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.

What I Loved About Last Week - 15th Ed.

Sheesh, I didn't really take many pictures or write down much about last week (usually I write down keywords on a notepad by the computer) So this one's going to be from the 'ole noggin alone... results may vary...

Here's what I loved about last week - June 25 - July 1st.

1. Met with my Napro doctor again.  No, I am not pregnant. Keep praying on that one.  We have decided to pursue post-peak Progesterone shots to see if they make more of a difference than the Progesterone capsules were.  I am both excited and scared.  Excited because this is THE protocol that Pope Paul VI Institute in Nebraska would follow -  Scared because first off, it seems much more serious than just using progesterone capsules and secondly, because I have heard that the shots are painful.  The progesterone is compounded in sesame oil, which means that it is a thick shot – think cortisone shot.  It is administered in the rump (I know, laugh away) and has to be administered slowly because of how thick it is.  Andy gets to learn how to give them to me.  Fortunately, the progesterone is longer lasting than the capsules, meaning I only have to have the shots every 3 days.  Prayers for bravery (for me) and a steady hand (for Andy) would be appreciated!

2. Rubyisms.  Luckily, my light-of-my-life’s (Ira & Ruby) keep me from stressing too much over the shots.  Ruby has been obsessed with going out and playing in the snow lately.  I would think the hours that we spend outside each day would be enough to convince her that it is most certainly summer.  Nope. Pretty much every day this week, she’d ask, “Should we put on our pink mittens and go out and throw snow?!?!” And she was genuinely disappointed each time when I told her “There’s no snow, Ruby, it’s summer!”  So silly.

3. Garden dinners.  We are still battling the squash bugs (removing 100-200 eggs from the plants every few days) but luckily, it seems as though we’re at least keeping up with them, because we are still getting zucchini from the garden.  Seeing as how it was the end of the month, I had to get really creative with dinner one night last week.  We had like nothing left in the cupboards (or at least not enough to make a meal out of really… cheerios with black beans and green chilis anyone??) So, Andy smoked some zucchini slices and we topped them with couscous that I had made with tomatoes (canned from last year) basil, green onions (both from the garden), and balsamic vinegar.  It ended up being really delicious.  Even the kids loved it. (Ira has decided that his two-year-running dislike for zucchini is a thing of the past – HOORAY!)

4. Shopping with my mother-in-law.  I am seriously SO blessed by my mother and father in law.  They are about the nicest, most generous people you could ever know.  Last Thursday when we were talking during swimming lessons, she mentioned about going shopping to get the 4 grandkids clothes for having their picture taken together later in July.  Later that day, she picked us up and we went into town and got the kids some adorable coordinating outfits for pictures.  She also let Ira get some Angry Birds underwear, an Angry Birds shirt, some cool (size 2 big kids!) leather flip flops, and a Toy Story Book.  She got Ruby a purple tank top, Nike flip-flops, and a “You are my Sunshine” book.  No, my kids aren’t spoiled at all…  After shopping, we went and got drinks at Sonic (strawberry vanilla limeades – SO GOOD!)  Although the kids got a little antsy while shopping, we had so much fun and enjoyed the diversion from being at home all day.

5. 3-2-1 Cake.  My parents (also kind and generous) surprised us with six, yes 6! boxes of angel food cake.  On vacation, we learned how to make this awesome treat called 3-2-1 cake.  You use one box of angel food cake mix and mix it with a box of any other kind of cake mix (confetti, strawberry, yellow are some of our favorites) in a ziplock bag.  Then, when you’re ready for a sweet treat, you mix 3 Tablespoons of cake mix & 2 Tablespoons of water in a microwaveable mug.  Heat for 1 minute in the microwave and voila!  Delicious, easy, one serving of your favorite cake.  Try it, you won’t be disappointed!

6. Swimming lessons are over!  Ira didn’t pass, but he really improved his swimming a lot over the course of lessons.  I am sure that with some more time and practice, he will be able to pass next year.

