Merry Christmas!!

I know this is a little late...but Merry Christmas! Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. Jason and I started our celebration with a trip north to my parent's house on Christmas eve. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures from the celebration with my cousins (camera battery died!). It was nice to see everyone even though it was a short time. Hopefully we'll get to spend more time together in the coming year. We enjoyed the final Christmas Eve service at my mom's church (Her church is combining with another so they will no longer be in the same church building after today.).

Christmas Day was spent at my sister's house with a wonderful Italian meal.

Nicole with her new puzzle! Mitchell in a new Brett Favre jersey (yes, it's still a Packers jersey....and, I was having trouble rotating the pic -sorry!)
Playing Uno...

Jason had to work on Friday ... I'm off work until the 5th so I spent the day with my "little sister". Jason and I didn't exchange gifts this year; instead, we are re-decorating our bedroom and upgrading to a King size bed!! We purchased one on Saturday so once we have the room all put together, I'll do a post.

We celebrated with Jason's dad and sister's family on Saturday afternoon.

Caden helping grandpa open his gift.

Doesn't he look excited to get pajamas?

Kali and her boyfriend, Troy

See...who needs toys when you have canned food in the cupboard??Aunt Amber & Caden...he's getting so big! Hard to believe he is almost 18months old!

One of our neighbor friends has their family in town and they love to karaoke! We went out with them on Tuesday night and again on Saturday night. They are so much fun and have some great voices!

Jen singing "Good Bye Earl" by the Dixie ChicksJames singing (can't remember what song)
Byron and James singing "Much to Young to Feel This Damn Old"
Becky, Tisha, and meBryon and Becky - thanks for inviting us to hang with you and your family!!

We went to church this morning and have just been hanging the rest of the day! Hopefully we'll get a lot accomplished this week since we are both off work!

Christmas goodies...

If you know me in person, you'll know that I don't cook/bake too often. However, this weekend, I had planned to make a few Christmas goodies to take to a potluck on Tuesday night and bring north with me on Wednesday. Here's what we ended up with...

These were SO easy! Thanks Jill for the idea and easy instructions!

I have no clue what these are called, but Jason's aunt makes them. They are so yummy!! (Almond bark, Rice Krispies, Marshmallows, and Peanut Butter)

And, of course, regular sugar cookie cutouts. Don't pay any attention to the actual designs -- I didn't have Christmas cookie cutters, and Karen picked these up at the dollar store. We'll see how they taste. I have yet to find a sugar cookie recipe I like!

Negative.

That's the result of the pregnancy test after our third IUI.

To be honest, I am actually doing okay. There were a few tears, but nothing like after the first IUI or even after the methotrexate in October. I am just not sure where we are going to go from here. We're waiting on a plan from the doctor but know that we need to have in mind what we are comfortable with as well. I'm assuming we'll be taking a month off of everything and then trying something again...I'm just not sure what. This should be interesting trying to get in touch with the doctor with the holiday next week, so we'll see how this goes.

I'm still here...

We had a going away party for another neighborhood couple/family on Friday night along with our annual Christmas party! Our friends are moving to Rochester, New York with State Farm on Wednesday. They were lots of fun over the last year or so...hopefully they will be back in a couple years! Jason and I were up early on Saturday morning to help at our church's Imagine distribution. I believe this is the 2nd year they have done this, but it was our first time helping out. Jason spent the entire morning (5:45am-noon) outside, and I helped distribute toys! Food, coats, and toys were distributed to almost 700 families! I find that pretty amazing and sad at the same time that there are that many people in need.

We got home and took a three hour nap! I started to feel kind of crappy around the middle of last week, but it really hit me on Saturday. The rest of the weekend was spent on the couch for me, including yesterday! I am feeling much better today, and hopefully Jason doesn't get it too bad.

Tonight, I'll be back on the couch watching the Biggest Loser finale!! Go Michelle!

Am I? or Aren't I?

I never wanted to get to this point (I know, who does?!) where you are constantly wondering if you are going to be pregnant this month. This is why when we first started "trying" I didn't track my cycles or honestly even pay attention. For some reason I thought we would have trouble getting pregnant - probably because of Jason's history of cancer, certainly not because anyone in our families seemed to have trouble getting pregnant (although that isn't necessarily the case I found out).

When we finally decided to try to get some questions answered, it was 3.5 years later...nothing was coming back as the problem. During our Clomid cycles, I thought for sure we were going to get pregnant, but always seemed to expect my period (weird, I know). Then came the first IUI...I don't really remember what I was feeling during the 2ww. The one thing I do remember is that on the morning of my blood test while I was in the waiting room, I just had a feeling it was going to be negative. Of course, that didn't take getting the call from the doctor's office any easier. Then, our second IUI...I knew from the day we had our first insemination that it was going to be a positive pregnancy test. I just had a feeling.

Now, we are in the middle of the 2ww for our third IUI, and I don't have a feeling either way! I guess this can be a good thing, but I keep getting random thoughts going through my mind today. I just wish it was time to take the pregnancy test so I could know!

