Saturday, December 20, 2008

CD1, IM Injections, and more Animals

So, my period officially showed, so we are now schedule for Cd3 bloodwork on Monday and we'll get started with the next phase of this IVF cycle - Estradiol Valerate injections!

This is my first time on these and I did NOT know that they were going to be IM injections. I was naive and assumed they'd be sub-q until I saw that bottle yesterday and saw the words - Sesame Oil and IM. Gulp.

I haven't done any IM shots before and haven't been looking forward to them for the PIO shots during the 2WW, but I still have a while before that comes. But nope - starting next week, my husband will be aiming a giant needle at a target on my butt!

On a lighter note, here are some more pics of some animals from my mom and dad's volunteer trip to South Africa. I don't remember all of their names, but I'll do what I can!

Here's the mom and baby giraffe to go with the daddy from my post below:




Daddy giraffe with a bird perched on top of one of his horns:



Peek-a-boo!



Springbok? There were a lot of deer-type animals so I can't remember all their names!



More deer-type guys and gals:



Water Buffalo type guys:



Pretty Zebras keeping a close eye on my parents!

A couple pics of Osteriches:

This one was spreading his feathers in alert if I remember correctly:


Monkey see, Monkey do!



Some antelope-y type thing - can't remember the name!



Hi!


Just some birds having a bath ;-)


And on a different note, here are some of the housing near where they were. Such a different world between the races there and where and how they live:


It's hard to see in this picture since it's so small, but across the water there are the nicer houses - such a distinct division:
A lot of the house roofs are kept down with rock as seen here:

And lastly, some kids that gladly posed for a picture as my parents went by - how cute!:

.
My mom took a billion pics - they were so awesome to look at - especially the ones that had so many different types of animals just all hanging out together - it was so cool to see! It's too bad that the pictures on here are so small - I wish I could make them bigger!
.
I hope everyone's doing well and are almost done with their holiday shopping!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Tag, I'm It!

And thank goodness I was tagged - I have been such a boring blogger lately! I'm still stuck on Lupron since my period has yet to decide to show and it has been so crazy at work as I've been trying to clean up before vacation, so I haven't been updating my blog or reading others.

But, the lovely, beautiful Nikki has tagged me, so here goes!

1) Choose the 4th picture folder on your computer
2) Choose the 4th picture
3) Explain the picture
4)Tag 4 other people

This is the male giraffe from the giraffe family that seemed to follow my parents around when they were in South Africa earlier this year on one of their volunteer trips. My mom took a TON of pictures and this family was so cute - a mom, dad, and their baby. I would love to see all the things they saw on their trip - just out roaming around where they were working. Crazy!




And just for fun, here are a few other pics.

These 2 are of the male rhinocerus that didn't like the fact that my parents were around. It was a male/famale pair and the male kept working his way closer and closer to my parents. And as he got closer, he started stamping his feet - and they took it as a sign to book it out of there!





And just to give some perspective on how big he was - he's huge (standing in the middle and laying on the left)!! My dad is 6'3 and he was quite a bit taller than him and just giant. I knew they were big, but had no idea they were that big!


Also, in the above pic are about 3-4 different type of deer-type animals, spring-bok, buffalo type things, zebras - just so many animals all hanging out together on the ridge!

I'll take a look at the rest of the pics from their trip and maybe I'll post some more later. The pics were so cool!
And now, I tag:
Hope everyone's doing well!

Monday, December 15, 2008

CD28 and counting

Nothing too exciting going on, still. 15 dpo and still waiting for the period to show. Normally I'd have gotten it already and be pretty much done, although I did O early this month, but the lovely meds are delaying things again.

So - let's get on with it already - I want to move forward, pretty please?! Plus, once I get it, I'll have a better idea of when I'll start stims and when my RE appointments will be so I can better plan our holiday travel. As it is, I really think they'll probably line up with my holiday travel and interrup that just like it has previous cycles - cancelled our 1st anniversary trip to Jamaica and 3 other drive-to attempts at an anniversary trip. Maybe someday we'll actually get to go somewhere! lol

So - we may end up seeing our family for a day and that's it since my appointments usually end up being every other day. Gotta love it.