7. Family day. Last Saturday, for once, we didn’t have anything at all planned.  We had a nice lazy morning and went swimming as a family in the afternoon.  Ruby, who is just about too big for her britches, decided that she likes to jump off the side of the pool all by herself. She jumps in and bobs to the top at which point we grab her and help her to the ladder (in 5 foot water no less.)  She and Ira spent the better part of an hour jumping in. I’m glad that she’s not afraid of the water, but I wish she feared it just a little bit more.  We’ve talked to her about never jumping into a pool when mommy or daddy aren’t in, but I’m just not sure how much of that she “gets.” Pretty glad at this point that nobody we know owns a pool.

8. Pickles.  For the first time, I canned some dill pickles on Sunday.  We had fresh dill from our garden and 8 pounds of pickling cukes that needed something done with them, so I pickled them with a recipe from my Ball Canning Book (Grandma’s Dill Pickles for those who also have the book.)  They are absolutely, positively delicious!  And the pickling cukes really are more crisp and crunchy.  We don’t normally eat a lot of dill pickles around here, so I had thought the 7 pints would last us all year.  However, with as tasty as these are, I’m guessing I’m going to have to make a lot more to last us through the whole year.

9. Early Independence Day.  We celebrated 4^th of July a few days early with Andy’s family.  On Sunday, we went out to their house and had brats (with our yummy dill pickles on top) and shot off fireworks.  Ira is still pretty leary of lighting anything (although he did let grandma pay him a dollar to light a smoke bomb.)  Ruby loved helping light things (again with the no healthy fear thing…) and doing sparklers.  Andy and I had fun throwing firecrackers in the lagoon and watching (and listening) to them explode.  While we were shooting fireworks, a kitten showed up and the kids had lots of fun petting it and holding it.  I tried my hand at some long-exposure photography (despite the fact that I didn’t have my tripod) with the fireworks.  I got a few good ones I think!  It was a great end to a great week!

Stomping snap-n-pops.

First shot

 

Last shot

What I Loved About Last Week 5th Edition

Here's what I loved about last week (4/16-4/22):

1. Paying off Andy's student loans!!!  Quite some time ago (probably close to two years ago) I mentioned on the blog that we were putting away our extra money each month to pay off our student loans.  When Andy got furloughed, we decided to just keep the money in the bank in case we needed it.  We never did have to dip into it and last week were able to pay off his student loans.  HOORAY!!!!  It feels so good to have that debt off of our backs!  Next up in the debt snowball:  my student loans, followed by our house!  Then we'll be debt FREE!!!!!

2. Ruby galloping.  So often throughout the day Ruby gallops instead of walks.  It is the cutest little thing.  A video would probably be more convincing, but for now, you'll have to take my word.

3. Butterflies on our Salvia.  Talk about the glory of God's creation.

4. Rummage Sale finds.  Twice each year, several of the "supermoms" in our parish host a Rummage Sale to benefit the missions.  They collect items on Monday then have a sale on Tuesday and Wednesday where everything is 10 cents.  I was able to find a pair of uniform pants for Ira and two school sweatshirts in the next two sizes up for him.  I also got an adorable dress and 3 pairs of tights for Ruby as well as some sewing notions, some Little Golden Books, and some kitchen utensils.  I think I spent $2.10.  Seriously?!  Does it get any better than that?

5. Rubyisms.  Ruby has been delighting us lately with all her little sayings, so I thought I'd share them with you.  She calls granola bars "monkey bars."  Her sandals are "shoe schlops."   Dump it is "bonk it."  Band-aids are "ban baids."  An umbrella is a "bunumbola."  When you ask her where something is she says, "I don't knoooooow.... I lose it again?"  And she calls the little pocket in the door of the car "the bathtub."  Ruby - where's you're binky? "In the bathtub."  She's such a goose!

6. The new Muppets Movie.  Ira received "The Muppets" for Easter from Andy's parents, but we wanted to pre-view it before we let him watch it.  It truly is a wonderful, wonderful movie.  We laughed a LOT, I cried, and we even re-watched several scenes after the movie was over that were just too funny not to rewatch.  It's definitely a movie we would let Ira watch.  There were just two things that I thought they could have left out: they said the word "butt" once and "idiot" once or twice.  We'll probably watch it with Ira to make sure that we can voice our disapproval over those words, but overall, wow, AWESOME movie!

