The new roomies!

So here are our new roommates...

Please notice they all have the SAME glasses!

We went to see the radiologist yesterday so hopefully mom will start her treatments one day next week.  We are all so frustrated by how long it seems to be taking, but I know the doctors are working hard on her plan for radiation.  I feel like I have learned a lot through this whole process. She (mom) was in much better spirits this visit, and even felt like going to eat at Cracker Barrel.  These three are something else.  It will be an interesting few months.

A Monday morning on Tuesday!

Talk about feeling like a Monday (yes, I know it’s Tuesday!). It has been a crazy day already! I did not wake up in time to go workout, but Ike did so of course he left way earlier than me. It was storming like crazy so I spent an extra few minutes in bed. Which unfortunately put me in a rush…So picture this I’m wearing flip flops (because of the rain) carrying my work bag, heels, purse, water bottle, and breakfast. Yes, I could have made more than one trip but who wants to do that. I open the garage, pull the door shut and it hits me… my keys are laying right there on the counter! YEP! Luckily, I did have my phone. What a Tuesday!  Ike was very sweet and came home and let me in. I will spare you the picture of my disaster hair from testing all the windows to be sure the are locked which of course they are because I’m obsessed that they be locked, and my beautiful face because I cried and had not make-up left…What a mess! I would like to say at our old house we had a key hidden for 3 years and not one time did I need it! GEEZ!

We did however have a very fun weekend! My sister and her husband Jason came for a visit! We were glad to see them, its weird going from seeing them everyday to not seeing them for a month. My sister and I shopped a lot and Jason and Ike fished and watched football. Saturday we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the State game, and it was a so fun!! They have trivia going on during the game which I loved. I was worried that since we don’t drink it would not be great but I loved it! There are about 30 TV’s with all kinds of different ballgames! Tailgating and being at the game are the best but this will do when we can’t make it! We also went bowling which I am not always a fan of (because I'm a sore loser), but I enjoyed it this time.   I’m so glad we got to spend time with Amanda and Jason.

10 years since high school!

This past weekend Ike and I made the trip home for our 10 year reunion.  It's nice that we graduated together and were both able to catch up!  Friday night we went to our high school's football game, Saturday was a family picnic at the lake, and Saturday night was the banquet.  We both had a great time catching up with people we had not seen in a while.  It was interesting to see what people are doing now.  Facebook definitely takes away some of the surprise of where people are now, etc. 

For fun here is Ike and I before prom our senior year (as friends of course) and now before our ten year reunion!

You may notice a change in my attire I had a small dress mishap so I had to change before the reunion.  Ike and I did not get one picture together at the reunion!  Actually I didn't take many at all and none of Ike.  I just got caught up in catching up I guess.  Here are a few. 



Blessings!

I would first of all like to say thank you for the sweet comments and encouragement on our journey to having a baby! ALL of your prayers are much appreciated!

Today I would like to tell some exciting news and ask for more prayers.  Ike and I are very excited to announce that we will be Uncle Ike and Aunt Brandy in April or May! Rose, Ike’s sister and her husband, Chris are expecting. We could not be more excited for them.  Rose has an neuromuscular autoimmune disease called Myasthenia Gravis (since she was a sophmore in high school) and has recently been diagnosised with Graves disease, another autoimmune disorder so she is an extremely high risk pregnancy!  We are praying that the Lord will keep her and the baby safe throughout this pregnancy. The fact that she is pregnant at all is a miracle so we are thankful for this little blessing.

The Parents to be!!

While I could not be more excited for them and to be an aunt, do not think the devil did not jump at the chance to use this blessing from the Lord to try and bring me down. God has been preparing my heart though, and a few weeks ago I went to hear Lysa Terkeurst speak. She said something that stuck with me, that our reaction to things determines our reach. There is a lot happening in the coming weeks that will challenge us. I know there will be good days and bad days but we are CHOOSING to seek the Lord.  This is all for His glory.
Update on my mom: She has been down a few times for more tests, and now we are waiting for the radiologist to finish planning for the treatments. We know she will receive chemo once a week and radiation 5 days a week. She should get a schedule for all this one day next week, and hopefully start the following week. We are all ready to get started. I do believe the waiting is the hardest part. From our understanding the cancer is in her lymph nodes in the area around the spot, but not on her organs and is isolated to this area. This is a relief to us. Thank you for your prayers!

