Too Much

Saturday was a busy day with yard sale shopping and a three hour parenting seminar at church from 3-6pm. Sunday morning I left the house with Nadia at 8:15 to drive to Danville as I was playing handbells at that church's 9:00am service. Paul and the boys met us there, and then a little before the service ended I took the three kids to our church's 10:30 service as I was playing the flute in that service. I mowed the lawn Sunday afternoon. This morning I was exhausted and decided that something needs to give in our schedule. I signed Nadia up for the Friday morning co-op before I knew about the Thursday morning co-op. Although she has been enjoying both and is taking very different classes at each one, if I had to do it over again, I think I would have just picked the Thursday co-op because it's a little closer to home and also because Ian is taking three classes there as well. I signed the kids up for gymnastics before I decided to rejoin the handbell choir on Monday nights for four months.

I signed up for a ladies Bible study in Danville on Tuesday mornings before I knew that our church would be doing small group Bible studies on Heaven starting next Sunday evening. I am having a hard enough time keeping up with the homework for the Gideon study. I am not sure how I am going to handle doing the homework for two studies at the same time. I submitted two job applications for Paul last night, and I did it in a very hurried manner. I should have allowed more time for that task, as I had to revise his CV and cover letter. I had thought I could work on it during the football game yesterday, but our tv died on Friday and so we didn't watch any football yesterday (which isn't a bad thing as both of our teams are 0-4 this season. EEK!). Also, my energy levels are sagging a bit. I don't know if it's because I'm pregnant or just because of the hormones I'm taking five times a day. The good news is that most of these commitments are each for only 6-7 weeks (co-ops and Bible studies). For this week I decided to stay home tomorrow morning instead of going to the Gideon Bible study. I need one day with nothing on our agenda aside from our usual tasks such as homeschooling and such. We shall see if any other adjustments are necessary.

There are just a couple of weeks left in this session of gymnastics. I am thinking of taking a break during the next session and waiting until January to resume because it is a challenge to keep Oliver out of trouble for an hour as he wants to join in with the gymnasts. I won't be in handbells starting in January, which means Oliver can stay home with Paul while I take Nadia to gymnastics. Also, Ian really isn't doing very well. I don't think it's worth the $$ it costs for him to participate. I might only sign Nadia up for gymnastics in January. I feel badly for Nadia as the break is not ideal for her. She lags behind skill wise most of the kids in her class, but I cannot envision trying to keep both boys occupied for an hour during her class every Monday night in the Oct-Dec session. Soccer will also be wrapping up in a few weeks, so it might end up being a situation of going from feast to famine. She'll start playing basketball in January. At least they will still have AWANA each Wednesday night.

Big boy bike

The last weekend in September our town has a very large community yard sale. This year about 170 people paid to have their yard sales listed on the map. Many others held yard sales that weren't on the map. Some people start their yard sales on Friday, and so before I had signed the kids up for the seven week co-op that meets on Friday mornings or before I knew we'd be having the FET this Thursday, I had written yard sales on my calendar for yesterday and today. The kids did go to their co-op classes on Thursday as my parents met Paul and the kids there. Paul came home and took me to the hospital. We skipped the co-op yesterday because this RE says you are supposed to be on bed rest for 24 hours after the transfer. He defines that as only getting up to go to the bathroom. I waited until noon yesterday to get my shower, and then after I put the kids down for their naps (after my parents left to return home), I did a little yard sale shopping as the nurse had said after 24 hours I could resume normal activity. I was given a list of things I'm not allowed to do such as scuba diving or being in a hot tub, but that won't exactly put a cramp in my lifestyle, ha ha.

After Nadia's transfer I really took it easy for several days. This was obviously much harder to do after Ian and Oliver's transfers. I didn't even do 24 hours of bed rest after Oliver's transfer even though the RE told me to because I had to lift Ian, and obviously it didn't interfere with implantation. I truly have gone back to normal, and every time I pick up Oliver I have this momentary flash of guilt that I am not supposed to be doing this, but then I remind myself that the RE said it was fine after 24 hours, and of course most women carry on as usual when they are seven days past conception because they don't even know conception took place. I think part of the reason I keep feeling like I'm supposed to be taking it easy is because of the lengthy bed rest last summer, and my association with being pregnant is that I shouldn't be walking much or lifting at all, but I was never put under any such restrictions in the first 20 weeks of any of the pregnancies.

