HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY MAGAN!!!

There is nothing more important to post today, than our friend Magan's 30th birthday. HAPPY HAPPY birthday! I am just thrilled that she is now in the 30 club with me! Woo-hoo!!! We went to her sister-in-law Julie's house for a party today that was lovely. She is so blessed to have such a large and loving family. We were joking, because if my husband threw a surprise for me like Jarrod did for her, it would consist of 5 people, excluding us! I guess that is what happens when you are an only child and your brother-in-law is about to take on the journey of being a doctor! Props to you Jarrod, it was a nice time.

I wanted to make sure I showed everyone the wonderful pots I got at TLC this weekend, since nobody was believing the prices. Here are 6 that we got this weekend, thanks to my mom, we did not buy them all. Check them out:

I was really impressed with my bargains! My $12 pot is not on here, but it is EASILY 2-3 times larger than the terracotta pot shown!

Does anyone watch Grey's Anatomy? I was shocked about George at the end of the finale. I knew that he was thinking about being written off due to his contract, but I thought it would be to send him off to the army. Shocked, I tell you... I am still talking about it! We were laughing the other night, now that all of our favorites have had their finales, I am not sure what we are going to do with all of our free time! Isn't that pathetic?

Just in time for us to have a baby... or babies! That will surely keep us occupied!! My aunt leaves tomorrow morning and we hate to see her go! It is so much fun to have her here! I know it is also is a relief for my mother when taking care of my grandmother, who is FULLY recovered!

I hope everyone has a great Monday! Thank goodness next Monday will be a holiday!

~Amy

No News, but There is a Great Sale!

Just sending out an update, apparently I cannot read. The doctors from Chicago sent me vials to get some blood samples and it clearly states on the paperwork Monday-Thursday shipments only. Seeing that today is Friday, on our way to the doctors office at 7:30 this morning, I called and changed our appointment until Monday morning. So, no update.

That being said, I went with my mother and aunt today to my husband's favorite place,TLC Nursery, and they are having a crazy mad sale on all of their pots! My mother bought us an enormous terracotta pot for $12! Weeks ago, we saw this pot there for $139.99. I am telling you, if you need pots - Go! Go! Go! We love that place, anyway. We buy all of our plants, flowers, soil, etc... from there but now we are buying pots too! (I am not ready to do flowerbeds... I am a beginner).

Have a great weekend!
~Amy

Men + Well Lined Eyeliner = Not a Good Look

I want to thank everyone for the prayers and warm wishes about my grandmother. Once again, she has made a full recovery! Comparing her mind, body, and spirit this week to last week is like comparing apples and oranges. She is back to her normal self.

Today is a good day in so many ways. (1) My hubby is back from Fort Worth! Yea! He was down in Texas for depositions and I missed him terribly. (2) My aunt safely made it in from Chicago. I picked her up from the airport and then we went for a late lunch. She loves El Chico. In her area, they do not have a huge selection of good Mexican food, so she gets excited to eat it when she gets to Oklahoma City. Her favorite is El Chico! We had a great lunch and caught up, it was really nice. (3) None of my plants were destroyed in the wind storm we had up here last night! I stayed with my mom, because I am a huge chicken, so I had not seen the house since Monday.

Friday we go into the doctor for blood work to start the process! I am really excited. Since they are putting 3 in this time, God willing, We laugh about triplets. What if we have 3 girls? The irony in that is endless. My mother-in-law would DEFINITELY have to retire to be our full time daycare! Here is how ignorant I am. I had no idea you could ship blood via FedEx. Did you? That is a little creepy, huh? My nurse also thought that the doctor might want to do an ultrasound Friday just to check the status of my ovulation. I will keep everyone posted on what we find out.

Before I sign off, I need to vent about the American obsession with Adam from Idol. Do I think he is talented? Yes. Do I think that he has a great career on Broadway? Absolutely. Do I think that he is "tough" enough to be a rocker? No. Do I think that he is the best artist that has ever been on A.I.? ABSOLUTELY not. Here is what I have to say... If a man can wear eyeliner better than me, something is wrong! ;)
~Amy

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Happy Mothers Day to all the women in our life that are mothers! Hopefully next year, I will join you! We had a lovely day! We cooked for our mothers and we got to use the roses from our garden to help make our table! Here is a picture...

