Baking For Santa

Our baking for Santa is complete. The boys decided that Santa needed giant cookies this year!

Floor Day

Today Grandma will be getting a new kitchen floor! We are very excited for her - she does so much for everyone else all year and really deserves this great looking floor. Mark and I are installing it - a gret test for our marriage! I am going to try to get before and after pics so everyone can see the dramatic change.

Snow Day

We had a great time sledding today. It was warmer than yesterday so my fingers braved the cold to take some pictures. This is one time of the year that I'm greatful our backyard is a giant hill!

First snow of the season

We have had our first snow of the season this week. The boys couldn't wait to brave the cold to play in the snow. While thinking this morning how I wished it were July again, the boys were begging to be sled riding. We all got bundled up and headed outside. The three of us played in the snow for over 2 hours! Luke had to be dragged inside because he was so exhausted. He fell asleep in 2 mins! Dominic and I are still red cheeked and enjoying hot chocolate. Having fun with the boys in the snow, I changed my mind - I'm glad it's not July. This is exactly what I wanted to be doing with my children today.

Infertility Thanksgiving of Sorts...

I'm thankful that God blessed me with a prince charming of a DH that has held my hand through it all. From sitting in the RE office being told we have less than a 5% of ever conceiving, allowing me to squeeze his hand during the HSG,taking off work to attend every single RE appointment with me, learning how to give injections, letting me see HIM cry with all the BFNs, the BFPs, the miscarriage and seeing/hearing our baby's heart beat for the first time, wiping away my tears when he was able to lean down and tell me our sons were born.

I'm thankful for my two miracle children. The ones I was told would never be.

I'm thankful for all birth mothers that can give the most loving and selfless gift ever - their child - to another couple. This is especially for my niece's birthmother and to my BFF daughter's birthmother. I'm thankful that God granted them the strength to make that decision.

Today, while my babies (yes they will always be my babies) are still sound asleep in their beds, I'm completely thankful for my life. I'm actually thankful for IF - it has helped my DH and I become a more faithful and loving couple. IF has granted us the wisdom of love and patience. IF has helped us be better parents to our children.

Thank you, Lord, for all the gifts you have blessed me with today.

Happy 5th Birthday Dominic

I can't believe that 5 yrs have flown by. My "baby boy" is 5 years old today.

Five years ago, I was getting my iv started and being prepped for a c-section. Silly Dominic was breech with his feet behind his ears - by the way - he still has to take the path less traveled and to the beat of his own drum.

Mark was brought into the OR when Dr. Penney was ready to start. Mark was in charge of taking pictures and announcing the gender - we were being surprised - at least something in our infertility process had to be "old-fashioned". About 8 mins later, I heard a baby crying. Still one of the best sounds I have ever heard.

At that moment, Dominic took his first breath that took ours away.

Mark was so taken back by the entire process that I have one picture today! Plus he had to be reminded to tell me if it was a boy or girl! I was already crying but Mark looked down at me with huge crocodile tears and said, "It's a boy! We have a son. Dominic is finally here."

Mark was able to trim the cord and after Dominic was all wrapped up, Mark brought him to me. I didn't want to let him go but he needed to be taken to the nursery to get cleaned up more and warmed up from being in that cold OR.

Two days later we were all headed home - as a family. I sat next to Dominic in the back seat and held his hand for our drive home. I was a complete teary mess before we left the parking lot! Mark turned around to look at us and he was crying too.

All the emotions that we had been experiencing throughout our fertility struggles - plus being tired already - just all came out at once. We were finally parents - finally Mommy and Daddy. Our lives had now forever changed in ways we could only imagine at the time.

When I woke Dominic this morning for school, I told him his birth story. He had the biggest smile on his face. I told him that mommy and daddy cried so many happy tears the day our miracle was born. He looked up at me, wiped the tears from my eyes and said, "Mommy, you still have happy tears right now."

I responded with, "Yes, Dominic. Mommy still has happy tears whenever I think about how God sent us you."

I love you with all my heart, my sweet child. You are our beautiful work of A.R.T. Happy 5th Birthday!

Happy Halloween!

Cutie Addison in her fluffy bunny outfit.
Here is our family! We looked great.

