2014!!!

The past two years, I have decided to not have "lose weight" as my New Year's resolution.  I had that as my resolution for so many years and was constantly disappointed in myself.  It has been exciting to say that the past two years I have been successful in my resolutions!!  It pays to refocus a little!!  In 2013, I wanted to celebrate things.  Chris and I have been horrible at that over the years.  We celebrated Valentines Day (with Brady of course :)).  We went out to eat and bought a new treadmill.  Exciting stuff!!  We sent Brady to Carroll for our birthdays and went out and had such a fun night downtown.  And we went out to eat somewhere new (with Brady of course :)) for our 10 year anniversary.  Success!!  I have to say though that my resolution for 2012 was LIFE CHANGING.  I wanted to be more positive and verbalize every day something positive.  I 100% believe in the power of positive self talk/thoughts.  That has changed my life.  I see the positive, not the negative now.  I am more grateful, happy, content.  The glass is 95% of the time half full for me and it used to be the opposite!!  I love how this has changed my life.  I hope that's one quality Brady picks up from me! 

I have a page of resolutions for 2014, but I won't be overwhelmed.  They are just a guide this year.  A few things are even related.  Finances - this year was financially tough.  We need to get rid of some debt we acquired and I am sticking to an iron-clad budget.  No matter what.  With a baby on the way and a 10 year old house starting to need some tender, loving care, we can't afford to be frivolous.  I would also like to tithe (even just a minimal amount).  I want to volunteer more and sometimes do this with Brady or as a family.  I want more "family dinners" with TV off, prayer before, talk about our day and teach Brady to clear his dishes and proper table manners.  His wife will thank me someday for the clearing table part.  :)  I want Brady potty trained soon, but he's just not getting it.  Maybe we'll try it again in a few weeks.  I hope to get Brady signed up for a two-day preschool.  I want to tackle more house projects that need to be done and of course, I want us to all be more active and healthy, like always.  I want to get Brady on Juice Plus vitamins too since he is such a poor eater, but I need to look into the cost.  Last year was a big year for us with a new vehicle, the loss of our dear Drake and fertility treatments.  This year will be a big year too!!!  We are going to make it a great one though!!
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On a side note, I've turned my addiction to Facebook into a positive thing,  I've decided to control / filter what I see on my Homepage in a positive, healthy way.  I'm pretty sure people think it's weird all the health/food/fitness people I 'Like' and Follow on Facebook but I love seeing all the healthy food and tips as I scroll through instead of all the Pinterest (fattening) recipes, etc.  I could never get rid of Facebook because let's face it, I'm a gossiper and love thinking and discussing human behavior so being able to keep up on everybody is fascinating to me.  :)
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We had MidAmerican come to our house to do a home check.   Our house does need some work, but our habits are BIG TIME money wasters.  We have a lot of work to do. 

Christmas morning (2013)

I'm sure you are wondering.....

I had blood work done on Saturday and yesterday to check my HCG levels.  It was 209 on Saturday and 676 on Monday.  So, that confirmed that I am pregnant!  Forty weeks seems like a long ways away when you know you are pregnant week two already!!  I pray that this baby stays safe and healthy throughout this pregnancy.  I want to feel "safe" - it's just too early yet.  I always thought it would be fun to be able to announce a pregnancy, there are so many cute ways to do it.  We've never been able to since it's hard to hide fertility treatments, but I am able to take advantage of knowing early and be as healthy as possible.  We have joined the Y again (felt like going home after spending two years there every day!) and I have been walking every day (BORING!) and will pick up lifting and spinning again once the kids (and teachers!) go back to school.  It's just so busy right now, always waiting for a treadmill.....  Luckily we have one at home, but I like to try and go during the day so Brady gets some play time in!!!  :)  And I stepped up my eating game - I feel grateful that I am smart enough to be motivated again.  Thanks for all your prayers.  I felt really blessed getting all the emails, texts and phone calls during this process. 

Here are some more pictures of my boo!!

He's not much of a climber, but decided to be adventurous one morning...

We took advantage of the nice weather last week/weekend!

He really likes snow surfing!  Next year we'll need to find a bigger hill!

 

We went to the mall to play and then directly to Backyard Adventures yesterday to meet some people.  It wore him out.  What I love about this picture is his cars.  I'm sure mom has a picture of me like this from when I was younger with all my toys in bed with me.

Pregnant or Not Pregnant?

We had one surviving embryo out of the three.  Dr. Young explained that they did start a new freezing/thawing process at the end of 2010, but since ours were frozen at the beginning of 2010 they had to use the old way.  He said there's a better success rate with the new process.  I had the nurse call me that morning.  She called at 10am to tell me that two of them weren't looking right, but the one looked like it would survive.  I cried a little, almost like I was grieving a little.  I thought of those little ones for three years and that morning talked to them and told them to be strong.  And here they were almost gone.  It was a little sad. 

The procedure itself is not supposed to be bad.  I had to arrive at the office with a full bladder.  It would have been fine, except they attach the embryo with a catheter and because of the way my cervix is tilted, they had to switch catheters three times....  The whole time with the ultrasound wand pushing down on my bladder.  A procedure that was to take 5/10 minutes took 20 minutes.  It was brutal because of the full bladder, to be honest.

And then bed rest for two days.  I was so grateful my mom came to help with Brady.  That was the best part of bed rest - knowing Brady was out and about playing and having fun helped me relax.  I missed her tons the next day after she left and so did Brady.  However, bed rest brought out the number one reason why I strongly disliked (I don't want to use the word hate, although that's how I feel) being pregnant.  I know Chris's intentions are good, but even after bed rest, it's all the questions - should you be doing that?  Should you be lifting him?  I just want to scream "I'M JUST PREGNANT!!!".  People do all sorts of things (for example: run) when they are pregnant, but I always feel like I am being handled with extra care and it drives me nuts. 

So, am I pregnant or not?  It's a long wait to find out.  My next appointment is Saturday, December 28th.  Maybe if that turns out good, I can start to actually accept the fact that this might work?  And my bet is --- if it works --- it's a girl. 
 

December 2010

December 2011

 

December 2012

 

December 2013

 

Happy 3rd Birthday Brady!!

On Tuesday, December 10th, my little boo turned 3!!!  He is such a good kid.  I always tell people he makes being a parent so easy.  And he's so funny, as every parent thinks their kid is.  This year, he was at a perfect age to actually "celebrate" and we lived it up!!!  He understood about opening presents (at one point before his birthday party, I saw out of the corner of my eye tissue paper flying up in the air - he was excited to start opening presents!).

We had his birthday party at Chris's parents house in Carroll the Sunday before since both families were in town that day.  It worked out perfectly.  We did a Buzz Lightyear/Toy Story theme with balloons and cupcakes.  He was so excited!  And on his birthday, we met our play group at Monkey Joes that day and Chris and I took him to Chucky Cheese that night for supper.  He had a blast and was completely worn out.  Aside from your kid verbalizing just how much they love you, watching them have the time of their life is just as great.  Life doesn't get much better than that!

His stats from his 3 year check up:
Weight: 36.8 pounds (88th percentile)
Height: 38.9 inches (81st percentile)

Checking out his first present - Toy Story figurines

 

Happy Birthday to You!!

 

One tired little birthday boy

 

Chucky Cheese!

It's getting real!

Looking at my med calendar this morning, things got real pretty fast.  And here is a picture of my meds for tomorrow (some in the morning, some at dinner and one at night).  Yippee.  I can't wait until tomorrow to see in what direction our future will go!!!