Goodbye 2010

Hard to believe 2010 is 7 hrs from it's close.  We had an amazing year - with ups and downs.  We couldn't be happier on how 2010 is ending for us - anticipating a new baby next year!

Christmas Day 2010

 Dominic discovered all of Santa's gifts.

 Luke was so excited for Christmas morning.  He loved it all.

 The Paper Jamz were a BIG hit in our house this year.  They also got a Paper jamz drum set too.

 The power tools are now favorites of both boys.  Mom is debating loosing some batteries now!

Little Miss A made an appearance later in the day.  She found the singing Rudolph and loved to make it sing and "bite her finger".  I think she did this for 30 mins straight!

Christmas Eve 2010

We go to Grandma's house on Christmas Eve.  I "caught" Luke trying to find his gifts under the tree!

 Here is our silly boy....actually under the tree with the presents!

 Yeah for a great picture with Santa this year.  Santa always make a special appearance on Christmas Eve.  Grandma has a direct line to his workshop.

As always, Luke is not scared at all.  He jumped right up and took a great picture!

Names

We were talking to the boys about what we should call the baby - instead of "the baby".  I explained when I was pregnant with Luke and he was supposed to be born in March, we called him "Shamrock" because we were going to be surprised by the gender.  Here are the boys top picks:

Dominic - The Baby - not very creative but always the sensible one!
Luke - The Evil Doctor Porkchop - Toy Story is his absolute favorite movie!  Personally, I think he just likes saying it.

Where we are in the process:  We are working on getting our Home Study set up and the paper work put together for the social worker.

Growing in our Hearts

It's official.  We now have a baby growing within our hearts.  We are so excited.  We pray nightly for the health of the baby and birthfamily.

 I found this quote the other day and the boys and I just love it. 

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.



And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.
 
When Dominic and Luke say their bedtime prayers, we also send kisses into the air and whisper our goodnights to the baby.

Pictures

Baking for Santa

We did our annual baking for Santa.  We shared this with Miss Addison too!  She was not feeling well yesterday but did manage to cut out 3 cookies before pushing the dough away and proclaiming, "DONE!"  She is definitely a girl who knows what she wants (or doesn't want)!

I don't have any pictures yet.  I forgot my camera and used my sister's instead.  I will post pictures after she emails them to me.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

A Time for Prayer

Life is funny sometimes.  It is true that you never know what tomorrow may bring.  On Tuesday this week, our family was complete.  Mark and I were/are at peace with the family God has given us.  Our life with our two miracles.  We have gathered up and moved on most baby items from our house and even rearranged the boys bedrooms complete with full sized beds in each - no more crib or twin beds for our "big" boys.

Many of you are now wondering if I'm pregnant.  While that would definitely be a divine miracle during Christmas, we have been presented with an even greater miracle.  On Tuesday, we were informed of a possible adoption opportunity.  I'm not going to go into any details at this time, out of respect for the birthfamily involved. If things progress and I have permission I will share at that point.

We ask for your prayers as well.  That even if we don't parent this child, the child's best interests are served in the long run.

Our Day with Santa

Here comes Santa!  Gotta love the Bass Pro Shop.  They not only give you a free picture that they take, but allow you to take your own!  What a motivation to go into the store and but something.....which we did!

The boys did great this year.  They were a bit stand-offish at first, but did get right in there when the time came.

Random Pictures

Decorating

Our house is now decorated for Christmas.  The tree looks wonderful - the boys did a great job and are a fun age to help.  I was blessed this year with the ability to enjoy decorating individually with each child.  Luke and I started with his ornaments while Dominic was at school.  We were able to take our time and I could tell stories about why o rhow each ornament came to be with us.  That afternoon, while Luke was napping, I was able to cherish this time with Dominic.  Later that evening, that boys were sitting by the tree and I heard them each explaining their ornaments to each other.  I got teary eyed - our own little Hallmark commerical - listening to each one tell the stories of their own Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments.

Oh - I did watch the Hallmark movie that was on the other night.  I cried like a baby through the entire movie - including the commericals.

Our house elf, Gunner, has made his return from the North Pole this year.  The boys are so excited to have him back.  I need to take pictures of Gunner and the places he likes to hide.  The boys love trying to find him in the mornings - but I have had to talk with Gunner about  remembering to change places!

Awards and Such

In November I was nominated for Employee of the Quarter and won.  I was proud of my accomplishment!  A couple of weeks later, I was presented with the Employee of the Year award too!  While I appreciate all the recognition, I am not loving all the attention this has brought to me. 

This coming weekend, we have Mark's office Christmas party and the hospital's party on Saturday.  We will have a busy weekend but Grammy will be here to keep the boys occupied.

Time to Update....Again

Almost a month since my last entry.  I'm not very good at keeping up with this!  I have a new found respect (or envy) of those that can blog nearly every day because that is far from me.  Life gets in the way - especially when life is 2 very busy little boys.

Thanksgiving was great.  The boys love spending time with their cousins so they spent 3 nights at Grandma's house loving every minute of it.  On Monday, I noticed there is down side to spending so much time with 12-17 year olds.  Dominic said, "I have to re-write this sentence because it looks crappy."  I explained that "crappy" is word that is not appropriate for a 6 year to be using.  He realized it as soon as it was out of his mouth.  I secretly hope that in 10 years, "crappy" is the worst word that comes out of his mouth!

I spent "Black Friday" shopping with my Mom and sister.  We had a great time and managed to find some bargins.  I am happy to report that I'm done Christmas shopping!