But, I guess it's all worth it for a chance at a baby, right? RIGHT?!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Winter Wonderland

We got a huge ice storm last night and it looks so beautiful outside right now. Everything is covered in a thick layer of ice. The sun is shining so the bare tree branches and everything is just sparkling and glittering in the sunshine. And when the sun's not out, it's just a sea of white winter wonderland.

On the same note, there is so much damage everywhere as a result of this storm. Full tree across roads, power lines down everywhere, thousands and thousands without power, and it's supposed to get down to 10 F tonight.

It's kind of funny how something so absolutely beautiful can so amazingly destructive, no?

Maybe it's Mother Nature's way of saying "I'm Sorry"? ;-)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Not too much going on...

On day 4 of this cycle. So far nothing too exciting, really. Some headaches, tired, some pains in the uterus/ovaries area, but nothing too annoying. 4 shots of Lupron down and just waiting for my period to show before I get into the hard stuff. Pretty exciting, eh?! LOL ;-)

Monday, December 8, 2008

1st Injection tonight!

So - IVF#3 "officially" starts tonight. We do our first Lupron injection and honestly, I can't wait!

8:00 can't come soon enough! ;-)

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm! It was -10 here this morning with wind chill. Brrrrr!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

My Parents

I am a very proud daughter. Each year my parents take vacation time 1-2 times a year and go somewhere to help out. And I just dropped them off at the airport yesterday to do it again.

Every year since Katrina they've gone down to New Orleans to help tear down/build back up. And this year they wanted to build a house so they could hopefully get a family back in their home by Christmas. They have also gone to Brazil a couple times, and last year they went to both South Africa and New Orleans.

They'll be in New Orleans for about 10 days and then they just le tme know that they decided to go back to South Africa in February/March to help again.

I am just so proud of them I could burst. Using their own vacation time, their own money (especially since they don't have much to begin with), their own tools, etc... to go help those in need. They are such good, selfless people (in more ways even than this) that if I can just be half the people they are, it would say a lot.

OK, gushing over, sorry about that. But yay mom and dad!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Quick Update

Hey there! Not too much going on right now. Just settling back into work after the long Thanksgiving weekend. It was tough to do, but we all know it had to be done ;-)

But, in TTC news, we are now less than a week until IVF#3 officially begins. We begin our first injection on Monday and then by the end of January we should know if it works. I'm nervous, but getting excited. Once I start injections, I feel better about the whole process.

Hope begins to filter in (gotta love hope - the bearer of both good and crushing news) and it brings back a sense of control. With each injection we do, we know we are actually doing something that could get us that baby. So I say - bring in the injections and the dates with the wand - I'm ready!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We are traveling to Rochester to celebrate this year with DH's family. And next year, back to my parents. Anyone else traveling this year?

Also - I made cupcakes and I have to show them off. I thought they came out pretty cute!


My little Turkeys!




And a little guy close up:




This picture is pretty fuzzy, but you get the idea - I ran out of candy corn, so just made fun M&M dotted ones!



(And yes, those are Halloween cupcake papers - that's all I had - close enough, right?! haha)
So, if you're traveling, be safe and have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Twilight!

I am off to see "Twilight" today with some friends at 3:45 and then to dinner after to gush over the movie. I canNOT wait!