7. Ruby helping Andy make biscuits.  It's their little thing together and it is so darn precious to witness!


8. We got the 5th bed for our garden done on Saturday.  I tell you what, that double-digging is some arm/leg/neck/feet/back-breaking work!  We still have two more left to do and I can't wait until they're done!

9. We also got quite a bit else done in the garden on Saturday: finishing up the fence for the peas, putting up fence for the blackberry bushes, and planting: green onions, beets, marigolds, cilantro, chives, oregano, and nasturtium.  The kids were dolls and played outside all day.  It just makes my heart swell to hear them playing together.  After wondering for so long if we would ever be able to give Ira a sibling it just feels like I'm living a dream to hear them playing and laughing uproariously together (because they were throwing sand at each other...still...)

10. Cardinal friends.  We have a very friendly male cardinal in our yard who supervises us gardening.  He'll seriously come within 5-10 feet of us and doesn't dart away when/if we move from what we're doing.  Andy was able to capture a picture of him and his lady friend on the bird feeder just a few feet from our house.

I think that about covers last week!  Also, if I could ask for prayers, Andy and I are trying to get pregnant again, which as you can imagine, is kind of a bittersweet situation to be in.  If you would, pray that we are able to embrace whatever God's will is for our family.  Obviously, I hope that means more babies, but there's that whole "Thy will be done" thing that I try to submit myself to too.

Blessings

Andy and I were pregnant again.  We were due on July 4th.  We found out on October 24th.  Finding out you're pregnant is a bittersweet moment when you've miscarried before.  Instead of it being the beginning of dreaming about baby, it is the beginning a most mentally challenging time.  You don't allow yourself to dream about a healthy pregnancy and a baby because then it seems it will hurt all the more when it's taken away.  Those dreams that are just too beautiful, too right, too good to be true.  For me, up until about 8 weeks (the latest we'd miscarried) are just hellish mentally.  I worry over every symptom or lack thereof.  About the waxing and waning of symptoms.  I wonder every time I go to the bathroom if this will be the time I see spotting.  There is scarcely a moment of the day where I'm not thinking about the fact that I'm pregnant and about what could happen.  And as the days tick by on the calendar, it seems as though the worry only gets worse, not better.  Up until the first sonogram, when things become clear one way or the other.  In our case, there's either a healthy heartbeat, or a very slow heartbeat and sub-chorionic tears.  And so we know whether we will have a baby or a miscarriage.    

We scheduled our first sonogram for November 15th.  I felt nauseous many, many days (which I hadn't with our 3 miscarriages), so on occasion, I allowed myself to dream about having a successful pregnancy.  I dreamed about how we would tell people and when.  I thought that Christmas would be a wonderful time to share our news.  We'd be right around 13 weeks, through the awful, worry-filled first trimester.  I thought how delightful it would be to feel the baby moving inside of me.  I dreamed about telling people on Facebook and all the wonderful happy comments.  I dreamed about watching my belly grow and wearing maternity clothes.  About those awkward hugs from Andy as my belly got "in the way."  I dreamed about baby names and about labor and delivery.  About nursing and baptism and Godparents.  About Ruby being a big sister!  About Ira being a big brother again.  About a lifetime together.  I let my mind wander to those blissful things on the days I felt nauseous.  Because I actually like that nauseous, sick feeling, because for me that's a sign of a healthy pregnancy.  Those nauseous days are good days - even great.  Which also means that those days that most would consider "good" - the days when I felt fine - those were some of the hardest days.  Those days I just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep, because when I was sleeping, I couldn't think about what could happen.  But as the pregnancy progressed and the nausea didn't, I wondered.  My mind tried to rationalize why I wasn't feeling as sick as I knew I should (eating healthier, staying busier, hormones being just right where they should be, etc.) but in my heart of hearts, I wondered.