This morning Ian and I headed back out to the yard sales, and Paul took Nadia and Oliver to Nadia's soccer game, which was an away game about 35 minutes away from our house (same town where we go to co-op on Fridays). I missed Nadia's very best game. Bummer. Her first game she showed a lot of improvement, but then she didn't do very well at her second game (which was a night game and I think that was part of the problem). She missed her third game because it was at the same time as AWANA. Paul said she did a great job on both offense and defense today, and she came very close to scoring her first goal. He said she got the ball to herself and kicked it about 15 feet and it almost went in but it hit the goal post. I wish I had seen it!

One of my yard sale purchases was a $5 bike for Ian, his first two wheel bike. Nadia got one on her fourth birthday, but since his fourth birthday is in December (when he won't be biking much) I was hoping to find one this weekend. Nadia is still working on learning to ride without the training wheels.

Thankful Thursday

1. I got a haircut on Saturday at the mall. I had recently given Oliver and Paul haircuts, and I took Ian for a haircut last week so we're all set for a few weeks at least. :) I put my name in at the salon and took Nadia and Ian into Payless for new sneakers while I was waiting for my turn with a beautician. Paul watched the three kids while I got my haircut, and then we had dinner at Friendly's. Yum! I will know for sure after more time passes, but I actually think that she cut my hair the way I wanted it to be cut! Wonders never cease!!! It's been years since that's happened aside from my sister, Wendy, (who has no training in cutting hair) when she cut my hair in the hospital last summer.

2. Oliver took an almost 2 hour long nap yesterday afternoon. Usually many weeks pass by without him having any naps that exceed 60 minutes. It was a real blessing because he woke up at 5:45am yesterday (too early!) and had a shorter than usual morning nap (and his usual is only 30 minutes). I wish a 2 hour nap would become the norm, but it definitely helped yesterday while I was doing cooking and cleaning in preparation for my 24 hours of bed rest.

3. I got a massage this morning. I have had five massages over the past 12 years - one before each embryo transfer. A woman from church who sings in the choir recently got her massage license, and she came over to the house and gave me an hour long massage for $36. Some REs recommend doing acupuncture prior to an embryo transfer, but I've gone the massage route. The RE says it's very important to be relaxed, hence why they give me a Valium prior to the procedure. Since this will be our last embryo transfer, I'll have to come up with another reason to get one from time to time. :)

4. My parents drove up and met Paul and the kids at the co-op this morning and are staying until noon tomorrow to enable me to be on bed rest for 24 hours. When I hear the words "bed rest" my first reaction is one of panic after being on bed rest for 10 weeks last summer, but then I quickly remind myself it's just for 24 hours, and I won't be separated from my family this time. No big deal!

5. We're still enjoying our apples. I brought a box of nice apples to the co-op last week. The cooking class (older kids) will be making a dessert with them tomorrow. I made apple crisp yesterday. Yum!

6. The embryo survived the thaw. PTL! I consider this to be my sixth pregnancy. The first was ectopic in 2005, the second in my opinion was my first embryo transfer, three through five resulted in our three kiddos, and time will tell the results of this sixth pregnancy. I never enjoy the one week wait, but at least it's only one week! Technically My beta has been scheduled for October 8, which is 12 days from now, but if I get a + at home I know they will let me have it sooner. Prayers are greatly appreciated for the little one inside me now. Paul and I got to look at it in the microscope. The one unpleasant part, aside from them pressing on my very full bladder was that the OB who came in to help the RE with the procedure was the one who botched Ian's c-section. I could not believe it when he walked in. He said he recognized me, but I said nothing as I didn't want to talk about it right then and there. Praying for a BFP next Thursday!

Breakfast Soup

There were many times a couple of years ago that Nadia would refuse to eat her dinner, and we'd serve it to her again at breakfast. Sometimes she'd still refuse and not end up eating it until lunch. She'd never go a full 24 hours before she'd give in and eat the food. We haven't done that very often with Ian because if I feed him and offer him some reward for each bite (the reward might be one piece of dry cereal of half of a small pretzel), then we can usually get him to eat his dinner within about two hours. Paul has been pushing Ian to feed himself dinner more often. He already feeds himself his breakfast and lunch every day. I make him feed himself dinner when we're eating something he likes, but I often feed him dinner (at least every other bite) when we're eating something he doesn't like. Last week Paul required Ian to feed himself the rigatoni and meatballs. He didn't eat it for dinner or breakfast the next day and finally ate it at lunch.