We had a really nice time....except for one thing. Debby and I decided to go and get a pedicure, which was nice, but when we left - as I was driving her car- someone backed into us in the parking lot! Happy Mothers Day! Ugh! I feel really bad. Accidents are such a pain! Nonetheless, the overall day was a success!

This week has been wonderfully slow! We only had something to do one night! It is so nice to relax sometimes. We did go out one night with our friends, Scott, Neilly and baby Henry. Neilly found out that she is having a girl, and Lucy Kate should be introducing herself to the world in October! We are so excited! We went to PF Changs, and I feel like I always leave there disappointed. It, to me, is overrated. It is Pei Wei on a nicer plate and for twice the cost. Anyway, you know that I have been cooking lately and trying all kinds of new recipes. Well Friday night was a DISASTER! It was some green bean and meat pie and it was gross!! If you come across a recipe like that trust me, don't make it! Zac thought it was OK, but I could not even eat it. It was that bad! So last night, my brother-in-law and one of my husband's friends came over and we grilled steaks and I made Penne al a Vodka. That took forever. I give all of the Italian women out there who make their own sauces a ton of credit! It is an all day project!

This week is going to be busy, but nothing new on the fertility front. I am just taking birth control so they can regulate my ovulation, and will start shots in the first part of June. I cannot believe it is only about 3 weeks away! My husband will be going to Dallas for a couple of days to take depositions, and I have a few evening meetings. Also, my aunt from Chicago is flying in on Wednesday and we are really excited to see her. Pretty much the whole month of May is chaotic, now that I think about it. We have something to do every weekend until the first weekend in June. I am looking forward to that weekend so we can have another movie day!

Everyone have a good week and I hope it dries up!
~Amy

Roses are in Bloom!

We had a nice weekend, regardless of all of the gloomy weather! Friday, we had a wonderful surprise when our friends from Enid called and told us they were in town. We met them for dinner and had a great time. Their sweet little baby, Elly, was with them and she is just about the most precious baby we have ever seen. I know everyone has heard me brag on her before, but you just cannot get enough of her! She is so happy! On the way to the restaurant, as Amy and I were sitting in the back of the truck with her, I just looked at her and said to my husband, "If we had this baby, I would love her even if I didn't give birth to her." It was my "Ah-ha" moment that Oprah always talks about. We just want children so badly, that we would be just as in love if it was not biologically ours. I thought I had always felt that way, but Friday night was just the icing on the cake. It just really hit me. It is hard to explain, it was just this sense of peace. It was God's way of telling me that everything will be alright, regardless. We are still in shock about one thing though... she apparently was not feeling well and spit up, or should I say threw up, her bottle. We have never seen so much formula come out of such a little mouth. We are still talking about it. That is how you know you long for children. Baby vomit makes you smile!

Saturday we had a movie day. We stayed in bed until noon. We like to get these days in, because we know as soon as we are parents, they will cease. One of the movies we watched was Slumdog Millionaire. It broke my heart. It made me want to jump on a plane to Mumbai and take home all the children I could get. It really made me realize how lucky I am. Sure, my parents got divorced as a child, and I did not have the "picture perfect" childhood but my goodness I am blessed. Those poor babies. I want them all! Saturday night was a night to remember! We went to a friends house for their son's First Communion. He got a Wii from his aunt as a gift and my husband hooked it up. We then spent most of the night playing with the 4 boys (ages 4-10) and it was a handful! They were so hilarious though! I love little boys! I love that they are ornery and messy and don't whine when they are mad, just tackle! It was high energy all night! We were laughing in the car on the way home. If this round of in-vitro works and all 3 eggs take, wouldn't that be something if we had 3 boys? Pure madness, but how fun!!!

Look at these roses! All this rain has REALLY helped our rose bushes come along!

The fragrance is absolutely amazing! I cut some today and put them in a vase in our home. We were so blessed to have the landscaping done before moving in!