We went for our first sonogram on November 15th.  I was right at 7 weeks pregnant.  We were hoping to hear a healthy heartbeat but instead saw an empty gestational sac.  The sono tech thought maybe I was off on my dates, but when you practice NFP because you've struggled with fertility and miscarriages before, you know that you aren't off on your dates.  Not even a little bit.

My doctor wanted to repeat a sonogram the following Monday to see if anything had changed.  Nothing had.  I was diagnosed with a blighted ovum, meaning that essentially as soon as the egg was fertilized, the baby stopped growing.  Makes you really think about the fact that life really does begin at conception.  Because I wasn't pregnant with nothing.  I was pregnant with a baby who is now up in Heaven glorifying God.  And so we began Thanksgiving week knowing that we were losing another beautiful baby and waiting and hoping, even praying for a natural miscarriage (because apparently sometimes with blighted ovum, it can take weeks for your body to recognize that the pregnancy isn't progressing, sometimes so long that you're at risk for infection, in which case a D&C is required - not something I wanted to go through.)

We told our parents right after we found out on the 21st, but it just felt weird to tell anyone else at that point.  Saying "we're going to miscarry" just feels a little weird, because in the back of your mind, until it actually starts, you hold onto that miniscule hope that maybe, just maybe everyone is wrong, that maybe you'll actually see all those things you dreamed about come to fruition.  And in case you're wondering, it turns out it hurts just the same whether you let yourself dream those dreams or not.

I finally, thankfully, started miscarrying on Saturday, November 26th - Andy's birthday.  My niece had a birthday party that day and I didn't want to ruin the day with our less-than-upbeat news.  And then, the longer we didn't tell people, the less I wanted to tell people.  You probably know the feeling, you're just tired of sharing some sort of news, good, bad, or indifferent.  I remember feeling the same way after Ruby was born.  We called our immediate family and one of my best friends (her godparents) and then I just wanted to be done.  It wasn't that the news wasn't wondrous and miraculous, I was just sick of telling people.  I just wanted to spend time with my newly-born miracle.  Same with this, I didn't want to tell anyone else. 

So it wasn't until Tuesday that I basically had to tell my younger sister because I invited her over to learn how to make yogurt.  Tuesday was the day that the miscarriage really started in earnest.  The bleeding became very heavy and the cramping was comparable to post-birth when baby starts nursing - you other moms know the cramps I'm talking about.  Plus, there was just a lot of pressure "down there", making it difficult to stand for very long.  So it wasn't like I could just not tell her - despite really not wanting to.  Then of course, I had to tell the rest of my family the next day.  I didn't want anyone to feel "left out" by not knowing.  Didn't even feel like telling my best friend (Ruby's godmother who has experienced multiple miscarriages as well.)

I knew in my head that I really wasn't facing the grief well - basically just in denial still.  I hadn't even really cried.  Part of it was that we were busy with the holiday, but part of it was that I just wasn't ready to come to terms with it all.  Friday though, a number of things happened that brought me face to face with the fact that we'd truly lost another baby and I spent much of the day sobbing.  And I called my friend and we cried together.  And it was good.  And healthy.  And necessary.

I will say though, this miscarriage has been totally different than the three that we experienced in 2008.  Part of it is that this miscarriage had somewhat of an explanation (blighted ovum) and although we certainly don't know why this particular pregnancy developed into a blighted ovum, we know that it did, and that that's why this pregnancy wasn't successful.  That's much more knowledge than we have, even still, about our three other miscarriages.  And most of it is that I'm in a much better state mentally.  Ruby's birth was therapeutic and redeeming in multitudinous ways.  Before we had Ruby, I worried that Ira would be an only child.  No offense to only children out there, but that is just not something we ever dreamed of or wanted for him.  I felt regret over not relishing my pregnancy, labor, delivery, and early days with Ira.  I just wanted to be done with them, because I naively thought I would get to experience them over and over as our family grew like I just knew it would.  But with Ruby I did relish all those moments as if I would never get to experience them again.  So that if I never got to again, I'd at least have those precious, sweet, beautiful moments committed to my heart.  Before Ruby, I needed another pregnancy to ever feel "right" mentally again.  God, in His mercy, granted me that, although I certainly didn't merit it.  And I don't take that fact lightly.  I was given her and her pregnancy as a pure, undeserved gift.  And it was SO healing.  And although I long for a big family, I feel so grateful for the two precious, beautiful, fearfully-and-wonderfully-made gifts that I have been given.  And I rest in the peace that God's plans for our family are better than my own.