On Monday night I served them baked potato soup and cheddar biscuits for dinner. Nadia ate her biscuit right away, and Ian ate most of his biscuit, and that was it. Nadia took a bite of the soup and gagged. Ian never tried it. They were both served potato soup for breakfast. Not exactly the time of day I'd like to be eating soup, but they knew when they refused to eat it at night that was what would happen. Paul hadn't come down for breakfast yet when Ian was eating, and I decided to compromise and feed him every other bite. I figured if I got the first bite down him that he'd discover he liked it, and that's exactly what happened, except he didn't like the bacon in it. I removed the bacon and he finished the soup pretty quickly and then had a bowl of cereal. Nadia also didn't like the bacon so I removed the bacon from her bowl, and what motivated her to eat was I told her she couldn't play with the other children in Bible study yesterday morning if she didn't eat. I told her she'd have to stay with me. I gave her some raisins (to me raisins and potato soup are disgusting together but whatever works), and she finished her soup just before we left.

On Monday afternoon while we were at the playground Nadia asked what we were having for dinner, and both kids started fussing and whining about the fact I was serving baked potato soup even though I don't think either child ever remembered having it before. This is fairly typical. Sometimes it's just Ian who starts whining as Nadia does enjoy a wider variety of foods. Nadia will fuss about the vegetables even though when she's actually served them she usually does pretty well with eating them these days. There are moments as a mom when you realize you have had enough and there has to be some improvement with a particular behavior, and that's what happened with me on Monday night. I told the kids that until they start eating a wider variety of foods without complaining or crying, we aren't going to be eating any pizza, waffles, French toast, pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches, or fish sticks. Nadia will still have some easy nights since she does enjoy tuna noodle, spaghetti, lasagna, ham, pierogies, and cheeseburgers, and Ian doesn't like any of those foods yet. I am trying to make a really long list of different main dishes to serve, and my plan is to make each of them at least one time over the next three months. By the end of the weekend I want to have a menu plan in place for the whole month of October.

I'm hoping we'll discover some other foods that they both like. Hopefully in time they will learn to like a few more anyhow. I started a new sticker chart just for dinner for both of them. When one of them has earned six stickers, we will have pizza for dinner the next night. If the other child hasn't earned six stickers yet, he/she will be served something else while the rest of us eat pizza. In order to implement this new plan I went grocery shopping yesterday and bought some foods I don't typically buy such as ham and chicken tenders. I have never bought chicken nuggets, strips, or tenders before at a grocery store. We have trouble with Ian at fast food places because he doesn't care for burger or nuggets. Last night I served the kids chicken tenders, while Paul and I finished the baked potato soup. Nadia did well last night and earned her first sticker. Ian had chicken tenders for breakfast this morning. It turned out that giving him honey to dip them in was what got him going. I served them the same meal tonight (with pierogies) while Paul and I had bbq chicken. Ironically Ian did a great job and earned a sticker, and Nadia will be eating chicken tenders for breakfast tomorrow. Go figure. Because I will be on bedrest for 24 hours starting tomorrow at noon and then will be doing yard sale shopping on Saturday as well as attending a parenting seminar at church, I did more cooking than usual today. I made Rachel Ray's tuna melt pie, Bisquick's ham and Swiss impossible pie, and an apple crisp with apples from our tree. Hopefully they can both earn a sticker tomorrow night when they eat either the ham or the tuna pie. Oliver is such a great eater. Maybe just maybe he'll stay this way??? I would be extremely grateful! That boy shovels green peas and green beans in his mouth like there's no tomorrow.

5.25 years old!

 

1. Last week Nadia started her fourth math textbook (ACSI's 1st grade book), and she's already completed the first chapter!

2. She's flying through Level 1 of All About Reading. There are 49 steps, and she's currently on step 22. There are three readers for Level 1, and she finished the first one yesterday. Right now she's working on "sh," "th," and "ch."

3. She's also making good progress through Level 1 of All About Spelling. There are 24 steps, and she's currently on step 10.

4. She finished her first drawing workbook (Fun to Draw) last week and will be starting the first book in the Draw Write Now series this week. She's come a long way in her drawing skills over the past three months! I'm also impressed with what she made using pastels in the co-op art class last Friday!

5. She's now in Sparks and the K-2nd grade Sunday School class!

6. She finished her t-ball class and is currently taking her first session of Level 1 gymnastics and her second season of U6 soccer. She has learned to do things like push ups and is working on headstands and cartwheels.

