Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Bring on 2015!


Wow, the year is over, I feel like it went by so unbelievably fast and I wish that I could put the brakes on time!  This year was like every other year of my life, there were ups, there were downs, there were some really amazing things that happened, and some really horrible things that happened, but you know what?  Such is life!  If you're having good days and bad days, then you're living a normal life and that's all I could ask for.  I am so blessed in so many ways and I'm completely surrounded by the ones that I love so much and that is what I feel is most important in life.  

Although another year has gone by and we still don't have our miracle, I look back over the last few years and realize how far that we have really come.  We had no idea the lengths we would go, the leaps and bounds we would take for our miracle.  And here we are, on what seems like a never-ending journey, still taking those strides to make a family. I know that we could still have a very long road ahead of us, but I feel like we are doing the best that we can and that 2015 will be good to us.  I don't want the focus of my year to be solely about infertility, because it was so much more than that!

So, onto the good stuff; the biggest and best of 2014, our house! It still sometimes doesn't even seem possible or real that we are actually building our dream home.  The house that Joe drew out on paper almost 5 years ago has come to life in a way that I could’ve never imagined.  We will see it finished in the spring so I know that 2015 will be a stellar year in one way or another.  We will be starting a brand new chapter of our lives in our forever home and I cannot wait!  It’s been such a rewarding adventure, like something I've never experienced before.  Although our current living situation isn't ideal, I do need to give a shout out to my parents for letting us live there, rent-free since April.  Such a huge blessing.  We've had a lot of fun too; it will be a bittersweet day when we finally move out.  Also, a huge shout out to anyone who has helped us whether it be with concrete pouring or window painting, ever little bit helps.  And a HUGE thank you to Joe’s dad who, at times, was putting more work in than Joe was, papa Joe, you rock!

There wasn't a whole lot more that really stood out about this past year, in a way it was similar to 2012 and 2013 and years before, concerts, tattoos, camping, bike trips, wine-tasting, adventuring, but I don’t see mediocrity in doing the same things over and over, I see it as continuing to do the things that we absolutely love to do with people that we absolutely love doing them with and I hope we can continue doing those things next year.  Whether we add a baby to the mix, and hopefully we do, 2015 will be big year for us and I can’t wait to see what else in store for us. 

Without further adieu, 2014 picture overload!

January started out horribly, with a miscarriage.

But with this guy by my side, we pushed forward.

In February we celebrated Valentine's Day with our friends

And had a shower for Jen! I love this group of girls!

We celebrated St. Patty's day in March

And dealt with the cancellation of our 3rd IUI attempt

We took our first ride on the bike at the end of March, can't wait til it's warm enough for that!

In April, my little SIL turned 21!!

The same day as her birthday, our IUI was cancelled again & we decided to move forward with IVF

I took my niece for her very first pedicure for her birthday, she loved it!

And baby Jase was born!!!!!!!!

In May we said goodbye to some friends as they started a new chapter in Vegas

And my beautiful friend Beth found out she was having a girl!

In June my bestie and I celebrated our birthday's together, we are one day apart! 


I got my FOID card and got to spend lots of times with my brothers from another mother!


At the end of June we started to build our forever home!

In July, we adventured on the bike

 I got my tattoo finished

We celebrated 4th of July!

We had our first IVF cycle, a fresh cycle which failed

And I got to spend more time with that one group of girls I love!

In August, we were awaiting baby Johanna's arrival in September

But, she surprised us about a week after the shower!

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Lots of progress was being made on the house!

Joe and I celebrated 3 years of marriage in September!

We really saw the house being transformed into a home!


In October we got to freeze at Family Camp Out!

Miss Carter was born!  

And we went to a fabulous wedding!

The bride was absolutely stunning!

In November, we started to side the house!

We went to an Eric Church concert!  

And we got to spend time with our favorite little beans!

And with each other! <3

In December we took a much needed mini vacation!

And we had a blast!

Then Christmas came, and we all know how fabulous it is!