Anyone else read(ing) the books and seeing the movie?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

IVF#3 - Schedule - CD3 Appt. Today

So, had my CD3 appointment today to kick off IVF#3. Standard stuff - bloodwork and a date with the wand. But afterward, she wrote down for me the approximate timing and when I'd be taking each med. Apparently I could have already started the Lupron on this past CD21, but no one told me! Oh well, what's one more month, right? This way, if it's a BFN, I'd get the news after Christmas, not before. So that's good, right?! lol

The dates are all approximate except for the Lupron date, but here goes:

12/08: Lupron (10 iu)

12/18: Get period, call for appt.
Start Estradiol Valerate injections (2X/wk x 10 days)
Drop Lupron dosage (5 iu)

12/29: Start Follistim (225 iu)
Start Menopur (75 iu)
Stop Lupron

1/05: Start Ganirelix (1 vial/day)
Stop Estradiol Valerate

1/08: Ovidrel Trigger

1/09: Egg Retrieval
Start HCG booster
Start Lovenox
Start PIO
Start Estrace
Start Prometrium
Start Doxycycline

1/12: Embryo Transfer

So - there's the cycle in a nutshell! lol Hopefully this new protocol will get us more than 4 mature eggs and we have good embies and even have some to freeze this time. The tricky thing with this cycle (besides the GIANT PIO needles!) is the HCG booster during the 2WW. Due to this, I can't pee out the trigger since I'll continue to be adding in HCG. So, while I'll still have my Beta at the end of the 2WW, it will be guaranteed to be positive due to the HCG boosters. So, I'll have to go back every day for another Beta for about a week-ish until they can positively tell if it's a BFP or BFN. Having to wait to know if it's positive is worth it for the small extra boost it might give for the BFP, right?! RIGHT?! lol

So, we'll just have to see how things fall over the Christmas holiday. I'll have to go in for monitoring, during that time, so that will determine if we get to go see our families for Christmas and when. Kind of sucks, but, if it works, will be worth it in the end.

So - wish me luck!! And if you made it this far - THANK YOU.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

IVF#3 - Here we come!

Well, so much for following a standard pattern. As I should have guessed based on my last few posts, my body just didn't feel like acting like it normally does. O'ing late, longer LP, etc... Well, it also decided to just skip the day of spotting and run right into CD1. So - guess that means IVF#3! I've scheduled my CD3 appointment for Thursday. Then let the needle poking and dates with the wand begin!

97.2

That was my BBT this morning. I think it's officially safe to say that I'm not pregnant. LOL But wow - I go from a 9/10 day LP to a 13 day LP. Thought that think wasn't supposed to really change!

So, I'm assuming tomorrow I'll most likely be hitting CD1 - and that means - IVF#3. Let's hope it shows up on time so we can get this show on the road. ;-)

Monday, November 17, 2008

It dropped

Well, my temp dropped again this morning (97.7) re-confirming that I'm not pregnant, but still no spotting or anything. Good times. Just show up or make me pregnant -I want to move forward! haha

Sunday, November 16, 2008

AF Didn't Show Her Face

She was supposed to come this weekend. But she didn't. Temp took a nose-dive on Saturday (10 dpo) as was predicted and I still have periodic cramping, but haven't started spotting yet. I have a 9-10 day LP typically, so how nice of my body to decide NOW to finally have a good-lengthed LP when it's time to start IVF#3.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love my period not to show up if it meant I was pregnant, but considering my temp went from 98.5 on Friday to 97.6 on Saturday, I'm not holding out hope. It went up a bit to 98.0 this morning, but I'm not holding out hope - guess we'll see what happends with tomorrow's temp, eh?

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Cramping - joy, joy?

Well, I've been cramping off and on the last two days. so, I'm going to take that to mean my period is going to arrive right on time - gotta love a 9 day LP, eh? Well, I'll take it as a good thing since that means I'll get to call and set up my CD3 appointment and get IVF#3 underway. Wish me luck!

Now, back to puppy-watching ;-)

(see below for puppies)

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Puppies!

Take a look at this link - it's awesome! It's a camera constantly on six puppies and their mommy. Adorable!

http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.45.swf?cid=317016

The 6 Shiba Inu puppiess (3 boys and 3 girls) turned 4 weeks old on November 4th, and here are their names!