7. This summer she learned to swing herself on the swings, and she has shown huge improvement in blowing her nose (what a relief!), making her bed, putting her dirty clothes in the hamper, and remembering to flush the toilet.

8. She's started taking piano lessons!

9. I started teaching her how to use the mouse on the laptop, and she also has really been enjoying our new iPad. She's used Reading Raven the most and also has done Blob Chorus some (ear training).

10. She showed a lot of improvement this summer with her swimming skills, and she was introduced to t-ball at the YMCA.

11. She's been obsessed lately with having Paul and I tell her stories from our life. She asks her Grandmas to tell her stories about when we were kids. The story she asks me to repeat the most frequently is about how Paul and I met and started dating in 1997.

12. She and Ian have been playing together a lot more and holding hands quite frequently. I got Ian a Mr. Incredible costume at the consignment shop last week and so the last few days she's been pretending to be Mrs. Incredible. She's also really been into playing with dolls lately. She loves to change their clothes, especially if she has a matching outfit (or nightgown).

13. She's gotten back into listening to books on CD's in her room during "quiet time." She just finished Five Little Peppers and how They Grew and The First Four Years (Little House). She asks me to read to her from my Kindle at almost every meal. Right now we're about 70% of the way through The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle. We also listened to Chocolate Touch in the van together.

14. She's really been enjoying eating raw baby carrots, and I even got her weaned off of dipping them in dressing. She also discovered this summer that she likes cherries, peaches, plums, oranges, and corn on the cob. She already knew she loved grapes, blueberries, and bananas.

Open Wide

 Ian had his very first dentist appointment today and Nadia had her fifth. It had been 9 months since they had been at the dentist. They had looked in Ian's mouth a few times, but today was the first time he had a cleaning, x-rays, varnish, etc. Paul worked from home so I left Oliver at home (he napped part of the time). Nadia went first, and Ian really enjoyed playing with the train table in the waiting room during her exam. The doctor said she has a crossbite and will need braces in the future. I knew Ian was going to need them, but since she takes after Paul (who never needed braces), I was hoping she could avoid them. Nope. We can still hold out hope for Oliver. Linda said Nadia will probably start losing her baby teeth sometime this year. She had one spot they labeled as an area to watch (in between two teeth in the back). I need to start flossing her teeth back there. Nadia came back with a huge princess balloon which I think helped motivate him to do such a good job. Nadia has always done well, but I know some kids are scared of the dentist, and I was assuming Ian would be more difficult.

I was wrong! Ian did just as beautifully as Nadia has done. She was a little shy of three years old at her first exam, and he'll be 4 in three months, but still they both did a fine job. Yay! Ian selected a Monsters Inc balloon even though he's never seen either of those movies. Four of us have had dentist appointments this month. I am glad we can wait another six months until we return. Since Oliver only has two teeth right now, I am not in an hurry to take him in for an exam even though the exams are free for infants and toddlers. Nadia enjoyed the train table during Ian's exam just as much as Ian did. Since Paul was watching Oliver, I was able to read a little on my Kindle! Now it's time to get Nadia ready for her soccer practice. They don't usually have practices on Mondays so I had to call the gym and get permission for them to attend gymnastics classes tomorrow night as that's usually what we're up to on Monday nights. I am about to head to handbells. I am feeling much better today, thankfully.

Deja vu

This morning as I was standing up singing in church, I suddenly felt like I was going to faint. I could feel the color leaving my face, and I felt very hot and light headed. I sat down, fanned myself, and took deep breaths. You would think by now I'd know to expect such a thing to happen, but it totally caught me off guard. After my heart stopped racing I thought to myself, I'm not pregnant right now. Lord willing I'll be "PUPO" (pregnant until proven otherwise) as they say on Thursday, but right now our embryo is still in the hospital. It has to be the progesterone, and it makes sense because I remember in January 2011 I had a similar episode a few days before I got the +, and the first + was very faint so I am sure a couple of days before that I didn't have any hCG in my system yet. The rest of the day proved to be a bit of a challenge physically. I had similar episodes throughout the day, and I even had some heartburn after eating some chocolate. I've been eating a bit more chocolate than usual lately (brownies, chocolate chip pancakes, etc.) just in case I will be avoiding chocolate for the next 7-8 months.