Mark loves scaring the trick-or-treaters with his costume. We had tons of help this year in carving pumpkins too! Grammy brought her scarey music so we were very festive.

Wow - Birthday Cake #2 Much Improved!

So you all have seen my humble attempt at making a 3D Dinosaur Cake for Dominic's 5th birthday. That was disaster to say the least. We had to come up with a different plan. Here is the finished product - I think it turned out great and so does Dominic. He is also very excited to celebrate 5 days early!

Pumpkin Patch

We visited a pumpkin patch while in KC with Grammy. Dominic was not wanting to cooperate with photos.

Finally got a handsome smile to peek through!

Luke loved taking the path less traveled while navigating the corn maze.

Luke , once again, chose going through the hay bale maze on top of the bales rather than on the ground.

Our Day with Addison

Hard to believe that little Miss Addison is now this big and 6 Months old!

We ventured out in the chilly weather today. Addison stayed nice and warm.

Luke and Addison are both looking ready for their naps!

Dominic is a very big helper with Addison.

Negative again

Another Negative beta. As of now, we are going to begin purging our home of baby items. We are so greatful for the 2 miracles in our lives and we are looking forward to being a part of thier lives as they grow up.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Dominic was being very "photo" cooperative today. Doesn't he look so BIG in this picture. Hard to believe my baby boy is nearly 5 years old!

Luke thought he needed to have these mums in front of his eyes today. I was never quick enough to snap a picture without them there.

The boys named the girly scarecrow "Anna". They said that is because their "Nanna" gave it to them. Nanna is their babysitter.
As you can see in this picture, the boys are in front of one the giant pumpkins from our newphew's pumpkin patch.

I just had to get some shots of the boys with our gorgeous mums. Luckily the early frost didn't so too much damage.

We had a great time visiting our nephew, Nathan's, pumpkin patch. Nathan has a knack for growing very large and round pumpkins. Dominic wanted this HUGE one - we placed it close to the house in hopes it doesn't get stolen before Halloween.

The boys also decided on costumes. They were both going to be something we already had - but I "allowed" them down the Halloween aisle in Walmart the other day (FYI - BIG parenting mistake!). So now Dominic is going to be MegaTron (the boss of the mean transformers) and Luke is going to be Optimus Prime (the boss of the nice transformers). They are both super excited and have been wearing the costumes often.

Salvaged Cake

Luke and I decided to try to salvage the body of the dinosaur cake. We turned it into the Cat in the Hat - Hat. At least it somewhat resembles something now!

Shampoo Do's!

The boys love to see what kind of silly hair styles we can come up with in the bath tub. They were both impressed with all the spikes and mohawk on this particular night.

Very SAD Practice cake!

Ok - I quit trying before it was done because it was already looking beyond help! Mark said he wanted a RED dino which I warned him that it would look pink. So here is the very sad looking, half done, pink dino. I think it looks like a very pathetic hippo! I decided not to even waste my time and effort on the tail! A professional cake decorator I am NOT!

Attempting Practice Cake!

Dominic's 5th b-day is less than one month away. Not only can I not believe that my baby is turning 5, but he has requested a "scary, t-rex" birthday cake! Since Mark's birthday is Monday, I am working on the "practice" cake this weekend. I will post pictures when it is done - yes, even if it turns out bad!

It's DONE!

I've been "secretly" working on an anniversary DVD for Mark. It is finally finished and it turned out great. I hope he is just as excited to get it as I am to give it - probably not, but I'm excited anyway! Our 10 year anniversary is this Friday!

Luke at the Zoo

Luke in the petting zoo with the goats. He wasn't too sure about the stinky, wet goats - neither was Mom!

Riding the Carousel - Luke chose the snake!

Luke was getting frustrated trying to climb on the spiderweb ropes. By the way - he picked the boots to wear for the day!

"You can't take my picture Mom!" He was trying to run behind the tree.

Dominic at the Zoo

Dominic - watch out for that hippo!

King of the Mountain at the Children's Zoo.

Sitting on the back of a giant beetle.

As you can see - we had a somewhat "rainy" morning at the zoo. But we waited it out and had a nice afternoon.

St. Louis Zoo

Dominic is waiting patiently for a train ride.
Luke giving Addison a kiss - this was her first trip to the zoo and a train ride.

