Baby No More

Well, we found out on Wed. morning that we lost our little bean. I had a miscarriage. Thank you to everyone who has supported us.

The Results Are In

And I am, indeed, pregnant. OY!

Here's to hoping for an uneventful, healthy pregnancy and a healthy full-term baby. We're scared, but now that we've told our family feeling MUCH better. :o)

So, this is part of our mass announcement: WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!

:o)

The Woes of Fertility...

Yes, I said the woes of fertility, not fertility woes.

The difference you ask?

Fertility woes would be what those people unfortunate enough to experience fertility problems/issues would share.

I will share the woes of fertility. That is, the woes of a woman who is VERY fertile and married to a man who is equally fertile. I swear, my husband has Super Sperm! This man must share some genes with Clark Kent because his little swimmers can survive anything, and everything, and find an egg to fertilize against any odds placed before him. Heck, his Super Sperm managed to fertilize an egg with the IUD IN! Even dislodged (the IUD that is) that feat was incredible.

He got me pregnant while on the pill.

He got me pregnant 6 days before ovulation (enter Little Dude).

I get pregnant if he so much as LOOKS at me and I am anywhere within a whisper of a thought of ovulating.

And, he may have done it again. It's still too early to tell for sure, and I am PRAYING that I am not, but the early early sighs are all there. *sigh*

We are practicing the rules of Natural Family Planning. Since I've gotten pregnant on BCPs (birth control pills) once before any form of hormonal birth control is not an option. I am also allergic to (get ready, this is a long list):

Latex condoms - I break out in hives 2" across in my nether regions. YOUCH!
Spermicides - again, 2" hives in my nether regions. *shudders*
sponges - they hurt me so much we can't even have, well, you know.
polyurethane condoms - again, hives, nether regions, OUCH!
sheep skin condoms - they're only something like 70% effective...and DH has Super Sperm. Yea...THAT'S an "oops" waiting to happen!

So, knowing my body (yay for that), temping, charting, sticking my fingers up my nether regions to check cervical placement, texture, and opening (or lack there of) is the only thing that works for us. And we follow them religiously. (please note: NFP or FAM is not that bad at all...in fact I LOVE it because I know my body unlike ever before)

Some of the rules state:
no BDing (aka: Baby Dancing...do I REALLY need to explain that one???) after cycle day 8. Sperm can live up to 5 days before fertilizing an egg. And DH has Super Sperm...remember?

You are safe once you are 3 DPO (days post ovulation).

During that fertile period, either use spermicides (which can alter the cervical mucous), condoms, or abstain. DH has Super sperm; we abstain.


Enter my 2nd cycle postpartum. I've had one visit from the witch herself so far.

We enjoyed knowing what was going on, and had some 'fun' on cycle day 7. We are following the "rules" right? I started showing fertile signs that night. *sob*

5 days later, 4 days earlier than ever before, my body decides to release it's eggie. God, you really DO have a sense of humor, right? 5 days. REGULAR sperm can live up to 5 days. DH has Super Sperm. *ensue sobbing*

My temps look "normal". Enter 8 DPO. I have a temp dip, MAJOR cramping, and nausea and headaches. All signs of implantation.

Enter 9 DPO. My temp not only goes back up, it goes up to it's highest temp yet. Yea, a GREAT sign...if you're TRYING to get pregnant.

God....you DO have a sense of humor...right?

And this is where I am at: 9 DPO, face breaking out like a teenager, still nauseous, and scared out of my ever lovin' mind. I know that this dip "can" occur in cycles that do not result in conception. I dart off to Google: "Charting Temperature Dip 8 days ovulation". The results....not good. Implantation dip is the result. *ensue sobbing* I Google: "Implantation Dip" and find that it's not a common thing in cycles resulting in pregnancies, but when there IS a temp. dip like the one I had the chances of it NOT being implantation and resulting in a pregnancy are startling. 11%! There's only an 11% chance that I am NOT baking baby no. 3!!!!! God: sense of Humor...c'mon! Cut me some slack!!!!

Oy Vey! (to quote a dear internet friend of mine)

So yes...the woes of fertility.

*back to crying, panicking, and obsessively trying to figure out when to start taking HPTs...and desperately praying that "the witch" comes*

Maybe I'll watch "Schlinder's List" as a distraction...

How to Be a Liberal

I am a staunch conservative, and tend to tick people off w/ how conservative I am. So, some may not like this, but I wanted to post this anyway. :o)

How to be a Liberal

1. You have to be against capital punishment but support killing babies in the womb.

2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands
of Chinese and North Korean communists.

4. You have to believe that there was no art before federal funding.

5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.

6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial, but being homosexual is natural.

7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but PETA activists do.

10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make "The Passion of the Christ" for financial gain only.

12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

13. You have to believe that taxes are too low but ATM fees are too high.

14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger (Founder of Planned Parenthood) and Gloria Steinem (originator of Natl Organization of Women) are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison.

15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.

16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

17. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag queens and transvestites should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

18. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right-wing conspiracy.

GOD BLESS AMERICA (ooops, can't do that either!)

