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!!