What we've been up to

We had a really nice Christmas this year. Ira is finally getting old enough to sort of understand the whole Santa thing. This is him on Christmas Eve in his Consignment Sale $6 suit and his $1 Van Heusen shirt and tie from JC Penneys. (Not that I'm proud of that deal or anything...)

Santa brought Ira what he had been asking for for nearly a year: a drumset. He absolutely LOVES playing his drums!! (Although right now he currently can't play them because his drumstick made its way into the bass drum via the hole for one of the toms - can't really play with one drumstick, can't really play the bass or it might ruin it... bummer... he's still trying to figure out what to do about that one...)

Notice the tic tacs sitting on the "throne" next to Ira. They were in his stocking. Of the 60+ tic tacs in the package, I think he had about 17 left by the end of the morning. (As a side note, I think Ira really looks like me in this picture.)

Baby and I are doing well! This is us the day after Christmas (29w5d.)

Our crib we ordered finally came in! (Ira's was one of the Simplicity ones that had been recalled, so we took it back and got our money back and got this one from Tiny Tykes instead. No moving parts and solid as a rock! Our grandkids (God willing) will be able to sleep in this crib!)

Andy and I on our annual trip to Kansas City to see the lights at the Plaza.

Look at that cutie pie of a baby! We think it has the most precious chipmunk cheeks! This was at our most recent Bio-physical Profile Sono this past Monday. Everything still looks great with baby, so here's hoping we can go all the way to 40 weeks!

Other than that, we haven't been up to a whole heck of a lot. We started making a chore chart for Ira, in hopes that by the time baby comes, they will be old-hat/habit. We'll see how that goes. Well, I think I hear Mr. Man awake from his "Quiet Time" So until next time!

A Random Update

Yes, we are all still alive and kicking here... (especially baby, well and Ira sometimes too, depending on what kind of mood he's in.) What can I say, I haven't felt like blogging lately. We've been good this last 6 weeks, not a lot has happened, which is a good thing if you ask me. I'll update you with some random ramblings and pictures.

Halloween:
Ira was "Tigger" for Halloween. He trick-or-treated his little heart out and got enough candy to feed the children of several small countries. Needless to say, we are still eating Halloween candy a piece at a time (and probably will be until March when the baby comes)

Baby:
We had a great OB appointment last Monday. Everything appears to be going well. This baby is certainly a mover, which is oh so reassuring to me! I go in on Monday for bloodwork, glucose screening, and a full sonogram. We are excited to peek in at baby again. In 2 weeks, we'll begin having sonos (Biophysical Profiles) every week to make sure that everything with the placenta/baby is as it should be. With being on heparin (a blood thinner I'm on b/c of a clotting disorder in case you forgot) there is always the concern of blood clots especially in the placenta, which would deprive the baby of the nutrients he/she needs to keep growing. So, each week starting at 28 weeks, we'll have a sonogram to check that baby is still thriving. If at any point one of the sonos shows that the baby is not thriving, then we will have to deliver him/her then. I am staying positive though, and plan on carrying this baby a full 40 weeks, God-willing! I have definitely been feeling Braxton Hicks contractions lately, but apparently that's very common with your second to feel them earlier and more frequently. Here's a recent pic of me (taken around 24 weeks.)Photoshop:
I got Photoshop Elements for Christmas last year and had never been able to figure out how to use it really. I thought it was something that if I just got on there and dinked around with it enough, I would start figuring out how to do things. I was wrong - Photoshop is not an incredibly intuitive program (if you ask me) but recently, I found a really helpful website with great tutorials for photoshop and photoshop elements. So, I've been polishing up some of the amateur photos that I've taken. It has become very fun (and kind of addicting... maybe that's why I haven't had time to blog...) and I am certainly grateful for such a great Christmas present!