Bedrooms and Playrooms

Up until now, Little Dude and Sweet Pea have had separate rooms. This seemed silly since I ALWAYS find them in the same room playing together. Little Dude adores his "Sissy" and "Sissy" adores "Lillum" (as she calls him). They are inseparable, and Little Dude is constantly found in his sister's shadow.

Since DH and I are both in school full time, and both kids bedrooms are perpetual disaster areas that resemble an Iraqi battle zone, we decided to move both kids into one room. It seemed simple: take down the crib that LD has yet to sleep in and move SP's bed and LD's bed (he sleeps on a mattress on the floor by her bed) into his room along with SP's dresser and put all toys into SPs old (bigger) room.

It would be simple...

...or so I thought.

I spent a good 5 hours this afternoon working on this move. It's done. And my back hurts. And both kids are now asleep in their new room, and DH's laptop is now set up in the office portion of the new office/playroom. It's GREAT! When my best friend comes down for a few days (tomorrow) I have a place to put her and her kids, DH and I now have a room that we can work in undisturbed, and the kids have a place to go and play w/o trashing their bedroom!!!! YAY!!!!

I'll let you know how it goes in the days/weeks to come.

What we did....July 1, 2007

So, our actual anniversary was Sunday, July 1. We were married on July 1, 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was FUN! It was AMAZING! And, we don't have a single picture to show for it! ROFL

Anyway, DH and I had this cool day planned to celebrate in ways that would be special for us and hold special meaning without breaking the bank. But, God had other plans. LOL

Originally we were going to have a wedding to renew our vows since we never had a wedding (we got married in Las Vegas) but after DH's pay cut in April we were unable to afford it.

So, we were going to go to Busch Gardens and Adventure Island sans children to actually get to ride rides and do the things we did while dating/courting (we had more of a courtship than dating because of how long distance we were the entire relationship).

After we dropped Sweet Pea and Little Dude off at my parents' house, we got to Busch Gardens and the OVERFLOW parking was overflowing! We realized we'd have time to ride one ride before having to get to dinner and go get the kids. So, we decided to go see a movie.

We walked into the theater, got snacks, sat down and my mom called. Little Dude was inconsolable and had been this way for over an hour...I needed to get back!!! ARG!!!!!!!

So, DH (VEEEEEEERY frustrated) and I drove back to get LD. We ended up taking him with us to the movie (this time at a theater in town...we'd got to the movie theater we went to on our first date originally). We saw "Live Free or Die Hard" and LD actually did really well. He ended up eating a TON of candy just to keep him quiet, but he did really well over all. 3/4 of the way through the movie he fell asleep nursing and that was it for him for the evening.

After the movie (9:15pm by this point) we drove across the street to Olive Garden and had dinner courtesy of my grandparents (they gave us a gift card for our birthdays the end of May). He slept in the stroller the whole time and DH and I had the best dinner we've had in a VERY long time. We got to talk, we got to hold an actual conversation, we got to be honest with each other. We talked about the biggest of the hardships we've endured over the past 5 years and how we were honestly feeling at the time...and how still, through it all, we would do it all over again. We had a WONDERFUL time, and ended up bringing half our dinner home.

Oh...and DH and I discussed my cooking. That first year it was horrid...and now, well, he
told me last night that he loves my cooking. In fact, he didn't like the Chicken Parmesan because he says mine is better!!!! ROFL

That was our "big" 5th year anniversary. And, you know what, it was 100% US! It was all things that WE love to do! I will say again, I LOVE THIS MAN!!!

5 YEARS as Mrs. F

5 years ago I married the love of my life. I use the term "DH" to refer to my husband. DH means Darling Husband or Dear Husband. My husband is Dear to me. And over the past 5 years he's only become even more Dear to me. I love this man. I love him more than I can ever explain or begin to put into words. Hmmm...maybe I should read some Shakespearean sonnets...maybe he could describe the depth of my love for this man???

They say that the first 5 years are the hardest. They say that if you can survive the first 5 years then you are in the "safe zone" (as safe as that zone is in today's 50%+ divorce rate). The past 5 years have been...well...our marriage. That is, we've gone through the military and all it's highs and lows (although I'd be happy if he went back in). We've been through military discharge, difficult pregnancy, an injury on DH's part, the premature birth of our child, financial ruin...over and over and over and over....and still going....again. We've been through a 2nd pregnancy and all that entailed (during the 1st trimester I threw him out of the house as well as chucked a pillow and TV remote at his head...POOR DH!!!!), the birth of our 2nd child, and the amazing 1st year of this second child (Little Dude). We've gone through multiple jobs, unemployment, a secure job, moving on average every 6 months, and now school.

God is good. God is wise. God is AWESOME! God created this many JUST FOR ME!!!! MAN did God know what he was doing!

So, at the end of the day, I am thankful for this amazing man that God gave me. I pray that He (God) continues to remind me of the amazing things that my husband has done and has survived with me through all the times to come where I can't stand this man yet love him so deeply. And, in 45 years....come back. I'm sure I'll have an even more amazing tale to tell.