Today we were going to go to church, but realized that the service that we wanted to go to was at 8:15, not 11. We are traditional, and we can't help it. We love hymns, not guitars. No offense to those who do, it is just not our thing. We went to visit my mom and grandmother, and are still concerned about her. She is just not the same. I think she is tired. Tired of her medicine, tired of the fight. Hopefully once this infection passes, she will be her spunky self again. Then, after a drop off to Dillards, to check out the sale, we met a friend at Panera to talk about his 10 year reunion that is coming up. It is hilarious to me. When they talk about songs that were popular in 1999, I remember them at the clubs in OKC. 4 years is not that big of a difference now, but 18 vs. 22 was! My college memories were his high school days! It should be fun.

I am expecting my doctor to start my round of birth control this week! Let the games begin! For those who do not know, or remember, they will put me on birth control for one month to manipulate my cycle and "trick" it into ovulation at the time they need it to be. This is just the beginning! Keep your prayers alive!

~Amy

Sweet Home Chicago!

Ok, so everyone knows that my husband and I had our big conference call today with the geneticist from Chicago. There is only one word to describe how we feel......................... FANTASTIC! They were so wonderful! The geneticist talked to us for over 45 minutes, gave us a step-by-step detail about what they will do, listed several options of what is available, gave us percentages of what they expect from me (23%- I will explain later) and put us at ease! I am telling you, they are wonderful. I am SOOOOOOOOOO glad that we are going through this clinic!

23% - This means that only 23% of the embryos that they biopsy will potentially be viable for transfer. Yeah, this is a low number, but it only takes 1!! I am just so glad that she is knowledgeable enough to give me a number! The little unknown things throughout the last cycle is what drove me nuts. Everyone knows that I need to know details, and this is making it so easy! I am telling you, Ms. El'Dahdah will be getting a big flower arrangement, or something as a "thanks" from us. I am so happy. We are so happy. This is going to be a wonderful experience.

More to come!
~Amy

Windy Sunday!

WOW! The wind out there today is crazy!!! We have been watching the weather worrying about my husband's parents and grandparents! They always seem to be in the line of tornadoes! So far, so good! There was a tornado last night that hit really close to our friends in Enid, but we found out this morning, that they are fine. I guess it officially tornado season!

We had a wonderfully relaxed weekend. I got to catch up with some old friends and hang out with little Dane (4) on Friday. Kids are hilarious. Every time he wanted to ask me a question, get my attention, or just simply wanted to say something he said, "Um.. excuse me..." Precious. I REALLY appreciate the value of parents teaching their children manners. In today's world, it seems like it is few and far between. We cleaned the house Friday night (what has happened to my exciting life) and were in bed by 10:30pm. Saturday we worked in the yard and I planted flowers in pots. We all know that I am not the best "green thumb" in the world so I am starting with pots. So far, so good, but it has only been 24 hours. Later that day, my friend Jami came up to see our house and brought the family. I feel bad because I overloaded them with sugar. They found every nook and cranny in my house that had candy and then I baked them homemade chocolate chip cookies. They were on a sugar high. Jami let me know later that they crashed on the way home. Hey... at least they were not wound up for the 45 minute drive home! I told her that rules do not apply when they are at Aunt Amy and Uncle Z's house!

Today we tried a new church.... still looking.... Why is it so hard to find the perfect church? We go to so many churches that our friends go to and love, but it is just not the right one for us! I feel like we will know that the church is for us the first time we go. Maybe I am setting my expectations too high. After church we went to my grandmothers, but stopped at a new shoe store, where I bought 2 new pairs. I have an addiction. Everyone please keep my grandmother in your prayers. For those that know her personally, you know that she is one tough broad. My mother, bless her heart, tends to be a little over dramatic when she describes how my grandmother is doing but this time I saw it for my own eyes. She is not well. We are very concerned about her. All good thoughts and prayers are appreciated!

Wednesday is our conference call with Dr. El'Dahdah in Chicago. She is so nice. Just from the one conversation and one email I have had with her, I already feel at ease. I will make sure and blog Wednesday night so everyone knows how it went. Well, actually, as I say that, it might be Thursday because I have a Junior League meeting Wednesday. I am sitting here watching The Wrestler with my husband because he wanted to see it. I think I would rather stab needles in my eyeballs. I don't know, there is something about Mickey Rourke that bugs me! Everyone have a great week!
~Amy