New Niece:
The day after Thankgiving, my baby sister gave birth to her first baby (I feel OLD!), a beautiful little girl, named Anna Marie. Andy and I got to go to the hospital to see her the day she was born and Ira got to go meet her once they got home from the hospital on Sunday. He really loves his new cousin. He also loves to hold her! It makes me SO excited for him to be a big brother here in a few months!

Other Random things that didn't fit in the above categories:
-I ordered a "Hotsling" to use with our new baby. I got to try it out last night with Anna Marie and WOW does it work nicely! It will be so nice to have for shopping trips, church, and just around the house so that I can have my hands free to play with Ira, etc.
-Ira is finally done with his round of shots (all four of them) to be vaccinated against the seasonal flu and H1N1. It was a decision we didn't take lightly, but in the end, felt it was the best for him and for our new baby to have him vaccinated. I only thought it was difficult to see your baby get shots (as in when they are tiny.) It is much more difficult to see your 3.5 year old who knows what is going on and can anticipate/worry about how much it is going to hurt. GLAD to be done with THAT!!
-I guess I didn't talk about Ira much in this post. He is doing well. He definitely has his days (as we all do) where he is kind of difficult to deal with (we had one such day on Tuesday - UGH!) but I think part of it is my patience is not near what it was before I got pregnant, and partly because he is 3, and that's just what you can expect when you have a 3 year old. So this Advent season, I am praying to be a better and more patient momma - what a perfect season to practice patience!

That's about it I guess! A blessed Advent to you and yours!

Catching up!

So it's been 2 weeks. Sorry - I was doing good for awhile, then the thought of loading State Fair pictures on here overwhelmed me. I'm not really sure why, beings there's only a few pictures, but whatever. I think I'll stop "previewing" my next blog at the end of my blogs. There's just less pressure that way. Now that we're clear on that, I'm stealing the idea from a friend to update you through pictures that I've taken since my last blog.

So technically this was before the last blog, but whatever, it's from September 8th - right after I started using the new needles. I'm 13w2d in this pic.

Ira with the Verizon car at the state fair.

The thrill of the century for Ira. He got to ride on the train at the fair! He'll probably still be talking about it next year!

The other really cool thing that Ira got to do at the fair. The bungee-trampoliney-bouncy thing. He really liked that too!

Our "before" front lawn picture. It actually doesn't look that bad in the picture, but it's Bermuda grass (really it's mainly weeds) and it won't grow in the shade (which our yard has a lot of) So we were planning on re-seeding it with Fescue at some point. Well, at the new building that Andy is starting, they were going to have to dig through a bunch of Fescue for the building pad, so Andy, being the resourceful guy that he is, checked with his boss to see if it was okay for us to take the Fescue out as sod instead. He said it was fine, so Andy rented a sod-cutter and spent the better part of a weekend with his dad cutting and installing sod.

Here's the new grass. It covered a good 1800 sq ft. probably. And the best part was - it was free! Because of the cost of sod usually, we will definitely be seeding the rest of the lawn, but this gave us a good start!

I'm not really sure what it is about my sister and I that makes us such laundry detergent freaks, but it seems like we are both constantly trying out new detergents. As we've both said before, our laundry cabinets look like the detergent aisle at the store. So my latest experiment was with "Cheer Bright Clean" I tell you what, I'm impressed! The sock on the left was washed in it. The sock on the right was washed in "Arm & Hammer" powder with Borax added as a booster. I can't believe how well the cheer worked. I've started using it on all our stuff now. I think it's less harsh than the "Arm & Hammer" but still gets stuff really clean and gets the stinkies out too.

My parents ran a half-marathon on Sunday the 20th. I can't tell you how proud I am of both of them. I only run when I'm being chased.

Ira and I made Play-Doh people the other day. They didn't last very long because he tried to actually play with them.

