Back again

Not even going to apologize for the 6 months it's been.  It's my blog and I'm not very good at utilizing it.  Don't want to play "catch-up" too much because, well, six months is a long time, but you'd also be really out of the loop if I just started in on life at this moment.  So here are a few things that have happened since March:

- had a successful 2nd surgery with Dr. Hilgers.  That man is just amazing.  I love him and am so blessed to be his patient.  We were blessed to stay with a beautiful couple while in Omaha.  Our time with them was too short (just Monday evening and Wednesday evening really), but they took care of us like we were their own children and were such a blessing to us in our time of need.  God bless you, Howells!  My surgery was on Tuesday of Holy Week, was in the hospital until Wednesday, had an appointment on Thursday where I asked Dr. Hilgers if we could head home and he said "if you feel up to it!"  So we drove home and were able to spend the Triduum as a family.  Recovery was pretty doggone easy!

-decided to homeschool.  (Which was very much a God thing, btw.  More than anything, we felt God was calling us to pursue homeschooling this year.  We've never had a decision that we had so many good reasons "not to" but kept feeling pulled by God back to it.  Like "I know you don't want to do this and don't think you can, but I want you to."  Really, how do you say no to God?  I bet it never ends well when that happens...)

-got the go ahead to try to achieve pregnancy in June

-actually got pregnant our first cycle of trying!

-hosted an incredible concert with an amazing group of young Catholic artists from Nashville, TN.  Their talent was top-notch and their faith was just beautiful.  We were lucky enough to host them in our home that night and the next day for breakfast, Mass, and lunch.  Words cannot really describe how blessed we have been by these artists and their friendship.  Jimmy Mitchell, the head of Mysterium Records, is on a mission to take back culture through truth and beauty.  If you would like to find out more or help reclaim the soundtrack of American culture, visit Love Good Music.  If you become a patron (for just $10 a month!) you get a new CD from the best music across genres every month.  Seriously, that's a sweet deal.

-found out that we would again be sending a baby to the arms of Jesus.  Our hearts are broken.  We were surprised for it to happen again after all we'd been through.  It sort of seemed like we were starting over, being given a clean slate.  But I wondered as the pregnancy progressed and my nausea did not.  I tried to just offer my joys and sufferings to God throughout.  I was able to handle this pregnancy and miscarriage so much better mentally than any of the others.  I think a lot of that is the T3 that I'm on (do you know my average body temperature is actually 98.6 now?!)  It has truly changed my life for the better.  We're just resting in God's hands.  He loves us so much.

-We don't know why this miscarriage happened.  We don't know if it was the "sometimes, the first pregnancy after intervention unfortunately ends in miscarriage".  Or it there is something more going on.  We set up a phone consult with Dr. Hilgers last month. His next step would be to do genetic karyotyping on Andy and I.  Karyotyping is very expensive and is usually not covered by insurance.  With most doctors, karyotyping wouldn't tell you anything other than "yes/no - this is an issue" and "here's your % chance of successful pregnancy."  Dr. Hilgers apparently does have some (a?) treatment he can do to overcome this issue.  He is currently appealing to our insurance company to cover it.  (Which, don't even get me started on why it is my insurance company gets to determine what is best for my care, not my doctor.  GAHHHHH  THE SYSTEM IS SO BROOOOOOOKKKEEEEENNNN!!!)  We are still trying to discern what God wants us to do with that whole situation.  Prayers are appreciated.

-We started homeschooling on August 19th.  It's been great so far.  Obviously there are ups and downs, but we feel very good about our decision.

So yeah, that's the major "highlights" of the last 6 months.  I'll catch you up on each of us more in coming posts, but now you're more up to speed so when I talk about "homeschoooling this" and "Love Good Music that" you'll know what the heck I'm talking about.