Girls:
- Autumn (Purple collar)
- Ayumi (Yellow collar)
- Amaya (Red collar)

Boys:
- Aki (Green collar)
- Akoni (Black collar)
- Ando (Blue collar

I should probably keep this from DH - he's been wanting a puppy now for a while! haha

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

IVF#3 and Adoption

Nothing too much going on here, but we're getting close. I'm thinking I ovulated yesterday so that means I should get my period in about 9-10 days. So with that comes start of IVF#3. I've probably already said this, but I'm both scared and excited to start. Excited because it might work! And scared out of my mind to start because this will most likely be the last attempt. If that doesn't work, we'll probably pursue adoption or donor sperm. Or maybe donor eggs.

We went to an Adoption Fair on Monday, and it was really interesting! They had local adoption agencies, social workers, lawyers, pediatricians, etc.... all in one place for us to meet with, ask questions, etc... it was a LOT of information to digest and we have a lot to go through this weekend. But, it was a start. We were thinking of starting this route now since it can take a couple of years to be placed with a baby. And OMG expensive - yikes!

We aren't sure yet if we'll do donor eggs/sperm. If we do, I'd like to start with sperm since it's soooo much cheaper and can just do an IUI. Donor eggs themselves are MUCH more expensive - about $10,000 I believe, plus I'd have to do IVF. Which between that and the meds would be a lot more on top of the donor fee.

So, I don't know. It's a lot to take in. So right now we are just really, really, really hoping IVF# and the new protocol works this time. Please?!?!?!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Congratulations, Sandi!

I want to send a big, huge, CONGRATULATIONS to my friend, Sandi - she got her miracle BFP today on a break cycle! She was supposed to start IVF in January after many a failed IUI - and guess what -- she doesn't need it!

Again Sandi - I wish the biggest congratulations to both you and your husband! Enjoy it and celebrate - you're going to be a MOMMY!

Endometrial Biopsy Results & IVF#3 Protocol

Biopsy results came back negative - so once again - nothing wrong with me! So why won't these lovely little embies of ours stick around?! Guess that one's still left to be determined. Joy! Maybe it's too much fragmentation? Maybe we're just unlucky? Maybe something sperm related? Or my eggs suck?

Maybe this new protocol will help? Who knows. It's a mixture of Estrogen Priming and Antagonist. Here's what I'll be on in no particular order:

Lupron
- 10 iu daily, drop to 5 (yup - even though it's antagonist - go figure)
- daily

Estrodial Valerate
- 4 mg inject
- 4 times
Follistim
- 225 iu
- daily once start stimming

Menopur
- 75 iu
- daily with Follistim

HCG
- 2,500 mg boosters
- not sure of frequency

- Ganirelix
- 0.25 mg/0.5 ml
- daily once start stims

Ovidrel
- trigger

PIO
- 50 mg
- daily after Retrieval

Lovenox
- 30 mg
- daily after Retrieval

Prometrium
- 200 mg
- daily after Retrieval

Estrace
- 2 mg
- daily after Retrieval

Then the regular smaller stuff: valium, doxycyline, etc...


Definitely a change from my regular old Lupron + Follistim + Trigger, eh?

So, once I get my period, we will decide if we want to start IVF#3 or not - based on finances and how everything would line up with the holidays. Let's hope 3rd times the charm!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Sexy Voice - I Have It

So apparently I am still sick. At least the sore throat is gone, but since it went away I have had a stuffy nose and coughin. And now I can't stop. And as a result, it has left me with the lovely sexy-ish voice you get - I think I'll keep it for a while! LOL

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Holy Giant Leaf!

The weather today was so absolutely gorgeous, so DH and I went for a walk on the boardwalk and came across a Maple tree full of GIANT leaves - look at this thing!






Gotta love Sundays and Fall!

Friday, October 24, 2008

No Longer Sick!

But DH is. Same thing I had - sore throat, achy, and just basically feel spacy/crappy. Poor guy!