Andy and Ira (and our neighbor) rode the Dune Buggy in the Fall Fest parade on Saturday. From Andy's telling, apparently Ira said "Dad, I don't want to ride in the parade" just about the entire time. He didn't mind so much after it was over and he realized that Mom and Grandma and Grandpa had caught a whole bunch of candy for him.

My stomach today (at 16w 1d). The new needles are SO much better. I don't know what happened with that bruise on the right - I think I must've hit scar tissue or something. It takes a LONG time for the bruises to heal (as you can see by the ones in the middle that are like 2 months old), but I've been told that they do eventually heal all the way and you're left with no sign of doing the shots. We'll see, I guess!

Kinda sorta starting to show. I never got very big with Ira, but I'm hoping I'll show more this time. I love how pregnant women look!

Great news and Old Professional Pics

First off, since I last posted, we got some great news! My heparin shots/syringes had been costing us around $170 a month. Ouch! (Talk about your pricey baby! J/K) For some reason, insurance wasn't covering a penny of it. Last time Andy picked the shots up, he asked the Pharmacist why they weren't covered by insurance. The pharmacist said that his guess was that since they aren't usually used for a long-term treatment, that insurance wouldn't pay for them without a letter from the doctor. Fortunately, we had an appointment with Dr. Ferris the next day, so we explained the situation to him and he said he'd see what he could do.

Well, last Thursday, the phone rang, caller ID said it was "US Bioservices." Now, lately we've been getting telemarketing phone calls (despite being on the "do not call" list), so I will say I was less-than-Christian when I answered the phone. A terse, "Hello?" was all US Bioservices was going to get from me. A lady named Christina begins talking, and I begin half listening until she says the words "heparin prescription" and "Holy Family Medical Associates." My ears perked up and I tried to replay what she'd just said (rather unsuccessfully since I'd really only been half listening.) So I told her I was confused and that she'd have to repeat herself.

Long story short, Heparin, because it is and injection medicine, is covered by our major medical insurance, NOT our prescription benefit. Because of the labs/procedures we've had done this year, I've already met my deductible, so the Heparin will be covered by our 20% portion of our coinsurance. Now, I'll get my prescription mailed to me all for the low price of get this, $22.89 a month!!!!! Huzzah!!! So yes, I am totally thrilled. This baby may be affordable after all!

I tried calling PHS to see if they would reimburse us for the 3 months that we've paid totally out of pocket. Usually, I am very impressed by PHS's customer service, but the lady I talked to acted like we should have known it was filed under major medical (despite the fact that US Bioservices is mentioned NOWHERE in our Declaration of Benefits.) I guess Andy and I both thought that because it was a medicine, it would be filled at a pharmacy and paid for with prescription benefits. So, we learned a sort-of expensive lesson that I'm just glad we figured out now instead of never.

Onward and upward to some cute pictures of Ira as promised in my last post. These were all taken at Portrait Innovations.

3 Month Pictures

We always thought it would be funny to Photoshop a martini glass in his right hand and a cigar in his left hand.

My cutie pie! (The tux was for Monica's wedding)

We have this one in black and white in our bedroom.

This was everyone that we gave pictures to's favorite. Unfortunately, it was the one we had the least prints of!


6 Month PicturesOur little family

Look at those handsome boys!

I don't know why, but I think he looks like a character from "The Little Rascals" here.


9 Month Pictures
By this point, Ira had figured out crawling which made catching him for a picture DIFFICULT!

With his Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa.

We didn't order this one, but I just thought it was funny! Only new parents would think that a big prop teddy bear in the background would be a good idea! :-)


1 Year Pictures
Big boy!

I absolutely adore this picture.

Such a sweetie pie.

Okay, I may be partial, but I'm pretty sure he could be in a Johnson & Johnson commercial with this one! We have this in Sepia in our Bathroom.


18 Month Pictures
This is probably one of my most favorite pictures of him. I love his curls!

Thank you consignment sales for this outfit.

We have this one framed for Ira's room.

Okay, that's enough for today, I'm sick of dragging pictures all over the place (my one thing I don't like about Blogspot.) Have a great day! Up next: State Fair!