Up until I was pregnant with Nadia, I had a very romanticized view of pregnancy. I'd see a woman's baby bump (and I've never had that appearance when pregnant) and have all these warm and fuzzy connotations. Being pregnant with Nadia changed that for me as I found out that pregnancy is rather uncomfortable physically (although emotionally it was very wonderful with Nadia and Ian) due to things like heartburn, gestational diabetes, and struggling to find a way to be comfortable in bed. After what I went through with Oliver, I now know that heartburn and not getting much sleep at night are very trivial things to deal with while pregnant. When I hold my sweet Oliver, I am quickly reminded that he was worth it all. If I see two lines next week, I will be praying earnestly for the placenta to attach in the proper location, but if the Lord's will is for me to go through another difficult pregnancy, it will be worth it in the long run. As uncomfortable as it may be at times, pregnancy is not a permanent condition. There will be an end in sight.

Right now I am focusing my prayers on Teresa. She's the embryologist who will be thawing and preparing our embryo on Thursday. Many doctors, nurses, and receptionists have come and gone from this clinic over the past 10 years, but she has been one constant. She has prepared all our embryos for transfer over the past six years. It's not a guaranteed thing for an embryo to survive the thaw, and I'm really praying about that this week. I'll be so anxious to get that report on Thursday morning. God is in control. Today I looked up the clinic's results for 2011 for the first time. That year they did 16 ivf cycles for women ages 38-40 (I was 39 at the time). Oliver is one of the four out of those sixteen that resulted in a live birth (all singletons). That year they did 41 cycles for women ages 35-42, and 10 of those resulted in a birth (nine singletons, no twins, and one set of triplets). The surprising thing is that the average number of embryos transferred was greater than 2 in every category. Obviously he let most women transfer three embryos. Why didn't he let us? If this FET results in a pregnancy, then I'll understand why the Lord didn't allow us to transfer three in 2011.

I also looked up their non donor FET statistics for women ages 35 and up. In 2011 four of eleven transfers resulted in a birth. In 2010 one out of ten resulted in a birth. In 2009 it was one out of three. In 2008 it was five out of nine. In 2007 it was two of nine, and Nadia was one of those two. Putting those five years together, 19.7% of the non-donor FETs (ages 35 and up) resulted in a birth. Nadia was 1 of the 13 babies born from those 66 transfers. Studying the statistics of course gives me no indication as to what will happen with our last embryo. The result is in God's hands. It would be amazing if the Lord chose to give Nadia the sister she has been longing for. Time will tell!

Two more videos

I took two more videos of Nadia today. The one above is of her reading a story for the very first time. It's from All About Reading Level 1 Book 1. Today we worked on "th," and the next lesson will be on "sh." The one below is of her playing "Merrily we roll along" on the piano. She hasn't totally mastered the song yet, but she's getting there! This is one of five songs she practices almost every day (8 pages total).

FET scheduled

This morning I took the kids to the co-op. It's supposed to last from 8:30-12:30, but I took Nadia out at 11:30 before her fourth class started because I had an RE appointment at 3pm, and I wanted us to have a little downtime at home before we drove to the hospital. This meant Ian was able to take his 1pm nap in his bed, but Oliver's naps were both in the van. He fell asleep at 11:30 and then again at 2:30 on the way to the RE. Paul met us at the fertility clinic so that we could both sign the consent forms (for thawing the embryo). As soon as he signed the forms, he took the kids home. After the ultrasound, I went to the pharmacy to fill the prescription the doctor gave me and also made a stop at the consignment shop. This morning was I do believe the last time in my life I'll give myself a shot in my belly. Over the past 10 years I've had 15 medicated cycles, and only one of those cycles (Tamoxifen in the summer of 2003) didn't involve at least one shot. I did two cycles of Clomid, seven cycles of injectibles, and this is my fifth ivf cycle. Right now I'm taking estrogen pills twice a day and progesterone suppositories three times a day. If the transfer does result in a pregnancy, I'll continue both medications for several weeks.

