New Beginnings <3

I know it’s been a long while since I’ve posted, but I’ve missed blogging and I finally have some interesting stuff (I believe anyway!) to add to the interwebz again.

The past two and a half years have been a long hard road for Wade and I as we’ve struggled with infertility issues.  We didn’t publicize that we were trying to start a family, but it was something we both really desperately wanted and didn’t seem to be able to achieve.  After a really disheartening last six months to 2013, we decided to quit the road we were currently on and save up the money to start IVF in March 2014.

You can imagine our surprise (and elation!) when at the beginning of February, I (being the obsessive can’t help it person I am) decided to pee on yet another pregnancy test (I should have bought stock in First Response 2.5 years ago) and it came back POSITIVE!  I wanted to scream our joy from the rooftops, but being surrounded by fertility issues (and hundreds of other women surrounded with the same issues) for years had made me super paranoid.

We’ve announced it on Facebook quite a few weeks ago and are now 24 weeks along as of today.  It’s actually been a fairly easy pregnancy so far, with the exception of severe bronchitis at around week 7 where I thought I might just die, and I’ve actually been one of those pregnant women that other pregnant women love to hate.  Not a ton of nausea, no real morning sickness, fairly decent energy, not many side-effects, etc.  Now that I’ve gone public with all that, I’m sure my pregnancy will turn around and bite me in the tooshie, but so far, I feel great!!!

We were so excited at the beginning we decided to go to one of those boutiquey places popping up for their “Early Gender Determination Ultrasound” and they told us our baby was a boy.  Imagine our surprise when 3 weeks later we had our anatomy scan at our doctor’s office and HE turned out to be a SHE!  I couldn’t stop laughing, and Wade was just stunned speechless (He was SURE he’d seen the bits).  She has since been confirmed a girl twice, so we’re fairly confident this time.

Looks like we’ll be welcoming Tatum Lynn to the family sometime around October 23 of this year.  Around three and a half months left to go!!!

I can’t wait to continue to keep up with our journey over the next several months here.  I think it’s going to be both exciting and terrifying for me as we get closer to “time” – anyone who has known me long knows me and medical stuff don’t mix very well!  I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an uneventful birth 😉

 

Of course, I’ve been obsessively working on the nursery since Day One, and we went with a carousel horse theme which I adore.  I think she’s going to love her room. (I hope so anyway!)

In other news (which seems kind of paltry to that news) life has been moving along very smoothly lately!  Our gardens are blooming, in fact, we’re being featured on a local blog tomorrow for that and I’m looking forward to seeing if the author likes our little backyard paradise as much as we do!  All of my plumeria cuttings made it through the brutal winter we had and it looks like a couple more of my mature plants will be blooming soon, so I can’t wait to see what color they turn out (though I think all my mature plants are the same if I remember right.  Oh well, no surprises this year!)

All of our pets are also doing (knock on wood) surprisingly great!  After two really close calls with Aspen since Christmas, she’s almost completely recovered and though VERY old and starting to go a little senile, she’s in great shape and still trucking along.  Such a tough old lady.  Checkers (our cat) is in robust health as always, and Derby (the sheltie) has been doing great as well!  He turned 8 this year, and I just can’t believe how time has flown!!!

I think I’ve rambled on long enough, so until the next post!!  It feels good to be back and writing!!!  ❤

Christmas in November

Wade and I have never had a Christmas tree before because of the pets, and after last year when our house remained undecorated for the holidays, I put my foot down. We were going to buy a tree and make it work!

We picked out a really pretty flocked tree with pine cones at the after-Christmas sales at Garden Ridge, brought it home, and I’ve been waiting nearly a year to put it up. I love all things Christmas – it’s always been my favorite holiday both with all my memories spending it with family and also the fun we all had decorating the house. Wade and I were both concerned with how Checkers (our cat) would deal with the tree, so we decided we’d put it up early with NO ornaments and see how it went.

I’ve been excitedly collecting awesome vintage ornaments and other decorations to go with my vintage/farmhouse look I’d created in my head, and I couldn’t wait any longer so we decided we’d go ahead and start our “test week” yesterday.

Putting the tree together was fairly painless, except for the flocking which was blowing through the air like snow in our living room. We ended up rearranging some of the furniture to make it fit nicely, and decided we liked the new arrangement better anyway! We were off to a good start!

My first bump in the road was the gorgeous angel I had bought for the top of the tree. She had lovely burlap skirts and was holding a little bird nest. I put her up on the top of the tree and… crap… she didn’t sit up there very well. I messed with her and messed with her and almost knocked the tree over and it became very plain to me it wasn’t going to work… Angel and I had to break up =(. I quickly came up with a plan B using my high-school florist job skills and some really pretty ribbon my friend had scored for us. I think the bow looks fantastic. =)

Added my custom burlap tree skirt and WHAM, we’re in business!

Then… we waited. Didn’t take long….

She just can’t resist something I don’t want her to mess with.

She chewed it a few times, messed around it a bit, and then settled down – luring me to a false sense of security before I went to bed…

This morning I wake up to use the bathroom and hear a funny tree-like scratching on the wall (the tree is on the other side of the wall from our master bathroom). I rush out to the living room and Checkers bolts out from under the tree. My tree skirt is rumpled up into a little ball to the side of the tree and I have no idea what she was doing under there to get it like that. The good news is the tree is still standing so I don’t think she tried to climb it…

So I brought out the trusty ol’ scat mat from retirement, put my tree skirt back, and put the scat mat over top of it. She remembers the mat, and so far she’s avoided the tree and the skirt like the plague…. so far….

We also put up the stocking holder I got at the flea market yesterday – I totally love it and it keeps me from having to worry about the cat pulling the stockings/stocking holders down off the mantle and hurting herself or chipping the tile!

I think it’s coming together very well, don’t you?

And my final little score from the antique mall yesterday – I love this reindeer and he’s just the thing for my dining room table!! Can’t wait to finish putting up the rest of my decorations! Working on making my wreath today so I’m sure there will be more pictures later!!