Doing well ourselves but prayers for friends are NEEDED!

Not much going on other then trips to the RE's(reproductive experts) office and Easter weekend. Things are going well with pretty much everything at this point! We are blessed and hope that everyone else can be blessed on this special weekend! I will ask for lots of prayers though as we have many friends that REALLY need them right now.

Excited, nervous, happy, anxious!!!

It is late but I am not a sleep because I have a million scenerios running through my head! We got good news regarding our infertility treatments and while we haven't had the actual procedure yet things are looking great! We are praying that the results we got today will lead to a full-term pregnancy. Since we had less success 2 years ago when we did the same procedure we are excited! By success I mean we have more follicles(eggs) this time then the last time and we DID get pregnant then we just didn't stay pregnant. :o( It is okay though as we now have our precious little man who we might not otherwise have if we had stayed pregnant. We have 4 times the follicles that we did 2 years ago so we are staying hopefull that since we had 2 last time and got pregnant that with 4x that we WILL be successful! My title for this post gives you a glimpse of the feelings that are going on right now. I really wasn't expecting to have that many great follicles and man are we excited! Such a nice surprise!!! BTW we are doing this IUI almost exactly 2 years to the day of our last IUI in which we did get pregnant. Isn't that strange?!?!? I think God knew at the time that there was a little boy that would need us just as much as we needed him. I can't even imagine what life would be like without TJ and as odd as it sounds I am thankful to God that we didn't stay pregnant 2 years ago. I LOVE TJ MORE THEN LIFE ITSELF!!!! I am hoping that since we are doing this almost 2 years to date from our last IUI that it is a sign from God that this is the right time! Rollercoaster ride has officially begun!

I love this family!!!

So, when Joe and I firsted started trying for a baby I found a wonderful support group online. At first it started out as just women that knew what I was going through. It quickly turned into much more then that. The women(all of them) I have met the past 3.5 years have become more then support they have become like family! They are women that I can turn to NO matter what I am feeling. I know I will NOT be judged and will always have support in ALL areas of life. When experiencing infertility there are SO many emotions and not all of them are good. I say this because if you haven't dealt with infertility it is hard to understand sometimes. I always give people the benefit of the doubt when they make comments that cut me to the core because most people just don't understand. I don't fault people for it I just try to explain my feelings when things hurt. So with that I am honored to say that I met one of the women, her husband, and her son today!

I have known Amy(http://whatrhymeswithwillis.blogspot.com/?spref=fb)(sorry I don't know how to do the link a blog thing) for 3 years now and she is BEYOND wonderful! Amy has ALWAYS been a phone call, text, or FB chat away when I need her and I hope she feels I am always that when she needs. She has a gorgeous son that is 15 months old and a great husband! They had been living in Oregon but Rob's(husband) family lives in Louisiana and so he got a job there. Amy and Jensen joined him this weekend as Rob got their place and life set-up. Amy and Jensen flew into the airport by us here in Houston last night(Friday). Rob met them and they stayed at a hotel and then this morning(Saturday) they came to meet us! I was all kinds of excited and nervous! I mean what if Amy and her boys didn't like us in person?!?!? Would I be the same person(and family) she knew via internet and phone calls?!?!? Well, I can tell you that she didn't disappoint me...you have to ask her because I can't tell you if I was all that she hoped. LOL okay clearly I am NOT all that but I hope I am the same person(and family) that she thought I was going into the visit! When they arrived around noon we were giddy with excitement! Joe was heading to get ice from the corner store with the golf cart so Rob joined him. Yes, they knew each other for all of 30 seconds when they were sent off on this task. Being men they didn't just go get ice but had to drive around being "cool"(both hubbies are cool in my book) in the golf cart. Jensen and TJ got acquainted and were buds! Joe grilled some awesome burgers and fried up some homemade french fries. The kiddos napped after playing hard outside then when they woke-up we ate. We had the burgers, fries, watermelon, and homemade Mexican rice...it was all delicious! We all hung-out until around 7 pm and our friend's had to leave. :o( They had a 4 hour drive back to their place in Louisiana.

We have already decided we will be meeting up LOTS in the future and hopefully one of those times will be a nice weekend in Dallas. Both our hubbies love Dallas so it should be a fun trip to plan!!! It is so fun to have someone close enough for visits like these.

I seriously canNOT express how awesome Amy and her boys are! Amy is someone that I truly adore like a sister!!! She is SO supportive and just overall an amazing person! I never question the genuine friendship we have. Amy always thinks of others and is an equally amazing friend to SO many! We are blessed to have her and her boys in our life. It is hard to find good friend's that understand and support what you are going through in life. This family is one that we will keep in our lives for as long as they will let us be in theirs! It is somewhat like internet dating and meeting your husband online. You meet a few bad guys but then when you meet the right guy you can't imagine your life without them. Again, we are so blessed to have such an amazing support system in this family. My only wish is that ALL the women in our group could come together. Such an awesome experience that will be the first of many!

The bottomline is that my friend is AWESOME!!!! Thank you Amy(and her boys) for always being there and making my life easier during everything! I hope that the next time we see each other is SOON!!!!

It's Only Saturday and....

it has been the most amazing weekend!!!