I'm supposed to be there at 11am next Thursday for a 12pm transfer. My mom is going to leave MD that morning and meet Paul at the co-op in Winfield (that starts at 9:15). She'll drive the kids home in our van at noon. I'm staying home at a woman from church is coming to our house to give me a massage from 9-10am. Paul will drive from Winfield to our house in my mom's car. At 10:25am Paul and I will drive to the hospital in his car. They give me a Valium prior to the procedure, so I can't drive myself home. Paul will be there for the procedure, but he can't take me home because he has a lab a 2pm (he normally has office hours on Thursday prior to the lab but he's going to reschedule them so he can be with me for the procedure). I need to find someone to pick me up at the hospital around 1pm and drive me home. My mom is going to stay with us until noon on Friday because I am supposed to be on bedrest for 24 hours after the procedure. Thank you, Mom! We're going to skip the co-op next Friday morning. If the blastocyst survives the thaw next Thursday, then I will be buying hpts and start testing on October 3 (13dpo or 7dp6dt). My due date would be June 13, 2014 for a baby whose life began on January 11, 2012. Prayers are greatly appreciated!!!!

Thankful Thursday

1. Paul's mom was discharged from the hospital on Monday (she had been in since Friday), and her first chemo treatment seemed to go well yesterday. She'll have radiation next Wednesday, and we're hoping that is all it will take to put her lymphoma back into remission. We hadn't seen her in almost a month, but she and Pop Pop came to Nadia's soccer game this evening!

2. Ian took a long nap two days in a row. He actually slept for 2 1/2 hours today! Most days he sleeps 45-60 minutes, and even that is a big improvement compared to the first 2.5 years of his life. This gives me hope that maybe eventually Oliver will again learn how to take a nap that is longer than 30-60 minutes.

3. We enjoyed the co-op this morning. It took us a little less than 25 minutes to get there, which is a little closer than the one on Friday mornings. Nadia learned about the skeletal system in her science class, and she learned about Mexico in another class. Their Kindermusic teacher is a student at Susquehanna University. Ian didn't eat any apples in his apples class (they also did graphing, games, etc), and I'm not exactly sure what he did during his "Preschool Fun" class. Oliver was a hit in the nursery. I was in the nursery with him during the third period. I actually got to talk to some moms today, which was a treat. No one else homeschools at our church, and it's easy to feel like I'm the only one homeschooling around here. It's nice to be reminded we aren't alone, and it's also great to have a little conversation with another adult. Most weeks the only adults I talk to are Paul, my mom, and Paul's mom (the latter two on the phone). I didn't have a chance to interact with any adults at the Friday co-op last week.

4. Free apps are available every Friday from iTunes (ones that normally you have to pay to download), and I got some good ones last Friday. Ian has really enjoyed the handwriting one I downloaded, and I was able to select our handwriting curriculum's font (HWT). The other choices were Zaner Bloser and D'Nealian.

5. Paul was able to get the tv working again on Tuesday evening. I am happy to say though that aside from a few minutes in the minivan this afternoon (because Ian was falling asleep and I was trying to keep him awake), they haven't watched any tv this whole week. Yay! It's actually gotten to the point that they don't miss it any more. They rarely ask me to watch something.

6. I've enjoyed the two month break from submitting applications for Paul. Our list of applications to submit for jobs that start next August currently includes 8 schools.

7. Paul got a good report at the dentist on Monday morning (as always), and Ian did a good job at the hair salon yesterday afternoon when he got a haircut.

A Day in the Life

The first video is of Nadia reading one of the stories in the first book of All About Reading (Level 1). She has read almost all the stories in that reader one time. This morning I let her pick any one story so I could take a video of her reading it. She's come a long way with her reading skills in the past few weeks. The next time I take a video of her reading I'm going to take one of her reading a story for the very first time. I tried to do that yesterday, but Ian was making a lot of noise in the background. She's also doing really well with spelling. If you give her a three letter CVC word, she can spell it! Today we started to delve into four letter words because we were working on "qu." The video below is one I took of Oliver yesterday showing his skills of clapping and also walking while pushing the lion around the room.

Today I thought I'd write about what a typical day is like for us these days. The first person up in the morning is either Ian or Oliver. This morning they both woke up around 6:20. Ian went straight to the bathroom, and I brought Oliver in to our bed. The four of us usually snuggle in bed for about 20 minutes until we all head downstairs for breakfast. Sometimes Nadia sleeps until 7:30. After we've all had breakfast and gotten dressed, sometimes Nadia and I start on her schoolwork right away and other days she and Ian play for a little while first. We start her schoolwork by 8:45 at the latest, and at 9:00 I put Oliver down for his morning nap, which lasts 30 minutes long 99% of the time. This morning I had Ian pick a 24 piece jigsaw puzzle to do while I was working on reading and spelling with Nadia, and then after he finished the puzzle I let him use the Writing Wizard app on the iPad (letter formation) while I did math and drawing with Nadia. We do handwriting almost every day, but we didn't get to that subject this morning. We do spelling and reading in the dining room (large whiteboard on the table) and the other subjects at the kitchen table.