If I had to use a word to describe how I felt about 2014, it would be "accomplished". We really did some big things this year and took a giant step forward in our marriage with building this house.  It's the most rewarding feeling.  My word for 2015 is "determined".  I am determined to do big things next year.  It will be my last year in my twenties and I want to go out with a bang and I want to see my determination pay off in a big way and I know it will.  I wish all of you, my fabulous readers and followers the happiest of new years!  I hope that 2015 brings everything to you that your heart desires, but know that it won't always come without a fight.  Thank you all for your continued support of this blog and of the journey that we are on.  What I used to do for myself, I now do for others and that is to share my story!  If it wasn't for all of you, this blog would not be what it is today! Much love to all of you and Happy New Year!

Friday, December 26, 2014

Blood Work & Christmas Recap


I have to be honest, I’m kind of bummed Christmas is over!  I wish it would just feel like it lasted a little longer and while we spend Christmas Eve and Day running around to see all of our families, it definitely makes the time go by a lot faster when you’re as busy as we are!

On Tuesday evening we stayed at Starved Rock Lodge which is a local state park on the Illinois River.  We do this every year with my aunt and uncle and two cousins.  We book a cabin that has 4 adjoining rooms, all with fireplaces, we set up food in one & games in another.  We snack for a while, we relax in the hot tub, we get dinner, then we play games, and we always drink way too much.  It’s such a fun and relaxing way to kick off Christmas!  We look forward to it every year. 





While we were booking our cabin for next year I got a call from my doctor’s office, I went through my current RE’s office, she sent me orders Tuesday and I went after work.  They wanted to do a beta and test to see if I had ovulated.  If I hadn't, they would put me on progesterone to induce, but when she called me Wednesday morning, she told me that I had in fact ovulated on my own, which is a good sign.  I was really hoping she would call and say, YOU’RE PREGNANT, but she didn't… boo! Oh well, CD1 came on Christmas (thanks a lot Santa, you could’ve brought me the best gift and instead you brought me the worst), but I was happy to see it come and not have to continue a lengthy cycle.  It totaled 32 days which is about 5 days late for me, so you can understand why I thought I could possibly pregnant.  It definitely sucked that I wasn’t and it definitely sucked having to tell Joe that the beta confirmed what I already knew from the HPT.  I am keeping the faith though and we will continue to try naturally while we wait to continue treatment.

Christmas Eve day we spent relaxing, I knew we wouldn’t have much downtime once the festivities kicked off that evening so we laid around in our PJ’s with Frankie and watched a couple movies.   Our first stop was at Joe’s parents for soup and sandwiches with family friends.  At 6 we headed to my uncles house until 8 when we headed back to Joe’s parents for our Christmas Eve tradition.  Joe’s family has always had a tradition of wearing matching PJs, reading Christmas stories, and drinking Coke’s out of glass bottles their entire lives, it’s one of my favorite parts about Christmas.  I loved our jammies this year, they were really cute!  Joe’s mom even made a matching set for Jocelyn’s American Girl doll, Jessie.  After the stories were over we opened our gifts.  One of my favorite gifts this year is from Joe’s parents.  Joe’s mom is super crafty and creative.  She filled clear glass ornaments with dirt from our property the day we started excavating and then decorated them with “Ridley Ranch” on one, “6/23/14 Breaking Ground” on one, “One Nail at a Time” on one and “Home Sweet Home” on the last, they are so cute!  I am going to scour Pinterest to look for a cute way to display them all year!





Christmas Day we opened gifts at my parents, then headed to my dad’s for gifts, my aunts for lunch, Joe’s grandma’s, then back to my parents for Christmas dinner.  It was a busy day of traveling, but it was fun.  I’ve already told my family that next year Christmas Day will be at our new home and it will be open-house style with food all day.  I don’t want to go anywhere, especially if we have a baby by then!  Although it was a crazy few days, it was great to be surrounded by our friends and family that we love so much.  I just wish it would last a little longer and that time would slow down!

Grandpa & Grandma Rossi & the wine that we made from their grapes.  He was so excited
I named it "Franco Rossi" for him, his name is Frank.


Today I worked which sucked, but at least it’s a Friday!  We are supposed to head to Kentucky for another family Christmas tomorrow, but it sounds like Joe will have to work so we are probably going to have to cancel.  I’m bummed but I’m also ok with having a couple days to get things back in order after the whirlwind of Christmas. 
 
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