A very special day!

Today is a VERY special day!  It is  Ms. Susie's Birthday!!!!!  Ike and I are both so blessed to have her in our lives. I am thankful for her, not only for raising an INCREDIBLE son, but also for all the time she has poured into me.  Long before Ike and I were together she was mentoring me, and helping me to grow in my relationship with the Lord.  She is an amazing woman.  She is one of the most dedicated, hard working, caring and FUN women I know.  She has an energy level that blows me away, I have to remind Ike from time to time that I don't have that same energy level (certainly wish I did).  Ike thinks the world of his mother, and rightfully so.  Ms. Susie, we both love you very much and hope you have a fabulous birthday! 
Here is a little video of Ms. Susie with her great nephew's!  She is definitely the life of the party!

Little apprehensive and extremely long!

I have been debating writing this post for a long time. Something keeps holding me back from it... seriously a battle inside me, and I have decided it is the devil. I am sorry to admit I am one of those people who do not like to face things that are uncomfortable. I certainly do not like to self-disclose unhappy things via Internet (writing about my mom last week was a stretch).  However, I am all about reading other people’s stories to encourage me when I am down.  Also, I read on a blog I like that if you share it that many more people are praying. I have felt like God has been telling me to write this for a while. I kept telling myself I will once it is all resolved. Apparently not what He had in mind because I have been thinking about it too much (Thank you, Holy Spirit). So here goes…
Ike and I have been trying to have a baby for a little over 2 years. Long before we got married we had decided to be married a year, and then start “trying” for a baby. We both love kids and thought that would be perfect timing.
It’s so weird how I thought it was going to be no sweat. In April 2009, Ike and I were in Disney World (how appropriate) and we decide let's "stop preventing".  That's what we called it so we would not feel pressure after all, we were in no hurry really.  In July 2009, we found out we were expecting! We were on cloud 9. In August we were suppose to be 10 weeks pregnant so we went in for our first ultrasound. The tech started…She could not find a heartbeat. She tried two different ultrasounds and nothing. I was extremely emotional and confused.  She sent us to a room to wait for our doctor. She came in and told us that the baby was only measuring 7 weeks, so she believed our baby had stopped growing around that point. We were to wait a week just to be sure, and then come back and if nothing had changed we would go from there. To say that next week was not good is an understatement. We went back, and there were no changes. At this point we had a choice to go home and wait for my body to miscarry on it’s on or schedule a D&C. We scheduled the D&C. The doctor said that at this point there was no need to worry about babies in the future that this just happens sometimes. They told us to wait at least 3 months before trying again. So we did that and in February 2010 Ike got shingles. I had a feeling I was pregnant so we were worried because I have never had chicken pox. We took a test and yep pregnant. I went in to my doctor, who gave me something to prevent me from catching it. The following Monday I went on a trip for work. I woke up Tuesday cramping terribly! I got up to find out I was definitely miscarrying again (which had nothing to do with Ike's shingles, they did a blood test that showed I had never been exposed to it). This was so hard for me and Ike being apart dealing with it. Since then we have continued to "not prevent"! It has been over a year and no sign of pregnancy which is so weird that the other 2 happened so quickly.   So that’s where we are…The day to day struggles are the hardest.  I seriously think we should have bought stock in pregnancy test. Really! I take several EVERY month!  The good ones because of course we say, "oh it's cheap it might be wrong"(which I know is not true).  My first two pregnancies I KNEW I was pregnant immediately, I could tell... now every month I read into things which frustrates me (and Ike, though he has never once complained), not to mention my cycles are at least 40 days apart which would be awesome if we were not trying to have a baby.  We both stand there and wait for the little line or pregnant/not pregnant this is the most stressful few minutes.  Ike has been very calm, I know it is hard for him as well. This whole process has no doubt made me love him even more than ever (didn’t even know it was possible). God has used it to grow our relationship for sure!
So how do I deal with it?  I look back and I know timing was off for us. If we had our first babies here with us there is no way Ike would have gone back to school, and we would not be where we are now and we believe without a doubt this is exactly where God wants us (He continues to confirm this) and that our babies are with Him.  And I am SO thankful to the Lord for the time He has given Ike and I, truly a blessing!  We love to travel and just do whatever we want at a moments notice.  We know these days will be harder to come by when we do have a child, so we try to remember this and be thankful. We know all this, and we trust His perfect timing and will. We still struggle with it, both in very different ways, but we are praying and BELIEVING that God’s perfect timing will come for us to have a child in His perfect way.  Up until now I have not felt like we should seek further help, but now I think it is time so Ike and I will see a specialist soon.