Dominic and Daddy - sharing a seat.

Luke was getting impatient with the train. He wanted it to start moving - NOW.

Home At Last

We are all safe at home. We had a our homecoming yesterday for all 5 embyros. Only 2 looked good so we opted to transfer all of them. We would rather put their fate in God's hands and have them be at peace inside of me, rather than disposed of in the lab. So now the wait begins again. I am currently on bedrest but will move to the couch soon - after a long, hot shower! We pray that some of these embies find their way to snuggle in for the next 9 months and we are able to hold one or two miracle babies next summer.

Gifted, Talanted, Advanced - More than a Label

We have been aware of Dominic's unique talant for numbers since he was very small. He has always been "aware" of what numbers represent and can has been doing basic math since about 2 yrs old. Up until a few weeks ago, Dominic really didn't seem to care the alphebet even exsited. However, the preschool director observed that Dominic appears "bored" in school so he is now receiving one-on-one attention and is learning to read. The director was amazed that he already knew a lot of basic concepts and after 2 weeks is currently reading at mid-K level. She feels with as quickly as he is learning, he will be reading at a 1st grade level by Christmas, and potentially a 2nd grade level by summer.

Mark and I have decided that we will have Dominic evaluated for "giftedness". However, we don't want him to skip a grade. We would rather him be pulled out or given more advanced work. Dominic really needs to work on social skills and we feel skipping a grade will only promote more introverted behavior. Our philosophy right now is: Who really cares how smart you were when you were a kid - it doesn't really matter when you are 30 - what matters is that you are happy, healthy, well-adjusted adult which starts from being a happy, healthy, well-adjusted kid.

Almost time for Homecoming

It is that time of the year - Homecoming. For us, that will take place this Friday for 2 different reasons. First, Dominic is riding his bike in the high school homecoming parade. He is a bit nervous because he will be riding without training wheels. We have been practicing "riding slow and controlled". Grammy will be pushing Luke in the stroller beside Dominic this year. Mark and I will miss the parade because we will be bringing home (hopefully) 2-3 of our frozen embryos on Friday afternoon.

Catch Up Time!

Wow - we have been busy. We are gearing up for our FET in about 10 days! We are all getting excited - the boys are still hoping for a baby sister to join them. I have another lining check tomorrow afternoon and we are keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well.

Dominic is doing well in school. His preschool director decided it was time to challenge him a bit more because he seems bored. She is now teaching him to read and already has many reading abilities. He now thinks school is fun again. They are also suggesting we have him evaluated for giftedness once in K next year. While Mark and I are thrilled that he is "advanced", we are hoping his social skills pick up a bit too. Like we keep saying, when you are an adult no one cares how smart you were when you were a kid. We just want a happy, well-adjusted child, teen, adult Dominic.

Luke - he is our social butterfly. He can have 20 min conversations with a dead cricket! He loves visiting everyone in our neighborhood and his idea of a "stranger" is just someone he hasn't met yet. Luke wants to be in school so badly. The preschool director gave him a BIG surprise - she said that when Dominic is "star of the week", Luke can join them a day or two. Of course he thinks that means tomorrow when in reality is not until January.

Our dear neighbor, Lou, passed away recently. He lost his battle with cancer and thankfully the battle was not a long one. In the 8 short years we had been neighbors, Lou had become like a grandfather to all of us and we miss him greatly. We know he is watching over us and smiles whenever the boys feed the turkeys. One of the last words to us were, "When I get to Heaven, I will tell those angels to send you a beautiful daughter. You sure deserve it." We hope that dream comes true - whether a boy or girl. We hope he is at peace and having a cold beer while fishing with Grandpa Bob.

Well, I hope that got everyone caught up. I will try to post more pictures in a few days.

Dominic's 2nd Day of School

I had to work on his first day, and he was not cooperative with Mark yesterday morning with pictures. So I was able to snap this one today. He seems to be adjusting fine.

More time at the Park

Rainy Day at the Park

We have been having cabin fever lately due to the strange summer weather. It has been chilly and wet but we decided this morning to put on our "warm" clothes and head to the park. The boys enjoyed playing in the water, mud, and on the equipment. We had to go home and have hot chocolate to warm up afterwards!