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.