Mark and I had a "minor" mishap over the weekend though.  As I was backing out of the garage to leave for work, Mark accidently hit the worng garage door opener.  He hit my door instead and it closed as I was backing out.  I hit the bottom panel of the garage door - denting the tailgate of the van and bowing the garage door out.  Mark had to kick and hammer the garage door back to somewhat normal before it would close again.  Needless to say, our nexy home project will be replacing the garage door.

Speaking of home projects, we are painting nearly the entire inside of the house.  We did manage to get the vast majority of the house painted before bringing out the Christmas decorations.  Our kitchen is now green and the main part of the house is a tan/gray.  At first, all the boys really hated it, but they are slowly coming around.  I have also installed curtain rods and the boys do not seem to like my decorating style at this moment.  I told all of them that when they get a decorating degree, I will listen to them - but for now I get to do what I want!

Luke Riding a Bike

Halloween, Birthday, and More

Getting ready to go trick or treating!

 We carved pumpkins the day before because the weather was perfect.  It was so warm, we were even bothered by some bees!  The boys are really starting to get into carving.  I think they like the sensory activity - the smell and the feel of the pumpkin.  They were even brave enough to taste it!

 Since Grammy and Sarah, TJ, and Addison were in town too, we celebrated Dominic's birthday at Colton's Steak House.  We had a great time with family and food!

 Dominic wanted a volcano dinosaur cake for his birthday.  This is what my limited cake making abilities made for him.  This was his first of 3 cakes!

This was Dominic's birthday morning!  He had pancakes shaped in stars and a number six with six candles.  He was excited and went to school with cupcakes for treats.

This was Dominic's dinosaur ice cream cake on his actual birthday.

This was cake number 3 at Grandma's house!

Enough....

Throughout our IF journey many have asked, "How do you know when enough is enough?"  My answer is, "You will know."

Mark and I have officially said "enough is enough".  We are closing the TTC (trying to conceive) chapter in our lives.  Do we still want more children?  Absolutely.  We want another child with every ounce of our souls.  However, life has other plans and we don't want to miss out on that life while we are consumed trying to build our family.

As I type this, I have one of our "miracles" asleep at my side.  He is an angel sent from Heaven and I am forever thankful that I'm his Mommy.  While being a mother to 2 children was not our plan, it is more than we were ever promised when your IF journey began.

Like I was reminded by a friend, every parent (whether battling IF or not) must decide at some point when "enough is enough" on having babies.  This is so true.  However, like many things with IF, it is really not my decision - my medical issues and mother nature (getting older) are making the decisions for me.

So we are wishing our IF goodbye.  Goodbye needles, goodbye burning medications, goodbye sore butt and bruises, goodbye ultrasounds, goodbye blood work, goodbye HPTs, goodbye cold doctor's offices, goodbye surgeries, goodbye to bad news.

Most of all, goodbye to our sweet, precious embryos.  You may not have been conceived in my body, but you were conceived with love from your Mommy and Daddy.  We wish every one of you peace as you rest surrounded by Jesus' divine love.

Fall

2-Wheel'n Luke!

Luke has learned to balance his razor scooter.  We have tried to convince him that if he can ride the scooter, then he can ride the bike without training wheels - but he isn't buying it yet!

Swimming Videos

Finally caught Dominic on video during a swimming lesson:

Pumpkin Patch

 Went spent the afternoon this day at a very large pumpkin patch in KC.  For some unknown reason, the boys were being very photogenic and cooperative.  They were begging me to take their picture and posing themselves!

This was my favorite picture of the day.

Kansas City Zoo

 We spent the day with Grammy at the Kansas City Zoo.  Luckily, all KC residents got in free with proof.  That was a great savings for the day!  It was cool day but very nice.

 There are "rocks" outside the entrance and I think the boys could have played right there for hours.

 Luke can be a ham when he wants to be.  We really enjoyed watching the new polar bear swim and do his tricks and flips.

 Here Dominic sits after climbing up a "tree".

Luke finally couldn't stay awake any longer.  He was wanting to see the elephants - which we did - and he fell asleep right after.  Renting a stroller at the zoo is a big bonus for larger kids!

Homecoming Parade

Luke's preschool leads the high school Homecoming Parade.  They get to bring their bikes to school and decorate them.  We both had lots of fun and it was a gorgeous day.

Swimming....

Here is just a brief time of Luke swimming.  He is amazing - going from timid and afraid to venture out on his own - to swimming by himself!  GO Luke!  I don't have much of Dominic because my camera battery ran out.  Poor planning on mom's part!

Swimming Lessons

The boys are both taking private swimming lessons this fall.  While they both said "I don't want too" they are both loving it now.  Their instructor is a Truman student.  He is great - he knows just when to push the kids and when to back off some.  Dominic swam 100 yards unassisted on Thursday!  Luke is now swimming about 8-10 yards unassisted.  They are both doing so great and Mark and I are both impressed.  One of these days, I'm going to try to get pictures or video - but both of them hate me doing that while they are swimming.

Hi Miss A!

 Here is Little Miss A!  I needed a model for extended rear facing. She was happy to help since she got a few sucks on the pacifier while modeling!  Good for you Miss A and a big "Way to go Mom and Dad!"  for keeping you so safe!

 Here she is again.  She is sensing that it is almost time to leave the car and really wants the paci back!

 And here she is....looking nearly terrified.  Even an 18 month old knows this isn't safe!

And finally, a smile once we are back in the house.  She was grateful her aunt didn't actually drive the van anywhere with her restrained (or not) like that!

BTW - Luke took this picture of her!