7 years

Seven years ago today, I woke up in a hotel, got my hair, nails, and makeup done, had lunch with my girls, took many pictures, and got married!! I can hardly believe it has really been that long. We have traveled to many countries and across the U.S., built a house, put in a pool, been baptized, joined a church and small group, gone through many fertility treatments and experienced the birth of our son. And, he still makes me laugh every day!

To celebrate, we went to Chicago! First, we had to say goodbye to this little man:
My friend, Terri, got us a great room on Michigan Avenue here:
Then, it was off to the Cubs game. We splurged for some great seats since we were celebrating, but unfortunately the Cubs lost.
After the game, we had a fabulous meal at:
Then, this morning, we had to get home to see this little guy:
Happy Anniversary, babe!
I love you forever!
Amber

One year ago...

...this month, we had a lot going on! Here are just a few of the posts from May 2009 that have brought us to where we are today:

Retrieval (5/19)
Transfer (5/22)
BFP! (5/31 - 5 years to the day of TTC)

So, you can probably imagine that the month of May is becoming one of my favorite months for a number of reasons:

May 2003 - I married an amazing man who puts up with me!
May 2009 - God placed a miracle in me!
May 2010 - My first Mother's Day!

We are forever grateful for the blessing of becoming parents! I pray that this post gives all the mommas and daddies in waiting hope.

And, because I can't post about this blessing and not share a picture with you...

Check this out!

It's a long video, but I had to share!

(14 weeks 1 day)

My first Mother's Day

6:00 AM - Drake fussing in his crib. Jason goes in and gives him his pacifier.

6:45 AM - Drake fussing again. Jason goes back in and finds Drake on his BELLY! (He was on his back at 6am.) He's swaddled and definitely can't get back over so he is not happy.

6:47 AM - I go to see him and find a beautiful flower arrangement, cards from Drake and a gift certificate for a mani, pedi, and massage! yeah!
7:00 AM - Nurse Drake, eat breakfast

8:30 AM - Drake goes down for a nap (mom and dad do, too!)

10:00 AM - Drake wakes everyone up, dad feeds Drake, and we're in a mad rush to get ready for church.

10:40 AM - Leave for church.

11:00 AM - Church with our friends for their daughter's dedication.

12:30 PM - Lunch at our friend's house.

1:00 PM - Feed Drake

2:30 PM - Pick up Culver's ice cream on the way home from our friend's house; Drake falls asleep.

3:00 PM - Everyone takes a nap (again :-))

4:00 PM - Drake wakes up to be fed...mom is still half asleep in the chair.

5:30 PM - Take a few pictures with Drake.
6:30 PM - Drake gets a bath and bottle, and he's asleep by 7:00 PM.

The rest of the night was spent watching TV, surfing the internet, and waiting on our pizza!

It was a beautiful day, and I feel so blessed to have spent it with the son God has given us. After 5 years of waiting to be called a mother (or mommy or momma or mom), this day is finally here.

I can't say all of this without saying that so many other momma's in waiting were on my mind yesterday. I pray that God is holding you tightly and that you will get your miracle baby soon!!

Three Months!

Dear Drake,

How can you be three months old already? It truly seems like we just brought you home from the hospital!

Today was your first day at Miss Alicia's and momma's first day back to work. I wasn't sure how this was going to go, but it went just fine. Alicia said you did pretty good - you ate two bottles from her and took an hour and 15 minute nap. You didn't want to go to sleep too much though. I picked you up early and probably will most of this week. I know you'll be just fine, but I'll sure miss being with you all day every day.

You love holding onto things - your lovie, clothes, toys, momma's hair, momma's necklace, etc.
We've had some great "conversations" with you lately! You definitely recognize your momma & daddy's voices.

Tummy time lasts for a few minutes and then you get frustrated. You do a great job holding your head up when we're holding you upright though. You also enjoy sitting propped up for a few minutes on the couch. I think we're going to find a bumbo for you soon. Your legs have always been super strong, and you'll push them completely straight and stand up on mom and dad's legs.

You haven't rolled over completely yet, but you do lay on your back, bring your legs up, and roll to your side. I really don't think it will be long before you figure this one out.
You still love to lay on your playmat, sit in the bouncy seat, and now you really like the swing, too!Bath time is still a favorite, and we've started doing it every day now.

Dr. Rosa told us that we'd probably see you start to drool and boy was she right! We are constantly wiping your chin because it is all slobbery. And, you've been sucking on your bottom lip a lot latey.
Sleep is getting SO much better. You've gone 8 hours straight twice now. Nap time is going well, too. You are awake 1.5-2 hours at every feeding during the day and go down for naps in your crib fairly easily. You are still eating every three hours during the day (7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm).

You're still wearing size 1 diapers and size 0-3 months clothes (except onesies are 3-6 months).

(Thanks to Blogger, you'll have to turn your head to see this cutie!)

I think you're going to enjoy traveling just like your momma! You've already been to three states besides Illinois - Kentucky, Tennessee, & Wisconsin! You went to momma's cousin's wedding in Kentucky and Tennessee (6.5 hours away) and to Wisconsin to visit momma's high school friend, Jackie, and her family. On both trips, you did fabulous in the car...sleeping most of the way!

We had your three month pictures taken on Friday. You didn't show Jackie your big smile, but I'm sure the pictures are still great!
Happy three month birthday, Drake!!

Love,
Momma

Surprise!

This weekend we made a trip to Wisconsin to surprise Jackie with a scrapbooking shower to welcome her new baby girl, Lucy. I had been looking forward to this trip because we had talked about getting together during our maternity leaves and time flew by so quickly that we didn't get it into the schedule. We made great time on the way up so I headed over to Jackie's friend's house while Jason waited for Jackie to arrive so he could go to her house. She got there a little late (guess that's what life with two kiddos does :-)) and was totally shocked to see everyone!me and Jackie

Each person put together a scrapbook page (or more) to include in a book for Lucy! We stayed at Jackie's house last night and spent some time together this morning before we had to leave.

Jackie (sorry I cut you off!) and her firstborn, Carter

Jackie with Drake
me with Lucy

We had to get some pictures with the kiddos together, and these turned out just too cute!

{holding hands}

{kisses}

Drake and Lucy are 8 weeks apart...it's going to be so fun to get together with them as the kids get older.

Lucy with her big brother, Carter!

Just from the short time we were together, I can tell Carter is a great big brother! He had to "check on her" and wanted to hold her, but still could play on his own and didn't get too upset when mommy was holding another baby. :-)

Jackie and Jonathan - You are such great parents and raising two beautiful children. I look forward to our times together...we need to do it much more often! Thanks for being great hosts!