IVF/ Adoption

This week was like any other week around here. Justin worked, Elijah had preschool and lots of play time with friends, I cleaned and cooked and snuggled both my boys till they turned blue! Then came Thursday. I made a last minute doctors appt because I needed to get ahold of my doctor to order me more medicine and she wouldn't respond to my emails. I had no idea that at that appointment our expectations would change forever.
You see, for the last 2 years every doctor has been hopeful that we would get pregnant within the next few months. At this point I have done 8 rounds of clomid. I went on a diet during the summer to help my body do what its suppose to do. I don't ovulate or even get a period on my own. Which isn't surprising because of my PCOS, but the odd thing is is that all my levels are normal. Nothing is elevated even a little. I also have had one successful pregnancy so why shouldn't I be able to have more?
My doctor proceeded to tell me that our only option would be to do IVF. No big deal right? NOT! I still have 6 more months worth of treatment before I can be put on the year long waiting list. So at the earliest we are looking at next February for our first round of IVF if all goes as planned... and well we all know that dealing with military doctors nothing goes as planned. So while the news was hard to digest, the hardest part is that we may not even be in the Marines next February.
Justin and I are praying about what our next step is because his 5 year contract is up in October. If he gets out we will start this process over (not all of it, but some anyway) and be put on a new waiting list with a new doctor and possibly paying for the entire thing ourselves.
The news is hard any way you look at it. We've been trying over 2 years and will be trying for at least 18 more months before what I need done can get done.
All the while we have been praying about adoption. It's always been a conversation in our home. Even when we were dating we talked about adopting later in life when our kids were older... never did I think it would be something that we would start to seriously pray about at the ages of 24 and 25. We have though and we are excited at the prospect of this being the way we will add to our family. We are still in the praying and seeking council stages, but we both feel this may be where God has been leading us all this time.

I'd also like to add that we do know that God can get us pregnant at anytime and we have faith that he will heal my body. He has given us this desire and has placed us here for a reason. We are so very thankful for the support that our family and friends have given us. Please continue to pray for and with us as we wait on the Lord to reveal to us where we should be going from here.

He's home!!

That's right, my love made it home safely from Afghanistan on Wednesday! We have been enjoying lots of family time the last few days. Homecoming was amazing. I had two sweet friends with me to video tape it as well as photograph it. Our last homecoming sorta fell apart (times kept getting pushed back and it ended up being at 4am!) so needless to say I was so excited to have both Chynna and Kelly there to document the 4th best day of my life!
We are still getting use to being together again. It's certainly a transition, but so far so good! We've been to Lego Land and the beach plus had a really great meal at Outback! Since it's Saturday that means football is on. Anyone who knows me personally knows I absolutely LOVE to snuggle with Justin on football days! It's a good solid afternoon of just me and him on the couch enjoying each others company.
As for Elijah and Justin.... well they picked up right where they left off! Those two are like to peas in a pod! Justin had Elijah laughing so hard the other day and I thought "I'm pretty sure he hasn't laughed that hard since Justin left." Justin has said about 10 times now he can't believe how big he got. Even I have noticed lately how old he is getting and how smart he is! He doesn't forget anything (which is a blessing and a curse) and actually corrects us sometimes!
So, all is well here! I'll post a few homecoming pictures and the link to our video just in case someone hasn't seen it!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubb5eXtQnYA

Final stretch

This is it folks! We are mere days away from our beloved husband and father returning to us! Where has the last 6.5 months gone? It's been a flurry of fun events with both busy and lonely days. This week my calendar looks so busy I'll have to schedule in sleep!
I was able to talk to Justin yesterday. He sounds good. VERY ready to be home. They have officially turned over their jobs to the replacements so now he just waits to leave which is a huge sigh of relief for me because now he is no longer in harms way!
I think I forgot to post about his promotion this month. Better late than never, right? Anyway, he was meritoriously promoted to Sargent the beginning of this month. I've always known he was a fantastic Marine. Seriously, the guy works harder than anyone I know! I am so proud of him! We have just about a year left in the Marines.(or really in this contract) We aren't sure what we are gonna do after this. I think we'll start looking at all his options outside of the Marines and see if any compare. With the economy so tough right now we don't want to be foolish and just assume getting out will be fine. We do sacrifice things being in the Marines, but it has allowed us to be stable in a lot of areas people are struggling in right now. I'm so thankful for God's provision of this job. The time apart from each other and our families is so hard sometimes, but we've created a new family here that we love and it makes missing birthday's and holiday's a little more bearable.
Elijah is so excited for his daddy to be home. He (Eli) has a lot of plans for him when he gets here. Including many soccer games, football games both watching and playing, fishing, and other random things he comes up with. I on the other hand just want to relax! I do realize its not THAT tough being a stay at home mom, but getting a little break everyday is going to be so nice again! Heck, even to take a shower uninterrupted is exciting! Plus I so can't wait to snuggle my beloved and just be able to talk to him whenever (I) want!
So, in case you don't hear from me again for a while it's because we are busy prepping for his return! Hopefully my next post will be our homecoming one!!

