten). Griffin was 2. I was so sure in my head that the second time would go so quickly that we waited for Griffin to get a little older before we adopted again. No such luck. We had so many people ask us all the time if we'd heard anything on another adoption. Frankly, I was tired of having to tell everyone, NO, nothing. Mostly because it was hard for me to hide my disappointment in having to answer the question. We also had so many tell us we were in Redding for a reason and that we should seriously look into foster care because that's what they do up here. --quick side note for that... Foster care is a wonderful opportunity for those who are able to do it. Our situation is different in the fact that we didn't know how long we'd be in Redding or the state of California, and having kids come in and out of our house when our goal is to build an eternal family, would rip my heart out. Bless all of you who have fostered and do foster care now. It takes certain people to take on that life and you literally have a golden seat waiting for you in heaven! Right now, I'm not cut out for that life, but I'm not discounting it. Maybe someday I will take on that mighty task. Right now, my mind just can't wrap itself around the idea. Seriously, bless you all.
October...
There was definitely a reason we moved to Redding. I will admit that I've kicked and screamed for practically the entire almost 4 years that we've been here. I've wondered almost every day why we moved away from our families. But it finally hit me. Gaining the wonderful job experience that Tyler is receiving here on heavy civil projects, and the amazing friends we've made that we practically call our other family members now, the frustration of not hearing one ounce of news on an adoption was why we were here as well as everything just mentioned. It had to lead us to have to find other answers on how to build our family. After reading the information on the infertility center's website, beginning to end at least one hundred times, I received a packet in the mail from them with all of the paperwork. Tyler and I had talked and prayed and talked and prayed some more about the decision to try IVF (in-vetro-fertilization). We finally came to the answer that it was right and this was the answer to our prayers. So, we filled out the paperwork, paid the fees and were hopeful that we'd have an actual transfer by January. Well, to our disappointment, we found out that appointments were already booked for the center through January. Our first visit (which should have been in December) and our actual transfer for January. We were bummed, but it didn't mean that things weren't going to happen, it would just be a few more months away.
November...
After all paperwork was in, health documents etc, I got a call from the nurse at the fertility center who said they had a cancellation in December and wondered if we'd like to take it! Of course! I booked our flights that day and we left to Tennessee the second week of December. It was the "trial transfer" and medical check-up for me. The Doctor said I was perfectly healthy and said that I was a perfect candidate for IVF. Unfortunately, this fertility center only does transfers every other month and since it was the middle of December and the next transfer month was January, I wouldn't be on all the medications for long enough, so they booked us for the next transfer month which was March. But how exciting to know that we had every hope of this working for us! We were more than excited, and nervous for what was to come in the months ahead of us.
Fast forward to March...
The boxes of meds, and long needles showed up at the end of January. First, bless all of you who have gone through the experience of IVF. It is not a fun journey. The needles and medications are not fun. What made me sad was not being able to run like I had been because of the bruises the progesterone shots were leaving on my rear end. I couldn't even sit through 3 hours of church I was in so much pain. I spent most of February laying on the couch on a heating pad and limping when ever I needed to get around the house. All for a good cause was what I kept reminding myself! After talking with the nurse the first time in October until March, I really thought the time would go so slowly. But it honestly came quite fast. It was already the week of our transfer and we found ourselves traveling to Utah to drop off Griffin for a week to be watched by my sister and then it was off to catch a plane to travel East and hopefully witness a miracle. I remember our flight there... 4 hours on a plane with a sore rear end from shots and other medications that I was taking just a few days before our transfer. I felt like I was in a daze. Like it wasn't really happening but of course it was. The day of the transfer was a good day. I was on some serious medications and felt like I was floating on a cloud. I couldn't believe we were there, and I remember feeling so thankful for all the nurses and the doctor who was about to do this procedure for us. After the procedure, yep, quick, literally took an hour from entering the building to leaving, we went back to the hotel. They told me to rest and not move around a lot. I however needed and craved a hamburger, STAT. Not sure if it was the medications but that's what I needed, a hamburger. Slept for about 45 min, even though they said I'd probably be knocked out for a few hours and when I woke up I wanted to get out and explore. Again, probably a weird reaction to the meds, not to mention the 3 hour time difference from Cali to TN. We were in TN for almost a week for the whole procedure and recovery time. We explored a little while we were there, but the day after the procedure was when the tiredness hit me. We went to a movie and I felt asleep in the theater. lol, never had that happen before. All in all, it was a great trip and we were very hopeful for a miracle happening!