Next all four of us gathered near the CD player in the family room. Nadia and Ian each picked one CD of songs, and we sang all the songs on both CDs. Ian marched around the room during "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho." Rhythm sticks were used during several songs. Normally we would have read some picture books next, but Ian had an 11:00 hair appointment this morning. During lunch I read some more of the Voyages of Dr. Doolittle. While Ian was finishing his lunch, I helped Nadia with practicing the piano. I need to take a video of her playing one of her songs! Around 1pm we head upstairs to brush teeth, take Ian to the bathroom if he hasn't gone recently, and change Oliver's diaper. Nadia has her quiet time, and Ian and Oliver take a nap, which usually lasts between 45-60 minutes. Sometimes I am busy cleaning or cooking at that time, and other times I am blogging, reading, or doing my devotions. I have been reading through the Bible on the iPad. I'm following a chronological plan that will take me one year to complete.

In the afternoon we usually walk to the playground. Our first top is Miss Cheri's house. She babysits her great granddaughter (who is 11 months old), and sometimes they join us at the playground. At some point in the afternoon or evening we spend some time reading non-fiction library books. The last couple of weeks we've been reading books about the sun and moon. Our next theme will be leaves. What time we have dinner depends on what we're up to that evening. On Monday night we had dinner around 4:15pm because we leave at 5:00 for gymnastics.

Last night we weren't going anywhere so we had dinner around 5:00pm. Except for Wednesday nights go to bed later due to AWANA, around 7:45 we head upstairs to brush teeth, put on pajamas, take Ian to the bathroom, read a Bible story, pray, and give each other hugs and kisses. Our typical morning schedule won't be followed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays for the next 6-7 weeks because I'll be going to ladies Bible study on Gideon on Tuesday mornings starting next week, and we'll have co-ops on Thursdays and Fridays. Ian will also be taking three classes on Thursday mornings. They'll be together in one of the classes (Kindermusic), and the other two periods they will be in different classes. At this co-op I was assigned to help with the Kindermusic class, help in the nursery during one period, and then I'll have one free period. I think I'm going to like this co-op better than the Friday one, but time will tell. I actually prefer the days we are at home all morning. I still haven't mastered the art of getting all my chores done. It's easier on the days when Paul is home in the evening. Yesterday I took everything out of the toy box. Evidently I hadn't done that in almost a year, as I found the Dunkin Donuts gift card we lost last fall at the bottom. It had about $25 left on it, which put a smile on my face! In the very near future I'll need to add one more task back into my weekly routine, and that would be applying for jobs for Paul. The first applications are due the end of this month. I've enjoyed a two month break from doing that. Here's to hoping it doesn't take 88 applications this time around. I usually go to bed between 10:00 and 10:30 each night.

John 3:16

I have taken several videos of the kids the past two months, but I hadn't uploaded any of them. Hopefully I'll get caught up this week. The 31 second video in this post is of Nadia saying her first verse for Sparks. It's due tomorrow night. Ian's is much shorter -"All have sinned."

Sentenceless Sunday

 

Many Blessings

1. The kids and I had a lot of fun at the circus on Tuesday night. During moments like that I feel like my heart my burst. Bliss.

2. I got a good report at the dentist on Monday morning, although he again reminded me that I need to see a periodontist. If this FET doesn't result in a pregnancy, I will make sure I see one before my next dentist appointment.

3. I enjoyed playing my flute on Tuesday morning and eating the delicious breakfast.

4. Nadia and Ian enjoyed attending a birthday party at the gymnastics center this afternoon for a girl on Nadia's soccer team. A few months ago I identified two disadvantages of Nadia being homeschooled for Kindergarten, and one of those was being invited to birthday parties (since usually kids invite kids from their class at school). I was very happy she received an invitation.

5. Paul's lab and lecture on Wednesday were cancelled because the power was out on campus. The lights flickered on and off many times that night at our house, but we never lost power for more than a few seconds. It was a treat having Paul home for dinner on Wednesday night.

6. It wasn't raining at all on Thursday. I checked the forecast online, and it showed 0% chance of rain for the next two hours so I decided to take the kids to the playground. While we were there we heard thunder so we quickly headed home (took a couple of shortcuts we don't usually take). We were in the house less than two minutes when there was a horrible downpour outside complete with extremely strong winds. I was so very grateful we got home before that began!