And I just I knew if I broke down and made an appointment to see my PCP about my sore throat, it'd be gone by then. And wouldn't you know it, I wake up this morning and it's all gone. Good thing they let me cancel without penalty!

Decided to take today off - just didn't feel like going to work, so I didn't. So now begins a long weekend for me! Not too much planned for this weekend. We have a birthday party to go to tomorrow afternoon, but depending on how DH feels if we end up going or not. It's supposed to be a crappy weekend weather-wise anyway, so who knows. Might be more fun to just curl up with a book anyway. I do still have the last 2 Twilight books to finish - can't wait!

Other than that, not too much going on. Just waiting for my endometrial biopsy results to come back next week and then for CD1 to arrive to see if we start our next IVF cycle or not. Life is pretty boring right now - not that that's bad!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Our Baby?

A couple of girls on the Nest did this and thought it would be fun to try. I went to http://www.makemebabies.com/ and uploaded pictures of us, and here is what our future baby will look like:



http://makemebabies.com/viewbaby.php?bid=6985779


Not too bad, right? LOL

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I have a Sore Throat

...and it doesn't seem to want to go away. So I guess I should just bite the bullet and make an appointment, eh? I am at the doctor's so much for the IF stuff, I never want to go for "regular" stuff.

I have always been that way, I just think it's more so, now. Guess I should probably go ahead and make the appointment since a few people have said that Strep Throat is going around. I used to get that 4-5 times as a kid and it sucks. Anyone want to go in my place? Pretty please?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Dirtiest of 4-Lettered Words

Snow. Yup - that is what is forecasted for some areas around here today. And somone on my local already saw it. It needs to stay away. For a long time.

I know we need it for the ground, trees, blah, blah, blah, but I am just not ready for the white stuff yet. Nooooooooooooooo!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Hysteroscopy Today - Ouch!

Been a while since I updated on our Fertility progress, so here goes. At my last WTF, the doctor recommended a Hysteroscopy and Endometrial Biopsy to figure out if there's anything in my uterus that may be causing our IVF's to fail. And pending what they find on the first two, if a Lap is needed.

And today was the day for the Hysteroscopy and Endometrial Biopsy. And let's just say they hurt! Just as much as the HSG did. Ouch! It first started with the novacaine type stuff he injected into my cervix - yikes! The actual process itself cramped/hurt as much as the HSG did, but the worst part was the Biopsy. OMG THAT HURT! And he did it twice! It was cool to see, but let's just say I'm happy that's done.

I'm not sure if I was happy they didn't find anything or if I was hoping they would - to at least give me us a reason for the failures, you know?

So, now that those were clear, they said we can start IVF#3 with my next CD1 if we're up for it and have enough money. So once we get there, I'll figure out what the schedule will be like and how they fall with the holidays. If they interfere, I'll wait because we will because we will be out of town alot around Chirstmas. So I guess we'll see!

Guess that's it for an update for now. Hope everyone's doing well!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

A Visit from the Family!

This was such a great weekend! My mom, sister, her fiance, and the little pumpkin below came down for a visit - and we had such a good time, just hanging out! Dad couldn't come, but we'll be going up shortly, I'm sure and get to see him then.

The weather was a bit chilly this weekend, but oh so sunny, making it a great weekend to do some fun fall things outside. I had gone up into the Heldeberg's and walked the Indian Ladder Trail last weekend when DH was away and it was absolutely beautiful up there with the leaves. So I suggested we all go up on Saturday and it was still so pretty. DH was hunting, but the rest of us went and enjoyed the view. I took 500+ pictures last weekend when I went (experimenting with my camera settings, I promise! haha) so I didn't take any, but my mom took a few hundred herself. Ha!

The rest of the weekend we just hung out, my sister tried on wedding dresses, we finally picked the pictures for our wedding album (thank you mom!) and played with the baby. Mom left this morning and my sister, her FI, and my nephew left early this afternoon so still had some time to ourselves this afternoon. I love it when my family visits and can't wait to see them again!
Here are just a few pics from my mom and me:






Sister, her FI, and my nephew:



Sister, her FI, and me!