April...
This month came more meds, lots of labwork and trips to Davis (Sacramento) for ultra-sounds. My arms have never had so much blood taken from them in my life. I was surprised each time I was jabbed that they could even get a vein to give them anything. My first labwork did not come back so well and they were about to change my medicine protocol when they got the results from the lab. I had to personally speak to the Doctor from the fertility center because he said he'd never seen that low of levels ever in his career of doing IVF. Well, hey, let me be the first. I refused to believe that the results were right and in my mind a thought kept coming over and over that said it was a lab error. I had been taking all of meds, had not missed one day of them, and I had the bruises to prove it. So, I went to another lab for a second opinion. The next day the fertility nurse called me and told me that my results were normal, fine and that the other lab had somehow made an error. SCARY! I could have been on progesterone overdose, hello! Thank you to those who were not doing their job right. Thankfully I listened to that voice telling me to get a second opinion. Everything else seemed to be going according to plan. All of the big-mac cravings, fast food and fry sauce were not so weird after all.... We finally found out in April that we were expecting! It worked!! I couldn't believe my eyeballs when I saw the positive test. And I wasn't convinced still until the 6 week ultra-sound which showed the little black dot with a white bean growing inside. WHAT?!? Is this really happening?? By 6 weeks I started feeling the nausea. I had to start eating every 2 hours on the dot and then I'd be fine, but I still felt yucky. In fact, so yucky that I stayed on the couch for most of April. Some things got done, but I mostly had to rely on my sweet husband. 9-10 hour work days then home to take care of me and Griff. Seriously, I have no idea what I'd do without him. He cleaned, cooked, did laundry... all of my duties went to him. He's amazing. I'm so grateful for him and all he's done for us. Next was the 9 week ultra-sound, this time looking more like a little seahorse and feeling even more real! Baby was measuring exactly to the day and growing like it should! By this time, I wasn't feeling as much nausea, just once in a while, but got a horrible cold, so that put me back down on the couch for 2+ more weeks.We've survived though and it really has been an amazing miracle for our little family!
May...
Of course our families know by now that we are expecting, and a few friends who have helped us out with watching Griffin during all the doctor visits. We wanted to wait till we got past the first trimester before we made the announcement, and honestly I've gained weight from having to eat all the time to suppress the nausea that I can't really hide this belly anymore! So, it is with great excitement that we tell you all that we are officially expecting! We are due December 8th (yes, both our kids will now have December birthdays, love it!) I'm healthy, baby is healthy and growing like it should. I can't believe after 10 years of being married that we are actually expecting. To be able to tell people that is like I'm dreaming. I just never thought it would be me. Like, ever. I was okay with that. I had talked myself into the fact that pregnancy just wasn't in the cards for me and I had fully accepted it. It has definitely been a game changer, and I've had to re-train my mind and thought process once again. But we truly feel so blessed. We can't wait to find out what we are having and prepare for our next little one to join our family. It is a miracle that we thank our Father in Heaven every day for!!
Here is the most recent shot of our little one... I can't believe I'm growing this little person!! Amazing!!
Christmas {in May}...
I know, I know, I'm behind, like just a bit. We've had so much happening in the last 6 months that I honestly can't believe it's already the last day of May. Welp, first things first...
Christmas 2012...
Christmas 2012...
Our sweet grandpa (below) passed away just a few days before Christmas. His health declined suddenly just before, but it seemed like he'd go from doing well to doing horribly almost every week in the months before. I will never forget when my my mother-in-law came and broke the news. We were all in Las Vegas for Christmas and I was doing hair at one of our good friends houses just down the street. Mom-in-law was coming over to get her hair done as well, and I went to answer the door when she got there. She was crying and said, "Grandpa Rose just passed away." My heart sank. I hugged her and cried myself. I tried to finish my first appointment quickly, holding back sobs, and trying to find words of consolation for my sweet monther-in-law. There is really nothing you can say in moments like that, accept, I'm so sorry and we will see him again someday...and for that knowledge, I am so grateful!! This sweet Grandpa Rose of ours was my last living Grandpa on earth. He was and still is the sweetest man you would ever know. Every time we had the opportunity to go visit them in Kaysville, I'd always walk right over to him and give him a hug and he'd squeeze me right back and kiss my cheek, just like I was his very own grand-daughter. I am so blessed to have known this wonderful man while he was here with us. We miss him dearly and can't wait to reunite someday!