I wrote that last week and never got around to posting.  On Thursday Ike and I did see the specialist.  I didn't mention this before but during our first sonogram the tech was very surprised to discovery that I had what she called a double uterus meaning just like it sounds I have two.  At the specialist Thursday he said he wanted to do a special sonogram and check to be sure it was actually a bicarbonate uterus (double uterus) and not a septum uterus.  Well come to find out he believes it is a septate uterus.  So what does that mean...well that there is a septum separating my one uterus.  The problem with this is that if an embryo implants in this area there is not sufficient blood flow to sustain the baby causing a miscarriage.  So his suggestion to us is surgery to remove the septum.  We are still not sure why my cycle is so long (worried I could be miscarrying more than I know), but no need in addressing that until after surgery.  This was not exactly what we were expecting to hear, but we were so glad to hear that there is hope!  The specialist was wonderful!!!  We were there maybe 2 hours, and had some answers.  We are so thankful for the Lord's planning.  How perfect that we are here in the same town with the specialist! 

Labor Day Weekend

Ike and I had a great a Labor Day weekend! We are not sure what the weekends in the next few months will be like so we made the most of this one. We rested a lot, watched a lot of movies and TV, worked out, and shopped. It rained hard ALL weekend so there were not a whole lot of options! This weekend I was reminded that my husband is seriously the best! God is definitely using him to show me just how selfish I can be, Ike is one of the most selfless people I know.

So I haven’t updated on Buster lately. He has enjoyed the move. Our house has a doggie door, and he LOVES it! That dog is in and out all the time! At first I thought this thing was the greatest thing ever. In the mornings I just open the bedroom door, and he can let his self out. He has never been much of an outside dog so I figured that would not change. BUT now it is not as hot outside that little dog has started digging! I have no idea what he is digging for, but he can dig a hole SO fast! Oh it makes me so mad when he tracks in all that dirt, thank goodness for wood floors (that have to be cleaned A LOT)! We have not figured out what he is doing out there, but he comes back and he stinks BAD! We are thinking maybe he sweats! He also loves that where we are there are walking paths. He goes insane when we ask if he wants to go for a walk. So like the rest of us he is excited about our new home.

Prayer request

I would like to ask everyone who reads this to please be in prayer for my family specifically my mother.  She started experiencing some pain several months ago, and has recently been diagnosed with vaginal cancer.  We know that it is in the lymph nodes in that area, and we are praying that is it.  They will be doing a pet scan on Thursday to make sure.  She will actually be coming here for her treatment.  Apparently this is a very rare type of cancer and the doctors from my home town are not familiar with it.  It has been such a blessing that God brought us here in just the right time so that she can stay with us.  She will receive radiation and chemo.  Thankfully 2 of my aunts will be able to stay here as well, and can take her to treatment everyday.  I am so appreciative of all of your prayers.  I know the Lord hears our prayers.