We are almost done.

Well, a few people have reminded me to update this thing so I might as well. I don't like posting when I have pictures to post so then I just don't post. Guess I should get over it, eh?
We are so close to the end of this deployment and I'm pretty busy getting things together and in order. I'm not sure why I put so much off before he comes home (as this is a regular habit of mine any time he leaves no matter the length of time) but it probably helps pass the time quicker.
I've been buying things for our house and figuring out what room I'm going to work on next. I'm pretty sure our bedroom will be the next project as I did buy new bedding last week and need to find a paint color to match it. Plus I need new curtains since ours don't match the new bedding. I'm pretty pleased with all the upgrades and love that our house is turning into a home. Just a few more projects and I can take a short break from it!
Well, that's all that is going on with us right now. Elijah is good. Started pre-school and loves it! He is just as excited as I am about Justin coming home. He still wants a brother and asks for one almost daily. Hopefully we can give him one soon!

Weekly posts...

Okay, here goes my attempt at keeping up with my blog. I mean, I have this thing... I might as well use it! It might be a little random because I still need to blog about all the things we did on our 2 month vacation. I'm starting to work on a series of posts that include lots of pictures. Hopefully it will be done in the coming weeks.
Until then, I'll post about the happenings that are going on now. We are officially in the tale end of this deployment! Only about a handful of weeks left and boy am I ready! The 5.5 months have flown by and we've been so blessed to have many visitors and to take a nice vacation. The weather here has been beautiful this past week, but of course we never made it to the beach. For one reason or another I talked myself out of going and I so desperately need a tan! We are definitely back into the swing of things here and settled into a nice routine. Though I don't expect it to last to long with Justin coming home soon, I am certainly enjoying the quiet slow-pace lifestyle right now. Elijah will be headed off to pre-school at the end of the month. How and when did he get old enough to go to pre-school?! I am so not okay with that! He is thrilled though. It's only 2 half days a week which is perfect for me because as much as I want the short break I am going to miss having him around all the time. Plus it just means we are that much closer to him going to school full time.
This past week my dear friend Kelly and her husband Brian welcomed a sweet little princess into this world! She is the sister of Elijah's best friends, Quinn and Grayson. I was able to bless them by watching their boys the few days Kelly was in the hospital and it allowed Brian (who is deploying very very soon) to spend much needed alone time with his girls. I love that family so much. Adelyn is a beautiful baby and my heart is so full of love for her!
We are slowly starting to prep for Justin's homecoming. Finishing projects around the house that I've put off all these months. Last weekend I learned how to sew with a sewing machine and sewed 5 curtains! They are so pretty and make me smile when I see them!
In the next weeks I want to finish little things in our dining room and also make my own soap so be on the look out for those posts! Until then I'll leave you with some cute pictures of Elijah, Adelyn, and another little project I did last weekend!

MIA

So sorry I've been absent from blogging. Really, I'll be the one kicking myself later more than anything. I have so much to catch up on and I probably should do a series of posts about it all. We have had a super crazy few months full of lots of fun adventures, family time, traveling, sight-seeing, and very little sleep! I will be better about posting, but for now Elijah and I are off to play outside a little while before bed! I sure do love that little guy of mine! He gets more fun the older he gets! I can officially say that 3 has been my favorite age!
Until we meet again---- tata!

-25 pounds!

Since March 15th I have lost 25 pounds! I'm so stoked! I have another 10 to loose before I'll be around my goal weight, but I really love the way I look thus far--aside from very loose skin around my belly. I've been running for over a month now. Yesterday I was able to run 2 miles without stopping. Pretty stinkin' awesome if you ask me! I use to be the worst runner ever and I still am not the most amazing at it, but I'm getting there and it's neat to see how my endurance has built up.
Elijah and I were on vacation for a month in Utah and Colorado. It was a fantastic vacation and now that we are home I wish I would have extended it! Only because I'm way more bored now than I was, but it has been great to be home in my own house without living in a suitcase!
I have a ton of pictures to upload which I won't do right now because it would take forever and I need to run.
I am going to upload two pictures I took of myself this week.
Sorry for the long period of nothingness. Vacations will do that to ya! Plus, I'm getting to talk to Justin more so writing things here isn't near as important.
We are roughly 10 weeks away from homecoming and I cannot wait!!
Till I post again--