We were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas twice. The first was on Christmas Day (for the little ones) in Utah with Grandma Rose at her house. It was so nice to be able to be there with her. And to be honest, it wasn't about the gifts this year. This year had so much more meaning than any other year. It was a wonderful, spiritual day.
Christmas Day #2 was about a week later... by the time we got back from Utah and settled in Las Vegas again, it was just enough time for Mom McD to get the rest of her fun Christmas things ready for us to celebrate. This picture is of all the grandkids so far on this side...(yep 2 more on the way this year!!) It's funny how you can tell who belongs to whom but yet they all look like cousins! I love and miss these cuties!! Thanks for the cute coordinating Christmas P.J.'s mom McD! You are always so good at doing that for the kids!
While mom McD was getting her last minute things done, we all went hiking in the deserts of Vegas out by Lake Mead.
This is little miss Hadley... she attached herself to me while we were hiking and I soaked in every second of it! She is so hilarious and only shy for a second before she will love you to pieces. We don't see them very much because they live in TX but it is so much fun to see them when we are all together!
This has to be one of my favorite pictures. Someday we will look at this and just know how much Dad McD loves his grandkids. I just love this.
Here we all are (accept mom McD--who's back home getting Christmas ready for us all)... I love how much we've all grown! Two more to add to this cute family in 2013!! (And thanks to the random hikers walking by who took this shot for us! We lucked out with a semi-professional shot!)
Christmas was a wonderful time last year. There was definitely a lot going on between our travels back and forth from Utah and Las Vegas<< Yes, lucky bonus for me, I got to see both sides of the family this year which doesn't usually happen since we do every other year in each state. I'm so thankful for my sweet in-laws who do so much for us all. It is just so nice to be around their sweet spirits and upbeat personalities when ever we get the chance to visit. I'm so thankful for the strong heart that our Grandma Rose has after losing her sweetheart. I know it's been hard for her but she knows that we are all there for her and that we love her more than life. I'm mostly thankful for Holiday's. It is SOOO hard to live so far away from our families. (All our Redding friends can attest to my complaints about living so far away, sorry friends!) The holiday's are such a wonderful time to be together and and great excuse to use the saved up vacation time for Tyler. I'm so thankful for our wonderful families. We are so blessed!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Griffin turns 4! (bad blogger mom, and I reserve the right to brag!)
The inspiration for our little "obsessed with pirates" boy... I surfed the web trying to find some way to twist together Pirates and Christmas since we have a December 5th Birthday boy... and amazingly I found this adorable book! Ordered it right away and designed the whole sha-bang around the gingerbread pirate theme.. Birthday Party was December 1st. It was a SMASH!
the fancy spread
Tyler carved the "Pirate Ship" out of a watermelon,
Birthday cake is a "Pirate Map", the rest of the decor
is all thanks to my fancy cricut machine!
Our sweet fo-gramma Cindy played
"Captain Jack Sparrow" (thank you Halloween costumes)
and of course came and read the Gingerbread Pirate book
to the kids (in a Captain Sparrow accent! You RULE Cindy Lou!)
Tons of fun decorating Gingerbread-man cookies...
complete with decorated eye patches and all!
It's a tradish!! Birthday pancakes with colored sprinkles for our
cute Birthday Boy! Can't believe he's 4!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Thanksgiving 2012
Meet the newest member of the Orgill Family... Gracie Nikkole Orgill. She was born the week before Thanksgiving and holy poop she is the cutest thing ever. She looks just like my brother Brayden when she is sleeping and when she's awake she looks just like Nikki. Either way, she's adorbs. And P.S. when they say ugly parents make cute kids, um they were wrong in this instance. Nik and Brayd are pretty much models and their daughter is gorgeous... so that blows that one out of the water! Also, I do call her Gracie Lou Freebush--which I'm sure they hate, but it's the nickname I've deemed for her. Nik and Brayd are the best little parents in the world. I just wish we lived closer so I could squeeze the stuffing out of her--and them-- daily. XOXO
Thanksgiving football! It's a tradish! Thankfully no injuries this year, and the team I was on, won... after a while I don't think anyone really knows what team they are on, as long as you are running, with the ball, to the end zone and score, you're good.