The trail leads you behind a couple waterfalls - and more great views!






On a related note, here are a few pictures I took on the boardwalk by our house last weekend:







Fall and Family - love them both!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

My Nephew - so cute!

My sister sent me some pics of little Landon that they took last night when doing their pumpkins. So cute! (but I may be biased haha)

There were a couple you could see his face and he was smiling, up a storm! But I'm having problems loading them, so here are a couple:





And apparently he didn't mind because now he's asleep!



Thanks for looking!


Thursday, October 9, 2008

Almost the weekend!

Hey there - not too much going on this week - nothing too exciting. DH is going away this weekend. Leaves tomorrow (after we get to do lunch together!) and then he'll be back sometime Monday. So this weekend I think I'm going to have an alone, girlie weekend. I like having those every once in a while, you know? Watch chick flicks, get whatever I want for dinner, maybe grab myself a yummy dessert, maybe look or a pair of shoes, drive around and look at leaves, and watch a bunch of cheesy things I've DVR'd! And then Monday I'll go in to work and hopefully he'll be home before I do!

Other than that, not too much going on on the baby making front, either. Due to my thermometer deciding to not work I honestly have no idea where I am in my cycle. I have a new one now but based on the temps it's giving me, I can't really tell if I'm pre- or post-O. I could go by the CM or CP, but those are only so reliable alone. Much more reliable with temps. Oh well. Guess I'll just wait it out until the inevitable - b/c I know she'll show her ugly face!

Hope all is well!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Hysteroscopy Time

So - I've had the HSG and SHG. Since the two BFN's, the doctor now wants me to have a Hysteroscopy, Endometrial Biopsy and Lap. So, the Hysteroscopy is scheduled for the 21 - anyone had that before? The HSG kinda sucked, so I hope it's not as bad as that - although the nurse didn't sound so convincing lol

Then the Endometrial Biopsy has to be done on the 21st day of a cycle an the lap may be scheduled based on what they see during the Hysteroscopy. Fun, fun!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

So October is the month. I know a few women who have had it and survived (thankfully!) and it really scares me sometimes. I know they say to wait until you're 40 before having regular mammograms, but sometimes I think they should really have us go beforehand, you know? Well, hopefully by the time I turn 40 there'll be a better process than getting your boobs squished, eh?! lol

Also - I thought this was pretty cool - one of our local radio stations is doing a whole bunch of events this month to support Breast Cancer, and yesterday they started off in a fun way. They only played songs by Pink! Pretty clever, if you ask me. Plus, who doesn't like her songs! ;-)

Monday, September 29, 2008

Back from visiting my parents!

On a lighter note than my post below, outside of that comment, we had a great weekend! It was supposed to rain all weekend so my sister and I brought some spa-type stuff to treat my mom. But we didn't end up needing it! We let her decide what she wanted to do this weekend and here's what we did:

1) We went for walks around the house. The foliage is not quite at peak, but it was still so beautful - more so than these pictures can do justice to. My parents live in the middle of nowhere in the Adirondacks, so there are lots to look at!












2) We had cake (and ice cream of course!) made by my lovely sister - it was so good!




3) The boys went fishing - I'd post pictures of the 93 perch they caught, but I'd rather look at my husband re-stringing his line ;-)




4) We also went dress shopping with my sister - and she is still in love with this dress:

http://www.morilee.com/DressDetail.aspx?C=1&D=2102&P=1

It looks absolutely gorgeous on her!

5) And lastly, we went out to dinner - I had the best steak ever - so delicious!

And, of course, my adorable little nephew and he has gotten so big! He's just over 7 weeks now and such a little cutie. I'll try and post some updated pictures of him later this week - but I'll be sure to put it in it's own post so you so that you can decide if you want to look or not.