(By the way, my progesterone check for today was good ... over 20. So, if we are pregnant, it sounds like my body can support it.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
to my brother-in-law, Jarrod,
today!!

Hope you have a great day!!

Weekend fun!

I headed to Rockford on Friday to hang out with Janell for a while - we went to see Dirty Dancing in Chicago! The show was good and the dancing was impressive, and I was surprised to see how many lines I remembered. Guess that helps when you watched the movie probably 100 times over the summer when it came out! Seeing the play makes me want to find the movie and watch it. I probably have it on VHS still...

The plan was to head to Freeport on Saturday morning, but thanks to Mother Nature and the snow I stayed in Rockford. We had a nice time talking and hanging out until I left around 2:30pm to head home. Hudson waiting for the rest of his lunch!

I made it home safely and the roads weren't bad at all! We spent almost all day Sunday at church - we worked (nursery for me and security for Jason) first hour, attended 2nd hour, and then went back for the AWESOME Christmas Pops concert last night. We are definitely blessed with some great musicians and vocalists!

IUI #3 done

Jason and I drove to Urbana yesterday for the first of two IUI's this month...everything went just as planned. Maliah actually said I had good cervical mucus, too. Jason's count was 65 million with 47% motility. It was a little painful compared to past times, but hopefully that was a good sign. I rested pretty much the rest of the day hoping they were doing their job!

We headed back to Urbana this morning...Laura was performing the IUI this time, but she has some difficulty finding my cervix. I guess it moves?? Had no clue. Theresa had to come help her, but they got it done, and there was hardly no pain. Jason's count was at 27 million (typically lower on the 2nd day) and motility was 70%. Looks good.

I'm to start progesterone on Sunday, have blood drawn and do 1/2 of Ovidrel on Tuesday.

Now we wait...pregnancy test on 12/19

Here we go...IUI #3

I finally got the call from the doctor's office this afternoon with the results of my blood test and ultrasound. Everything is looking great - I have one mature follicle on each ovary (19mm and 20mm) and the lining is good at 9. I'll be taking my hCG trigger shot tonight, and the inseminations are tomorrow at 2pm and Thursday at 9am! This is a different time line than we have done in the past, but it's what they have available. The nurse practioner thought this would be good - approximately 18 and 36 hours after the trigger tonight. Please be praying for us that we would remain calm, trusting in God and His perfect timing, and that this would result in a baby to add to our family! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!!

Addison Blair!

Congratulations to Jim and Heather Corum on the birth of their baby GIRL!!

Addison Blair Corum
12:41am
December 1, 2008
5 pounds 7 ounces
19 inches long

Mom and baby are doing great! It was a quick delivery (I can't say painless since she wasn't able to get an epidural!) and an early one (5 weeks). I can't wait to meet her!!

CD 6

Yes, you read that correct...today is day 6 of my cycle! I know some of you have been wondering what was going on so I thought I would go ahead and put the info out there. I'm not sure why I didn't early this week, I just think I didn't want to talk/think/wonder/worry/etc about it. But, I know that I need/want your support, kind words, and prayers...thank you for being there!

I finished the last of my Fem*ara today and will start the Bra*velle injections tomorrow night. Ultrasound and bloodwork on Tuesday with IUIs later next week.

Please be praying for us! The plan is to find out if this IUI round worked just before Christmas...hopefully we'll have good news to share!

Thanksgiving

This year was a little different than past years - Jason and I hosted Thanksgiving for each of our families...at the same time! Luckily, we really have small families so we all fit quite nicely. I cooked the turkey and everyone else took care of the sides so it didn't seem like too much work. The food and company were very nice.

Playing Phase 10

Jason carving the turkey!

I didn't get many pictures this year - probably didn't help that I was taking a nap after the meal! :-)

Just a few things I am thankful for this year:

• Jason - he is an awesome, supportive, and patient husband
• Friends/Family
• My bible study ladies
• Infertility (Yep, hard to believe I know, but it has taught me so much about life and people. I only hope I can pass along all that I have learned.)
• Jason and I both have jobs (even though he worked over 80 hours last week) and a nice home

I'm sure I could go on and on, but I won't...there is a lot to be thankful for these days even though the media will tell you how bad it is!

Next cycle started!

I am the type of person who HATES taking home pregnancy tests...not only because they are expensive, but because I don't want to be disappointed. I knew the test would be negative, but thought I would take it just in case. Naturally, I started my cycle that day! The good news is that Dr. Jarrett said we could start the meds for IUI #3 when it started. I called the office yesterday morning...when Lisa (nurse) called me back she wasn't sure I should be doing the meds because it hadn't been 60 days since the methotrexate injection. They talk to Dr. Jarrett over the noon hour so I had to wait for them to talk to him. I was a little frustrated to say the least at this point because we had just met with Dr. Jarrett on Wednesday, and he didn't seem to think it would be a problem. When Linda (nurse practitioner) called me back at 4:15pm, she said that Dr. Jarrett still didn't think it would be a problem, but she and Teresa (another nurse practitioner) recommended that I didn't do it. Of course, she acted like she didn't want to get in the middle of me and Dr. Jarrett, but I could tell that was her recommendation. Dr. Jarrett feels like she we won't be having the actual insemination until right around 60 days, it won't be a problem. We scheduled the baseline ultrasound for this morning and said we would talk afterwards (pretty typical). Jason and I decided that we would go with Dr. Jarrett's recommendation - afterall we have trusted him to this point and don't believe that he would do anything to put us in danger. So, I had my ultrasound this morning and and waiting on a call back from the office. According to the tech, though, everything looked fine. :-)