*Okay, firstly, this is one of the 8 ONLY pictures of our Thanksgiving spread... why? Well, new camera, {love it! clear photo's and all...muy mucho, but SO worth it!} So, in light of this new technologically advanced camera of ours, all the pictures were taken in a format that I've never even heard of, which led me to download a program that would help me convert all the pictures... in the mean time, I'm not sure where half of them went and like I said, 8 pictures out of like 180. Well, at least we have some evidence of Thanksgiving. ha ha. Lesson 1 from Sony A65, learned.*
So, this was just ONE of the 3 tables in my parents living room/kitchen to which all 23 of us fit around. Lots of good food and so much fun to be with our Orgill Fam. XOXO
The traditional temple square lights picture. We love to go see the lights at Thanksgiving/Christmas when we are in Utah. Although the crowds are crazy, you can still feel such a peace there. So grateful to have knowledge of the truth here on earth!
Lastly, but not leastly, my dear old Granny Gouch. This cute little 83 year old lady is a firecracker. Besides dementia and some Alzheimers, she's actually pretty sharp. She remembers everything of course from her childhood and where she lived growing up. Anything past that, not so much. Of course my tender heart is not making fun of my granny but it is just so bazaar that I knew my granny when she was "all there" and now she knows me as the girl who was invited to Thanksgiving by some nice people and that I'm married to my brother-in-law. I know it's probably hard for my mom and her siblings to see her in this state, but I really do think it's funny. That's the funny part. You can tell her any story and she won't remember it a few minutes later. I guess I just know that one day my granny's mind will be fully restored, and hopefully she'll laugh at what stinkers we all were to her while her mind was elsewhere. I love this little lady and I'm so glad we got to see her for a few minutes this Thanksgiving. Love you Granny Gouch! XOXO
Catch up to October 2012
The Carvings of 2012...
Yes, this is year #2 for Mr. Pirate. This year we were at Costco, where all the popular avenger costumes hung on display. We chose the "Captain America" costume and thought that would be it for this Halloween. Well, the week of Halloween came and someone did not even want to try on his C.A. costume... "I want to be a Pirate"... alrighty then. Back to Costco we go, hopefully they'll return it for us {thankfully, they did!} So, once again, "A pirates life for Mr. G-man". Of course you can tell he was thrilled! Stinker.
Usually we all dress up as a family for Halloween with our "themed" costumes. This year, I guess Tyler just wasn't feeling it. We were in Redding, which we are usually with family out of state, and it was pouring rain. I guess I give him some credit for low enthusiasm. However, I was not going to let the Mr. stop me from my Halloween dress-up tradition. And, since I had no one to have to "match" this year, I decided on an old princess costume I had in the costume box. For some reason our ward here doesn't really get into trunk-or-treat and with the yucky drizzle out, we decided to go hang out with the crowds and trick-or-treat at the Mount Shasta Mall! {Okay, really, it was seriously crowded, but to be honest this was almost the better way to go! The kids walk from store to store, gather tons of candy and you don't have to worry about them being cold or walking for miles and miles to accomplish their Halloween candy stash...*Note to self* if it rains again, Go to the Mall!} However, to keep up with "tradition" we did end up hitting a few houses in our friends neighborhood when the rain let up a bit. Halloween, done and done.
Yes, this is Effie Trinket. She is in our ward. And, honestly I have never known anyone else, besides my Aunt Patti, who loves Halloween more than me and my family does. It was so much fun to go see what she had come up with for a costume this year! They were generous to have chili and bread too, for really almost our whole ward. She is a crazy, over productive, fun loving lady who we have the pleasure of calling Gramma Cindy... aka Effie Trinket. We sure love you cute lady! XOXO
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