I always love going home - it's so nice and relaxing to visit. Soon, we'll have some visitors of our own! My mom said she'll probably going to come down for a visit sometime over the next month and so will my sister and her fiance. And soon - my other sister will be home for a visit from Australia. I can't wait!

I hope you all had as great a weekend as I did!

How much do you weigh now?

Yup - that's what my great aunt asked me this weekend. I had a great weekend with my mom and family and then we went up to visit my grandmother before we left to go home and my great aunt was there. Dad always drops her off after morning church, before she goes back for evening church. She is the type of woman who is quite intelligent and witty for her age (85), but just has no sense of appropriateness or couth sometimes.

Now yes - I will admit to putting on some weight since the wedding (thanks to both my lack of exercising and eating crappy, and some to my IVF meds). But not much as my outfit on Sunday made me look. I was wearing bigger, baggy clothes that were sooo not flattering - but were comfortable for the ride home. We had a good visit, and then as I was leaving, she comes right out, in front of EVERYONE, and asks me that question.

Let's just say I was STUNNED. I was at a loss of words. If I had been quicker to think I would have told her off (this is not the first time she makes rude comments to me or someone else). But instead, I just stood there, like a deer in headlights, stumbling over my words. This is the same woman who sat in a corner at my wedding reading the bible and pulled me aside - more than once - and scolded me during our reception for having alcohol and dancing - saying I was going to hell. Gotta love it, right?

Friday, September 26, 2008

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Going home this weekend for my mom's birthday. It's actually Monday but DH and I are doing to go up this weekend to celebrate. Some cake, some ice cream, a little spa time for mom - whatever she wants!

Hope you all have a great weekend and I'll "see" you on Monday!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Love Animals?

Or maybe even just like them? ;-) Check out the new icons located on the top right of my blog!

All you have to do is click on the icons each day, answer fun trivia questions about cats and dogs, and they will provide 10 pieces of kibble to Animal Shelters to help feed hungry cats and dogs! And yes - even if you get the answer wrong, they will still donate the kibble!

I've been doing this for a long time now (thank you Sandi!) - and it's even being featured on the Ellen DeGenerous show today!

So please, play every day - the more we play, the more hungry animals that get fed!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Hi!

Not too much to report on today. Nothing really exciting going on. We're going home to my parents' house this weekend for my mom's birthday, so that should be nice. I just hope the weather is nice - as of now, it's supposed to rain :-(

On a TTC front, we are unmedicated, au natural this cycle since we can't afford another IVF round yet. So right now I am on CD15. In the past, I have typically ovulated on CD17, but who knows what will happen this cycle after coming off the meds. I'm not really seeing the signs of O coming soon, but who knows. I'll be tracking and charting - guess we can always wish for that ever elusive break cycle BFP, right? lol

Oh well - hope all is well with you and you're having a great day!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Apple Picking!

So, as promised, DH and I went apple picking on Saturday. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - such blue skies! It was a great weekend to go as there were 4 good options to pick:

McIntosh
Cortland
Empire
Jonagold

We like all 4, so it was hard to decide! We ended up picking mostly Jonagold with a few Cortland and Empire thrown on top. The McIntosh ones were on the other side of the orchard, so we skipped those.

And, if anyone wants to read up on some of the apples, this website is really helpful: http://www.nyapplecountry.com/ There's a whole bunch of info out there, plus some fun things, as well.

Here are a few pictures...




Yum! (yes, we're dorks lol)



And the views from the orchard are awesome. We usually hike the mountains before we pick, but we got a late start didn't hike. But we'll be back a few more times to hike before the snow comes.



I love that it's so close to our house which is in a city. It's a great thing about where we live - drive just a few minutes and you'll be out of the city and into beautiful country!

And don't even think for a second that we didn't stop and wait in line to get our cider doughnuts. We allow ourselves to get them once a year - and they are worth every single calorie!






So - now I just need to get eating and baking - there are a lot of apples to be used!