7. Nadia had her first night of Sparks on Wednesday, and Ian had his first night of Cubbies!

8. I am really enjoying seeing our new pictures in frames around the house. I'll definitely book another family session with a professional photographer again next year. If we have a fourth baby, I also want to do our first newborn baby shoot (which will be easier to do if we could avoid a fourth NICU stay, but that might be asking too much).

9. I attended a seven hour Beth Moore simulcast today. I am grateful Paul was willing to watch the kids so I could do that, and it only cost $15 (which included breakfast and lunch!). In the future I'd rather attend another Beth Moore simulcast than another Women of Faith event. She's my favorite Bible teacher.

10. I am thrilled to be in the handbell choir again.

11. I am grateful there are several homeschooling co-ops around here and other special events (like the Peach Party at the library) that they can enjoy.

Foto Friday

I picked the prints and CD up this afternoon from our photo shoot last month! Here are a few of my favorites. I will share some more in the coming days.

Nadia had her first experience with a homeschool co-op today. We left our house at 7:55am to drive to Mifflinburg where she had four hours of classes with 13 other children ages K-3rd grade. There were also classes for the older students. I was hoping there would be other moms to visit with in the nursery, but Ian, Oliver, and I had the nursery to ourselves. We also spent some time outside at the church's small playground. I was able to do some reading on my Kindle while the boys played. She used watercolors in her art class, did science experiments, participated in a Bible class, had a snack, and cut out pictures of mammals from magazine.

After it was done, we spent about 45 minutes in a McDonald's PlayLand before heading to the library for their Peach Party in honor of the Roald Dahl's birthday and the 50th anniversary of the book James and the Giant Peach. We were the only ones who showed up for the party! Miss Mary (the librarian) had fun activities planned. Nadia and Ian enjoyed the craft, eating peaches, and playing games with orange balloons.  Yesterday the ivf nurse called me to say the RE wanted me to come in for an ultrasound today. Previously they had told me I wouldn't need to come back this quickly. I told her that my schedule was very full for tomorrow. I had called on Wednesday, and usually they call me back the same day. I could have easily gone in for an ultrasound on Thursday if they had called me back on Wednesday. I told the nurse that over the past nine years I had done more than 10 medicated cycles with them, and every single time I got the "all clear" report from the day 2 or 3 ultrasound. I asked her if she could ask the doctor if it was really necessary for me to come in today. Thankfully, he agreed to let me skip it. Paul picked up the pills and some additional needles yesterday evening on his way home from work. I am still taking one Lupron injection each morning, and as of today I am also taking one estrogen pill twice a day.

My next appointment is scheduled for the 20th, and Paul will meet me there so we can both sign the consent. If all goes well at that appointment, they'll give me the last prescription (progresterone suppositories) and schedule the embryo transfer. Please keep praying! It would be amazing if this resulted in our fourth child and the pregnancy didn't resemble Oliver's. From a statistical standpoint, one would say the chances are very low, as with Nadia (another single FET) they said we had about a 15% chance. We have had four embryo transfers thus far (nine embryos altogether), and three of those have resulted in births. The only transfer that didn't result in a pregnancy was the first one, which was a three day (embryo) transfer. The other three transfers were all five day (blastocyst) transfers. This upcoming transfer will also be a five day (blastocyst) transfer. Our experience has been very different than most of the patients at this clinic (as seen by their annual statistics). God is in control.

I keep reminding myself of that because part of me keeps wondering why we weren't allowed to transfer three embryos in January 2012, as we had in the past. If that had happened, we wouldn't be doing a FET right now. Although I'm nervous about possibly experiencing another difficult pregnancy, I'm also dreading ending our ttc journey on a sour note with a negative hpt. I have had a good taste in my mouth (so to speak) from our ttc efforts from Nadia's positive (11/07) to Oliver's (1/12), which is not something I've taken for granted after staring at many negative hpts from 2002-2007. Which ever way this turns out, I am looking forward to knowing the end result. As I was sorting through the kids clothes recently, I was wondering if I should hold on to the things Oliver and Nadia have outgrown or not (I am saving Ian's for Oliver). I am very grateful for our three precious children, and I can definitely be content if our family is complete, although I am sure there will still be a little sadness over the loss of this final embryo, if it doesn't result in a pregnancy. This is my very last trip on the ttc emotional rollercoaster. Thank you, Lord. After 11 years, I've had enough.