This has been a busy, but great week! Tuesday night, I met up with my little sister to make Christmas cards (a BB/BS activity). We made five cards and had a lot of fun! I can't wait to send them out next year since I already have my cards for this year put together. I took Wednesday off work for our follow up appointment with Dr. Jarrett - everything went great and we'll be starting our 3rd round of IUIs soon! The rest of the day, I got a bunch of things done around the house and was even able to visit the quad babies for a couple hours. Today, I met with my little sister again - a co-worker's son-in-law has been deployed to Iraq so we bought items to go in a box of goodies from our office. I thought this was a great thing for her to learn about giving to others and was really proud of the things she picked out. I gave her a budget and the list of items we could choose from, and we went to town. We even got two Christmas cards, wrote a little note in them, and signed them for the troop. I can't wait to take the big bag into work on Monday!

Where did the weekend go?

What a great, but busy weekend!! Friday night, Jason was at a birthday party for a co-worker while I had my open house and then I met up with my neighbor girls at a bead store. Let me remind you that I do not think I am a very creative person! But, I did make a nice bracelet as a gift (can't say who it's for or show it since they might be reading the blog). They had tons of choices, and I don't think any two items would look the same. Lots of gifts were made and even some things for ourselves. I definitely want to do this again when I have more a plan on what to create!

On Saturday morning I was up bright an early for a conference at ISU then we had our friend's son's birthday party! We had a great time hanging out with friends.Today, I watched my old boss's two boys in the morning and took them to church. Then I took a nap during the Bears game - good thing since they were crushed! Glad I didn't watch; I probably would have been screaming at the tv the whole time!

That's about the excitement of our weekend!

Happy Birthday, Mitchell!

Happy 9th Birthday, Mitchell!!

You may remember that we already celebrated with him...here's a picture from that weekend:

This weekend went by so quickly!! On Friday night, we had a great dinner with the Probst family, (one of our neighbors). It was nice to get to know them a little more and play Rock Band on the xBox! I spent all day Saturday in Chicago shopping with the neighbor girls on the State Farm trip.

The girls at Maggiano's
(Sarie, Tisha, Julie, me, Becky, Heather)

The weather wasn't too bad...just cold. And, I didn't buy anything except Garrett's popcorn! After church on Sunday, I headed to Michaels' house to give Tiffany some popcorn, and we ended up hanging out with them until around 7pm after the kiddos went to bed. They are so much fun, and I love getting to know them more and more!

Projects Complete!

Okay, so they were very minor projects, but they still had to get done. You may remember that back in the middle of September we came home to find that the bathroom mirror had fallen off the wall and shatter. I FINALLY found a mirror that I somewhat like and would fit where we needed it! It was ordered from Target on Sunday and arrived today.

The second project was an Uppercase Living item I purchased a couple months ago. I finally decided where I would put it and got it on the wall tonight! This was a tough decision because I wanted to put it on a wall that I wouldn't want to paint anytime soon. I love the colors in my dining room so I figured this was the best place. I was also a little worried because we have textured walls, but it worked out just fine!

Welcome Baby Cohen!

Congratulations to my cousin, Danielle, on the birth of her son!

Cohen Alec
November 4, 2008
4:24 am
7 lbs 11 1/2 oz
20 " long

And, don't forget to VOTE today!!

Oh Baby!!

On Saturday, Janell drove down from Rockford, and we made our way to Heather's baby shower in Springfield. It was another beautiful day for a drive, and Heather got so many great gifts!!

An obvious gift from Janell!

The ISU Girls - me, Janell, Heather, and Heather (also due in January)

Grandma (Heather's mom) and Heather
Heather "practicing" with baby Hudson (6.5 months old)

They did not find out the sex of the baby so that will be a complete surprise, and I haven't heard anything about names...guess we'll have to wait and see. She is due January 6th.

I'm sure some of you are wondering so I'll just put this here. I never would have missed Heather's shower even though she told me it was okay if I didn't want to come. She has been such a great friend, and I know how hard it was for her to tell me that she was expecting just shortly after we found out we had to wait another month to do our first IUI. Heather has been completely understanding and supportive of our situation, so there was no way I wasn't going to attend her shower. Now, I'm not going to lie and say it was easy. I was feeling pretty good about everything, until I was asked if we had kids, the conversation was completely about children, and Heather was about half way through her gift opening. BUT, I kept it together and know that my time will come and I am excited for her and Jim!