Friday...I went for my CD3(cycle day 3)(sorry any men that read this) ultrasound and blood work. They called me Friday afternoon and everything looks great and that I should start my injections. Yes, that means I am giving myself a shot every night BUT the process is SO easy and the needle is SO small so no biggie. Joe planned on going into work after my appointment but didn't. :o) Our neighborhood does a community garage sale a few times a year which means they put out an ad in the paper and a bunch of signs with a map of where each home participating is. Then, you decide if you want to do a garage sale and set-up like a normal garage sale at your home. So pretty much you get the advertising for free as you don't have to put up signs or an ad in the paper. We set-up and "opened" at 8 am and I left at 8:40 am for my appointment. I got back at 9:30 am and things were hopping! We ended up selling so much that we didn't even "open" up today(Sat.). Joe decided to just work from home which was awesome! He had a few concalls but spent lots of time with us. We got PF Changs for lunch(my fav), took a ride on the golf cart, went on a bike ride, and a few other fun things. The weather was out of this world! Low 80's, NO humidity, sunny, and a nice breeze! We were literally outside from 8 am until 1 am. I should say that it was the ADULTS that stayed up that late NOT the kiddos! We had some good friends over so it was fun to sit out back in the nice weather. So all in all a great day with my boys, friends, a bonus of extra cash, and of course the fact that we got rid of stuff!!!

Saturday...I am going to make a whole other post to cover this but will summarize here. We had some other good friends over and had a blast! Again, the weather was too perfect to even describe! Just like yesterday...low 80's, NO humidity, sunny, and a slight breeze. I think our friend, Amy, from Oregon brought the cooler weather with her...thanks Amy!!! We were again outside the majority of the day. I am actually still outside right now...what did we do before wireless internet?!?!?

Sunday...Yeah, yeah I know we aren't into Sunday yet. The weather is supposed to be just as gorgeous as the previous days. The only thing planned is going to Joe's softball games(he plays for his companies team in a slow pitch league). They have gotten quite good and it is fun for TJ and I to go watch. TJ is their good luck charm according to them.

So as we head into Monday we will have had a GREAT weekend! We are staying busy but it is a relaxing kind of busy not a we ran around all weekend and didn't get a chance to sit kind of busy.

Oops...sorry about the hiatus there!

So, lots has been going on over here in our house! First, we had a change in plans with the IVF. :o( We are VERY blessed that our insurance has infertility benefits which is why we decided to try IF treatments again. Well, not so fast they said! They require that you do 3 IUI's before trying IVF. Very well, we have done that. Again, not so fast! They require that the IUI's be done WITH injectibles. Well, the first 2 we did were with Clomid and the last one was with injectibles. GRRRRR to little details like that that were NOT mentioned when I talked with them months ago! So, back to IUI we go. :o( The good thing is that the IUI with injectibles DID get us pregnant last time we just failed to stay pregnant. Therefore, we are hopeful that this will be successful!!! So, in about a month from now we will know yay or nay.

In other news we have been busy with our day to day life. We are all doing well and having fun enjoying the weather before it reaches ridiculously hot temps. Bailey is getting so big and it is unreal that she is going to be in preschool 4 days a week next year! I am not sure how our little preemie is such a big girl now. She is ALL girl and changes about 7 times a day! She always wants to look cute and gets excited to show me certain outfits that she has picked out for herself. She is a girl after my own heart! This weekend we took a little girls time to get ice cream together while TJ napped and Joe did some work outside. I always cherish that time with her and she always asks for that time which I hope continues for YEARS to come.

TJ is just hysterical as always and keeps us on our toes! EVERYONE that meets him cannot believe that he is only 2.5 years old. He is incredibly bright and amazes us with the things he does and says. Just yesterday my mom said she doesn't know how I keep up with him. Some days I don't either! What I can tell you is that I gained 25 lbs because of the IF medicines and since TJ came into our lives I have lost 20 of it! YAY for being back in a size 6 which is quickly becoming a size 4. SO embarrassing to have gained that much but I am proud that I have been eating healthier and have been more active. Okay, sorry that got a little off topic! Oh and all that just in time for our IUI, more meds, and HOPEFULLY a successful pregnancy!!! I will gain 300 lbs if that means we can add to our family! Okay, back to TJ, he is just amazing. The best thing to happen so far this week is that we received his birth certificate yesterday!!!!!! I know that we have officially been TJ's mommy and daddy since 2/25/11 and we have considered ourselves his mommy and daddy since 6/4/10 but this was great! I mean WE are the one's on his birth certificate and it is our last name on the birth certificate! Such a great feeling to have ALL the pieces of the puzzle now. We are so blessed!!!

Joe is still LOVING his new job! He is on the company softball team and they recently had their end of the year tournament. It is a league of a bunch of different companies that play slow pitch. Joe's team was 1-9 going into the tourney. It was a one and done tourney so we thought we would be there for an hour and then head home. Well, they came together in a BIG way! They were in the bottom of the bracket so they were playing teams at the top with great records. They ended up winning the whole tournament! We were there from 2 pm to almost 8pm which was totally unexpected but fun. TJ was their good luck charm and got to be in the team photos at the end! That was a few weeks ago and this weekend they started the new season. Low and behold they went 2-0 so they really have turned around and have become the little engine that could!!! Joe also surprised me this past Friday with an early Mother's Day gift. We have been looking at getting a bigger SUV for quite some time now and found 1 last week that we both really liked. On Thursday he was going to go and get things set-up for purchase. He texted me though and said the dealership called and the one we wanted sold. :o( On Friday Joe decided to work from home and that would give us a chance to go down to the dealership and look at other SUVs. So, I started looking at their website and showing Joe the ones I liked. Joe then said that we didn't need to continue looking because we had already found the one we wanted. I reminded him that it had sold! He said with a you caught me face, "Yes I know because they sold it to ME!!!". Haha I totally ruined the surprise he had for me! We picked the SUV up on Friday and I love it! Certainly a great gift for my first official Mother's Day! Of course, nothing can top the handmade gifts I have received from Bailey but Joe did a good job.

I am a very blessed woman and pray that God will continue to make 2011 the best year ever!!!!